High-Protein Plant Based Diet for Beginners is a great breakdown of a plant-based diet. It lays out key points about being plant-based and provides weekly meal options and recipes. This is a great guide for those that are seeking basic information and a general starting point to going plant-based.

The beginner’s guide: understanding the diet, understanding plant-based protein, setting up your kitchen, 4 weeks meal plan, plus a ton of recipes. Very detailed information about the vegan diet.

I requested this advance reader copy from NetGalley because I’m always looking for new, healthy recipes. I was pretty thrilled to realize contains weekly menu plans, with grocery and prep lists to boot! I was impressed with the number of recipes that I definitely plan on making (I’m picky, and usually only find one or two recipes in new cookbooks). I’m excited to get cooking!

High-Protein Plant-Based Diet for Beginners by Maya A. Howard
Quick and Easy Recipes for Everyday Meals

A book that will be useful to novice vegan cooks ~ One I can see buying to gift a friend starting a WFPB vegan diet.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Beginners Guide
4 Week Meal Plan
Breakfast
Smoothies and Drinks
Soups and Stews
Main Meals
Snacks and Desserts
Everyday Staples: Sauces, Spreads, and Dressings
Cooking Conversionis
Resources
References

Index

What I liked:
* Nutritional information was included for each recipe
* Introduction expressed the goal of the book and the goal was achieved
* The recipes sounded tasty
* There were familiar and ethnic flavor profiles
* Information was easy to find
* The layout of information
* Complementary protein explanation
* Fast food ideas
* Flavoring boosters
* Substitutions were suggested
* Basic recipes for plant milk, dressings, sauces were included
* If I could find the ingredients locally I would be willing to try many of the recipes
* Processed foods were minimal

What I didn’t like:
* Knowing that at this time in Lebanon many of the ingredients are not available or prohibitively expensive.
* It is always nice to have more photos of finished foods but it also increases the price of the book so…on the fence with this…

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I buy it for myself or something else? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Zeitgeist for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

This was a great cookbook that I would definitely use as a resource if I was going to start a plant-based diet. It has a great introduction to it that is really helpful and is easy to understand, and I'll definitely be using some of the recipes because they look amazing.

This is a plant-based Bible. Anyone who is looking to switch to a plant-based diet or even include more plants in their diet needs this! I will definitely be purchasing a copy!
Thank you to Netgalley for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

If you have made the choice to go the whole-food, plant-based food way let me congratulate you. I am sure you are already feeling the benefits of this way of eating.
This book is very thorough in helping people just starting out with this type of eating get the proper protein they need.
Through the shopping lists and many,many recipes included this cookbook has all you need to figure out the most delicious plant based meals for every occasion from snacks to drinks to appetizers to lazy day casual cooking.
Charts along with a tutorial will help you pair together healthy ingredients for a complete protein meal.
As a vegan I highly recommend this book!

Pub Date 24 Aug 2021.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Being a vegan and trying to eat more protein was not so easy for me. This book is exactly what I’m looking for ! Full of tips and delicious recipes this was my answer . The recipes are simple and thoroughly explained with easy accessible ingredients

I was hoping for something different. Instead, it's the same old thing: chia-flax-this-that that every "beginner" I know won't even try, let alone integrate immediately into their diet. This cookbook is for a specific demographic (note the idea that Sunday will be the most likely free day) who already buys into a lot of nonsense ideas and has a high level of disposable income and access to specialty stores. Also, the book"s idea of what is likely to be found only in specialty store is...odd. My regular chain grocery store has all but one of those things and has for a decade.

The meal plan relies heavily on leftovers and doubles ingredients in ways that would burn me out on them quick (lunch: sweet potato-based dish! dinner: sweet potato leftovers from the night before! me: WOULD NEVER WANT TO SEE A SWEET POTATO AGAIN). How many people is this feeding?

Just a big disappointment all around.

As a vegetarian who is dipping her toe into vegan diets, I really enjoyed this book. There is a wide range of recipes in it and the weekly planner at the start of the book gives a good meal plan suggestion. The photos of the food are enticing and the instructions are well set out and easy to follow

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great cookbook. It was filled with wonderful recipes!

When I tell people I am Vegan, without a doubt they will always ask, ‘But how do you get your protein.’ I am sure most vegans have heard this time and time again. In this book, the stereotypical idea that vegans don’t get enough protein from whole foods is thrown out the window. From the very beginning, the book introduces that many plant-based whole foods have adequate amounts of protein, it’s just knowing what foods they are and incorporating them into your diet.

I also appreciate that the author addressed that the Whole Foods Plant-Based (WFPB) diet isn’t like a normal diet. When people think of diet they think of a short-term way of eating that is normally very restrictive and puts people in a scarcity mentality. The WFPB diet isn’t short-term and isn’t restrictive. Yes, there are guidelines to follow because animal products and highly processed foods are not included but you can still eat in abundance.

This book also addresses all the reasons why the WFPB diet is such a good way to eat and ultimately the best way to live. It is not only the based way to eat for a healthy body and mind but also a great long-term solution to the ever-growing problem of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. It also corrects the misconception that Plant-Based eating is more expensive and only for people with a lot of money. Actually, plant-based eating can save you money.

This book is not only great for a wide range of healthy protein-rich recipes that look and sound delicious but it also includes a great guide to help inform people who want to start this diet and also a great refresher for people who are already eating this way. It easily explains the science behind this diet so that you can start your health journey with a good foundation.

Another unique thing I love in this book is that it comes with a four-week meal plan guide that takes you to step by step with what to have each meal for the 4 weeks, as well as a shopping list for each weeks recipes. This will make the task of switching to the WFPB diet a lot easier for people who are just starting and find ut overwhelming. This meal plan will start you out in such a good spot and after the four weeks, I am sure you will find coming up with your own recipes and continuing to eat this way a lot less daunting.

At the end of the book, there is a great list of easy fun, and yummy recipes. I love that at the start of the recipe it includes the amount of protein in the recipe. This is such a nice added feature to make sure you are getting your protein needs.

The set up of the book, giving useful information and laying out a 4 week food plan with all the meals, ingredients, shopping and equipment listed.
If you are starting out with plant-based food, there is even a list of films and interesting reading to get you started at the end of the book.
The recipes themselves are good and simple to follow, but the formatting (at least in Adobe digital editions) makes them hard to read and lacking images, which doesn’t motivate you to follow a plan and stick to it, or even to change all your habits.

This was an informative book on starting a plant based diet. It gave amounts of protein that are appropriate as well as ideas for foods to include in your diet as well as substitutions. The remainder of the books was recipes. While the recipes looked good, I do appreciate books with more photos of the recipes. This book did not have many photos of what the finished product would look like.

I hav been trying to go plant based for awhile and this was very helpful. I struggle with substitutes and what to choose and why so this was a very good start for a beginner. Thank you

Thanks to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the chance to review this cookbook. I think the cover is appealing and visually interesting. I'm not overly familiar with "high protein" style diets, especially those which are primarily plant-based and thus seeking protein from sources outside the typical "meat = protein" mindset. So, it was a welcomed and educational read to see how different foods can supplement that dietary need. That being said, I am by no means a nutritionist or expert in that area, so I have to take the guide at face value. Either way, I think this book could have benefitted more from added visuals to help set it apart from the many other books like it. Yet, I think this one did a fine job of providing straightforward information and an array of options so that anyone can find something to try.

This book by Maya Howard offers an introduction to a high-protein plant-based diet, and contains meal plans and recipes to get started when choosing this type of lifestyle.

Chapter 1 includes a basic introduction to a high-protein whole-food plant-based diet, and what some of the benefits are to choosing this strategy. There is a list of high-protein plant-based foods, suggestions on how to set up your kitchen, as well as cooking methods and plant-based substitutions for other foods.

Chapter 2 Contains the “4-Week Meal Plan”, with meals listed for each day. The rest of the chapters contain all of the recipes: Breakfast, Smoothies and Drinks, Soups and Stews, Main Meals, Snacks and Desserts, and Everyday Staples.

As an example, here are the daily protein totals for the meals listed in the meal plan for Week 1:
Day 1 – 51.5g
Day 2 – 51.6g
Day 3 – 50.7g
Day 4 – 61.2g
Day 5 - 45.2g
Day 6 – 53.4g (61.1grams sugar)
Day 7 – 37.3g

Keep in mind, as the author herself points out, the Recommended Daily Allowance is a MINIMUM of 0.8g per kilogram of body weight for non-active individuals. The author also notes that “other evidence-based recommendations list a range of 1.2g – 1.6g per kilogram of body weight based on an individual's physical activity level”, and three other reputable agencies recommend 1.2g – 2.0g of protein per kilogram of body weight for active individuals.

Doing some simple math, these “Meal Plans” with about 50.1g of protein per day, would therefore contain adequate protein for a non-active person that weighs about 139 pounds, or an “active” person that weighs somewhere between 57 and 94.5 pounds. Since the average American woman weighs around 170 pounds, and the average American man weighs about 197 pounds, (per multiple studies in the past three years), 50.1g of protein is nowhere near enough for most Americans. An average sized slightly “active” American man should need at LEAST 107g of protein, per the author's own numbers (197 / 2.2 = 89.5kg x 1.2 = 107.4 ) The daily meals that the author has constructed here are less than half of that amount of protein. The other issue, is that you also can't simply double the portion sizes, because then your total calories are increased to such high levels, that most people will gain weight when eating that many total calories.

Also, many of these recipes are fairly high in sugar, which most health experts will recognize as one of the worst possible things you can eat. It would be hard to find a doctor that would suggest that it makes sense for you raise your sugar intake, just so you can replace animal proteins with plant proteins; especially if insulin sensitivity is a motivating factor. Both the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization recommend eating no more than 25g of sugar per day, and some of these daily meal plans have 2 – 3 times that amount.

Overall, this is somewhat disappointing, and at least slightly misleading, in my opinion. The author is correct, that if you are a 140 pound, non-active person; it would be possible to follow these plant-based meal plans and possibly get enough daily protein; but for the average-sized person or the active person, these choices would not meet your basic protein needs. It is also very difficult to make an argument that these sugar levels are “healthy”. I do appreciate the nice collection of recipes in this book though, and I think that some of these recipes could be a nice starting point; but it is important to make sure everyone understands their own individual dietary needs, and also the risks associated with inadequate protein consumption.

This is a great resource for new vegans and plan-based eaters. It's full of simple recipes and well-laid out. My only issue is the title isn't exactly accurate, which is what drew me to the book, as I am always looking for high-protein recipes for my active husband. Many of the recipes, while delicious sounding, are definitely NOT high protein. As long as you know this going in, I'd recommend this book to new vegans!

High-Protein Plant-Based Diet for Beginners: Quick and Easy Recipes for Everyday Meals is a great book for those who are seeking a high-protein plant-based diet. As someone who cannot eat much red meat due to an autoimmune disease, this is a great guide to examining good meals and referencing back with a healthcare professional for validity. The recipes are easy to customize, and Maya A Howard presents them easily with great background, conversions, etc. for the reader's ease. The additional resources were also helpful, as were the references for further reading.

I don't like this cookbook. I won't post an online review because I don't post negative reviews online. I think that all good cookbooks should have a photo of every recipe and this one does not have that. I also did not think the recipes looked very good. Thank you anyway.