Healthy frozen pops, Thai cuisine among latest topics

‘Glow Pops: Super-Easy Superfood Recipes to Help You Look and Feel Your Best’ by Liz Moody (Clarkson Potter, $16.99)

Some of us grew up eating neoncolored frozen pops that offered little more than a sugar buzz and a head freeze.

With “Glow Pops,” Liz Moody, a blogger who focuses on healthy eating, suggests a better way to chill.

By definition, her pops are “healthy, nourishing pops that fill you with energy and nutrients and make you absolutely glow.”

With a mandate to “eat whole, real foods,” these 55 recipes are gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar-free and vegan.

There are fruity, creamy, chocolate-y, savory and green pops, pops to help with allergies, pops loaded with antioxidants, pops to protect you from skin cancer, pops that cure hangovers and pops that fight viruses and bacteria.

Right now, Cucumber Mint Mojito and Watermelon Lime sound amazing for summer. On the creamy side, there’s Mexican Horchata and Peanut Butter and Jelly. If chocolate’s your thing, how about Chocolate Chia Lavender or Chocolate-Covered Banana?

Think of glow pops as frozen smoothies.

Far from the sugar-laden, nutrient-bare treats of yesteryear, they are perfect for hot weather, pack plenty of visual appeal, and happen to be very good for you. They can also cure a craving for something sweet, and can be eaten on the run. No need to whip up a smoothie or toast a bagel for breakfast.

This book is a revelation. Pop glows the world! ‘Bangkok: Recipes and Stories From the Heart of Thailand’ by Leela Punyaratabandhu (Ten Speed Press, $35)

A bowl of fiery red coconut-based fish curry sits on a plate with rice vermicelli, a halved boiled egg and a scattering of fresh vegetables: cucumber and bean sprouts, cabbage and green beans, basil and bitter melon. One of the many composed plates in this splendid new Thai cookbook, it is extraordinarily beautiful, exotic and evocative.

Unlike so many authors, this Bangkok native and blogger does not go overboard trying to make her recipes accessible to American home cooks. If she does at all.

She instead goes for authenticity, down to the banana blossoms and finger-root, describing methods in vivid detail and her hometown foodways with lovely anecdotes.

Leela Punyaratabandhu’s instructions for cooking Egg Net Parcels with Pork-Peanut Filling tell you to “go all Jackson Pollock” when you dribble the beaten egg into the hot skillet.

If you’re heading to the land of the sour, sweet, salty, bitter and spicy, this book will whet your appetite and point you to ingredients, dishes, markets and restaurants you might otherwise miss.

With this book, you can make durian ice cream, pomelo salad bites, watermelon with fish dip, jade noodles with barbecued pork, and so on.

It’s a delicious introduction to the Land of Smiles, one that will fill you up with tales of the Thai New Year, “Train” fried rice and other addictions.

‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking’ by Samin Nosrat (Simon & Schuster, $35)

Samin Nosrat began as a kitchen amateur.

After a memorable meal at Chez Panisse, she wrote Alice Waters begging for a job as a busser. In a Cinderella stroke, the floor manager hired her on the spot.

Thus began her immersion into the finer points of food and, eventually, a stint teaching Michael Pollan how to cook.

Right off the bat, a pattern emerged and, over time, a guiding philosophy.

As she writes in her first book, “There are only four basic factors that determine how good your food will taste: salt, which enhances flavor; fat, which amplifies flavor and makes appealing textures possible; acid, which brightens and balances; and heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food.”

With charm, spunk and rigor, she follows the “crumb trail of kitchen science,” offering an in-depth explication of her four basic pillars, then moving on to the recipes.

Her style is delightful and accessible, and if you ever want to learn a lot about salt, fat, acid or heat, I suggest you burrow down with this book for a serious consultation. Or as Nosrat suggests, read it all from beginning to end, then put it to work.

While the volume contains recipes written in standard format (Vietnamese Cucumber Salad, Chicken Pot Pie, Chocolate Midnight Cake), I love the way Nosrat suggests ideas, recommendations and variations. She has a real knack for encapsulating information: how to approach a food group, or break down a chicken, or concoct a diversity of smooth soups and garnishes.

“Four Things to Do With Fruit,” for instance, suggests you Juice It and Make Granita; Poach It in Wine; Roast it on a Bed of Fig Leaves; or Make Compote. How cool is that? I can’t wait to practice “How to Get to the Heart of an Artichoke,” or brush up on my “Salsa Math.” This book has plenty of teachable moments, and just the right tone to do cooks of all levels a world of good.