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Vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free? Six new cookbooks.

A sampling of new 2014 cookbooks to guide home cooks toward fresh ideas in the kitchen.

6. The Superfoods Cookbook by Dana Jacobi

'The Superfood Cookbook' by Dana Jacobi (Weldon Owen Publishing)

"Superfoods" has become a trendy way to sell even more trendy sounding food items such as acai berries and pump up familiar ones such as blueberries. There isn't much scientific evidence that supports the idea that some whole foods are significantly better than others. In fact, the European Union has banned the word "superfoods" from being used on food packaging since it can be misleading. (No, they won't enable you to live to 200 or leap buildings in a single bound.)

But that they are "super" natural – in that they are great whole foods that you should be and probably are eating anyway – is the approach Dana Jacobi takes in her cookbook beautifully styled by Erin Kunkel. The emphasis in "The Superfoods Cookbook" echoes the popular notion that you should start with a plant-based meal, adding only humanely raised meat as flavoring.

The recipes are simple enough that you'll want to rush right home and try them, and creative enough that it won't be just the same pile of kale on your plate when you follow such recipes as, "Beet & Watercress Salad with Farm Eggs," "Three-Berry Cobbler," and "Thai-Style Beef & Herb Salad." Jacobi perfectly captures the new spirit of comfort food for environmentally aware ominvores.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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