I have been a HUGE fan of all things Danielle Walker from Against All Grain for a few years. Her journey to good health through food is SO inspiring. And through this journey she has managed to create some pretty amazing recipes through her blog and cookbooks Against all Grain and Meals Made Simple. You can imagine my excitement when I learned she was releasing a THIRD cookbook. Celebrations launches on September 27th! You can pre-order it now (for an INCREDIBLE deal) here. I was lucky enough to be on her launch team and received the book early to test out the recipes and share my thoughts. A week into the book and I am in LOVE. The book takes you through a year of Celebrations (think NYE, Valentine’s Day, Easter, etc.) and shares paleo recipes that you may have previously missed because of dietary restrictions.
The book itself:
This book is hard cover and LAYS FLAT!!! It may sound like a silly thing, but most of my favorite paleo books (including Danielle’s other two books) are all the same style and always want to fold back up on you. It is a constant battle to find a kitchen utensil to keep it held open…but not this book! 🙂
As with Danielle’s other books, her personal story and tidbits in the beginning of the book are amazing. She shares her journey and reasons for writing the book. She also shares so many helpful cooking tips that she has learned through her paleo expertise, along with ingredient and cooking tool help!
The PICTURES. Oh the pictures. They are absolutely stunning. I almost want to use this as a coffee table book, but I know that it will mostly be in my kitchen and will inevitably acquire the spills and stains that my other Danielle Walker books have gained throughout the years 😉
The food:
Danielle has really outdone herself with this book. So far I have tried the Paleo “Corn” Bread, Peach Cobbler and Grilled Blackened Salmon with Stone Fruit Salsa. I have more on the menu for this week so I will keep you posted.
Paleo “Corn” Bread – For a paleo recipe, or ANY recipe, this was SO easy to make. The taste is so similar to corn bread, I couldn’t believe it. I initially made it with a paleo chili. The leftovers keep up to a week tightly wrapped in the fridge, so I also used it for a base for paleo sloppy joes and an egg scramble. The possibilities are really endless!
Peach Cobbler – DIVINE! The combination of the sweet peaches covered in the cakey cobbler topping was delicious. I had to divide it up into containers and give it away to family so I wouldn’t eat it all myself.
Grilled Blackened Salmon with Stone Fruit Salsa – Confession: I am not a huge fish fan. However, I know salmon is SO good for you, and so I have really tried to embrace it and try cooking it more often. And this recipe created the best I have ever had. The blackening rub is the perfect combination of spices to give excellent flavor without being overpowering. The stone fruit salsa adds the perfect sweet and spicy topping (think peaches + jalapenos) to complement the salmon. We served it with roasted asparagus and I ate my entire filet. This coming from a non-Salmon believer!