The Complete Leafy Greens Cookbook: Book Review

Looking to get healthy in 2014? Well your mother was right: You gotta eat your greens!

Lucky for me, I'm the Queen of Greens. I absolutely love veggies, especially leafy green ones. So I was thrilled to receive a review copy of The Complete Leafy Greens Cookbook.

Whether you are a leafy green newbie, or you think you're an expert like I did, I guarantee you will learn a lot from this book. It has sections on 67 different varieties, a whole heck of a lot I'd never even heard of before, and 250 recipes.

The recipes range from classic to innovative and author, Susan Sampson, provides a wealth of information on nutrition, taste, storage, prep and equivalents/substitutions. All recipes are vegetarian and/or vegan or have vegan variations.

Recipes include salads, side dishes, pastas, stir-fries, beverages, condiments and dressings.

Some of my favorites include:

Ethiopian Collard Stew
Sesame Shungiku Salad
Chinatown Takeout Curry
Roasted Beet Salad With Candied Walnuts
Whole Wheat Pasta With Kale and Chickpeas
Napa Cabbage Slaw

...and there are many, many more.

There are photos of each variety of greens, but not of the recipes, however, most of the recipes are quite straightforward. Even though the ingredient lists are sometimes long, it's mostly stuff you'll have in your fridge and cupboard, except maybe some of the spices for the ethnic dishes. But most of them can pretty readily be found in generic grocery stores now. There is a full index of recipes at the back and a huge list of greens-related online resources.

So why don't you go add this unique, information-filled cookbook to your collection? I'm sure you're probably sick of the quinoa, gluten-free and paleo books you picked up last year anyways!

Okay, I gotta go make a dish (involving kale) for our pot-luck dinner tonight. We're not going to be staying late though, we are going to have tons to do tomorrow to prepare for our New Year's Day party we are hosting.

Have a safe, fun, happy and healthy New Year celebration tonight!

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