A TRUE FIND: Fast, Fresh & Green cookbook

THE GOODS: One browse through this book and you know that you can’t live without it. In fact, I’ve already bought one for my ex-husband’s birthday, and plan to buy a stack of them to give away for holiday gifts. It is the rare book that one feels this way about.

Every page has a recipe that I, at least, wanted to try, and I rarely cook with recipes. Eating a lot of vegetables suddenly becomes a must do because the recipes just demand to be made. Spinach with Shallots and Parmigiano and Roasted Eggplant, Bell Pepper, and Fresh Basil Salad. Ginger with many recipes. More than 100 ideas for appetizers, snacks, entrees, and side dishes, many of them vegan, make Fast, Fresh & Green an excellent resource for vegetarians and omnivores.

THE EXPERIENCE: Not only does the book offer recipes that are divine beyond, but Middleton has a website, sixburnersue.com, which is bound to become a favorite food blog.

A TIDBIT: Middleton lives on Martha’s Vineyard, and her blog weaves in her island life and makes one envious of her lifestyle in such a beautiful place.

THE AUTHOR: Author Susie Middleton is a chef, recipe developer, food writer, and longtime executive editor of Fine Cooking magazine.

By Annie B. Bond, best-selling author of five green living books, including True Food (National Geographic, 2009).
10/6/2010