Eat Complete For Complete Health

Most cookbooks are usually known for their great recipes or for the author. Rarely are they known for improving lifestyles or helping to stave off illness. Yet there is one new cookbook that not only has tasty recipes but also great advice on how to eat right.

Dr. Drew Ramsey wrote this phenomenal book, Eat Complete (Harper Press) which shows home chefs how to cook with twenty-one nutrients  that fuel brain power,boost, help with  weight loss and just transforms over all health.The opening chapters are must reads as he tells us how to eat complete  and with mindfulness. He also breaks down  what we need to eat in three categories, seven for foundation, seven for protection and seven for ignition.A change of diet even aided his  patient,
 a young man vanquish his depression and helped him turn his life around.There is also some very sound advice on how to feed our brains, since they are the organs that require the most energy.There is advice on why we should eat grass fed meat, dairy and eggs as well as adding color to our plates.The book is also a must for those suffering from gluten allergies , since all the recipes are gluten free.He also explains in detail about our vitamin intakes , probiotics and prebiotics along with our Omega 3 s and mineral intakes.There is a great section on the problems that arise with each meal and how they can be solved. Home chefs can definitely learn from the book and incorporate his suggestions for a better life for themselves and their families.

That said , one would think the recipes would be boring - they're not. Best of all,Dr. Ramsey gives recipe suggestions in the chapters about the twenty one nutrients If you want  more Vitamin E in your diet then try the recipes for clove spiked cocktail nut mix or the buttermilk strawberry smoothie. An iron rich diet  would include Dr. Ramsey's pumpkin crusted lamb chops and mussels with garlicky kale ribbons.Anybody , even finicky kids will like the dishes. Teens  and chocolate lovers will go mad for the spinach spiked chocolate cashew smoothie.Serve the sunflower-Parmesan crisps with
 navy bean -rosemary hummus at a party for a healthy and flavorful alternative to any sour cream dip.Make the sweet potato chips with the spicy Romesco sauce for a fun but nutritious treat.There are great dinner recipes such as roasted chicken with anchovies and olives along with the roasted pork loin with red cabbage fennel sauerkraut with toasted cumin seeds.Even the desserts are packed full of nutrition. There are sesame seed cinnamon baked apples , the classic dessert amped up with turmeric and olive oil to end a meal or the mouth watering double chocolate avocado (!!) mousse. Finish with a cinnamon-almond egg cream!

Eat Complete is the  must have book for any home library.It will no only provide home chefs with delicious recipes but with a template for eating healthier. Meals and snacks will no only be delicious but helpful in creating a better life, body and brain

Romesco A Versatile Sauce

Not many sauces have versatility . Tomato sauce usually just goes well with pasta or rice. Bechamel can go with one dish , not another. Mushroom sauce can go with red meat but not dark. The classic Spanish  Romesco is not that It can liven up any piece of seafood  or vegetable.It's a great sauce for those who crave something different on their foods..

Melissa Clark wrote about it and experimented with it in her A Good Appetite Column in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.In a way this Catalan dish is not really a sauce  but more of a condiment  such as a chutney or ketchup. The ingredients are pure Spain, from the sweet Spanish peppers to the almonds. It usually graces fish dishes such as tuna  grilled shrimp or grilled lobster however it can also be used to enhance potatoes and even green beans.The true Spanish way is to  slather it on sliced  green onion slices called calcots. Ms. Clark uses it to highlight the flavor of raw broccoli.

Romesco is an easy side to make, much easier than ketchup or even a simple mayonnaise.The main part is broiling red bell peppers and garlic until they're charred. Add a charred tomato as well along with the paprika to color it. The binders are simple : honey and breadcrumbs. This gives the Romesco a nice thick consistency (think hummus) .You can vary it so that the texture isn't so thick and try variations/ Ms. Clark uses a pomegranate honey but a  regular dark or light one can do the trick as well.As for the breadcrumbs some Catalan chefs sub in sweet almond biscuits for extra sweetness.

Romesco sauce is a great way to livening  any vegetable or even piece of fish .Put it as a side for crudites or as a spread for late summer caught fish.It's a nice variation to the basic condiment,