Buying food that's grown nearby, as locavores do, is a popular trend with cooks. Ms. Steele's cookbook helps readers find the right balance for their lifestyles, and lays out the benefits of supporting local food growers.
Food Tips, Tricks and Thoughts
The first part of Ripe is more about thinking than cooking. Ms. Steele provides thoughtful reasons why it might be important for a shopper to buy locally-grown foods rather than products that have been shipped to their nearby grocer. Some other food tips include:
- Avoiding nutritional stress
- Being mindful of nutritional needs
- The benefits of a shorter food chain
- Tips for composting, gardening and green housecleaning
Vegan Recipes
Ripe is filled with recipes for drinks, breakfast, breads, dips, appetizers, salads, dressings, sauces, soups, sides, entrees and desserts. Entrees, which can be daunting for a new vegan, include some delicious ideas, such as Baked Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers, Zucchini Boats and Coconut Curry with Seasonal Vegetables. Side dishes include Ginger Glazed Carrots (a recipe from Renee Loux), Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Wild Rice with Wild Leeks.
Summary
Ripe reads well with just the right kind of encouraging tone on food subjects that can sometimes be controversial. Readers can decide for themselves how much of the lifestyle advice suits them without feeling as though they're supposed to perform a complete kitchen makeover. There are plenty of recipes to cover all meal needs, and they're easy enough for a beginner to follow. The gardening and composting sections are especially useful for space-deprived city dwellers. A useful, informative, cook-inspiring book.
Title: Ripe From Around Here
Author: Jae Steele
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010, $23.95, 263 pgs.
Recipe Excerpt:
Squash Au Gratin
Ingredients:
- 1 medium butternut squash
- 2 medium heads garlic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 -1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (gluten-free is okay) or toasted nuts
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash lengthwise, remove the seeds, oil the surface, and place face down on baking sheet.
- Trim the top third from garlic heads. Brush with oil and wrap in foil.
- Bake the squash and garlic for 45 minutes, until tender.
- Scrape out the squash flesh into a large bowl. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their papery skins and add to the squash. Mash together until incorporated and add the oil. Sample some to see if it's rich-tasting enough; if your squash is on the larger side, you may want to add some more oil. Stir in the parsley and season well with salt and pepper.
- Place the mix in a lightly-oiled baking dish, sprinkle the breadcrumbs or tasted nuts over top, drizzle with a little extra oil, and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy.
- Makes 6 or more servings.
More Vegan/Vegetarian Cookbooks:
Double Take: Feeding Vegetarians & Omnivores Together
Trevy Thomas - After more than a decade of food writing, Trevy Thomas joined Suite 101 as Feature Writer for the Home Décor and Cookbooks ...
