Food to Live by: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook

This is the very best cookbook ever! I use this book faithfully almost every day. It's wonderful and easy and not intimidating and EVERY recipe is a winner!! I have been trying to teach myself to cook for a few years now, and I've found that anyone can do it if you can follow a recipe. The trick is finding a good one! I've tried many books, and each one might have one or two recipes that I might add to my "regular" repitoire, a couple of recipes that are awful or too hard or involved to make, and the rest of the book that is never used. Not so with this book!!! The recipes are all simple and easy to follow. They don't take a long time to prepare or have too many steps (although some require a little planning, like that you marinate overnight). They use regular ingredients that you can find in any grocery store. You don't need any crazy kitchen gadgets or expensive appliances. But best of all, the recipes are absolutely delicious!!! Most are old favorites but with a delicious twist... the BEST chicken salad you have ever eaten, the juciest ribs you ever tried, the most flavorful chili ever. She uses fresh ingredients and there are a lot of fresh herbs, curry, and vegetables. There are huge, full-color pictures so you can leaf through the book and decide what looks good to you that day. I have no trepidation whatsoever with trying something new from this book on a whim (although I've made almost everything in it now!). This book has singlehandedly won me the reputation of a very good cook!!! I highly recommend it to anyone.

Myra Goodman and her husband, over 20 years ago, began their farm by offering passers-by a taste of their organic raspberries. Today, they own and operate the world's largest grower of organic produce. Food to Live By encourages readers to embark on a healthier way of life. Through organic food, people can live a cleaner life. This is not confined to only vegetarianism, but to meat, produce, wine and more. Packed with color photos of Earthbound Farm, as well as the recipes, this book teases the reader into trying easy-to-prepare, healthy recipes that packed with originality. If you are pressed for time, Goodman offers shortcuts by using organic packaged products, so you can have the flavor and health without the guilt. Included in this book are guides to greens, squash and more. Similar to The Organic Cook's Bible (by Jeff Cox, Wiley, April 2006, ISBN: 0471445789), but with more recipes. Delicious encounters within this book are: Chicken Piccata, Pumpkin Pecan Muffins, Portuguese Kale Soup, and Apricot and Almond Tart.

The beautiful cover of this cookbook caught my eye but the personal story of Earthbound Farms beginnings and the fantastic recipes have held me captive and peaked my enthusiasm for organics and healthy cooking. Since buying this delightful cookbook I feel a bit obsessed with trying recipe after recipe. I was especially happy to see the meat recipes as I have wanted to incorporate more organic meat dishes into my family's diet, especially with 2 teenagers, but felt I lacked experience in buying and preparing meat. What a hit they have been with my family and unexpected surprise in this cookbook. The Sizzling Steak with Olive Sauce had everyone applauding mom's new found culinary skills and the Merlot Braised Shortribs elevated my status to "chef Mom". In addition to expanding my repertoire of meals this cookbook has given me healthier versions of some family favorites. The Maple Walnut Muffins thrilled me with the small amount of sugar and no butter! Using a 1/4 cup of heart healthy canola oil instead of the 2 sticks of butter I was using in The Barefoot Contessa's Banana Crunch Muffins showed me how easy to eliminate fat and not sacrifice taste. My kids adored them as well as all 30 of the recipes I have tried to date. This is a cookbook I highly recommend and bought for many family and friends. Its interesting tips and facts as well as beautiful, inspiring photos have made cooking 24/7 for my family a delight and pleasure.

`Food to Live By' by Earthbound Farm co-founder, Myra Goodman and culinary `accomplices' Linda Holland and Pamela McKinstry announces itself as a cookbook for organic ingredients, and yet except for an emphasis on cooking with fruit, this is largely a brightly illustrated and joyfully assembled general purpose cookbook, I'm certain that the publisher, Workman, has a lot to do with the sidebar intensive style and better than average illustrations and snaps, but I also suspect much is owed to the great pleasure the author had in realizing this book. The fact that the book does not quite fill its billing as a `healthy foods' book tempted me to give it only four stars. Two facts changed my mind. First, the hefty (402 pages) book lists for a scant $21.95 US. Second, the last Chapter 10 on `Basics' has excellent advice on making stocks. It may not be on the great reflective level of Deborah Madison or as finicky as the Culinary Institute of America textbook, but for a budget priced book, it is very good indeed. I would still have demoted it to four stars if the general level of recipes was weak, but they are not. All of the traditional stuff is entirely up to snuff. For example, the pastry crust recipe hits all the right notes. The only caveat is that this and other recipes call for whole-wheat pastry flour, which I have not seen in my local megamart (Wegmans). On the other hand, I have seen lots and lots of `Earthbound Farm Organic' products in my very same Wegmans and the story of how Drew and Myra Goodman established their little business that could almost sounds too good to be true. This story takes up the first 24 pages (the Roman numeraled ones in the introduction) of the book (which means that 402 pages are all recipes, no fluff). This is primarily a tale of being at the right place at the right time with the right idea. The couple leased a 2½-acre farm in Carmel Valley, California and started by raising and selling raspberries while they accumulated moneys to continue their educations. One thing lead to another, falling into great good luck when they hit upon the notion of bagged salad greens just at the time that the country was becoming a lot more interested in more diverse vegetables and in organic produce, all with the same convenience of other supermarket fare. The result is that our heroes now own and run the largest producer of organic vegetables in the country, and probably in the world. While the book starts with raspberry recipes and continues with soup and salad recipes, great destinations for their organic produce, the chapters are really almost exactly what you would find in a conventional cookbook. As the author points out, eating organic is certainly NOT the same as being a vegetarian (however, I suspect it is much easier to find organic fruits and vegetables than it is to find organic milk, eggs, meats, and poultry, let alone `organic' fish). This brings me to one of the very few complaints about this book. There is no appen

The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook, Food To Live By, was recenty given to me as a gift, and now I am turning around, buying more copies, and giving them to some of my friends as gifts. Very simply, this is a fantastic cookbook. The recipies are user friendly and delicious -- and not just for adults -- my four year old daughter loves the Lemon Berry Mousse on page 358 and many of the dishes here. The abundance of color photographs are beautiful, and the layout flows very well. I like that there is an introduction from author Myra Goodman, co-founder of Earthbound, that describes their humble beginnings as a roadside stand, and how their determination to avoid chemicals and pesticides led to them bringing organics into the mainstream (THANK YOU EARTHBOUND!!!). In 2003 they openned the esteemed Organic Kitchen in Carmel Valley, California (one of only three certified organic food establishments). This book brings recipies from the Organic Kitchen and others. To be sure, Food To Live By is definitely more of a cookbook than a diet or "health book", although it does use ingredients and provide some little tid bits that encourage us to eat organic, whole foods. While the recipes are wholesome, they don't compromise on taste. There are also cooking tips and ideas as sidebars throughout. Food To Live By is broken up into chapters starting with the Introduction, followed by a chapter on Raspberry recipes (honoring raspberries, the crop that got Earthbound Started). Then there is a chapter on Soups, Leafy Green Salads, Meat and Poultry Main Dishes, Fish and Shellfish, Pasta and Vegetarian Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Breakfast and Brunch, Desserts, and Basics, such as homemade stocks and sauces. Some of my favorite recipes so far are the Roasted Balsamic Artichokes, Creamy Macaroni and Three Cheeses, Kathy's Rosemary Roasted Chicken, the Cherry Panna Cotta, and Earthbound's Famous Maple Almond Granola. Overall the book focuses on good food - that is, food which yummy and appealing on a sensual and aesthetic level, while also being sound on basic health principles. Enjoy!