Laura B. RussellReseñas

gluten-free adaptations for noodles, dumplings, sauces and more.

Some of the GF doughs are reportedly trickier/stickier to work with, as you would expect, but the author has persisted and worked out a way that she can still enjoy these treats without jeopardizing her health, so props for that! I don't think I would necessarily bother with the dough, but I was curious as to whether it was possible, or what options were out there (no readily available GF dumpling wrappers, alas). The recipes fall into three categories: (1) major overhaul/recipes that need a big conversion to make them GF, like dumpling dough; (2) minor substitutions, like using GF soy sauce instead of regular; (3) naturally GF. Also included, and much appreciated, are tips for shopping for GF noodles and other ingredients--some things that would naturally be GF might actually be contaminated with wheat, so this is not always as simple as one would hope.

There is plenty to discover in here! A sample of recipes that sound tasty and doable:
* Steamed radish cake / Singapore "carrot cake" featuring the radish cake - pp.64-67
* Mandarin pancakes (that yummy soft bread that they serve with roast duck) - p 68
* Korean green onion pancakes - p 70
* Red curry soup with chicken and rice noodles - p 87
* sushi rice - p 100
* coconut rice (jasmine rice cooked in unsweetened coconut milk) - p 102
* sticky rice (pre-soaked for 8+ hours and steamed) - p 101
* kimchi fried rice, in case you've never had that, it's delicious - p 103
* bibimbap (sans the special bowls to make the rice crunchy, but I'm guessing still delicious) - p 108
* stir-fried rice cakes (Korean savories that you can apparently buy from the asian food store) - p 110
* various pickled relishes - p 114+
* cabbage kimchi - p 116
* sesame-crusted salmon - p 137
* rice paper-wrapped salmon in green curry sauce (using springroll wrappers) - p 138
* Thai coconut chicken soup - p 152
* chicken curry-don - p 156
* Chinese barbecued pork (sans the red dye) - p 169
* pork tonkatsu (with crushed cornflakes replacing the panko) - p 172
* coconut ice cream - p 186
* mango with sweet rice (sweetened coconut milk sauce is stirred into pre-cooked sticky rice) - p 187
* five-spice berry crisp - p 188
* Thai coffee macarons - p 190

sadly, no mochi or mochi-inspired recipes (or milk jelly), but overall a very good collection of useful information.

PREVIOUS REVIEW 6/26/2022 (I don't remember reading this before at all but here's what I wrote about the same book 5 months earlier)--
I was hoping for lots of GF dumplings and maybe some mochi, or at least some matcha rolls. These are ok recipes, but not that useful -- I don't need a recipe for kimchi fried rice (delicious but self-explanatory) or spring rolls, and I probably could've figured out the scallion pancakes if I were so inclined. Other recipes are also fine, but just not anything that I would feel like cooking for myself--bibimbap needs that special stone bowl to get the crunch crust right, etc.

Cooking and nutrition. Eat your cruciferous vegetables!

I'll admit, what first drew me to this book was the amazing photography. It was just so pretty! Thankfully, the content of the book matched up perfectly with the quality of the pictures. This is a fantastic cookbook of leafy greens (ie brassicas). There are eighty recipes on how to cook the world's healthiest vegetables as well as short essays from renowned doctors and nutritionists on the importance of these veggies. There are also great summaries on the preparation, cutting, cleaning, and cooking of these sometimes obscure greens.

Some of the vegetables included in this cookbook are: kale, broccoli, turnips, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, horseradish, and many more. Some of these vegetables sound intimidating or even bland but the author does a fantastic job of dispelling any rumors or bad thoughts on these misunderstood vegetables. The recipes included sound soo soo delightful. I grew up eating one, rooty mash. It is a fantastic mix of sweet potatoes (in my case regular potatoes) and kohlrabi that elevates mashed potatoes to something heavenly. Some other recipes I plan on trying soon are: colcannon with brussels sprout leaves, spicy kale fried rice, and roasted cabbage wedges.

All the recipes in this cookbook are gluten free and most are vegan or vegetarian, some include meat but there is almost always alternative ingredients listed to fit different dietary needs. This book is a great addition to any kitchen.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

4.5 Stars
A great cookbook for anyone wanting to introduce more green vegetables to a diet! This book is easy follow and not only includes some pictures but also simple but tasty recipes. The author has very informative sections on how to select the vegetables, the best way to prepare and store them, and includes substitutions as well. There's even a table of the recipes that let's the reader know whether the recipe is vegan, vegetarian, and if it's okay for specific food allergies. I have tried the one smoothie recipe and it's delicious! Cannot wait to try a few more. The only complaint I have is that I wanted more recipes (roughly 75-80 are in this book).

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.½

Raise your hand if you're 100% certain that you have more than enough greens in your diet.

Yeah, me neither.

Brassicas: Cooking the World's Healthiest Vegetables, the new cookbook from Oregonian Food Day writer Laura B. Russell, is on a mission to change your answer to that question. It just might change mine.

I tried a couple of recipes, and am eager to tackle others. The Kale & Sweet Potato Saute on page 27 required serious patience in the first step (slow cooking 1/2" cubes of sweet potato,) but proceeded quickly with the second step (sauteing shredded kale.) Though I used much more than 2 tablespoons of olive oil and not quite as much chili powder as recommended, this recipe could easily become a standard around here. This works as a side dish, in a corn tortilla and, as recommended by the author, with a fried egg for breakfast.

If there's a mention of ginger in a recipe, I'm usually interested; it's the one type of 'heat' in a spice that I enjoy. The bok choy and crystallized ginger Waldorf salad sounded like a fun spin on an old-school classic, so I tried it out.

Dear god in heaven, it's awesome!

That first bite sparkled - lemon, crunch, pecan, and just a hint of ginger. I would even be inclined to kick the ginger up a few notches with ginger syrup.

The bok choy hides backstage in this recipe, under wraps with the greek yogurt and itsy bitsy amount of mayonnaise. Do take the time to let the bok choy mix with salt (and then carefully drying with a kitchen towel) as it definitely made a difference in the amount of liquid in the bottom of the dish.

Pick up a copy of Brassicas and prepare to make kale, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, arugula, cress, bok choy, chinese broccoli, mizuna, napa cabbage, tatsoi, radish, turnip, rudabaga, horseradish, wasabi, and kohlrabi your new best food friends.

No, really, they're ALL brassicas. Plenty to choose from! Take a look at Chapter One here.

P.S. I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review. This review also appeared on www.cookbookfetish.com.

Brassicas are any plant within the mustard family including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages and Brussels sprouts. "Ounce for ounce brassicas contain more healing properties than any other branch of food." This cookbook delivers tasty ways to serve up these nutritionally packed foods.
In the introduction there are a variety of cooking tips for plants in this family, including which plants have mild, bold or peppery tastes, how to pair them with other ingredients and how to prepare them for cooking.

The recipe sections of this book are categorized by type of plant: Kale, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage, Broccoli, Leafy Brassicas, Asian Brassicas and Root Brassicas and Kohlrabi. Since some of these plants are just starting to come into season in my area, I loaded up at the farmers market and tried out some recipes. I love cauliflower, and it really is underrated. I tried out the super simple Roman Cauliflower Saute with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and cheese. This was very simple, quick and tasty. Brussels sprouts are another favorite of mine. The Brussels Sprouts with Parmesean Crust is very similar to how I usually prepare sprouts, with the addition of white wine vinegar which turned out well. There are a lot of different things to do with broccoli, so I tried out the Lemony Broccoli Chop, which is sort of like a slaw. It was definitely a different flavor palate than I am used to, very Mediterranean, but good.

Overall, this is a good collection of fairly simple recipes to spice up your cruciferous vegetables. If you are looking for something different to do with your broccoli and sprouts, or if you would like to eat healthier but tastier, you should check out Brassicas.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

The book Brassicas is a disaster. It seems that Ten Speed did not have impartial scientists look at it.

1. The nutritional science is faulty or even false.

a. The positive benefits of brassicas beyond fiber are largely unproven. Even if some of the current faddish claims are someday supported, the blind enthusiasm of the text is inappropriate. The introduction is especially unpleasant as the writer rejoices in embarrassing her audiences because they do not happen to know the word "brassicas."

b. There is no mention in the text of the long known and proven anti-nutrient effects of brassicas on iron and calcium uptake, kidney stone formation, and thyroid function. http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/glucosin.html http://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/52985.pdf

c. There is no mention of brassica allergens. These allergens are in the pollen, an issue for gardeners and people visiting farmers markets, and in the various mustard compounds found in the cooked and uncooked vegetables.

2. The TOC is inaccurate when it lists kohlrabi as a root. Kohlrabi is a swollen stem. The chapter could be called "other structures". Frankly, though, I think the organization of the book is less than optimal. I would perhaps have chosen flavor groups as outlined in the introduction – weak to strong.

3. The book's range of food brassicas is limited. The author does not mention the spoon cabbages which are the most important brassicas for the intensive garden because of their extremely rapid growth. They are also some of the mildest-flavored of the family. She ignores most of the leafy mustards and the collard variations. She does not discuss decorative kales. Nor does she discuss rape seed oils which, while they are not part of the brassica hooha, are important food products.

4. The author can't write very well and the ARC contains rough sentences and grammar errors that I certainly hope editors have caught in the final edition. "Supertasters" and "superfoods" are tabloid words that should be used sparingly in serious writing as they will date the work when their popularity wanes.

Speaking as a professional horticulturist and food writer, I give this book a very low rating on any scale.

I received an advance review copy of Brassicas by Laura B. Russell (Ten Speed Press) through NetGalley.com.

This cookbook starts off with an incredibly helpful table listing the possibly problematic ingredients in dozens of Asian ingredients and condiments. If, like me, you've ever spent a long befuddled afternoon scrutinizing the labels in an Asian market, you will be thrilled with this section - and maybe even more so with Russell's suggested substitutions for the hopelessly gluteny ingredients. That section alone was worth the cover price for me, but the recipes that follow are also simple and delicious. The Japanese Pub Style Fried Chicken is particularly awesome. Grab a copy and prepare to feast, my fellow avoiders of gluten!

This cookbook starts off with an incredibly helpful table listing the possibly problematic ingredients in dozens of Asian ingredients and condiments. If, like me, you've ever spent a long befuddled afternoon scrutinizing the labels in an Asian market, you will be thrilled with this section - and maybe even more so with Russell's suggested substitutions for the hopelessly gluteny ingredients. That section alone was worth the cover price for me, but the recipes that follow are also simple and delicious. The Japanese Pub Style Fried Chicken is particularly awesome. Grab a copy and prepare to feast, my fellow avoiders of gluten!