cover image Mustard Seed Market & Cafe Natural Foods Cookbook

Mustard Seed Market & Cafe Natural Foods Cookbook

Bev Shaffer. Pelican Publishing Company, $29.95 (336pp) ISBN 978-1-58980-465-4

Few cookbooks can be all things to all people, but Shaffer (Brownies to Die For!) comes close in her latest. Shaffer, the director of the Mustard Seed Cooking School, offers 250 healthy recipes designed to satisfy carnivores and vegans alike without requiring too many hard-to-find ingredients. Shaffer has a dish for every occasion and season, with entire chapters devoted to grains, beans, salads and soups. Yes, there's the requisite granola recipes (Coconut-Almond among them) and a Brown-Rice Crust Pizza, but Shaffer also includes a to-die-for Creme Brulee French Toast as well as innovative takes on the familiar, such as Salmon with a Spiced Pinot Noir Sauce. Vegans and those monitoring their diet will appreciate indexes of gluten-free and vegan dishes, while omnivores will have a field day with recipes like Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto, Rib-Eye Roast with Espresso Crust and Maple Pecan Cheesecake. Occasional missteps include a unnecessarily complicated Chicken Quesadilla that requires mashing cooked black beans with spices and making chicken salad before finally assembling and cooking. Most dishes aren't nearly that involved, and manage to pack a lot of flavor without unnecessary steps or calories. A rich and varied compilation of recipes sure to become staples in many homes, Shaffer has managed to craft a Joy of Cooking for the Whole Foods generation.