As a fan of no-nonsense kitchen guru Mark Bittman, the New York Times food columnist and author of the bestselling cookbook How to Cook Everything, and its vegetarian counterpart, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, I was excited to get my hands on his latest cookbook, Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express: 404 Inspired Seasonal Dishes You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less.
I happened to be devouring Bittman’s enlightening consumer’s guide to eco-friendly eating, Food Matters, when I picked up Kitchen Express. Although one is a cookbook and one is more a lifestyle or self-help book, both offer delicious recipes for dishes made with fresh, whole ingredients. The Food Matters’ approach to eating better is really a no-brainer: consume less meat and animal products; eat more vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains; and choose food that's in season and locally grown—a practice referred to as locavorism.
When discussing locavorism, Bittman hits on a particular pet peeve of mine: all the out-of-season produce I often see in supermarkets. It saddens me to think that there are inevitably many people who have no idea what a ripe tomato or peach should actually taste like. It’s a travesty, really. Bittman echoes my sentiment, saying “It [eating locally] makes people think...about how ridiculous it is to eat summer fruits and vegetables in January."
In addition to locavorism, Bittman stresses the importance of limiting our intake of meat. Livestock production, he says, is playing an enormous role in global warming, and eating less meat and more plants may be the single biggest thing people can do to slow the rate at which the planet is overheating. Not to mention the positive effect this concept would have on human health, what with obesity rates—and the rates of the diseases it causes—soaring to unprecedented numbers.
Kitchen Express takes the concept of locavorism one step further, dividing its 404 recipes into 101 for each season. It is technically geared toward “anyone who’s done some cooking,” but for those with very little culinary know-how, fear not. The book’s small size, suggestions for stocking your pantry, and enticing recipes with familiar ingredients (blueberry pancakes, anyone?), make it very accessible. There are even several lists at the front of the book that each include recipes of a specific kind; for example: “Recipes That Barely Disturb the Kitchen,” or perhaps, “The Easiest of the Easiest?” These seem like good places for non-cooks to start. Bittman even says in the introduction that he’ll “rarely give exact measurements,” and that the recipes are, “precisely imprecise,” for a style of cooking that’s “about three things: speed, flexibility, and relaxation.”
All in all, Bittman's books are not exactly cookbooks; they're lifestyle books, geared toward anyone who cares even a little bit about their health and the health of the environment. They illuminate real ideas for enhancing the way we eat and live. And if they can help solve issues like global warming and the obesity epidemic in the process—well, that's just gravy.
