Heidi Swanson

Swanson's narrative is one of privilege, it is true. A lot of other reviews have mentioned this, with varying degrees of annoyance. The book, however, does not pretend. The minute you touch the embossed hard cover and look at the photos, you know that this is a chichi cookbook (although the recipes are simple), not Betty Crocker's Cookbook or The Joy of Cooking. The subtitle does not lie: "Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel." And traveled she has: India, Japan, Morocco, France, and Italy. show more The photos of the destinations are sometimes so artsy as to feel contrived, but they anchor each section in its own ethos. I haven't yet made any of the recipes, but I am inspired. As a committed omnivore, vegetarian recipes rarely inspire me, but I find her approach to flavors intriguing.

If you are someone who likes hunting down interesting ingredients, you will likely enjoy this book. She isn't writing for someone who does not know anything about ethnic foods, so you will not find explanations and definitions for a lot of the ingredients. I think she could have done more in that regard, and it was a missed opportunity. Overall, however, this is a beautifully produced cookbook, with accessible-but-not-accommodating prose. I'm looking forward to digging in to the recipes. show less

I’ve never reviewed a cookbook before but I thought I’d give it a shot. Besides, it’s a book I love, I’ve cooked many of the recipes, several are now staples, and none have let me down. Since I don’t know where to start with a cookbook review, (I’m sure I don’t really need to do anything different but in my head this is what I’m thinking so go with me.) I thought the best way to do it would be to talk about what gems I found among the recipes.

Confession up front --- I did show more not follow the recipes precisely. I never do when it comes to cooking, and besides I don’t always have all the ingredients, but I’m always sure I can make it work. This is why some of my friends hate cooking with me --- I make it up sometimes!  Isn’t that the beauty of cooking though?

I was planning to include pictures but I don’t want you to judge the food by my awful camera work. If you check out the author’s blog, 101 cookbooks, (which you should do because it’s a wonderful blog and she includes not only the most tasty food but is an amazing photographer) she has food photos so fabulous they’ll make you want to lick your screen. Yep, I said that. Moving on…

This is a book of vegetarian recipes, I eat veggie for the most part, and my husband is a good sport and willing to try most things. The beautiful thing about this book is its diversity and mix and match ability of the recipes. I’m sure a few would also work as side dishes for chicken or fish just as well. These are also hearty recipes --- you won’t be hungry an hour later which was a big complaint of my husband when I would make an all veggie meal. He’s yet to say that about any of the recipes from this book. We aren’t big eaters and by that I mean we don’t go in for monster, huge meals but we do like to feel as though we ate dinner.

This book contains recipes for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, drinks, and treats. There is also a section on accompaniments and I’m dying to try and make my own whole grain mustard.

The recipes I’ve tried (which is really a small portion but I do plan to make my way through this one) and loved:

Harissa Ravioli
Tortellini Salad
Tutti-Frutti Crumble (a version of it with my own take)
Broccoli Gribiche (this is seriously one of my favorite recipes in the whole book)
White Beans and Cabbage (another great one and a way to deal with that massive head of cabbage that seems to arrive with our CSA that I don’t know what to do with)
Mostly Not Potato Salad
Wild Rice Casserole
Whole Grain Rice Salad
Open-Face Egg Sandwich

There are a lot of recipes in this book so please don’t let my short list be misleading. This is a cookbook I will go back to and have on several occasions when I don’t know what I want to cook and need ideas. The recipes are easy to follow and while I don’t always have the ingredients on hand, I know that substituting will not cause any major problems. The photos are also fantastic. If you’re looking for something new to add to your kitchen, I recommend this one. show less

Super Natural Cooking is not only written in a down-to-earth and easy to read style, but it's also full of delicious-looking photos - a win-win combination in my opinion. My only criticism of the book - as an Aussie - is that the focus of the book is (not surprisingly) US-centric; I've found that a number the foods Heidi discusses are difficult to find in Australia and/or are quite expensive because they have been imported. Having said that, there are enough very simple recipes (particularly show more sweets and snacks) in the book to start me experimenting. A great introduction to little-used wholefoods. show less

I love this cookbook. The recipes are interesting and challenging. I live in a college town in California with 5 specialty food stores (can you say heaven?) so I have not had a hard time finding some of the more exotic ingredients, but I could imagine it being a challenge elsewhere.

The Mesquite Chocolate Chip cookies are insanely good. I did feel funny eating powdered wood, but that feeling went away with the first bite.

The book is vegetarian! You really do not notice that until you look show more for a meat recipe, but I thought it was sneaky seeing as how it was not mentioned on the cover or in the blurb on the back. show less