Breakaway from the Ordinary

As a working mom with young kids and a special interest in food and cooking, any recipe or cookbook touting quick and easy gets a second glance. But the problem with the genre is that the recipes can be dull or replace fresh foods with overly processed prepared and convenience foods. The first time I picked up Eric Gower’s The Breakaway Cook I opened to a mouth-watering photo using frozen peas (I have bags and bags in the freezer.) and two favorite ingredients — fresh tarragon and pistachios. And that was before I realized this was a quick and easy kind of book.

So what is breakaway cooking? It’s not as cutting edge as fusion, but it uses flavor-packed, unconventional ingredients that are conveniently available online and in ethnic markets. Gower’s breakaway style injects some exciting flavors into the genre of quick cooking. The book includes a helpful list of essential items for the pantry and refrigerator — things like chutney, tofu and miso. And Gower goes on to explain the ingredients that might be unfamiliar to some, like maccha, a thick green tea drunk during formal tea ceremonies.

Don’t miss Ahi Salad with Plum, Asian Pear and Avocado, Orange-Fennel Risotto, Flank Steak with Tamarind-Tomato Chutney and even Maccha Truffles. If bored with your current repertoire of recipes, pick up Gower?s book for easy-to-follow recipes full of new flavors.

To purchase, click here ? www.amazon.com