Almonds Every Which Way

Almonds Every which Way is a nice, well-rounded cookbook with many good recipes from breakfast through desserts. However, it’s not for the traditional cook. Brooke McLay has written her cookbook specifically for those on alternative diets: vegetarians, vegans, those on a paleo diet, with many recipes for people on dairy-free, gluten-free and grain-free restrictions. Each recipe is labeled with icons as quick reference suitable for the various diets. All recipes include almonds and their derivatives: almond flour, almond milk and almond butter. The recipes are well-written with easy-to-follow instructions, all with great layouts and relatively few ingredients, most generally available if you have access to a health food store. In the introductory first fourteen pages you’ll learn all about almond and its cousins, how to use them in cooking, and how to substitute them in traditional recipes. The recipe head notes are very good, and complete nutritional information accompanies each recipe. The recipes vary greatly but many draw from international repertoire, and some are of fusion cuisines (e.g. Thai/Mexican). This is a no-nonsense, unglorified cookbook with no illustrations except for sixteen pages of photos bound in the center of the cookbook. The index is thorough and well cross referenced.