Review: The Fiber Fueled Cookbook

I'll start with this: I LOVE DR. WILL B!! I read the plant-based gastroenterologist's first book, Fiber Fueled, when Paul started having gut issues in 2021. I was hoping maybe I'd learn some things that could help him. And I did, but it was too late for Paul. He had perforated diverticulitis and ended up having two surgeries to correct it — all because he didn't eat enough fiber. And though I couldn't do much to help his situation, I learned so much about the gut microbiome in the process.

The original Fiber Fueled has a four-week meal plan that I still intend to do one day as a reset (and hopefully, I can get Paul on board, but the man still struggles to eat enough fiber ... but that's a different story for a different time). But I was so excited when Dr. Will B's new book — The Fiber Fueled Cookbook — came out. 

This book features full-color photos of beautiful, whole food-plant-based, fiber-filled meals. There are entire chapters and special recipes for people dealing with FODMAP issues and histamine issues (and Dr. B. teaches you how to heal your gut if those are your struggles). I don't have any major gut problems (except I do get gassy sometimes! TMI!), but there's a whole chapter of Fiber Fueled Unleashed recipes. There's also a chapter on fermentation that includes sourdough starter instructions, how to bake sourdough bread, recipes for using sourdough discard and recipes for ferments (like kraut, kvass, fermented soda and more). And there's a sprouting chapter that's ignited my love for growing my own broccoli and lentil sprouts.

So far, I've made a few recipes, and I intend to work my way through the whole book. My favorite so far has been this Tempeh Skillet with Saffron Rice. It has tasty marinated tempeh with bell peppers and zucchini served over saffron rice. I never know what to do with saffron, but it's so fun and tasty.

This Coco Nana Smoothie Bowl was awesome. The base was bananas, cocoa powder, peanut butter, hemp, date, and vanilla, and it's topped with coconut, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and more peanut butter.

Here's the Mango Blueberry Smoothie, which was made without banana because it was in the histamine chapter. Bananas are high histamine — for people who have issues with that. I don't, but I thought I'd try a banana-less smoothie anyway. It was good!

This was the Chickpea Glow Bowl, and it was fantastic. It had a quinoa base that's topped with sauteed tofu and chickpeas, plus parsley and fresh cucumbers. I loved the contrast of cool and hot.

The Summer Sunburst Salad had Dr. B's tofu feta mixed with quinoa, spinach, bell peppers, white beans, scallions, and parsley. Such a fresh and fun dish for summer!

After reading the sourdough chapter, I decided to start making my own sourdough (yea, I'm about two years late to the pandemic sourdough game). I started my starter this week and named her after my favorite actress, Chloe Sevigny. Meet Doughy Sevigny!

There are so many more dishes from this book that I want to try. Tomorrow, I'm planning to make the Simple Spaghetti with Garlicky Kale (pasta with olive oil, shallots, garlic, and kale), and on Sunday, I'll make the Sourdough Pancakes with my discard. Also on my list: the Nashville Not Chicken (made with tofu), Pozole (because I love hominy!), Vegetable Ceviche (another recipe with hominy), Sweet Potato Shawarma Bowl, the Creamy Cajun Bow, the Tuscan Flatbread and Cookie Milk (to name a few!). I'll also be making Dr. B's sourdough bread this weekend and his fermented Smokey Pineapple and Tomato Salsa.