Jamie’s Food Revolution: Discover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals

[Amaranth]

Jamie’s Food Revolution: Discover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals by Jamie Oliver

Jamie created this book in order to help people learn to cook foods they would like to eat and then to be able to teach their friends. He begins the book with meals that can be done in 20 minutes or less and cover the nutritional bases such as chicken fajitas with typical ingredients and salsa. He has good instructions for the beginner on a timeline to produce the meal so that while one thing is cooking, you are prepping something else. Chapters for easy pasta dishes, salads, and soups and stews are included.

For people new to thinking about what to combine for salad, he includes a mix and match salad recipe. If you tried each combination you could make different salads for a number of years without a repeat. It’s an attractive recipe chart with pictures of the mix and match items. A similar chart could make a fun home school project.

Jamie has taken note of favorite ethnic take-out meals. In the UK that is often Asian food or Indian food. In the US I think Asian food is one of the top also with Italian and Latino foods being top ones too. Indian food has also caught on well in a number of areas. So favorite stir fry recipes are provided and there is a chapter on curries as well. In the curry chapter, Jamie includes info on how to advance a step. In the recipes he has cooks use good quality commercial curry pastes. And then he also includes recipes for the curry pastes so the dish can be more homemade especially during the garden season when more fresh ingredients are available.

Meat chapters include ones for ground beef, roasts, and fish plus one focused on fast recipes with all of those. A selection of easy sauce and salsa recipes is included.

The vegetable chapter highlights single vegetables by featuring each one in turn in ways that enhance their flavors. Included are asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, corn, green beans, leeks,peas, potatoes, and spinach.

Breakfast ranges from easy oatmeal with add ins, fresh fruits, and smoothies to a full weekend brunch plate.

Desserts are multi-faceted ranging from innovative sundaes and baked apples to impressive raspberry topped cheesecake or a chocolate fruit and nut tart.

[IshbelRobertson]

I've been a long time fan of Mr Oliver. I have all his (many) books and have eaten at 15 in London and in Cornwall. I applaud his attempts to get schools eating more healthily. I gave up on his American adventures though, I was mortified to see how much resistance he encountered!

[herbgeek]

Love Jamie's approach.

Im just astounded that so many people don't know how to make simple, satisfying meals and even brag about it. I hear women in particular saying they don't know how to cook, like its a badge of honor. Why would being helpless in a part of your life be something to be proud of?

I can make a simple steamed veg and sauteed protein in less time than driving to the drive through. And I'm not hungry right after, the way I am when I eat processed food.

[Stella]

I like Jamie Oliver too. I have several of his cookbooks, but this does sound like one that might be good to get for my girls, who are learning to cook. I should look and see if any of his shows are on Netflix too. I think I have a video podcast of his Ministry of Food on my favourites.

I'll have to put this on my wishlist.

[JaneV2.0]

Love Jamie's approach.

Im just astounded that so many people don't know how to make simple, satisfying meals and even brag about it. I hear women in particular saying they don't know how to cook, like its a badge of honor. Why would being helpless in a part of your life be something to be proud of?

I can make a simple steamed veg and sauteed protein in less time than driving to the drive through. And I'm not hungry right after, the way I am when I eat processed food.


I cook--sometimes very well--because there are no satisfying alternatives, not because I feel it's my womanly duty.

There are lots of tasks I don't do well or that I avoid doing because my skills or interests lie elsewhere.

[Tiam]

He has a good website too. He has a recipe for mac and cheese that he dubs an "American pasta dish" and goes on to give it a few twists, I've never included, but they sound great. And it sparks a huge debate on the comments. Who knew Mac and cheese was so controversial?http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cheese-recipes/a-killer-mac-n-cheese

[Tiam]

I've been a long time fan of Mr Oliver. I have all his (many) books and have eaten at 15 in London and in Cornwall. I applaud his attempts to get schools eating more healthily. I gave up on his American adventures though, I was mortified to see how much resistance he encountered!



I was too. Was it just the idea of someone non American trying to "help"?

[IshbelRobertson]

Who knows, Tiam?! The rudeness of some of the people he encountered seemed to reduce him to tears (probably of frustration, who knows?!) and as I didn't watch another programme of the series, I don't know whether or not he succeeded in converting anyone to his ideas of healthy eating for children.

[herbgeek]

I cook--sometimes very well--because there are no satisfying alternatives, not because I feel it's my womanly duty.

There are lots of tasks I don't do well or that I avoid doing because my skills or interests lie elsewhere.

There's lots of stuff I'm not good at either, or not interested in too. That wasn't what I was saying.

I wasn't trying to imply that this was a woman's duty to cook. Its just that when I hear men say they can't cook, they usually sound a little sheepish, but the women I've heard say this, say it with pride. To me, it would be like someone bragging that they don't know how to change a tire, or don't know how to turn the water off in their dwelling, or don't know how to operate a computer. Why would you brag about being incompetent in an area? I don't get it.

[Stella]

I heard a lot of that when I was growing up herbgeek. There were actually women who looked down on my enjoyment of cooking because they saw it as too traditionally feminine, which struck me as odd because my dad was the cook in our house. He was an amazing cook too. Amazing. It's a shame he got such bad reflux that he can barely eat anything and doesn't enjoy cooking as a result.

[JaneV2.0]

"Why would you brag about being incompetent in an area? I don't get it. "

I have to say that part's a mystery to me; there's a lot of that around technology, particularly.

[Tiam]

Who knows, Tiam?! The rudeness of some of the people he encountered seemed to reduce him to tears (probably of frustration, who knows?!) and as I didn't watch another programme of the series, I don't know whether or not he succeeded in converting anyone to his ideas of healthy eating for children.


My only thought was, upon watching the show, was that Jamie has a passion for what he was doing, but really, he didn't have the right human touch. He seemed to blunder in his approach. He would ruffle feathers and the reactions were very defensive. Sometimes it seemed like he would really put his foot in his mouth. It's not just about reforming the food, it's about psychology. So, well meaning though he was, he didn't "get" the people he was trying to convert. I guess that's not his forte. He wanted to convert the school diet, but he seemed to fumble when it came to the first step. Converting the staff and administration.

[IshbelRobertson]

Maybe because he was a 'foreigner'?

He didn't exactly have an easy ride here in the UK, but the people actually managed to see that he had the best interests at heart of both the staff and the school pupils! In the USA programme I saw... they were more than aggressive...!
And yet, I read today, that McDonalds in the USA have agreed to change the ingredients in their 'meat' burgers to reflect Jamie's suggestions, rather than the gloop they used to use.

[Tiam]

Maybe because he was a 'foreigner'?

He didn't exactly have an easy ride here in the UK, but the people actually managed to see that he had the best interests at heart of both the staff and the school pupils! In the USA programme I saw... they were more than aggressive...!
And yet, I read today, that McDonalds in the USA have agreed to change the ingredients in their 'meat' burgers to reflect Jamie's suggestions, rather than the gloop they used to use.



For the most part, American's usually like Brits. Find them "Charming". But in the show, it didn't seem like he enlisted the staff help or give them enough positives. Whenever someone comes in and starts slinging new rules without acknowledging the value of people, it doesn't usually get received well. I couldn't tell if it was editorial manipulation or the actual situation, but he seemed to upset people rather than allying with them.

[Anne Lee]

I've used some of the Food Revolution resources in outreach. Their corn chowder is easy to make, uses a lot of veggies available through WIC and doesn't require a high level of cooking skill.

[IshbelRobertson]

Tiam
Whilst it's nice to know that 'most Americans like Brits'... Many of us British do not like to be called 'Brits'... I'll accept British at a push, because I am a Scot first and then British, but the term Brits was a term used first by the IRA about the UK armed forces and was an insulting way to refer to us, much like calling Pakistani people, Paki... it's not a friendly term! Then, of course, certain dumb British citizens used the term (one fat actor at a US awards ceremony, for example!) - and then it became acceptable to SOME!