Dear reader, I hope you know me by now. If you don’t mind, kindly let me begin with a little disclaimer. For me, a book review is not just a book review. It’s not as simple as that. It’s about liking a book so much that it makes it on this blog, on my kitchen counter and in my current reading stash, and everywhere else where I can have it to hand, all at once.
Most of the time I treat cookbooks as if they were reading books. Not all cookbooks lend themselves to this – some show you at first glance they’re not that sort of book and are rightly not marketed as such. These are not my favourite, but I certainly can still see value in them. The reality is that every topic/subject matter (and I’m only referring to food here) translates to different book formats.
That is one of the beautiful things about publishing. I receive numerous books from publishers; some of them send me vegetarian or vegan books on purpose. I’m always on board with that, plus they know I will respond honestly and as objectively as I can on those, as I do with all others (although a review is never totally objective). The book which will eventually win me over will be the one that’s vegetarian (and not pretending to be otherwise) but with recipes so good that I won’t even mind one wee bit. This book is a close contender.
To me, no cookbook is a 100% perfect. Naturally so and by all means that is how it’s supposed to be. Even the most seasoned professional food writer and cook or chef comes out with something that should have been better. There would be no room for improvement and the continued pursuing of excellence if this wasn’t so. We are here to learn and improve day after day. That is our calling.
After Sarah Britton’s first book My New Roots was published in 2015, named after her successful blog, her readers requested a compilation of recipes with a focus on everyday produce easily found in local shops and supermarkets. Naturally Nourished, is a follow-up book and a true response to these requests, which makes it positively different from the previous publication. Sarah moved from daunting, expensive, sometimes inaccessible or unfamiliar ingredients, to recipes that can be made by everyone with ingredients found in your neck of the woods, removing the unnecessary complication of trying to find particular ones in specialty shops. These 100 recipes are made with easily sourced ingredients, and are quick and delicious, so it’s safe to say you’ll never get stuck.
“What writing this book has taught me is that healthy, delicious food doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. I have pushed, learned and high-fived myself more times during its creation than ever before because up against the challenge, I have proved that we can eat well, even on a budget, even on a Tuesday.”
Taking all the photos herself, Sarah has a new set of vegetarian recipes, focussing on mains, sides, soups, salads and both sweet and savoury snacks. From Aubergine Cannelloni, to Warming Chickpea Mushroom Ragout, to a Coconut Cardamom and Blueberry Snack Cake, I’m really liking what I’m seeing here, and I’m no vegetarian. Most of the recipes also includes ‘rollover’ options for when you have leftovers you might want to use in another recipe from the book.
About the author:
Sarah Britton is the acclaimed holistic nutritionist, writer and photographer behind the cookbook My New Roots and the popular healthy food blog of the same name, which won a 2014 Saveur “Best Food Blog” award.
She has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, Bon Appetit, Saveur, and Whole Living, and has spoken at multiple nutrition seminars and workshops throughout North America and Europe. She has been involved in numerous culinary projects, including Noma’s Test Kitchen. She lives in Copenhagen with her husband and son.
Format: Hardback, 256 Pages
ISBN: 9781911127352
Illustrations: Photographs
Size: 10.079 in x 7.52 in / 256 mm x 191 mm
Published: Jun. 15, 2017
Naturally Nourished by Sarah Britton is out now via Jacqui Small Publishing, an imprint of The Quarto Group.
All photos are used with permission by the publisher. Credit: Sarah Britton.
Naturally Nourished was kindly sent by the publisher for review.
Information about the author is extracted from the press release.
This is not a sponsored post.
Chorizo & Thyme 