Heidi Swanson's Yellow Split Peas & Greens
Cookbook Review & Recipe Review from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson

Heidi Swanson's new book, Super Natural Every Day, made a smashing debut a last month, and it's still hanging out in Amazon's top 100 books. If you're wondering what the deal is with the hype around this quiet vegetarian book, with its grown-up hippie food and subdued photographs, let me tell you: It's well-deserved, and if you're interested in simple yet flavorful vegetarian meals, then you should pick up a copy right away. This yellow split peas recipe is, I think, a very good example of what makes this book so appealing.

Heidi's book (Ten Speed, April 2011) is a collection of the food she truly likes to eat, every day. It meanders through breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, drinks, treats, and accompaniments. The hallmark of most of these recipes is how much flavor they pack into a small package. Again, I think this recipe is a very good example.

It starts with a base of bright golden yellow split peas — they are so colorful and beautiful on the plate! Then Heidi creates a simple cilantro pesto, turning regular old basil pesto upside down, using cilantro and pepitas instead of basil and pine nuts. Then she tosses this incredibly flavorful pesto with more pepitas, yellow split peas, and handfuls of salad greens.

The recipe only has 8 or 9 ingredients, and it comes together quickly. But there's a surprising intensity of flavor, and a delicious variety of textures and tastes. I served it at lunch a couple weeks ago, and couldn't stop nibbling on it as I prepared it. It made a perfect side dish, and an even better lunch later in the week.

Many of the recipes in this book do similar things. Heidi said that she wanted this book to express how she eats on a day-to-day basis, and also to reflect the natural spirit of her setting: The San Francisco Bay Area. It does, with dreamy, cloudy photographs that evoke the feel of the Bay Area, and that also let the vibrant colors of the food shine through. This is healthy food, but not healthy-because-it's-good-for-you. No, this is healthy-because-it's-delicious. From Farro Soup to Harissa Ravioli, and Black Sesame Otsu to Rose Geranium Prosecco, Heidi mixes influences and flavors from different cultures and eating styles to create something uniquely hers, that would probably only have formed in the Bay Area.

It's an inspiring book, and one that I'm cooking out of quite a bit. If you love grains, noodles, and fresh vegetables, as well as Heidi's famous and lovely blog, do check this out. You won't regret it.

• Find the book: Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen, $15.64 at Amazon

More Recipes from Heidi Swanson & 101 Cookbooks
• Salt-Kissed Buttermilk Cake
• Mushroom Casserole
• Perfecting Pizza Dough
• Baked Doughnuts
• Homemade Power Bars

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (7)

I just made the broccoli gribiche from this cookbook the other night and it was YUM! I'm a huge fan of 101cookbooks.com and this latest offering doesn't disappoint. I can't wait to try more of the recipes, one of my friends made the quinoa cakes last week and has been raving about them.

I made the baked oatmeal over the weekend and it was fantastic and it made even better leftovers for the next day. Finally-a sweet breakfast casserole that is healthy and won't weigh you down for running around on the weekend. This will be made again in my household.

I've already made several recipes from this book (my partner and I call it SNED, which makes us giggle), and they've all been fantastic. Heidi's recipes have been some of my favorites for a few years, and this book really captures the way I want to eat - take some simple ingredients, combine them in a thoughtful way, and then BAM! you have something fantastic. The harissa/ravioli/broccoli dish just blew me away with how tasty it was.

I started reading 101 Cookbooks when I lived in North Carolina, but after moving to San Francisco last summer I find that these recipes speak to me even more. The website was a connection to my new home even before I moved here, and as silly as it sounds, it was comforting to feel like the culinary landscape was already a bit familiar.

LOVE this book, read it cover to cover the day it arrived. I have made several recipes from the book and love each one of them.

LOVE this book. It's just as lovely as her blog.
The spinach chop is my current favorite with all the spinach. I have been getting from my CSA.

Anyone know where i can get the cocunut she uses? All I run into is the shredded sweetened kind. Anyone have experience drying fresh coconut? AND what can I use instead of dill (I just cant get to like it)

I just spent an hour attaching post-its to all of the recipes I want to try, which was basically the whole book.
@shayna, you can order the coconut from nutsonline.com. Also a good source for chia seeds and a lot of the different grains that she talks about in her books. they have great customer service and quick turn around time.

Shayna,
I'm not sure exactly what kind of coconut you're looking for, but I buy unsweetened shredded coconut in bulk at Whole Foods, for the bargain price of about $3.00 a pound (and a pound is a lot). I've also found it at Wild Oats. Sometimes you can even find organic for about the same price. I use it in place of the sweetened kind for baking, etc. It's wonderful stuff! :)