What a wonderful time it is for fantastic passion-filled cookbooks! So many incredible, drool-worthy books on the shelves right now, it is such a great time for us food lovers! I can tell you, this self-proclaimed cookbook junkie is in heaven, currently. You should see the many packages and envelopes that have been showing up here over the last month or two, each one filled with another stunning book that is exuding the incredible passion of the dedicated creator.

Today, I am excited to bring you another book that I have been highly anticipating. The Nourished Kitchen: Farm-to-Table recipes for the Traditional Food Lifestyle, from the ever so talented, Jenny McGruther, is a book that I have been waiting to have in my very own kitchen, since the minute I heard that it was in production. I have followed Jenny’s blog, The Nourished Kitchen for many years now and she has always been an inspiration to me, how I cook and how I eat. Jenny’s blog was one of the first I found when I initially changed my diet.

For me, there is nothing more inspiring than flipping through the pages of a cookbook that I know was created with much love and passion. Regardless of the content of a cookbook, there is something so special about the ones where you can feel the author’s devotion to their craft and the immense amount of love and care that they put into every single dish that they created to share with us, the readers. The Nourished Kitchen is a fine example of this. Jenny’s words illustrate the profound love and joy she has for cooking and with each paragraph I read, I get more excited to get into my kitchen to start creating something beautiful. Although Jenny and this cookbook are not exclusively gluten-free, she and I share so many very similar views on food and eating. As the Jenny puts it:

“a fad-free approach to cooking and eating that emphasizes nutrient-dense, real food, and values quality environment, and community over the convenience of processed, additive-laden products that are the norm on grocery store shelves”

I couldn’t have said it better myself, really. For those of you that have followed Tasty Yummies over the 4 years I have been writing it, you know that I have chosen to not put any labels on my diet.  Besides eating gluten-free, I choose to focus my efforts on a real food diet rich in nourishing whole foods that feed both my body and my soul. I eat intuitively, always listening to my body and feeding it with fresh, unprocessed, seasonal and whenever possible, local foods that are not just delicious and good for me, but that also fills me with happiness and joy.

You also probably know that despite my mostly plant-based diet, I do consume some meat. I consider myself a conscientious omnivore who prefers to only eat meat and other animal products, when I am given the opportunity to purchase it locally, from a farmer whom I can trust. This is something that has become increasingly more difficult for me, since we’ve moved to California last year. The cost of raising livestock on pasture and sustainably seems to considerably more expensive here, than it obviously is in New York. So, I have to say, I am very envious of Jenny’s amazing resources, living in the central mountains of Colorado.

With each recipe and every section in this beautiful book, you can see the incredible advantages of Jenny’s location, which provides her access to amazing traditional foods throughout the year. The Nourished Kitchen contains more than 160 recipes, inspired by the seasons, land and waters around her. Whether you are gluten-free or dairy-free, or you have other restrictions on your diet, there are still plenty of recipes in this cookbook for you and the best part is, because of the simple and traditional preparations and the approachable ingredients (many of which you can grow in your very own garden) – many of the recipes are easily adaptable to fit your own way of eating. Read the rest of this entry »