Super Natural Star: Heidi Swanson’s New Cookbook is Stellar

from Civil Eats:




Super Natural Star: Heidi Swanson’s New Cookbook is Stellar
April 22nd, 2011 By Naomi Starkman


Heidi Swanson, natural foods super star, is a cookbook author, whose writing, projects, and photographs have been featured in dozens of magazines. Her first cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, was nominated for a James Beard Award and is widely lauded as the best introduction to natural foods cooking today. Swanson’s online recipe journal, 101Cookbooks, has been the recipient of many awards, and draws a huge audience every month. Her latest mouthwatering and artful book, Super Natural Every Day, is hot off the presses and is equally inspired by whole foods and natural ingredients. I spoke with Swanson recently about the evolution of her cooking, how living in San Francisco inspires her, and where she eats when she’s not busy in her own kitchen.

What inspired you to write Super Natural Every Day?

Super Natural Cooking was an exploration of how to set up a natural foods pantry, an overview of some of the ingredients, and then lots of recipes to put those ingredients to use. At the time I was starting to think about how I could take the spirit of my local farmers’ market and have that apply to more of the cooking and eating I was doing. Push out beyond the fruits and vegetables. It didn’t entirely make sense to me to use source amazing whole fruits and vegetables, and then limit myself to white sugar and white flour. I began exploring whole grains and whole grain flours, natural sweeteners and less processed sugars, and what I discovered was a whole range of delicious, underutilized ingredients and flavor profiles. Four years have passed since that book was published, and I feel like I’ve simplified my cooking style a bit. I wanted to share my day-to-day, go-to recipes. They tend to be approachable, not full of components, with manageable ingredient lists. My hope is that they’re the sorts of things that people can prep ahead of time and work into their routines, without groaning at the thought of getting one on the table.

What are some of your favorite recipes from your new book?

I was just mentioning to someone that I regret not shooting a photo of the Shaved Fennel Salad for the book. I make that salad constantly. The Rye Soda Bread is a favorite, Baked Oatmeal, Bran Muffins…the boozy Crumble, the Chanterelle Tacos, the Farro Soup, Harissa Ravioli…the Orzo Salad tossed with broccoli pesto and avocado.

How does living in San Francisco and the Bay Area inspire your cooking?

There’s no doubt that being from San Francisco has made me the cook I am. And I think it’s because of a whole hodge-podge of things that come together in my kitchen. It’s my friends, the produce, the inspiration from restaurants I eat at, and wandering the aisles at different natural food and ethnic markets. And the weather. For better or worse, you really can’t discount the weather. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2011/04/22/super-natural-star-heidi-swanson%E2%80%99s-new-cookbook-is-stellar/