Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen [Paperback]

Heidi Swanson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2011

Heidi Swanson's approach to cooking whole, natural foods has earned her a global readership. From her Northern California kitchen, she introduced us to a less-processed world of cooking and eating through her award-winning blog, 101 Cookbooks, and in her James Beard Award–nominated cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, she taught us how to expand our pantries and integrate nutrient-rich superfoods into our diets.
 
In Super Natural Every Day, Heidi helps us make nutritionally packed meals part of our daily repertoire by sharing a sumptuous collection of nearly 100 of her go-to recipes. These are the dishes that Heidi returns to again and again because they’re approachable, good for the body, and just plain delicious. This stylish cookbook is equal parts inspiration and instruction, showing us how to create a welcoming table filled with nourishing food for friends and family.
 
The seductively flavorful vegetarian recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, treats, and drinks are quick to the table but tasty enough to linger over. Grab a Millet Muffin or some flaky Yogurt Biscuits for breakfast on the go, or settle into a lazy Sunday morning with a stack of Multi-grain Pancakes and a steaming cup of Ginger Tea. A bowl of Summer Squash Soup or a couple of Chanterelle Tacos make for a light and healthy lunch, and for dinner, there’s Black Sesame Otsu, Pomegranate-Glazed Eggplant with Tempeh, or the aptly named Weeknight Curry. Heidi’s Rose Geranium Prosecco is the perfect start to a celebratory meal, and the Buttermilk Cake with fresh plums or Sweet Panzanella will satisfy even the most stubborn sweet tooth.
 
Gorgeously illustrated with over 100 photos that showcase the engaging rhythms of Heidi’s culinary life and travels, Super Natural Every Day reveals the beauty of uncomplicated food prepared well and reflects a realistic yet gourmet approach to a healthy and sophisticated natural foods lifestyle.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Recipe Excerpts from Super Natural Every Day

Baked Oatmeal

Tutti-Frutti Crumble

Review

"Every Day Maybe, But Hardly Everyday...an unexpected winner in the weeknight-warrior category."
—NPR, 6/5/11

"Lovers of whole grains, local produce and farm fresh eggs, listen up. (Here's looking at you, Northern California.) San Franciscan Heidi Swanson - of the acclaimed blog 101 Cookbooks and 2007 James Beard Award-nominated "Super Natural Cooking" - has brought us "Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes From My Natural Foods Kitchen," a paean to natural foods."
—San Francisco Chronicle, 5/22/11

"It's an inspiring book, and one that I'm cooking out of quite a bit. If you love grains, noodles, and fresh vegetables, as well as Heidi's famous and lovely blog, do check this out. You won't regret it."
—TheKitchn.com, 5/17/11 

“When it comes to our modern approach to eating right, there's no better way to discover how delicious "dieting" can be.”
—BA Daily, Bonappetit.com, 5/11/11

"Whether you’re a vegetarian, a “Meatless Monday” convert or just trying to eat more healthy, wholesome foods, Heidi’s recipes will be valuable additions to your every day meals."
—Devour The Blog, Cooking Channel, 4/5/11

"The author of Super Natural Cooking and the blog 101 Cookbooks, Swanson offers a glimpse into her favorite everyday recipes. A huge and often preachy proponent of the buy organic/local/seasonal movement, she focuses on whole, natural foods including whole grains, whole grain flours, and fresh produce--ingredients that are seasonal and minimally processed. Recipes run the gamut from breakfast through desserts and include healthier variations of familiar favorites including crepes made with rye flour and ginger cookies with dried apricots and shaved chocolate. Lunch offerings include unique and palatable dishes such as kale salad with toasted coconut and sesame oil, and chanterelle tacos. Dinner recipes such as chickpea stew made with saffron, black pepper tempeh and weeknight curry made with tofu are big on flavor. Swanson spends several pages detailing her pantry staples including oils and fats, grains, and flours to guide those unfamiliar with key ingredients. For those looking to incorporate more healthful ingredients into their diet, Swanson offers a welcome variety of appetizing recipes that are easy enough to prepare on busy weeknights and sure to appeal. (Apr.)"
—Publishers Weekly, 4/4/11

“It is easy on the eyes, a good read and full of recipes that had me itching to cook. It is rare that a book can do all three things, but when it does- you know it is a keeper.”
—Lottie + Doof, 4/1/11

“Swanson is the Deborah Madison for the digital age. Her cooking is earthy but approachable - she made grains fashionable again - and she swaths it all in stylish photos shot in the natural, grey light of her hometown San Francisco.”
—Say100, Food with Amanda Hesser, 2/23/11

“Expect plenty of interest in Super Natural Every Day, Heidi Swanson's follow-up to Super Natural Cooking. The book features more thoughtful, interesting meatless recipes along the lines of the ones that have made Swanson's blog, 101cookbooks.com, so popular.”
—Publishers Weekly, Spring 2011 Announcements: Top 10 Cookbooks, 1/24/11

“This looks like fabulous companion to Swanson’s earlier Super Natural Cooking with new riffs on old faves, and plenty of fresh ideas, too.”
—Publishers Weekly, 10 Cookbooks to Watch in 2011, 1/10/11

“It's like this love child of Martha Stewart and Plenty. Brilliant, really!”
—Deborah Madison

“Heidi Swanson is one of the most original voices in cookery today. No other writer combines luscious, fresh, wholesome, and completely enticing food so well. Honeyed manouri, quinoa patties, membrillo cake—I want to cook everything!”
—Yotam Ottolenghi, author of Plenty
 
“To open Super Natural Every Day is to want to read it through and then cook like mad. Heidi’s food is simple, warm, and nourishing, the kind of food you want every day.”
—Dorie Greenspan, author of Around My French Table
 
“Heidi’s food is nourishing and soulful. What makes her food so appealing is her ability to create flavorful, healthy, and satisfying recipes. Heidi makes food that I want to eat.”
—Kim Boyce, author of Good to the Grain
 
“Heidi Swanson’s newest book is bewitching, clever, and outstanding in every way. It is far more than a gathering of tasty, health-oriented recipes. Every page is bursting with fresh ideas, new kitchen concepts, and inspired ingredient pairings. I know I’ll be turning to it again and again.”
—Melissa Clark, New York Times food columnist and author of In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (April 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580082777
• ISBN-13: 978-1580082778
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Natural Foods
  • #13 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Diet > Healthy
  • #28 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Vegetables & Vegetarian

More About the Author

San Francisco-based photographer and cookbook author Heidi Swanson is the creator of the culinary blog 101 Cookbooks. She is the author of Super Natural Cooking, a James Beard Award-nominated cookbook focused on natural foods. She has been a contributor to Saveur.com and has also been featured in a wide range of national and international publications including Food & Wine, Fast Company, Glamour, Vegetarian Times, and the Washington Post.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

336 of 361 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Audience?, June 26, 2011

By 

Erin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen (Paperback)

I bought this book because I follow the food blogs and everyone was raving about it. That love continues here on Amazon, where she's got nothing but 5 star reviews. I like the book, but ...

I don't know who she is trying to reach here. You would expect that most people who follow food blogs and know of her would know some basics about cooking, yet she has some pages devoted to things that quite frankly I find condescending. Recipes for fruit salad, pita chips and egg salad seem a waste of space, not to mention pages devoted to making rice, whipped cream, tea (tea! as in boil water - add tea - steep) and compound butter. The two pages devoted to how to poach an egg are kind of insulting. To me. Not to everyone.

That's my problem with the book. I cook a lot. I follow the food blogs too get inspiration and to get some recipes without having to buy the newest cookbooks. I know basic techniques. I figure other people who follow her blog (the people I imagine she hopes will buy this book) would, too. Or at least they have demonstrated their ability to look things up on the internet - google how to poach an egg if you must.

These basic techniques seem more silly when you consider her fancy-pants ingredients lists. "I shop alongside some of the best chefs in the city ..." If you can't poach an egg or cook rice, are you really using harissa and membrillo?

I bought this book thinking it would be a nice inspiration for summer veggies. But this is a pantry-heavy cookbook. Yes, its vegetarian, but it is what my husband calls "roly-poly vegetarian." Lots of beans and pasta and potatoes. There are at least ten recipes that basically dress up a pound of store-bought pasta or a 15oz can of beans.

There are pretty pictures (though many are of flowers and trees and Heidi - not all the recipes have pictures and no pictures accompany her how-tos). I mean, it's a nice book. But I would recommend Kim Boyce's "Good to the Grain" Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours if you want to bake with whole grains over the breakfast and sweets portions of this book. And like I said, the rest is pasta and beans and tea and egg salad.

My recommendation - if you aren't looking for link love from Heidi for your own blog, skip this and just visit her web site, where you can get similar recipes and pictures and chit chat - for free.

72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring Recipes Beautifully Presented, April 6, 2011

By 

Norma Lehmeierhartie (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen (Paperback)

Heidi Swanson loves to cook and it shows: her newest book, Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen, is a delight. Beautiful photos and terrific descriptions of the recipes and how to prepare them (often with stories and helpful cooking tips) reading this book will inspire you to try many of the recipes.

Most of us wear about 10% of what is in our closet...same with cooking--we make a handful of our favorites over and over again. For this book, Swanson recorded her everyday meals for a couple of years and voila--simple and delicious dishes to enjoy daily.

The book surprises with unexpected pairings like potato salad with tofu. I tried and loved the fennel salad, which features paper-sliced thin ingredients....A simple recipe like the chickpea wrap in whole wheat Lavash flatbread was yummy (I happened to have the bread and other ingredients on hand and made it impulsively...Yum!)

To Swanson, natural food cooking means an abundance of fruits and veggies--local (and organic) whenever possible. Living in San Francisco, she is able to take advantage of the abundance of fresh produce and food from farmer's markets. However, as the popularity of local food grows, many of us can do the same.

Swanson loves to cook with whole grains--I discovered you can actually buy frozen wild or brown rice--but don't bother...whole grains take up to an hour to cook, but need no attention once they have boiled. And, if you are not familiar with wild or brown rice, farro, wheat berries and other whole grains, you are in for a treat!

You don't have to be a vegetarian to love this book--it is literally filled with healthy and interesting recipes that anyone would love! Plus, if you do eat meat and are looking for ways to cut down, this book is a terrific starting point.

Norma Lehmeier Hartie, author of Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healthy Knock-Your-Socks-Off Recipes, April 7, 2011

By 

Tessa M. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen (Paperback)

I'm in love with the recipes in this cookbook for 3 reasons:

1 - Nearly every recipe has loads of vegetables and plenty of protein.

2 - Most recipes leave room for improvisation and many have suggestions for alternatives and substitutions.

3 - Each recipe contains at least one knock-you-socks-off component.

Brown butter, creme fraiche, harissa, toasted seeds and nuts... I feel like this is the style of many of her 101 Cookbooks recipes and I love it. I doubt there is a single boring recipe in this cookbook.

For example: I made my first recipe from it tonight, Black Bean Salad, which called for beans, feta, lemon juice, pepitas, and caramelized oven-roasted cherry tomatoes. Fantastic.