Chia, Quinoa, Kale, Oh My!

This isn't the kind of cookbook you'd think I'd like—it's full of healthy stuff! But after getting it from the library and trying a bunch of recipes, I'm sold... literally. I'm buying this book to have on hand at all times.

This was a book where I started out optimistic-but-skeptical: there were a surprising number of recipes that sounded good in spite of having ingredients I'd usually shun. Could they all be good?

I started with the Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Garlic-Avocado Aioli, not really expecting much because I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes but my husband is. I ate one fry and thought, “Eh, it's okay. Not awful, considering it's a sweet potato...” I ate another fry and thought, “Actually, it's probably the best sweet potato thing I've had, not that that's saying much.” I ate another fry, and that's when I believe the addiction firmly took hold. (I tried sweet potato fries at a restaurant the other day, just to see if I'd been fully converted to the orange-food lifestyle, and they were just so-so. Apparently it's these sweet potato fries.)

Each time I made a new recipe from this cookbook, I grew more confident that the author really does know what she's doing. Some of the recipes feature strange-sounding combinations; every one of them has been good.

Beyond the beautiful photography and recipes that turn out well, I love how the author has made good nutrition accessible. The cookbook contains superfood ingredient profiles interspersed with the recipes, so there's an educational piece, and the recipes themselves are healthful without being over-the-top or terrifying the veggie-phobic like me.

For the record, so far I've tried:
The aforementioned Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Garlic-Avocado Aioli
Slow-Roasted Tomato Soup
Farro-Stuffed Mini Peppers
Savory Oats
Salsa Verde with Kiwi
Strawberry-Chicken Spinach Wraps
Cheesy Baked Farro & Cauliflower

I'd make all of them again except for the Farro-Stuffed Mini Peppers, and that's just because I find peppers too bitter (other people enjoyed them). I've made the sweet potato fries and the tomato soup several times already.

Now, like several of the other reviewers, I'm gladly racking up library fines—I want to keep it until my copy arrives and I can transfer my bajillion “make this!” markers, as well as keep cooking with it!