Run Fast Eat Slow – Cookbook Review

If you follow me on any other social media outlet (Instagram, Snapchat: @therunnersplate), you know how much I’ve been loving the Run Fast Eat Slow cookbook. When I first bought it, I was excited about it but wasn’t too sure how much I would use it.

Well, after several months of owning it, I can honestly say I make at least one recipe from the cookbook every week. I love that it was written by runners, for runners. The recipes are truly healthy and most of them quite good! The things I’ve made have been easy and contain ingredients that can easily be found at any grocery store. I am so glad I bought the cookbook and plan to pre-order the second edition when it comes out! (Shalane and Elyse just announced they will be making a second cookbook. How exciting is that? Maybe they will call it: Eat Fast Run Slow since that’s how it often comes out of my mouth. Oops!)

Here’s a compilation of the recipes I’ve tried and what I thought about each one of them.

Can’t Beat Me Smoothie

This is a family favorite! I make this at least once a week, and Craig and Cullen both love it. It took me a while to get used to the earthiness of beets, but there’s enough sweetness from the banana and frozen fruit to compensate for it.

Coconut-Kale Smoothie

This is our other go-to smoothie recipe. The coconut flavor from the coconut water compliments the kale nicely. The almond butter adds some staying-power, and I love the flavor of the ginger in it as well. I know it wouldn’t taste as good or be as smooth if it weren’t for our high-powered Vitamix, which was worth every penny!

Grapefruit Carrot Berry Smoothie

I have only made this once, but I liked it! It mostly tasted like grapefruit, which isn’t a bad thing. I’m not really sure why I haven’t made it again, but I think I need to change that.

Superhero Muffins

Of any recipe from this cookbook, this is by far the most popular recipe I seen again and again on social media. I like the muffins, but I’ve had better (and ones that were just as healthy). I tried making them a second time because I was starting to think I messed something up on the recipe the first time around, but once again I didn’t love them as much as I thought I would. Craig really liked them, which I was surprised about because he isn’t really a muffin-person.

Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos

I have made this recipe at least three times already, and I plan to continue making these. I love how quick and easy they are to grab in the morning and reheat in a pinch. They’re filled with eggs, spinach, chili beans, and cheese, and it doesn’t take long to throw them together.

Giddy-Up Energy Bites

I love the concept of having a pre-workout snack that is homemade and not a pre-packaged, highly processed energy gel or chew. But, let’s be honest, I just ate these for a snack and never used them before a workout because I workout on an empty stomach almost every day. They were really good though!

Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Scones

I’m not sure what happened, but these did not look that pretty after I baked them. They kind of melted when I baked them, so I’m not sure if I did something wrong with the butter. I also didn’t love the flavor. I thought there was a little too much lemon zest in them, and the consistency was odd with so much cornmeal.

26.2 Trail Mix

I made this trail mix for the training group I coach. I liked it, it was customizable, but there also wasn’t anything too special about it. The 0.2 part had you add some cinnamon and salt to the mix, which was kind of unique.

Kale-Radicchio Salad with Farro

This was the first recipe I made. I remember liking it, but also wasn’t blown away by it. It is definitely your typical ‘healthy’ salad, but that’s not to say it is a bad recipe. I would make it again, but it isn’t something I found myself craving again.

Omega Sardine Salad

This was the first time I tried sardines, and I just couldn’t do them. I tried to eat the salad on a couple separate occasions, but the sardine flavor was just too much for me. If you like sardines, I think this would be a really good recipe. It seemed like there was a lot of other things in the salad to give it some really good flavor.

Burst Cherry Tomato Linguine with Shrimp

I tried this recipe a while back but wasn’t too excited about it. It probably didn’t help that I had some really fishy shrimp. (First time experiencing that.) I would be willing to try this again.

Greek Bison Burgers

Now, this, THIS was an awesome recipe. Super quick to throw together and downright delicious. I made the recipe twice in one week they were so good. One of my favorites!

Avocado Cream

This is an awesome vegan cream sauce that could be used on a variety of things. I used it on the Greek Bison Burgers, and it took them to another level.

Cocoa-Coconut Macaroons

I wasn’t too impressed with these. I liked them but didn’t love them.

Coffee-Vanilla Peanut Butter

They saved my favorite recipe for last in the cookbook. I cannot tell you how much this peanut butter rocks! The combination of the ground coffee and vanilla make it (hands-down) the best peanut butter I have ever had. The added sugar does take away from some of the nutritional value, but I halved the sugar–adding 1/3 cup, and it was still dynamite.

All in all, I highly recommend the book. There is a lot more to the cookbook in terms of recommending different recipes for different ailments (digestive distress, muscle aches and recovery, stress fractures, etc.) and giving a lot of helpful cooking tips. I am excited to try more recipes! If you have tried any of the recipes, comment below and tell me what I should try next!