The whole time I was reading this cookbook I was dumbfounded that anyone brought it to print. I kept thinking it must have been written by one of the real housewives because I didn't recognize the woman, she clearly didn't know how to cook, she didn't understand the basics of what she was talking about, she gave dangerously clueless advice about allergens, and she kept talking about how rich she was. At one point she says she plans "Club Erica" weekends for self care with friends and once booked a famous chef to teach her how to cook something. After finishing the cookbook I googled her and she's married to famous music producer LA Reid. Her Instagram has a weary looking Jennifer Lopez smiling with her in one photo. By her own admission, she has no experience as a chef, never used to use her own enormous kitchen until she started cooking for her kids with food allergies, and had no idea of even basics like the fact that you can make your own salad dressing or that glass measuring cups are for liquids and metal ones are for dry ingredients.

At the start of the book, Reid claims that you won't find gluten, meat, eggs or dairy in her recipes, among other foods. She says she's been a vegetarian since college and also feels better off of gluten, and her kids can't eat eggs or dairy. But then there are entire chapters of recipes for meats and fish, including a chapter just for lamb. In addition, most of the recipes use spelt flour, which is in the same genus as wheat and contains gluten (see http://food-allergy.org/spelt.html for more on spelt and gluten). The very first recipe in the cookbook is for muffins made with spelt flour full of gluten, when she says her recipes are gluten-free, and just about every baked recipe calls for spelt flour, which has gluten. I think she honestly doesn't know that spelt has gluten, which is dangerous for anybody new to gluten free cooking or who might cook her recipes for someone with Celiac. Likewise, she has recipes that also call for eggs and dairy, though she sometimes gives alternatives.

There are lovely photos of some of the recipes, which we know from her four pages of thanks at the end are because she hired massive teams of people to do everything from teach her how to cook to style the foods to taking the pictures to editing the cookbook. That doesn't change the fact that it's an uninspired cookbook with random recipes and almost no salt or seasoning from a woman who doesn't know how to cook but is so rich and influential that people have let her think she does.

And yes, she puts kale chips in her chocolate chip cookies. And they're made with bean flour and no real sugar. She says her friends and kids all rave about them.

To sum up, this is a supposedly vegetarian, gluten free, allergen free cookbook filled with recipes that use meat, gluten and allergens, written by a woman with very little cooking experience but a whole lot of money, filled with bad recipes. Sorry to be harsh, but this book should not have been printed and if it weren't for her money and influence I really don't think it would have been.

This a great cookbook with multiple simple and easy to follow recipes with fantastic changes to make them healthy, vegan and gluten-free. The only challenge I found was that some of the recipes called for ingredients that I am not able to get locally but I will continue to be on the lookout for.

Thank you Net Galley for my ARC for a fair and honest review.

This is probably not going to end up being in regular rotation for me although I will be trying a few such as Grandma's Nondairy Sweet Potato Pie. It does include meat recipes so I won't be making those. The photos in this book do not present the food very appetizingly.

I hate to give a negative review to another cook working with limited ingredients, but I was not impressed with this book. The continuous "shut up" language throughout, while it doesn't offend me, is not cute, funny, or necessary. The recipes are pretty basic, beginner recipes. I am a little confused as to why some of the ingredients the author's family cannot eat showed up in her recipes in this book all about how to cook for special diets.

Super easy recipes with everyday ingredients! I think people will really enjoy this cookbook and will love to have this book in their collection!

This book starts with great healthy inspired food information and a nice look inside the author’s actual story, and why she calls this book, “Shut up and cook!”

As for the recipes, I admit that at the beginning, it seemed like the author was going in a direction of only vegan-ish recipes-but turns out, her recipes DO twist and turn quite nicely! I’m pretty dang sure anyone can find a nice handful of favorite looking recipes to bookmark-like I have!

All in all, this cookbook felt really personal to me. Her personality really shines brightly, bubbly and authentic. I felt like I was reading a book that a really good friend would have written! I thought Erica Reid did a really nice job here with her BEAUTIFUL and HEALTHY intention!

Some great recipes to follow. Nice and straightforward. Great book!

I was attracted to this book because I've been looking for easy, healthy recipes. I decided to take the time to read the introductory sections before browsing the recipes. In them, the author makes lots of claims that can easily influence people who are ignorant of science. But most of these are based on her own ideas and conclusions based on "some experts say...."
She uses the phrase "millions and millions of people in the world" quite often, which can sway people who don't understand science to believe what she's saying. And, unfortunately, many people make health decisions based on "beliefs" rather than science. There's a whole list of things she doesn't use in her recipes because "some experts suggest" some hazard, but she has no scientific evidence to back it up. She claims "millions of people are sensitive to [insert food} and don't even realize it."
While the author is careful to use language that is unimpeachable, it's still dangerous and misleading.

For that reason, I'm not a fan of this book. It may have good recipes that I might try, but I'm opposed to someone with little scientific expertise (clearly, from the way she writes) stating adverse health effects without even knowing whether science backs it up. It would be better to leave all this baloney out of the book and just share recipes. She can state that she doesn't include certain foods (and list them only) because she or her family don't like those foods, but shouldn't preach things that aren't accurate. I'd give this book a 0 star if I could for that reason.

2 Stars

Review limited to Goodreads due to rating.

Definitely not a fan of this cookbook. I don't think it was as catastrophic as some of the other reviewers have written, but also didn't see it as "inviting" and approachable as other books within the same dietary lifestyle publications. On that note, one must remember this publication does have a specific targeted audience it has been written for. I would say that I identified MAYBE 10 recipes I would make.

Received via Netgalley for honest review.

It seems that dozens of cookbook authors have stepped onto the bandwagon to present books that feature recipes that are mostly plant-based, gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian, etc. Shut Up and Cook!: Modern, Healthy Recipes That Anyone Can Make and Everyone Will Love is one of these cookbooks, touting recipes that are healthy for everyone, even those with special diets. And while the author, Erica Reid has reasons for the title “Shut Up,” meaning stop making excuses and start to cook healthy, the phrase is still demeaning (growing up we were not allowed to tell each other to “shut up,” so this has a negative connotation for me), and is a definite turn-off to me as far as this cookbook.

Even with the negative title, Reid has a cute personality and it shows through in her vignettes and musings between and in the introductions to the recipes. Her philosophy of cooking healthy is good and probably worth adapting for those who have family members with special diets. However, the recipes aren’t really designed for mainstream cooks who don’t feed people with special needs, and although the recipes are probably appealing to those with special diets, they aren’t particularly exciting to those of us who just feed normal people with normal dietary needs.

The recipes are well-written and easy to understand. Most call for ingredients that are easy to obtain, and most of the ingredients are healthy and could be a benefit to everyone. Reid’s recipe for Jerk Chicken was very good, although I substituted breasts for the thighs and drumsticks since we don’t like dark meat, and we also loved the very easy and refreshing Orange and Fennel Salad.

Reid chooses to omit beef and pork from her family’s diet, so there are no recipes for these meats in the book. However, there are recipes for turkey, lamb, chicken, and fish (the Ginger Salmon is quite good and it’s quick and easy). She also uses turkey bacon.

All told, this is a cookbook that will appeal mostly to people who must keep special diets in mind when cooking. The pictures are nice, and some of the recipes will appeal to everyone, but it probably won’t be a favorite “go-to” cookbook when deciding on something quick, easy, and appetizing to make for dinner.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

A beautiful book with gorgeous photos. Lots of fresh and tasty ideas for revitalising your diet and adding plenty of vegetables. I personally do eat both gluten and dairy, but this book contains many wonderful ideas for those who prefer to avoid them. As a UK reader I did find some of the ingredients and measurements challenging, but this would not affect American readers. Suitable for anyone seeking to improve their diet, with recipes suited to children as well as adults.

A friendly, easy to read recipe book for the whole family. Great photos with easy methods. The ingredients are all simple and easy to find which is a huge plus! Have made a few recipes from the book already including the blueberry muffins which were delicious! I look forward to trying more soon.

I thought this was a great book for people who don't always cool but always have wanted to. The organization was easy to follow and the recipes were interesting without being overwhelming.

A great collection of healthy recipe that won't scare people away. These use items that can be found at any grocery store and many of them are quick and easy to make. Great to add to any collection.

Healthy recipes with wonderful ingredients for the modern generation..........

I love to cook and I love to cook healthy for my family. I have been looking for books lately that will not only give me new and tasty recipes but recipes that are healthy and do not taste like cardboard.. I want my family to enjoy my cooking as much as I enjoy cooking for them. There are tons of recipes in this book that are not only healthy alternatives but taste great. I tried a few recipes out this book already. They are actually easy to make and some are simple alternatives and you won't miss any of the bad stuff in the normal cookbook recipes. I also learned a few things from this book about healthy cooking.

I really enjoyed this cookbook. I loved the graphics of all the food, even though my recipes never seem to look quite like the picture. I also loved how easy the directions were to follow in the recipes. I think this book would be good for people who are just starting out in cooking. I think that the author did a very good job writing this book .

Shut Up and Cook is a vibrant book full of information and recipes designed to make healthy eating more understandable and less confusing. There’s so much information in the press today about what’s good or not to eat, but this book sticks to the useful info. There is quite a long introduction which I have to say I didn’t read all of – I skipped through to my favourite bits: the recipes!

The dishes themselves focus on combinations with options that are free of foods which can often cause allergies or upset in people. Some meats and animal products, such as poultry and fish, are included but there are plenty of vegetarian options too, and options without eggs, dairy etc.

Many of the recipes are easy to adapt and they’re mostly pretty simple and easy to follow, using many staples which you’re liked to have in your cupboard along with some generally easy to find fresh ingredients. The ‘load em up’ veggie stir fry, for example, is an easy weeknight dinner and there are some tasty desserts that look really delicious but also pretty healthy, which is always tricky to find. There’s a section on vegetable crisps which inspired me, as a huge crisp fan, to try some different variations, and some interesting spins on other classic dishes too, which I really liked.

I really liked the images in this book – not every recipe is shown as an image which is a shame, as I always like to see what the final dish should look like – but the ones that are included are really lovely, which makes flicking through it and noting down recipes that I’d like to try a far more enjoyable experience!

I imagine this would be perfect for someone just starting out in learning how to cook, or perhaps more specifically how to cook healthily. There’ll be plenty of options for every type of diet, whether you eat meat, dairy, eggs etc or not. I personally don’t have any issues with any types of foods, but it must be useful for those who do to have some other options without troublesome ingredients.

Reid delivers 100% as promised on the cover. "Shut Up and Cook" is a rich abundance of creative recipes that all do the body good (and this body in particular highly recommends the double-dip black bean dip),

Beautiful pictures, easy to understand recipes- this makes a great cookbook for anyone who is a little scared to start cooking. I love the author's philosophy of cooking...... get over your fear of making mistakes & just have fun in the kitchen.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.