Although they were published around 10 years ago, The Naked Chef, The Return of the Naked Chef, and Happy Days with the Naked Chef (Penguin, pbk, $45 each) they have not dated - apart from a younger-looking Jamie.
His enthusiasm is infectious and his simple recipes with an Italian flavour made with good, fresh ingredients are still enticing, in fact probably more enticing than those in some of his later books.
If you didn't get his books the first time around, do it now.
• In her latest book, 5 Ways With . . . (HarperCollins, pbk, $30), Christchurch food writer Christellele Ru takes everyday ingredients, such as broccoli, cabbage, onion, potatoes, pumpkin, chicken, eggs, bananas, and apples, and gives five different ways of making a main meal or dessert out of them.
She uses things most people have in their pantries and leftovers, a great idea for people with young children, as she has.
Although the blurb talks about quick and easy and healthy, a closer look at the recipes reveals that many of the recipes require several steps, such as lasagne or the stuffed onions (hard-boiling eggs, steaming onions, blending the stuffing mixture and finally baking).
She is particularly keen on gratins, bakes, stuffed veges and pastries, probably reflecting her French background.
• The healthiest diets include lots of vegetables, fruit, nuts, pulses, meat and whole grains but if you want to delve further into what particular foods are good for, or foods for a particular health need, Eat Smart Stay Well: Power foods that could save your life by New Zealand plant and soil scientist Susanna Lyle (David Bateman, pbk, $35) will help.
So if you are looking for cancer deterrents, energy boosters or brain foods, want to know the chemicals in these foods that make them effective or what's in particular foods (all plant foods needless to say), this book will offer some advice.
