The first full-color cookbook from the renowned Golden Door spa lets cooks recreate the flavorful fresh recipes of the destination spa--dishes that are so tasty, it's almost impossible to think of them as healthy.

The executive chef at southern California's Golden Door Spa shares 150 fresh-ingredient recipes and a range of time-saving tips, offering options for a variety of meals and advice on how to promote health and positive spiritual energy.

"Sound nutrition is the cornerstone of any healthy lifestyle," writes Michel Stroot, and he should know. As the executive chef at southern California's famed Golden Door Spa, he has perfected the art of conscious cooking and nourishment and now shares over 150 of his unique and delicious recipes in Golden Door Cooks Light and Easy. The Golden Door Spa is one of America's most exclusive holistic wellness retreats, and the celebration of food-from garden to table-is a cornerstone of the spa's "simplicity is luxury" ideology. Stroot's recipes are not only nutritionally balanced, but also imaginative, aromatic, and always delicious. In keeping with the Golden Door Spa philosophy, he aims to "provide the hurried person a cuisine of simple and enticing meals that will renew physical and mental energy," with recipes that use only fresh, healthy ingredients, allowing creativity and spirit to enhance every meal. With guidelines for creating well-balanced meal plans, advice on how to cut time in the kitchen, and ways to reduce fat while enhancing flavor, Golden Door Cooks Light and Easy surpasses so many other cookbooks that amount to nothing more than a list of exotic ingredients from a fancy kitchen. From breakfast to beverages, appetizers to sauces, salads to seafood and easy desserts, Chef Stroot shares his favorite menus as he reflects on the Golden Door belief that "it is necessary to maintain a balance between what goes into our bodies and what we can expect to get out in terms of energy, enthusiasm, and enjoyment."Classically trained, Chef Michel Stroot honed his skills as the executive chef at the Golden Door Spa for more than two decades. His food has been praised by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Gourmet, and Vogue. Stroot has been called "a kitchen genius" and his creations "tantalizing and singularly inspiring." Originally from Belgium, he lives in San Marcos, California.

A pioneer in the field of healthy cooking, chef Michael Stroot brings classic French cooking techniques and a European sensibility to California's freshest foods. Illustrated with stunning full-color photos, "The Golden Door Cookbook" presents fresh flavors from a wide range of international cuisines, and selected meditations make it easy for readers to recreate the complete spa experience in their own homes. full-color photos.

A cookbook offering the simple, nutritious and tasty collection of recipes created by the GOLDEN DOOR health retreat. Beautifully photographed and designed, this book elegantly embodies the Golden Door spirit and offers you a calming and inspiring approach to health & nutrition.

Great cooking--using fresh, seasonal, local ingredients--is at the heart of the experience offered by Rancho La Puerta, Baja California's premier resort spa. Cooking with the Seasons transports that regenerative experience to your own home kitchen, changing the way you think about food and cooking--and, just possibly, changing your life. This is no "diet cookbook," however. For Rancho's founder, Deborah Szekely, and co-author Deborah Schneider, food is the very force of life, and eating simply and healthfully is one of life's most profound pleasures. The book's 120 recipes are organized as a series of complete--and luscious--seasonal menus. As spring rouses the earth, you'll awaken your taste buds with Sorrel and Spinach Salad with Roasted Cumin-Orange Vinaigrette. When summer arrives, your senses will dance with Poached Wild Salmon with Avocado-Tarragon Aioli. You'll revel in fall's brilliant colors with Carrot and Ginger Soup with Pears. And, in winter, you'll welcome the new year with Mayan Chocolate Sorbet. Throughout, sidebar tips give valuable advice on everything from choosing the most healthful grains and flours, to preserving summer's goodness with dried herbs and homemade jams.

In his eagerly awaited first cookbook, award-winning chef Charles Phan from San Francisco's Slanted Door restaurant introduces traditional Vietnamese cooking to home cooks by focusing on fundamental techniques and ingredients. When Charles Phan opened his now-legendary restaurant, The Slanted Door, in 1995, he introduced American diners to a new world of Vietnamese food: robustly flavored, subtly nuanced, authentic yet influenced by local ingredients, and, ultimately, entirely approachable. In this same spirit of tradition and innovation, Phan presents a landmark collection based on the premise that with an understanding of its central techniques and fundamental ingredients, Vietnamese home cooking can be as attainable and understandable as American, French, or Italian. With solid instruction and encouraging guidance, perfectly crispy imperial rolls, tender steamed dumplings, delicately flavored whole fish, and meaty lemongrass beef stew are all deliciously close at hand. Abundant photography detailing techniques and equipment, and vibrant shots taken on location in Vietnam, make for equal parts elucidation and inspiration. And with master recipes for stocks and sauces, a photographic guide to ingredients, and tips on choosing a wok and seasoning a clay pot, this definitive reference will finally secure Vietnamese food in the home cook’s repertoire. Infused with the author’s stories and experiences, from his early days as a refugee to his current culinary success, Vietnamese Home Cooking is a personal and accessible guide to real Vietnamese cuisine from one of its leading voices.