The Earthbound Cook: 250 Recipes for Delicious Food and a Healthy Planet

I live in the Pacific NW, in a smallish town about halfway between two major cities, surrounded by farms and orchards, and close to the water. To say we have an abundance of amazing produce and fish would be an understatement. I prefer shopping at local farm stands and farmers' markets, and I usually purchase local fish already broken down and flash frozen. I don't eat a lot of meat, but do like chicken. I'm not a vegetarian, but find that I eat "vegetarian" usually 3 days a week, sometimes more.So this book really is right up my alley. Close to nature, simply prepared dishes utilizing locally-grown products, minimal "fuss." Yes, this is the way I like to cook. There are 250 recipes - most are easy to prepare using basic ingredients.Myra Goodman has filled in the book with tips and techniques to make your kitchen more "green" -- covering topics like water conservation, energy savings, sustainability, composting -- you get the idea. These are presented as essays or quick tips -- easy to read while you're waiting for the water to boil or the soup to simmer.But I really purchased this for the recipes, and so far, I have not been disappointed. I always try at least three recipes from each cookbook before I review it, and "The Earthbound Cook" was no exception.FIrst up: from Chapter 4 (Fish and Shellfish) -- Seared Salmon with Chipotle-Lime Butter. I'm single, so I cut the recipe in half to make 2 servings instead of 4. This was a fast dish -- mix the marinade, let fish sit in that for an hour, then a quick sear while preparing the butter mixture. Less than 15 minutes from fish into the skillet to eating. And it was sublime. My only change to the recipe: I don't use canola oil; instead, I prefer grapeseed oil (more neutral flavor, higher flash point). Everything else was per recipe.Next: from Chapter 5 (Vegetarian Entrees) -- Vegetarian Three-Bean Chili. I didn't cut this recipe since I usually make a pot of soup or chili and freeze in single-serving containers. For this one, I mixed the spice blend first (it looks like a long list of ingredients, but 5 of them are spices) and set it aside; then started the recipe from step 1 (heating oil, cooking onion, bell pepper and jalapeno). I always have dried black beans on hand and got those ready the night before; I did use canned red kidney beans and white cannellini beans. I used vegetable stock that I had made and frozen earlier, too (yes, I've invested in a mid-sized chest freezer, even though I'm single). I figured this was one of those recipes that's better the second day, so after the chili was finished, I put it, covered, in the fridge. Oh.My.Goodness! Made some homemade cornbread, and what a meal! Very simple recipe, minimal preparation, and VERY tasty. This one's a keeper, for sure.OK, so we're on a roll. Next up: Chapter 10 (Breakfast and Brunch) -- Ham and Gruyère Frittata. This is a good basic frittata recipe -- 6 eggs, ham, cheese, herbs, a little onion, a little milk, a little cooking on the stovetop, a little cooking under the broiler. I added a handful of baby spinach to mine; would also be good with mushrooms, maybe some cubed cooked sweet potato, too. Serves 2-4. I had some left over, so the next day, I turned it into a couple of breakfast burritos. Still delicious.I need to mention the index -- it's excellent! In too many cookbooks, the index seems to be an afterthought. Not here. It's comprehensive and complete. Really outstanding, in my opinion.So there it is -- really good non-complicated recipes; some good "filler" material, plenty of stuff to chew on. This one has been added to my Kindle "Favorite Cookbooks" collection.

Great recipes!I love her cookbooks it is my second one and I have made almost everything in the first one!

This book tells the history of bagged spring mix lettuces, and provides a variety of simple healthy recipes for a wide range of tasty dishes. I have served The Goodman Family Meatloaf to guests many times and they always ask for the recipe. Many times I just send them this wonderful cookbook, which contains this great recipe and many more!

For some reason, I thought this was a vegetarian cookbook. My husband and I are trying to eat vegetarian 3-4 days a week and so I've been picking up some vegetarian cookbooks to help us develop a nice selection of meals to try. I bought this book thinking it was solely vegetarian, but it has quite a few meat dishes in it. Nonetheless, the recipes are fabulous and there are still plenty of vegetarian options inside. You could also make substitutions for the meat in some of the recipes. We are just flexitarians right now, so this may end up being a good thing for us because while we eat meat, we can learn to incorporate more vegetables and to become more adventurous using them. Very happy with the purchase. The salad section alone is great. I love salads with fruit, lettuce, bitter greens, nuts and cheese, and a sweet and tangy dressing and she has several.

The recipes seem good but so many of them have sugar or honey in the ingredients. I didn't expect that, thus the 4 star rating.

My husband found this book at the library and liked the emphasis on beans and grains. After he showed it to me and said that "we should eat more things like this" I bought him a copy and said "pick the night that you want to cook." Now we are both really happy - he gets to eat a lot of new things and I get a night off every week! And I must say, many of the things he chooses are, indeed, recipes I would never have picked, but there hasn't been a bad one yet. The book adds a new dimension to our weekly meals in a delicious and healthy way. We bought a copy for my brother-in-law for Christmas in the hopes that he, too, will enjoy it (and give my sister a break now and then).

This cookbook is easy to follow and the recipes are delicious. I,also, enjoyed and found the exlanatory section on food and utensils most informative and helpful. Although I'm a Vegan, I found a fair amount of recipes which if not Vegan could be adapted by substitutions. This book,in addition, includes essays which are helping me to eat healthier.And, are very enjoyable to read. The only reason this didn't rate a five star for me is because i couldn't utilize the book fully because of my way of eating(Vegan). I could not try,for instance, the meat,seafood, or dairy dishes. Chini

The bounding of the book is not very good. I have not used the book all that much and it is already falling apart.On the contents: there are some good recipes but way too many bread and desert recipes for my taste. I don't bake that much and almost half the book is about baking. I wish I had known that. There are also a lot of additional information about recycling, environmentally friendly consumption, etc. which to me is not all that useful. These are things that are not all that new or revealing, at least I didn't really learn anything new there. Overall a good cookbook.

Healthy and amazing recipes. Love this book!