Mollie Katzen
Widely credited with bringing healthful, plant-based cooking into the mainstream, Mollie Katzen first gained acclaim as the author and illustrator of the groundbreaking classic Moosewood Cookbook, which was named to the James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2007. With more than 6 million books in print, Mollie is listed by The New York Times as one of the bestselling cookbook authors of all time and has been named by Health magazine as one of the “Five Women Who Changed the Way We Eat.” Since 2003, Mollie has been a consultant to Harvard University Dining Services and co-creator of its new Food Literacy Project.
Mollie’s other popular books include: The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Still Life with Menu, Sunlight Café, Vegetable Heaven, The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without, and the award-winning children’s cookbook trilogy Pretend Soup, Honest Pretzels, and Salad People. In 2006, she collaborated with Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, to write Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less. Mollie’s latest book is Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen, aimed at beginner chefs. The companion Web site, www.get-cooking.com, features a new series of videos with Mollie and friends demonstrating recipes and advice to augment the book. Mollie is also an accomplished artist; examples of her work can be found at www.molliekatzen.com. She lives in Berkeley, California.
Click here for Mollie’s recipes on Cookstr.
The Naked Chef shares how to dress up an exotic and refreshing fall salad.
Jamie Oliver’s Vegetable Bhaji Salad with Sour Cream, Lemon, and CilantroStrips of carrots, red onion, and leeks get coated in a batter made from chickpea flour, cumin, and mustard seeds. After a ride through hot oil and then resting for a moment on some paper towels, the vegetables are delivered to a nest of cucumber threads mingled with arugula—and then to you (and your friends, if you’re willing to share). Spoon the sour cream-lemon-cilantro sauce onto the side for dipping. And here’s where I admit I can’t follow a recipe to save my life: I substituted yogurt, and added some chopped mint. Forgive me, Jamie! I’m sure it was fantastic your way, too.
This pizzeria in Oakland may just help put one more town on California’s culinary map.
Pizzaiolo, North Oakland. Yes, Oakland. Not San Francisco, not the Berkeley “gourmet ghetto,” but Oak-town proper. As this restaurant’s not-easily-pronounceable name implies, there is pizza available here. Thin crust, perfect toppings, wood-fired. But there is more. The menu changes daily. The antipasti list is longer than the pizza one. The primi and secondi are few and perfect. The contorni include things like a side of olive oil and long-cooked greens with garlic and hot pepper. I could go on and on, but I am supposed to keep it brief.
Great recipes aside, you’ll also find an extra helping of heart and soul within these pages.
Love Soup by Anna Thomas This just in, the newest from my personal heroine, she of The Vegetarian Epicure (and a great film visionary as well, but that’s for another discussion), Anna Thomas. Anna has a way of making food accessible and comfortable while keeping it ethnically real (clean lines of origin, I like to call it). Her warmth infuses the food, and her intuitive cooking talent is generous, not at all precious. The result? Anyone can, and will want to, make her recipes easily, happily, and with confidence. This book is great because, in addition to telling you everything you hope she will about soup, she takes you the next few steps toward completing your table, before you even ask her to. Homemade breads, spreads, salads, desserts—you’ve got yourself a meal guide within these pages, and it’s the kind of food we all need and crave (or if you don’t already crave it, you will after just thumbing through for 30 seconds). I owe many debts to this pioneering cookbook author, and I’m delighted to spread the word about her latest offering.
Food Destination
It’s not too early to plan next summer’s vacation, so let this French getaway inspire you.
It’s not exactly a place you can hop in your car and visit for just an evening, so turn that disappointing fact into something positive and take an extended vacation to Montpellier, France, next July. It’s hot, hot, hot during the day, a bit cooler at night, and occasional sudden rain showers lend a romantic (and cooling) touch. But the main thing to remember is you are there for the melons—and for the farmers’ markets, filled with handmade cheeses, artisan breads, and tartes/jams/galettes made in people’s own kitchens, presented with great pride and joy. Did I already mention the melons? Amazing, delightful, grounding, humbling, refreshing, delicious. Local and in-season go without saying.
Plus: Check out Hungry Beast for more news on the latest restaurants, hot chefs, and tasty recipes.
