Clean Cooking

AUTHOR: Elisabeth Johannson PUBLISHER: Skyhorse Publishing RRP: $29.99

REVIEWER: Mary Ann Elliott

PASTRY chef and food stylist Elisabeth Johansson has 15 cookbooks to her name.

She has followed a gluten and dairy free diet for many years and her latest book reflects her food preferences.

This type of cooking is a growing trend even among people who aren’t allergic to gluten, dairy or sugar. It’s wholesome and well-balanced with no processed ingredients. The benefits are numerous; slimming down, giving more energy through nutrients and generally making you feel healthier.

Here are wonderfully fresh juices and smoothies, new-style breakfasts and ways of making bread such as her gluten-free rustic bread that is like Danish rye.

While many of Elisabeth’s recipes are salads and raw foods there are hearty vegetarian as well as meat meals and seafood. Roast lamb, chicken, top sirloin, beef cheeks, or oven-baked sea bass with fresh coconut and turmeric are all colourfully presented in different flavour combinations.

You can sample and enjoy Elisabeth’s sweet offerings such as blueberry coconut crumble pie or her super power bars without a guilty conscience.

Her introduction contains useful notes on gluten-free baking and the various types of flours she favours. Alternatives to sugar and dairy products such as agave, maple syrup, almond or coconut milk, and powders, berries and seeds have a high nutrition concentration.

This is a beautifully-produced book that lies nice and flat on the kitchen top, printed on glossy paper and with gorgeous full-plate colour photographs.