Herbivoracious

At first it feels like we’ve seen Michael Natkin before: author of a popular food blog with a tread-lightly, Earth-friendly attitude toward eating. But then Natkin busts out recipes for Ethiopian ful medames (fava bean stew) and apio (lemony celery root), and we know these are not the same old tried and true vegetarian recipes. As a result of his global approach, some recipes call on unusual ingredients like tamarind, but an equal number take supermarket staples, like coconut milk, and turn them into something you most likely haven’t tried, such as a recipe for creamy, spicy Jamaican rice and peas. While the something-for-everyone approach can be overwhelming, both vegetarians and carnivores will appreciate his extensive chapter on side dishes. Asparagus with nori butter combines miso and mirin with seaweed to produce a flavorful, salty-sweet dish that could just as easily be paired with his recipe for soba noodles in shiitake shoyu broth with spring vegetables as with simple grilled fish. Both bored vegetarians and conscientious carnivores will appreciate this excellent collection. (June)