The Minimalist Entertains - Cookbook I love

The Minimalist Entertains by Mark Bittman

I picked this up at the library as I whizzing through the aisles with my four year old, the concept of minimalist cooking..aka easy in my book..intrigued me so I grabbed it and we moved on to the children's room. (Where we got some great books, and a movie for our Friday Family Movie night. :)

When I sat down and read this cookbook, something struck me...the majority of the recipes were naturally gluten free. The book is 256 pages long, contains more than 150 recipes, and 20 recipes contain gluten (yes, I counted..I had to, for you guys!! ;). I counted the ones with pasta (easily brought to gluten free with Tinkyada), the handful of desserts (come on, a crisp? We can change that easily as well!), and the ones containing chopped bread or bread crumbs, in bread puddings, toasts for appetizers, etc.

Does 20 sound like a lot to you? Especially with some of the easy substitutions, it's probably down to under 10. It doesn't seem like much to me at all. It goes to show that good food made simply is gluten free.

I am purchasing this book, and I do not purchase many. I have a very small shelf, and do not plan to go over my storage.

I love this cookbook because it has 40 menus for entertaining, the majority of them completely gluten free, naturally, with a plan, and with some different things than I would cook. The parings for wine is in the menu plan, timing for cooking, and tips to make it successful.

And, no one sitting at the table will miss the gluten they will not realize is missing.

Cool, huh?


Cheers!!!

Mark Bittman writes for the NY Times and has a column, I am sure there are some good recipes there.

Also, here is a link on Amazon for Mark Bittman's books, I was surprised that this book has the lowest rating off all the books he has written. If this one isn't the best, I am excited to leaf through his other books, and recipes on his column.