Health Nut: A Feel-Good Cookbook

by Jess Damuck

A USA TODAY bestseller, Health Nut is the playful, accessible, and irresistible cookbook from the nationally bestselling author of Salad Freak, Jess Damuck, that gives the genre a delicious update and challenges our expectations on what health food can be.

"Remarkably down-to-earth . . . Approachable, beautiful food.” — Eater

“The perfect balance of being craveable yet wholesome...If you’re not already cooking your way through this vibrant book, pray tell, what are you doing?” —Molly Baz, former senior food editor at Bon Appétit and New York Times bestselling cookbook author

When good-for-you food tastes like this, it’s pretty easy to be a health nut. With more than 100 of her favorite recipes that feel good to eat (and look beautiful on your plate), Jess turns her talent for creating gorgeous, obsession-worthy recipes to traditional health food.

These recipes are perfect for a dinner party, but also doable for any busy weeknight, with dishes such

Orange-Scented Tahini French Toast Black Bean Tostadas with Avocado and Crispy Leeks Tuna, Avocado, and Grapefruit with Seed Crackers Charred Cabbage with Mushroom Butter Peach and Burrata Caprese with Hot Honey Charred Broccoli Salad with Almonds and Spicy Green Goddess Zucchini and Pistachio Pesto Pizza Halibut with Sungolds, Fennel, and Saffron Roasted Cauliflower Flatbreads with Spicy Tahini and Sumac Onions Mushroom “Carnitas” Tacos with Citrusy Radish Slaw Broccoli Pasta with Peas and Pecorino Date-Sweetened Carrot Cake Oat Bars with Rhubarb Ginger Jam Vegan Baklava Ice Cream
Health Nut is the playful, accessible, and irresistible new health-food cookbook that gives the genre a delicious update, amping up the colors, textures, and flavors, and challenging our expectations on what health food can be. Whether healthy eating is your norm or you are just looking to try something new, this book is all about making simple, irresistible food that you will want to eat again and again.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

293 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 26, 2024

Reviews

[Jenna L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am offering myself up as a recipe tester. This book desperately needs one. I have scoured the internet to find a fixes to the Oat Bars with Rhubarb Ginger Jam and have found none. So I'm posting here hoping to trade fixes with other readers.
The recipe calls for vanilla but never says where to put it. I added to the jam.
The recipe calls for salt but never says where to put it. I added it to the crust.
The recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups flour but never says where to put it. I put blended it with the oats in the crust.
The recipe says to press half the dough into the pan but never says what to do with the other half. I mixed it with the remaining oats and cinnamon and scattered on top.
Plus, the recipe calls for 454 grams of rhubarb, or two stalks. I used four long stalks and got just 250 grams of rhubarb. Adjusted the strawberries, as well, so that the proportions would be the same. And I still got much more jam than she said it would make.
Jess, I love the concept and would be happy to help you work out the details. Fellow readers, lemme know what you tried to make this recipe work!

[Jenna Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Salad Freak and even though I’m not a health nut, I was very open to this since I wasn’t a salad freak either. But there are so many mistakes in this cookbook - the asparagus calls for butter but never tells you when to add it. The congee calls for greens but never tells you how to cook them. The crispy rice bowl calls for cooked rice - when it should be leftover day-old rice. I don’t know the attention to detail is just disappointing and not consistent with her last cookbook. Have yet to make a recipe that really wows me.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book that is supposed to be focussed on how it was shocking, how many eggs were in so many of the recipes including cheese and other animal products. I think we know by now that these ingredients are not health giving.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially, this was a two-star book. I picked it up because it was recommended in Benny Blanco's book, which I enjoyed. This is a mostly vegetarian cookbook, by the author of a salad cookbook I had also read and not loved but got some ideas from. The book relied too much on vibes and not enough on recipe content. There are steps missing from a few recipes - like they include ingredients, but don't say when or where to add them. She doesn't really get into why she eats this way, only that she grew up eating like this in the Hamptons, then went to culinary school and to work for Martha Stewart. It's not a compelling story. There is also no nutritional information, and she talks a lot about her boyfriend. There easily could have been pictures of every recipe, but there isn't. But there are some random pictures of deserts and greenery.

On the upside, the Marther Stewart green juice is amazing. I liked learning more about The Source and their yummy salad. And the bit about Ram Dass was enough to pique my interest. So, those things all made this worth checking out.

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This cookbook has potential but there’s a lot of errors or omissions in the recipes that are frustrating and make the book seem like it was not recipe tested.

I think there’s some great ideas in here but I found a lot of the recipes were lacking in flavor, and tasted more like a beige canvas than a fully formed recipe.

The lentil loaf for example is a rather involved recipe, but the end result is rather lacking in flavor and could use a heavy addition of herbs, garlic, or soy sauce.

I was excited to buy this based but it feels more like an instagram coffee table book than a cookbook that I actually use often.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have way too many cookbooks. I don't need to buy another cookbook. That said, I borrowed this from the library and immediately went out and bought a copy. This well-written highly engaging and entertaining cookbook is visually appealing. It seeks to provide healthy recipes that are delicious, and for the most part, not super crazy time-consuming to make. Excited for this cookbook and I can't wait to make all the recipes.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy this cookbook! Every recipe I tried has been delicious. I love the pictures and the stories throughout. There is a lot of nostalgia and it made me sorta fall in love with California. I am not vegetarian or vegan but like to cook some meatless meals each week. The recipes for me were new and combined unexpected flavors together. I have already recommended this book to several people. Love it!

[Danielle Booey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took tons of pictures of recipes from this cookbook.

Pros: good pictures of the food, a how to make sauces section so they are all easily accessible, and most of the ingredients are things you will already have.

Cons: Lots of dates in place of sugar, which she readily admits at the beginning haha

I’m excited to try the carrot salad, the salmon bowl with edamame and crunchy rice, the pistachio pesto, and the smashed beets.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this better than Salad Freak, and it's very much along the same lines. The health stuff was a little meh, and certainly not the most accessible of cookbooks, though the food is quite lovely and expensive. Didn't have lay-flat binding, but most recipes had photos. Largely vegetarian, and quite vegan/GF/DF friendly, as to be expected.

[Lisa Citron · Rating 4 out of 5]

counting cookbooks because this one I read cover to cover. Beautiful photos and delicious-sounding recipes I am looking forward to trying. Salad Freak remains a favorite cookbook in our house, so hoping for continued success with this one!

[Kristen Gehrig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made the peanut butter cookies but they seemed to be missing flour. The batter was runny so I baked them in muffin tins and I think I added 10 minutes because they were not done at 25 mins. The bottoms burned from the extra time. If anyone knows how to fix the recipe, I’m all ears! They tasted pretty good but dense.

[Isabel Duran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved how simple and flavorful all the dishes i’ve made so far are. The best thing is i don’t have to worry about if what im going to cook is healthy or not bc it always is! It’s all food that makes me feel good and is so satisfying.

[Amanda Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really surprised at how many mistakes/typos/disappearing ingredients there were for a second book. Numerous recipes I re-read just to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not over the top

granola hippie as I expected. Great focus on seasonal and fresh, a bit too much tofu for me. Recipes aren't written extremely well, but are creative.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salad freak made me want to be an entirely different person. Health nut made me want to go to the farmers market. Both good but not the same intensity perhaps

[elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was going to be right up my alley (an homage to 70s/Moosewood-type cookbooks, love and nostalgia for the health food store, gomasio!), but it's also gorgeous and she's quite funny.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Recipe errors, steps missing, ingredients listed that are never mentioned in the actual directions. And a very pretentious, slightly moralistic, quite smug vibe overall. Cannot recommend.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine, but nothing really stood out to me.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read with great, healthy recipes to try.

[KathleenB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of basic, but might try some of the smoothies

[Elizabeth]

As heard on The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters (808: Garden to Plate: Delicious Summer Recipes and Cooking Ideas with Jess Damuck and Ashley Christensen)

This week, we’ve got delicious cooking ideas to brighten your summer. First, author Jess Damuck talks to us about her vegetable-forward food inspired by the 1970s health-food culture. She talks about revamping 1970’s health-food classics and re-working recipes with a modern eye to make them taste great. She leaves us with her recipe for Lentil Loaf. Jess Damuck’s latest book is Health Nut: A Feel-Good Cookbook. Then, we head to North Carolina to catch up with Chef Ashley Christensen.  She takes on listener questions with Francis and shares some mind-blowing thinking around working with seasonal produce, including an idea a delicious, simple corn cob stock. Ashley is the chef at Poole’s Diner and Death & Taxes in Raleigh, NC, and author of the cookbooks Poole’s and It’s Always Freezer Season. She left us with a delicious recipe for Charred Summer Squash.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 16, 2024 (originally aired) August 1, 2025 (rebroadcast)

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