I loved this so-much-more-than-a-cookbook book. The author gives out sound and reasonable advice on nutrition and manages to make it extremely interesting! The recipes are wonderful (at least the ones I've tried); simple, but elegant and delicious. I would highly recommend this book to anyone serious about eating healthier (while actually enjoying the food). ( )

A satisfying addition to the sub-genre of culturally oriented nutrition texts. Well researched and written sound nutritional advice and dozens of recipes. No pitures of prepared dishes but as a radio aficionado I can do the presentation in my head. Like my grandmother's over-cooked roast beef - well done! ( )

I am interested in books about healthy eating, and I thought this would be an interesting take on the subject. It was pretty good in many ways, although there was nothing particularly new.

One of the reasons I was interested in this book was that I was wanting to learn more about how a vegetarian could keep kosher, given the fairly strict dietary laws, at least at certain times of the year. I was quite disappointed in this, though, as the only thing Rubin says about vegetarianism is that people are allowed to skip eating meat on feast days, because the point of eating meat is supposed to be a celebration, and she guesses it might be possible to celebrate without eating meat. I am paraphrasing, obviously, but that was the general tone--the whole section (a very short one) seems to be in response to meat-eaters who are trying to harangue their vegetarian friends and family into eating meat on feast days. There is no information at all on how to incorporate a vegetarian diet into the kosher laws.

On the other hand, the recipes are good. I have an allergy to milk, and I find a lot of good dairy-free recipes in Jewish collections, to be paired with meat dishes, which I of course skip. The book is worth having for the recipes alone, which is good, because I wasn't terribly impressed with the first section of advice. ( )

I am no nutrition expert and, with all the "health" information out there; new studies that clearly contradict each other, it's hard to know what to believe. Fortunately, Chana Rubin wrote Food for the Soul in a practical, readable way. She simplified otherwise complicated facts and explained the basics of eating well. Beyond its informative aspect, the book also provided healthy choices for everyday and fleshed out nutritional drivel in a way that made sense and was actually interesting. The latter part of the book is dedicated to various recipes that sound delicious and are fairly easy to prepare. Overall, Food for the Soul provides a good reference and does a good job of highlighting key information in the vast sea of nutritional data out there. ( )

This book simply rehashes most of the information about maintaining a healthy lifestyle that is heard on the news of on cooking shows that focus on healthy lifestyles. Having grown up in a home where my mother was a dietician, most of the first portion of the book was old news to me. The book, however, is very readable and informative for someone who lacks basic knowledge about healthy lifestyles. It will be easily understood my most readers. Toward the end of the narrative portion of the book, the author addresses specific concerns of her Jewish audience. The last part of the book consists of recipes which focus on the use of whole grains and fresh ingredients. Most of the recipes look tasty and should add a great deal of flavor to the diet without the high calorie counts of some other choices. It would have been nice to have photographs of most or at least some of the recipes. An extensive bibliography is included. ( )