THE IMUS RANCH: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys

Imus founded the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology, a program that aims to identify, control and ultimately prevent environmental factors that cause adult and, especially, pediatric cancer. She rounds out this collection of basic vegetarian fare with a lengthy essay about life on the Santa Fe, N.Mex. ranch where she and her husband, radio personality Don Imus, practice "healthy living and healthy cooking" and teach self-reliance and horsemanship to kids who have "known too much sickness and too much death." Imus's diet is "organic, whole-food, ovo vegetarian, meaning that we don't eat dairy or animal products, but we do eat eggs," and she explains it with a rundown of the ranch's organic "vegan pantry." The informal recipes focus on basics like Orange Poppy Seed Muffins and Cowboy Potato Chowder, and fast sandwiches like I-Man Chimichangas. Dinner selections feature nostalgic favorites such as Spanish Rice updated with brown rice and olive oil, and Imus cleans up desserts (including Carrot Cake and Jeannie's All Out Brownies) by substituting unbleached flour and unrefined sugar. In addition to healthy lifestyle prescriptives and thank-you notes from some of the camp's young alumni, Imus includes sidebars on topics ranging from non-toxic head lice remedies to green cleaning agents to the dangers of PVC in children's toys. She ends this informative book with a complete nine-day menu, spanning the average duration of Imus Ranch guests. (May)

Forecast: While serving more to promote the worthy mission of the Imus Ranch than to provide unique recipes, this consciousness-raising cookbook may appeal to novice vegetarians or to those interested in supporting holistic education and children's health.