Fine Cooking Fresh: 350 Recipes That Celebrate the Seasons

This is one of the better, easy to use, and visually stimulating cookbooks I've ever read. There's a photo of practically every recipe, along with helpful tips & techniques on the side. Each recipe is given one page, so it's an easy read and well designed book (I'm a graphic designer by profession, so I know what's an effective product when I see one). This is a winner in terms of usability. As for the recipes, it goes from medium to difficult in terms of prep time (at least for me). It's a gourmet cookbook afterall and some of the ingredients are not easily available where I live. If I lived near Whole Foods then I'd be cooking each recipe every day! There's so much variety in this book and it's really amazing what you can cook. But a few suggestions I wish the publisher included... 1. Include "Difficulty level" indicator - scale from 1 to 5 would have been helpful so I don't waste my time cooking something and find out halfway to regret it. 2. Include "Preparation time" - again, it would have been helpful so that I can plan ahead of time (I was very late for a potluck because of this). 3. Include "Serving Size" or "feeds x people", etc - this seems so basic in most magazine cookbooks and I'm surprised this was omitted. 4. A nutritional guide or calories/fat index would be useful. Overall, this is an excellent book. A great value too!

I love to cook and try new recipes these are just my style. Lots of flavor and easy to prepare. I gave this as a gift, but after looking at the recipes I wanted it for myself. So far I have only tried a few recipes. The roasted carrot soup is great, and I had everything in the fridge already! The updated Cobb salad is terrific as is the classic Caesar. Haven't tried all the salad dressings yet, but I will. The Roasted Cod with Basil Pesto & Garlic Breadcrumbs is reeeaaaaly yummy. Next I want to try the Thia Beef Salad with Mint & Cilantro. The Stir-fried Broccoli with Oyster Sauce is lovely (go with the red chile)The Grilled Asparagus with Fresh Tarragon Mayonnaise is wonderful with fish and the Braised Carrots, Red Onions & Bell Peppers with Ginger, Lime & Cilantro has become my Husbands new favorite. Haven't tried the Desserts yet however, later this month I'll try the Carrot Cake as it is my Husbands favorite.

Over 350 recipes from Fine Cooking's Fresh magazine offers a pairing of local ingredients with recipe ideas and techniques for producing seasonal dishes. Packed with color photos and discussions of how to get the most flavor from fresh food selections, Fine Cooking Fresh is an outstanding survey recommended for any cookbook library.