Super Natural Every Day is not a cookbook. Heidi Swanson’s latest offering is a private journal of a person who embraces food in its truest form, smattered with photos that make you want to experience and recipes that make you want to cook. I first leafed through a copy at a local bookstore last year. A couple of flicks down the line, I had mentally bookmarked at least 10 recipes I wanted to cook straight away. That, for me was an indication that the book would go on my bookshelf. So I bought it and got inspired. I cooked from it a couple of times and loved the fresh surge of inspiration it brought to my cooking. Months later, I was sent a review copy by Hardie Grant Publishers. Because this cookbook (well, it is a cookbook even though my opening line said otherwise) had inspired so many recipes of my own, I decided to cook from it for a whole month and explore it to the fullest.
Heidi Swanson has revelled food enthusiasts and connoisseurs for years through her blog 101 Cookbooks. It was one of the first food blogs I came across way back in 2003 when I was working on a recipe database. And I am as inspired by her love of good wholesome, less processed and nutrient rich food today as I was then.Everything about Heidi’s style is muted and washed in a soft milky light. From the photographs of fog kissed rolling hills to modern typographic swirls marking the pages and excerpts, Super Natural Every Day is Heidi’s engaging commentary interspersed with recipes, handy hints, tricks and ideas. The book is conveniently divided into breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, drinks, treats and accompaniments. The recipes are ones you would invent from things in the pantry or fridge. They feel personal and not made up. They are also shot that way. Au Naturale. The feeling that Heidi cooked and ate everyday and recorded her experiments and put them in a book as an after thought is very strong. These recipes came first and not the book. I also like that the recipes are an extension of what she talks about on her blog. The connection is there and it works well.
Most of the recipes in the book can be adapted and made your own without any dramas. Heidi has a running dialogue before each recipe and after some of them. The wealth of information in the form of serving ideas, possible variations and her own experience while cooking it at different times is a delight to read. She manages to make everything look approachable and easy. And it is. You realise that once you start cooking from it.
During my month long exploration of Super Natural Every Day, I learnt to Cook Quinoa the right way. I then used that quinoa to make some beautiful Garlic And Thyme Quinoa Patties for dinner. I baked a Sugarplum Buttermilk Cake with sugar plums fresh off a farm in Dural. I thoroughly enjoyed munching through a box of Carnival Cookies that had popped corn in them. And these were just some of the recipes I wrote about. A few nights ago we had the Spinach Strata. Earlier today inspired by the book, I baked a batch of Citrus Quinoa Muffins. My dog eared copy has little post-it bookmarks for the Yogurt Biscuits I am attempting next, followed by Membrillo Cake, Broccoli Gribiche, Wild Rice Casserole, Chanterelle Tacos and Macaroon Tart. When each recipe takes you on a journey and introduces you to ingredients that nourish your body and soul, how can you resist not cooking?
Note – All photos for the review were shot on my iPhone 4S. Some with my left hand, which was not a piece of cake, I tell you!
Super Natural Every Day is published by Hardie Grant Publishers in Australia. They are also kindly giving away one copy of this beautiful book to one very lucky reader of Cook Republic. If you would like to be in the running to win a copy, here is what you need to do.
Super Natural Every Day Giveaway
1. Make sure you have an Australia mailing address for when you win. This giveaway is for Australian residents only.
2. Leave me a comment below and tell me "What is the healthiest food habit/ingredient/resolution you have adapted most recently?"
The giveaway will close on January 31, 2012 and ONE winner will be picked by me based on the answer to the above question. Good luck!
********** | WINNER ANNOUNCED | **********
Congratulations Bea!! You have won yourself a copy of Heidi’s Super Natural Every Day, courtesy of Hardie Grant.
You will be contacted for your prize shortly. Thanks everyone for your lovely answers!
January 2012 Spotlight – Heidi Swanson
Every month on Cook Republic a food hero will be featured. It could be a celebrity chef, food blogger, cookbook author, a cuisine, an ingredient or a trend. In January 2012 the spotlight is on food blogger and writer Heidi Swanson of the 101 Cookbooks fame. With one of the oldest and most original voices in the ever burgeoning world of food blogs and photography, Heidi is a much celebrated cookbook author. Join me as I explore Heidi’s food philosophy to the fullest and cook from her most recent offering, Super Natural Every Day which is published by Hardie Grant in Australia.