It isn’t often that I buy a cookbook in which I like (love) every recipe I make but this is one such book. Love Real Food by Kathryne Taylor is chock full of healthy, satisfying, vegetarian dishes. I have been a fan of Kate’s website for a while now (cookieandkate.com). By the way, Cookie is her dog. Her recipes contain easy to find ingredients and are simple to prepare. I’ve made at least a dozen and haven’t been disappointed yet.
My brother-in-law can’t eat wheat so the first recipe I made was the Lemony Almond – Blueberry Cake. Almond meal is used to replace the flour along with maple syrup and extra-virgin olive oil. The cake was exceptionally moist especially with the addition of the blueberries.
For the perfect side dish or salad try the Roasted Cauliflower, Farro, and Arugula Salad with Lemony Tahini Dressing. It starts by roasting the cauliflower and peppers. The farro is boiled like rice and if you aren’t familiar with farro, it is a grain and has a nutty flavor and chewy texture. It is also high in fiber and protein with 7 grams of each in 1/4 cup. The dressing was light and refreshing and the only change I made was to reduce the amount of oil, which I do for most dressings.
For soup lovers, try the Tuscan White Bean, Kale, and Farro Stew. If you are not a fan of kale, you can substitute swiss chard or escarole. I use my homemade turkey stock which has a rich, meaty flavor but canned or boxed work as well. If available, try to get organic. One of my favorite brands is Imagine and I get the low-sodium version. With some crusty bread and a salad you have a complete meal.
For all you vegans and vegetarians, try the Roasted Broccoli, Bell Pepper, and Tofu Bowl with Peanut Sauce. This is a simple one bowl dish that comes together easily. You can roast the vegetables and tofu at the same time while you prepare the rest of the dish. The recipe for Extra-Crispy Baked Tofu is also in the book and is now my favorite way to cook tofu.
To sum up my feelings about this book, if I could only keep one cookbook out of my collection of more than 1,000, this would be it. Now that’s saying something.