Vegetables and Grains

Making Thanksgiving dinner is hard enough for most people. For those who have guests with food allergies, it can be grueling. Mom can't eat the creamy mashed potatoes because she's lactose-intolerant. Aunt Amy skips the bread stuffing because she's gluten-intolerant. Uncle Henry is allergic to nuts, so he can't eat half the dishes on the table. Just order him a pizza.

As for dessert, well, it's practically a death trap. Classic Thanksgiving pies typically contain gluten, butter, milk, sugar, and nuts. Plus 1 in 2 Americans is pie-challenged. I know, I'm one of them.

Here's the answer to your Thanksgiving dessert dilemma: Make Nava Atlas's Apple-Pumpkin Delight from her latest cookbook, Vegan Holiday Kitchen (Sterling, November 2011). It's gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free, so everyone will be able to enjoy it. And you won't have to make a pie crust.

A veteran vegetarian and cookbook author, Atlas has created more than 200 festive, tasty, vegan holiday recipes organized into six chapters: Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Holiday Season, Jewish Holidays, Easter, Independence Day and Summer Entertaining, and Brunches, Appetizers, and Potluck Dishes.

When singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow was battling breast cancer in 2006 (which thankfully she beat back) she knew it was “a wake-up call” to eat better. It was during this time that she met personal chef Chuck White (or “Chef Chuck” to his friends) who was, at the time, cooking for John Mayer’s music tour and they discovered that they both lived in Nashville. Shortly after, Sheryl teamed up with “Chef Chuck” and they collaborated to create an inspired diet regimen that was best for her and her family. “Chef Chuck” quickly developed fun, tasty recipes that both Sheryl – and her two sons, Wyatt and Levi – would enjoy. Healthy, delicious, and sometimes eclectic (like Chuck’s decadent Chocolate Mousse made with avocado), their resulting cookbook is truly original.

Chuck focuses on cooking foods that are seasonal, locally grown, and vitamin-rich to help keep her feeling fit and ready to meet the challenges of life both at home and on the road. If It Makes You Healthy includes around 125 recipes for summer, fall, winter, and spring. From spring zucchini to hearty winter squash, to the delicious Spring Vegetables with Quinoa, the recipes focus on the changing seasons. The book also gives the reader an inside look at some of the meals Sheryl eats with her crew – Mojito braised pork, and some of her kids favorites— basil and apple marinated chicken and healthy oatmeal cookies.

There are people out there who don't want you to enjoy eating. You know who they are – the carb-averse, all fat-fearing folks consumed with diets and detox. Maria Speck, author of the beautiful new cookbook, Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, is not of them.

In her introduction, Speck, in her refreshingly direct tone says, "Almost every conversation about my passion for whole grains evoked this well-meaning remark: 'Your diet must be very healthy.' This comment always leaves me speechless, because health is the last thing on my mind when I eat."

What is on her mind is cooking with unprocessed, real foods – fruits, vegetables, meats, and whole grains -- that are full of flavor and which happen to be healthy. Speck began eating whole grains while growing up in Greece and Germany. As a kid, she noshed on oats, wheat berries, and bulgur and as an adult has committed herself to exploring their delicious potential.

In the first section of Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, Speck describes a wide variety of whole grains from prosaic grits and rice to more exotic kamut and farro. She tells you how to buy, store, and cook with whole grains, and even provides a helpful table with measurements and cooking times.