Fresh and Light by Donna Hay

The angle: Simple food, simply prepared, designed to hit that sweet spot between comforting and good-for-you.

Recipes for right now: Whole Wheat Honey and Ricotta Pancakes, Fig and Cinnamon Muffins, Asian Chicken Salad with Crisp Wontons, Warm Puy Lentil and Rare Tarragon Beef Salad, Quinoa Pea Fritters, Individual Moussaka

Who would enjoy this book? Anyone who hates the term “diet” but wants better ideas for healthy eating, households with both vegetarians and omnivores living under the same roof

• Who wrote it: Donna Hay

• Who published it: Fourth Estate

• Number of recipes: Over 180

• Other highlights: I want to crawl inside the pages of this cookbook and just live there for a while. The book itself is just so beautiful! It plays straight to my minimalist-loving heart. This is also a large format book — it’s much larger than most cookbooks these days and might feel more at home on the coffee table.

But definitely don’t leave it on the coffee table, because there are some fantastic recipes in here. I love the way this cookbook takes fairly standard weeknight meals like poached chicken or a quick stir-fry and adds that “little something” that makes these foods sound fresh and new. It might be an unusual ingredient like preserved lemon or a quick pesto made from mid-winter broccoli — whatever it is, I want it.

There’s a good balance between meat recipes and vegetarian recipes in here. This would be a perfect cookbook for anyone cooking for both vegetarians and omnivores under the same roof; there are plenty of complimentary meal ideas for both crowds.

Find the book at your local library, independent bookstore, or Amazon: Fresh and Light by Donna Hay

• Visit the author’s website: Donna Hay

Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.