Plenty: A Collection of Sarah McLachlan's Favorite Recipes

I purchased this cookbook because I cook and because there is a major Sarah McLachlan fan in my house. Okay, I like her, too. Anyway, the cook here is very happy with this book which relies on easy to prepare Mediterranean style recipes. The recipes are courtesy of the chef who catered Sarah's band on the Lilith Fair tour out of a tiny mobile kitchen. If he can do it, so can those of us with real kitchens. Many recipes are vegetarian with the occasional dairy or fish ingredient. Many are also low-fat. All are gorgeous, satisfying and should suit most tastes. I am envious of the fact that Sarah was backstage eating this great food while I was in the audience, restricted from 3 p.m. until midnight to eating what was sold "in the venue." Note to future festival organizers: some of us don't do fries, nachos with orange cheese, hotdogs and funnel cakes (I attended Lilith in central Pennsylvania). Some of us like vegetables, just like Sarah.

This is an excellent cookbook! Sarah's chef is definitely on the road to "celebrity chefdom." The recipes are creative and interesting, and most of them are quite simple. I can understand why Sarah takes a chef on the road with her. Can you imagine having sumptuous meals prepared for you three times a day? Paradise.

My quest in life is to find the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. I have to say that the chocolate chip cookies in Sarah's cookbook are to die for. The writer's block cookies are presently my favorite oatmeal cookie. The book is worth the price of admission for these two recipes alone!

We held a potluck dinner party on the weekend and asked everyone to prepare a dish from Sarah's cookbook. It was an absolute blast. The chili is absolutley delicious.The Thai curry was fabulous, although we spiced it up to make it really hot.The risotto was wonderful, although we used chicken stock.The Curried Lentil Salad was absolutely delicious. We had several appetizers and desserts as well (the Creme Brulee was so good--I had no idea it was so easy to make). Everything was fabulous.The dishes we all chose to make were relatively easy to prepare. I should mention that it was a costume party, and one of my friends dressed up a Rex--Sarah's dog. It was good fun and this is a really good cookbook. Congratulations Sarah!