I was excited to get The “I Love My InstantPot®” Anti-Inflammatory Recipe Book to review. The InstantPot makes cooking easier, right? And cooking for an anti-inflammatory diet is a challenge, so anything that makes it easier is welcome. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what I expected.
Not an Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook
The one fatal flaw of this cookbook is that it isn’t anything most people would recognize as “anti-inflammatory.”
The author’s idea of “anti-inflammatory” seems to be avoiding processed foods, dairy, and trans-fats, omega-6 fatty acids, and nightshades (all good) — and saturated fats (not so good). (Avoiding omega-6 fatty acids and saturated fats, by the way, wouldn’t leave very many options.)
She also suggests including anti-inflammatory foods like fruits and vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids (which includes nuts, seeds, and soy foods in addition to fish), probiotics (which are not in any of the foods in this book except soy yogurt in a couple), lean protein, garlic, turmeric, and ginger.
The book doesn’t even eliminate the top 8 allergens, much less stick to an AutoImmune Paleo type of diet.
I counted (skimming, with noisy kids in the background, so don’t take these numbers as law):
- 23 recipes that use eggs
- 65 recipes that use beans & grains (including legumes & pseudo-grains), not including the 22 in that specific chapter
- 50 that use nuts & seeds
- 39 that use nightshades
Yes, thirty-nine recipes contain nightshades, even though these are actually on the author’s “avoid” list — which gives you an idea of how not all-or-nothing this is. It also uses a lot of erithrytol and a little bit of soy (along with the occasional xylitol or monk fruit sweetener).
If you’re on the AIP diet, it looks like you’ll be able to make use of…
- 1 breakfast recipe
- 11 soups (includes broths + 1 if you can find an acceptable curry powder)
- 1 snack/appetizer
- 13 sides (mostly basic cooked veggies + 1 if you can find an acceptable curry powder)
- 7 poultry mains
- 4 seafood mains
- 0 vegetarian mains
- 3 desserts (cooked fruits)
(I’ve assumed you can skip black pepper or white pepper where necessary, and that nutmeg is easily replaced with mace.)
So if you’re hoping, as I was, for a cookbook with a lot of AIP-friendly recipes, this is not it.
But It’s a Good Cookbook, Overall
If you’re not in need of an AIP-friendly cookbook, you might appreciate this one. I don’t do sugar alcohols like erithrytol, but that is easily substituted with other granulated sweeteners. With rare exceptions, like a vegan cream cheese, the recipes in this book are all made with wholesome whole foods.
As you can probably tell from the recipe categories above, it has a leaning toward the vegetarian, prizing vegetarian meals, highlighting beans & legumes, and avoiding red meat. It’s also dairy-free.
For those of us who think the InstantPot control panel looks like it belongs in a space shuttle, the introduction clearly and concisely explains all the settings.
The book does contain some excellent basics — like chicken broth, vegetable broth, and steamed broccoli — and the format of the recipes is simple and easy to read, with a clear notation of how long each recipe should take.
Bottom Line
If you’re actually looking for an “anti-inflammatory” cookbook, this probably isn’t for you. But if you’re just looking for a good InstantPot cookbook, this isn’t a bad choice — and the anti-inflammatory ingredients are a bonus.
