Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods into Your Cooking
- ISBN13: 9781587612756
- Condition: New
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Everyone knows that whole foods are much healthier than refined ingredients, but few know how to cook with them in uncomplicated, delicious ways. Using a palette of natural ingredients now widely available in supermarkets, SUPER NATURAL COOKING offers globally inspired, nutritionally packed cuisine that is both gratifying and flavorful. With her weeknight-friendly dishes, real-foodie Heidi Swanson teaches home cooks how to become confident in a whole-foods kitchen by experimenting wi
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From the sun-dappled heartland, a young man (Robert Redford, in soft lighting) emerges as maybe the best baseball player anybody’s ever seen. On his way to the majors, he is cut down by an enigmatic black widow (Barbara Hershey) and vanishes for many years. When he reemerges, a silent mystery, he lands a spot with the New York team and begins tearing up the league–he’s still the natural. Fans of the Bernard Malamud novel will be dismayed at the pure mythical hokum of this film, but baseball fan
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August 17th, 2010 12:54 am
Review by H. Grove for Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods into Your Cooking
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There are plenty of new products coming out to meet the demand of folks now eager to try the natural food movement, but it’s hard to know how to use them well. Amaranth flour, buckwheat flour, brown rice syrup? Simply trying to substitute them into your favorite recipes rarely works–you need to know how to use them to their own best advantage, and that takes time, effort, and plenty of practice to work out.
Luckily, Heidi Swanson decided to start that process for us.
“Super Natural Cooking” is packed with information on how to best store, handle, and use all of the wonderful ingredients you’ll find. You’ll find out which all-natural sweeteners have a surprisingly low glycemic index, making them appropriate for diabetics and those worried about their blood sugar or carbohydrate intake. You’ll learn how much of those exotic flours you can substitute, which recipe-types they work best in, and how to make sure their different characteristics don’t cause your recipes to fail.
The recipes from this book more than prove Ms. Swanson’s skill in the creative kitchen. One of the surest signs I’ve found of a brilliant cook over the years is the ability to take a few, often mild ingredients and turn them into something that is more than the sum of its parts–a wholly new and complex flavor. This she does easily with such recipes as a luscious fig spread that includes a bit of honey, lemon juice and black pepper. Then there’s a curry noodle pot that yields new tastes in every delicious bite. I feared the seed-topped amaranth biscuits would be unduly heavy after feeling the texture of the dough, but they came out tender and wonderful, with an elusively delicious flavor I can only attribute to the amaranth flour. Each recipe came out perfectly without any alteration on our part; the directions were simple, clear, and without error.
The book even makes a beautiful gift, as it’s filled with Ms. Swanson’s own food photography–and believe me, these photographs will make you hungry!
August 17th, 2010 1:02 am
Review by Cathe Olson for Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods into Your Cooking
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“Super Natural Cooking” is an exciting and tasty introduction the world of whole foods. The book has an unusual arrangement. Rather than lumping appetizers, entrees, soups, salads, and desserts into sections – the book is rather arranged like a course on natural foods cooking. The book begins with instructions for building a natural foods pantry – what foods to include and what to avoid, including flours, oils, sweeteners, spices and seasonings.
Then she moves on to whole grains, beginning first with information about the different types of grains (helpful because many may be unfamiliar), she then moves on to recipes. There are baked goods like Seed-Crusted Amaranth Biscuits and Espresso Banana Muffins; soups like Toasted Wheat Germ Soup and Creamy Wild Rice Soup. The Spring Minestrone with Brown Rice made with fresh asparagus and snap peas has been a regular for us on Fridays when I get my box of produce from the local CSA. We also loved the Risotto-Style Barley made with crème fraiche and lemon zest.
Next, Swanson encourages us to “Cook by Color.” This section is all about fruits and vegetables – brimming with essential phytonutrients (don’t worry if you’re not sure what they are, it’s explained in the book.) Recipes include Baked Purple Hedgehog Potatoes (your kids will love these), Red Indian Carrot Soup, Curried Tofu Scramble, and Crema de Guacamole with Crunch Topopos.
If those foods weren’t healthy enough, the next section teaches you to “Know Your Superfoods:” alliums, cruciferous vegetables, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, sea vegetables, sprouts, tea, and yogurt. Dishes include Beluga Lentil Crostini, Sprouted Garbanzo Burgers, and Golden Crusted Brussels Sprouts. My family absolutely loved the Creamy Cauliflower Soup.
Of course even natural foods eaters love their desserts and there a plenty of good ones here as Swanson presents a section on natural sweeteners. There are recipes for Thin Mint Cookies, Spiced Caramel Corn and Ginger-Amaranth Shortbread. The Dairyless Chocolate Mousse is so rich and decadent, no one will believe it was made with tofu. The biggest hit of the desserts for us – I’ve already made it several times – was the Raspberry Curd Swirl Cake. My gosh, it was good. I couldn’t find Raspberry Curd at Trader Joe’s so I used Lemon Curd and it was wonderful. Really, really great.
Whether you are already into natural foods like I am (but there were ingredients here I’ve never tried like wild rice flour, teff and farro) or completely lost in a natural foods store but want to know more, this book will work for you. The recipes are very “normal” and nonthreatening – like chocolate chip cookies with a bit of mesquite flour millet-fried “rice.” In other words, comfortable favorites with a little twist. Swanson does an excellent job of explaining the ingredients (and offering substitutions if you are unable to find some of the more uncommon ones). This books is vegetarian – many recipes use dairy products but there are some great vegan recipes as well.
Review as seen on http://www.vegfamily.com by Cathe Olson
August 17th, 2010 1:30 am
Review by vgray for Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods into Your Cooking
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Heidi’s new book, “Super Natural Cooking”, is luscious.
She didn’t have to make it this beautiful. But she did.
I love the warm paper and the sturdy construction. It took me a few minutes to grasp that there’s a dust-jacket on this paperback book. How cool.
Luxuriously textured with rich color photos (love the dahlias, the Christmas stockings and the tattoo), and dotted with charming graphics, you realize the book is a treasure before you even get to the recipes…
I feel the book has so much to teach me; expedient, because I am anxious to learn about whole grains, natural sweeteners and alternative oils. Along with her talent for photos and food; I love the way Heidi speaks to us. Intelligent. Amusing. Never dull.
Allowing no personal bias as a fan of her web-site, I am charmed and excited by this book on it’s own merit. Because I have cooked from her first cookbook, I know the recipes will work and impress. In my collection of three hundred or so cookbooks, this is a stand-out.
August 17th, 2010 2:05 am
Review by Breana Simmons for Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods into Your Cooking
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I am not a skilled cook. I am not a vegetarian. I do not live in a big city where exotic spices or international produce are particularly common. I shop in regular grocery stores and sometimes eat fast food. But I love this book.
Heidi Swanson takes nothing for granted, teaching simple techniques (I never took home economics!), identifying the different spices, grains, produce and natural sweeteners, and offering substitutions for the harder to find ingredients. All the recipes are simple and delicious, with lots of helpful hints and information about the whole foods philosophy. She’s done her homework, and she admits that cooking in a new way can be daunting. That makes people like me feel more comfortable using this cookbook.
I highly recommend this book. The hardest part about cooking this way is tracking down all the ingredients, but it’s worth it.
August 17th, 2010 2:22 am
Review by Brian Sharp for Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods into Your Cooking
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I’ll come clean right up front: I was a recipe tester for this book, and Heidi is a friend of mine. That said, I only really got around to testing a handful of the recipes while she was writing it, and I just got my copy the other day and eagerly opened it and put it to use, so this review is based on my impressions of the finished cookbook.
First off, Heidi’s food photography is just stunningly beautiful. The presentation is beautiful and focus is crisp, revealing texture and color. Plus, flipping through the book, it appears that almost every recipe has a photo, so it’s useful for knowing what the finished plate ought to look like. Sometimes I use cookbooks with no photography and wonder, at the end, whether I missed a step. Not so here.
The whole book is as pretty as the photos. The paper stock is smooth and pleasant just to hold, the fonts are tasteful and attractive, the ornamentation is great. It’s just a beautiful book.
And the recipes? The ones I’ve made have been delicious. I made the wild-rice flour pancakes with the mesquite syrup for brunch and they were a giant hit. I’ve made the quinoa-corn crepes several times, and the sauce is so good I triple it to have leftovers for the next week. The list goes on. I’ve probably made 10 or 11 of the recipes so far, and haven’t been disappointed with any of them.
I’m especially excited about this cookbook coming out right now because I’m working on losing a few pounds, and while this book certainly has some recipes for foods rich in calories, it also has a ton that aren’t. Plus, every recipe is so rich in nutrients that I can eat smaller portions of any of them and still know I’m getting what I need. I’m particularly excited about the various ways to put greens and beans to use in my kitchen.
Finally, the price is kind of hard to turn down. Amazon’s selling this for less than fourteen bucks right now? I’d have paid more than twice that for this book, no question.
August 17th, 2010 2:53 am
Review by Matthew J. Gallagher for Natural (Rpkg) [VHS]
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“There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was to play this game.” For admirers of the original theatrical and, later, DVD version, of “The Natural” this is obviously A MUST. The story of Roy Hobbs, a great young talent in the Ted Williams mode (they even share the same number – 9), struck down in his prime, and then, like a phoenix, reborn into athletic glory, is one of the classic American stories of all time, based on the fine novel by Bernard Malamud. This new “Director’s Cut” version is like revisiting a great fairy tale from childhood and being given more – and often longer – scenes with some of your favorite characters. Director Barry Levinson explains, in a video introduction to the film, the reasons for this new edition: how the original film was somewhat rushed into theatres and how he and his editor (and others) wanted a much different first act to the film. And here it is: the new footage deepens and darkens and gradually brightens the film into a much more satisfying experience and still does not diminish the impact of the original at all. In a word, PERFECT. The musical score, by the great Randy Newman, perhaps a little too insistent in the original film, cueing us to how we should feel, sneaks up on you more in this version and makes all the wonderful moments in the film that come later that much more moving. Also, Robert Redford’s performance as Roy Hobbs is immeasurably helped here: the new footage (often original scenes with more footage added), even certain quick cuts, make for a more layered, textured performance that gives us greater insights into this troubled, but noble character – and show how a once, great, guileless young ballplayer still exists inside the older, careworn, but still talented, man he has become. There are beautiful moments restored here – often wordless – and some original scenes have been edited, so that even though there is additional footage, the new version only runs about six minutes longer than the original. Personally, I felt all the performances benefited from the new version – Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger, Darren McGavin, Glenn Close, Wilford Brimley, Richard Farnsworth, all doing splendid work here. And though my only quibble with the film was – and still is – the somewhat stilted staging of some of the scenes (I would have liked to have seen more reactions from the ballplayers and coaches during games – sometimes they just look blank even when watching something exciting going on), this is clearly a TRUE classic – and the new version will only add to its glory. The additional special features include a wealth of information about the making of the film, and a splendid featurette on “The Mythology of The Natural.” Clearly this is why this film endures – and will for the next 100 years. It has a timeless feel, from the perfect performances, the superb direction, the obvious care that was taken in the music, costumes, sets (the fantastic scenes in the various ballparks), and, finally, to the story itself, so beautifully articulated by Glenn Close’s character later in the story: “I believe we have two lives: the one we learn with, and the one we live with after that.” This new DVD “Director’s Cut” version drives this theme home with the precision of one of Roy Hobbs’s mammoth home runs. It is a darker, more textured, but ultimately more illuminating experience (and perhaps even more moving than the original version) – and one of Barry Levinson’s finest achievements. I wish they had re-released it on the big screen first. But here it is in a beautifully packaged DVD (with a great, old-fashioned cover), worth every penny, and then some. A grand slam!
August 17th, 2010 3:52 am
Review by Michael Dahlin for Natural (Rpkg) [VHS]
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I loved the Natural when it came out in 1984. The mythical quality of the story, terrific acting by a perfect cast, great editing, and great direction made this film one of my all time favorite sports movies.
So this year a new dvd version is being released that is being called the Director’s cut. Apparently there are 20 minutes of new footage added in, but the editing results in a film that is only 6 minutes longer than the original. The chief difference between the two versions is that the backstory is relayed primarily through flashback from the “present”, as Roy Hobbs returns to his childhood home after 16 years away. He retrieves “Wonder Boy”, then goes to New York to start his career with the NY Knights.
The new version works okay, but I frankly preferred the original. I preferred its slightly more deliberate pacing, and I don’t think the new scenes (primarily extended versions of already existing scenes) added any real value or perspective. Indeed, one scene in which Memo travels to meet Roy on the road actually detracted from the cohesion of the story.
Bottom line: if you loved the original, you’ll like this one. It’s still basically the same film. I just don’t think it needed any tinkering.
August 17th, 2010 4:50 am
Review by L. Shirley for Natural (Rpkg) [VHS]
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The Natural is a film I could watch over and over, which is why I bought this DVD. My Tape was worn out. This is a story for the whole family. If you’ve never seen it and you dont like baseball, dont let that stop you. This is a magical story.
Roy Hobbs is a farm boy with a gift for pitching. But as his Dad tells him “It’s not enough”. He gets a chance to try out with the Chicago Cubs, so He leaves his best girl with a promise of marriage and heads off for the big city. He meets a beautiful temptress on the train and being young and naive lets temptation lead him astray.
Because of the incident with the woman his baseball career was put on hold for 16 years, until at 36 he gets a chance to play for the Majors. The manager of this loosing”dead from the neck up” team is reculant to put this old rookie in, but his assistant goes to bat for Roy (excuse the pun) and he finally gets his shot.
We watch as Roy has a great season, goes into a slump, gets mixed up with the wrong woman again and tries to save the team for the manager from the corrupt owner and his partners.
His past comes back in 2 forms, first his girl is now living in Chicago, and has brought him good luck, it is a magical moment in the movie when he is in a slump and she stands in the bleachers looking like an Angel, and his energy is renewed, and second he is being blackmailed about the unfortunate incident 16 years earlier.
After all these years though Roy has never lost his honor, his values, or his love for the game. He also learns that wanting to be “the best there ever was” is not as important as doing the best you can.
The Cast is fabulous in their rolls, you have Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Wilfred Brimley, Kim Basinger, Robert Duvall, Barabra Hershey, Joe Don Baker, Robert Prosky and the late great Richard Farnsworth. No more needs to be said there!
The DVD itself is a must have. I was reluctant to buy it at first because it was only 4.0 and 2 channel sound but this is not a film where you need to have dinosaur steps shaking your water glasses. The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the musical score is all great. It is in Widescreen and the cinematography is wonderful. Usually the “Extras” is not what impresses me when I buy a DVD but this one has a not to be missed 45 commentary from Cal Ripken Jr. that’s as poignant as the story itself. There is also included in the documentary Director Barry Levinson”s views
By the way you will also love the ending of the story!
Enjoy—Laurie
August 17th, 2010 5:15 am
Review by J. C. Anderson for Natural (Rpkg) [VHS]
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When I was first made aware of this new “Director’s Cut” of The Natural, I wanted to rent it before deciding whether to buy it or not. Unable to find it for rent, I bought it. Having watched it twice (alternately with the original theatrical version DVD), I will probably toss it.
Director’s Cut? Even the director, Barry Levinson, concedes in the introduction to this new version that it is not meant to replace or be better than the original theatrical version. It’s merely an intriguing chance to see the movie edited to match his original vision more closely (made impossible in 1984 by post production time constraints). He makes no judgment that his original vision was better. For me, this cut is quite inferior.
Not only were 15 minutes of footage added, but 9 minutes were deleted. In the original version, the opening act (before Roy returns to the game after 16 years) ran 20 minutes. In the new version, despite a lot of added material, it runs 17 minutes. The relaxed, natural pace of the original sequence is now full of somewhat abrupt, quick edits. Gone also are some beautiful shots, such as the young Roy and Iris running towards each other at night across the horizon of a field. Gone are moments of character development, such as The Whammer’s wisecrack on the train, “Oh, first Pete and now Repeat?”
And much later in the film, one added scene derails a major theme. Iris is a positive influence, and Roy excels in the game under that influence. Memo is a negative influence, and under her spell Roy fails. Yet in this new verson of the film, Roy returns to New York after several highly successful games (under Iris’ influence) on the road, and then a scene has been added where Memo welcomes him home in a hotel lobby and gets cozy with him in a phone booth. In the following scenes, Roy continues his successful run! It makes no sense. In the original version, his success ended as soon as he reunited with Memo at the welcome home party. In fact, the addition of the phone booth scene results in her welcoming him home twice, which is somewhat odd.
On the positive side, the new 5.1 sound is very nice most of the time, but sound effects that were subtle in the original film have been amped up at times to the point of being distracting. Originally, the two gunshots sounded appropriate to the rooms in which they happened. They now sound like recordings of shots in an echo chamber, edited into the film. Still, I have to say I loved the enhanced sounds of thunder throughout the movie.
The second disc of Special Features has some interesting stuff on it. So I’ll keep the Special Features disc, put it with my DVD of the original theatrical version, and toss the so-called Director’s Cut disc. But I will miss those great thunder sounds.
August 17th, 2010 5:40 am
Review by Lawrance M. Bernabo for Natural (Rpkg) [VHS]
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This is one of those films where you heart loves it despite what your head might be telling you. Barry Levinson’s 1984 film abandon’s the Shoeless Joe Jackson ending of Bernard Malamud’s novel, choosing to go in a totally different direction, and I have to tell you I have no complaints (I even have a Roy Hobbs baseball card!). “The Natural,” more than any other baseball film, attempts to deal with the game on a mythic level that can really exist only in the poetic world of fantasy.Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, who is given a second chance to be the best baseball player who ever lived. The early part of the film where you have to believe Redford is a teenage phenom is a bit of a reach, but the film seduces you into a willing suspension of disbelief with its glowing images and sentimentality. As the older Hobbs, Redford’s quiet desperation plays nicely. The supporting cast of Glenn Close as Iris, the girl Roy left behind, Robert Duvall as the cynical sports reporter, Wilford Brimley as the crusty manager, Robert Farnsworth as the affable coach, and Robert Proskey as the malignancy who owns the team are all treats. Barbara Hershey is memorably remote as the dangerous Harriet Bird but Jon Don Baker plays the mythical Whammer as if Babe Ruth was channeling Ty Cobb. Only Kim Basinger seems out of place, and this is more because her character is so clearly bad news for Roy that you can never understand what he sees in her given what happened in his past. Redford is the calm at the center of the storm, dignified in his efforts but boyish in his love for the game.The film is essentially a collection of carefully crafted scenes: The opening vignette of Roy playing catch with his father, his first at bat in the majors, Iris refusing to see Roy fail in Chicago, his last at bat of the season and the dissolve to the final images as the circle is completed. The cinematography by Caleb Deschanel needs to be enjoyed widescreen (I have my laser disc), while Randy Newman’s score, easily one of the most memorable in movie history, adds something to virtually ever scene (I have the CD). Every spring I watch “The Natural” and Ken Burns’ “Baseball.” Sometimes, those are the best parts of the season for me.