'Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals'
by Jamie Oliver Hyperion -- 2009 Buy it on Amazon
The revolution will not be supersized. Jamie Oliver is a man on a mission to reclaim traditional home cooking from the fast and processed food purveyors of the world via simple, inexpensive, appealing recipes.
The book kicks off with a rah-rah manifesto that dovetails with Oliver's televised travelingroadshows geared toward getting the least healthy eaters in the UK and the USA to back out of the drive-thru and drive home healthier eating habits, centered around the debatably lost art of home cooking. He presents a compelling argument with solid, satisfying building-block recipes and oddly heartstring-plucking photo profiles of plain ol' folks cooking at home.
See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.
Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:
A 30-minute meal to salivate over -- pizza topped with an arugula salad.
Kim Jong-Il might be fighting against all things American, but North Korea has opened up a fast food restaurant -- one without "imperialist" hamburgers.
Farmers markets are now brimming with boxes of strawberries, and most people's natural inclination -- aside from eating them all before getting home -- is to turn the berries into pies, cobblers, crumbles and strawberry shortcakes -- in other words, dessert.
While their tart sweetness makes them shining stars of the seasonal baked goods line-up, strawberries also make great supporting players in savory dishes. They pair well with cheeses, nuts, salad greens and even some meats, and can be as versatile as they are irresistible.
One way to introduce them before the dessert course is in a salad, not only as whole fruit but also as a tangy vinegar. Though you can buy bottled strawberry vinegar (as well as other fruit vinegars), it's plenty easy to make your own. It adds bright layers to the following recipe for spinach salad with toasted pecans, strawberries and ricotta -- and can be added to as many other salads, entrees and yes, even desserts, throughout the rest of the summer and beyond.
Shredded carrots are subjected to all sorts of injustices, usually involving large quantities of mayonnaise, sour cream or cream cheese. So it's refreshing to see a photo and recipe that capture their simple, sweet beauty.
Jenn of The Leftover Queen snapped this Caribbean carrot salad, which is oh-so-barely dressed with a few splashes of apple cider vinegar and grape seed oil and a spoonful of brown sugar. It looks crisp, cool and infinitely satisfying, an excellent way to enjoy the the iridescent goodness of carrots -- without having to dig for them.
Warm days call for cool picnic ideas, and this white bean salad certainly answers that call. Made by Elise at Simply Recipes from a recipe of her mother's, it looks both refreshing and hearty, a simple solution to the perennial question of not only what to eat, but what to eat while sitting on a blanket, fending off ants and sunburn.
And while you may be able to hold both at bay, we're guessing that when a salad looks as pretty as this one, you'll have no such luck fending off the hungry advances of fellow picnickers eager for just one more mouthful of beans, kissed with fresh lemon juice, spiked with raw purple onions and garnished with fresh, lush herbs.
Zesty, spicy and sweet in equal parts, Thai beef salad may be the ideal dish for spring. Though it might simply look like beef plunked on top of greens, its almost-invisible ingredients -- lime juice, minced red chiles and fish sauce -- lend it a flavor profile we crave again and again. Packed with protein, it also features enough veggies that one can walk away feeling a bit lighter on her feet than after, say, downing a porterhouse.
We were reminded how much we love this salad when we came upon La Fille de La Ville's photo. Why La Fille de la Ville? It's pretty literal, we discovered when we emailed her: "I'm just a girl of the town!" she exclaimed. Sounds like a typical New Orleans resident smitten with her city. She's a newbie there but sounds pretty darn enthused about NOLA's "epicurean delights." Find her recipe -- and breathless gastronomical reports -- on her site.
For my entire life, I've believed that two things should always go together -- eggs and bread. (Unless, of course, we're talking about deviled eggs.) In fact, I'd rather go without breakfast, or eat something less desirable, than attempt to partake in eggs without some kind of bread or bread-product. (I've even been known to dive for the bread crumbs when desperate.) Bread and eggs just go together. They're Tom with Jerry, Sonny with Cher, Simon Pegg with Nick Frost. Alone, they're just not the same.
And then I found myself eating brunch at the Park Hyatt Toronto. I ordered an egg-topped green salad, and an ordering mishap left me without my side of bread. Reluctantly, I began to eat my salad -- for the first time ever, I could eat eggs without the bread. Diced chunks of cheese and meat balanced the light and airy lettuce, and the runny yolk became a delicious extra hint of dressing to the salad.
Best of all -- it's easy to make. The above salad is just a bunch of romaine hearts tossed with olive oil and red wine vinegar, then topped with some diced tomato, finely diced onion, and chunks of kielbasa, cheese, and avocado. Two poached eggs went on top, and then a good grind of salt and pepper. It's delicious, easy, quick, and hugely filling.
*Note: The eggs are red because they were poached in some left-over red wine that has sat too long in my fridge. It offers s a nice extra hit of flavor.
When making salad dressings, ever wonder why oil and vinegar mix well in some cases and not in others? Find out how to make the perfect salad dressing with two simple ingredients, and maybe just a few more.
Have you ever been torn between the flavors and textures of a potato salad, and those of your usual tossed salad? If so, I strongly recommend the following recipe -- a great way to have the best of both worlds.
The Provencal Salad from Epicurious is a mix that gives you the creamy chew of potatoes and eggs, matches them with the crisp, fresh flavors of tomato and green beans, and then tops it off with capers and tuna. It's quite easy to make, and can be made in stages. Boil the eggs ahead of time, prep the green beans, then just bring it all together as you boil the potatoes.
On it's own, it's a great light meal balanced with a vinagrette dressing (kicked up by the use of champagne vinegar and dijon). But for a real treat -- top it with fried feta. The warmth and saltiness are a perfect addition and really make the salad a meal.
Having one lamb shoulder piece left over from my Lamb, Hunter-Style, I sat down and wondered what I could do with it. I didn't want to just reheat it and make a side. That seemed boring. Suddenly it dawned on me -- a salad sandwich. I'd never had lamb salad before, and I knew just what to do with it -- give it a Greek twist!
Next time you have some leftover lamb, chop it up, add some vegetables like diced onion and roasted red pepper, and then use tzatziki to bind it, rather than mayo. The light flavor of the cucumber is perfect for the lamb, and it's a great twist on the regular mainstays like tuna and chicken salad.
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Everything looks so much more elegant when you put it inside clean, minimalist circles, even mini pretzels. Bento whiz .scarlet has filled four round containers with soy yogurt, green salad, veggie chili and assorted snacks (spelt pretzels, celery with peanut butter, pepperoni, Babybel cheese). Simple but lovely. And incredibly healthy too.
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's entry is definitely for the "intended to be eaten" category. Bento-maker .scarlet has filled four round stacking boxes with a green salad, apricot yogurt with apple pieces, homemade avgolemono (Greek egg and lemon soup) and popcorn with a piece of Babybell cheese. It's simple, but ever so much more visually appealing and meal-like than the same foods would be if they were wrapped up in foil and hidden in thermoses.
From The Heinz Book of Meat Cookery (1930), HJ Heinz Company
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
From Dainty Desserts for Dainty People (1915), Knox Gelatine
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
Zesty, spicy and sweet in equal parts, Thai beef salad may be the ideal 
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