Our Recipes

Back in the late 70’s, someone had an idea to compile a cookbook from current artists’ photos and favorite recipes, but the project was left unfinished. Rediscovered decades later, we get to see opened a time capsule of the era, revealing a curious assemblage that reveals the artists and the period, in a highly intimate and personal way. You can certainly use this cookbook in the standard sense – sections include “Breakfast,” “Appetizers,” etc.

Readers may be aware that Stephanie Izard has won several coveted awards such as Top Chef and Iron Chef. She also owns three acclaimed restaurants, and now she has written a beautifully designed cookbook, which I found both enjoyable and practical. I love the idea of casual dining, and many of the recipes in this book are great for that purpose. But what I first noticed is the exciting and inventive dishes. While I wouldn’t think of having Grilled Pork Belly with Sauce Green, Peaches, and Blackberries, it does sound new and different. In fact, after going through the selection of dishes in the book, I was inspired to think of ways that I could add more fruit to savory dishes.

What better way to get kids interested in healthy eating than to get them into the kitchen? Ruby Roth, who has written and illustrated a number of other books for kids, has created an amazing children’s cookbook with The Help Yourself Cookbook for Kids. Unlike so many other cookbooks that seem to rely on processed ingredients and an abundance of sweet treats, this cookbook seeks to get kids interested in real food; these recipes are packed full of fresh fruits and veggies, “superfoods,” whole grains, and nuts. Kids can make five-minute tomato sauce to use on pasta or pizza, Broc-O-Tree Bisque (a delicious — and green — broccoli soup), a variety of salads, and yes, even desserts like No-Bake Chocoballs or No-Bake Coconut Grass Shacks.

Jesse Kropelnicki has been a coach for athletes for a long time, but, in addition to coaching their physical aspects, he extended his training into feeding the athletes the correct foods to increase their performances. And thus we have The Endurance Training Diet and Cookbook. The book is in two parts with equal lengths: in the first part, he discusses athletes’ diets and nutrition in detail. This is a very good and useful section for any athlete, yet it may apply to anyone physically active. Kropelnicki developed a specific diet for athletes he calls a Core Diet, a nutritionally balanced diet relying mostly on core foods of fish, lean meats, lean dairy, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes. He includes many useful and informative sidebars and nice photo illustrations of performing athletes. Excellent tables (Fueling Windows, Carb-Loading Examples) are scattered throughout.