Two great books on cooking for health, deliciousness and pleasure.

Maybe your New Year’s resolution was to cook more and eat better, and now it is two months in and you have a serious case of the blahs in the kitchen. Or maybe you have been a dedicated home cook for years but are always looking for inspiration. Maybe you don’t really know how to cook and don’t know where to start. Well look no further, we have two great books to recommend!

Real Food All Year: Eating Seasonal Whole Foods for Optimal Health & All-Day Energy by Nishanga Bliss, MSTCM, L.Ac.

What a gem this small book is. Nishanga Bliss explains seasonal eating (which is really about eating what is in season, when it is in season) from a Chinese Medicine perspective. Every time I pick this book up I learn something! The information is solid and accessible, and she has recipes for every season. She also teaches you how to make fermented foods and drinks, and how to sprout nuts, beans and grains for maximum digestibility and nutrition. Do not be misled – these recipes are simple and so yummy. She even has a recipe for chocolate truffles in the winter section. That’s right – healthy truffles! This book should be mandatory reading for anyone with a body.

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler

Before becoming a sous chef at Alice Waters’ famed Chez Panisse restaurant, Tamar Adler was an editor for Harper’s Magazine. The woman can write! Even if you never go in your kitchen to do anything other than make toast, you will enjoy this read. An Everlasting Meal is less a cookbook and more an approach to making the most out of life. From her I learned to have a jar of homemade “green sauce” in the fridge at all times as it can make even the most simple food celebratory. And novice cooks, you can relax, the first chapter is entitled “How to Boil Water.” Another chapter, “How to Snatch Victory from the Jaws of Defeat,” teaches us how to save what otherwise might be a ruined dish.

With these two books by your side you can improve your cooking, improve your health and enjoy your culinary life that much more. Bon Appetit!

Holly Anderson, L.Ac.