This is a bilingual Spanish/English cookbook, and it contains mouthwatering recipes from around the world! You will learn how to prepare British Shepherd’s Pie with ground turkey, potatoes, carrots, rosemary and thyme, Chinese Kung Pao with chicken, rice vinegar, scallions, ginger, and fresh garlic, and Colombian Sancocho with chicken breasts, corn on the cob, plantain and yuccas, with simple easy to follow directions. The French Ratatouille looks scrumptious, and it is made with eggplant, tomatoes, zucchinis, squash and marinara sauce, and you are instructed how to prepare the eggplant by “sweating”, roasting and sautéing them to bring out their full flavor! The German Sauerbraten looks tender and juicy as it has been marinated and gently simmered, and the potato dumplings are pureed and mixed with parsley. The Israeli Cabbage Rolls are fork tender and topped with a sweet marinara sauce. The Swedish Meatballs are made with ground turkey, cumin, heavy cream and mustard, and they can be assembled and cooked in 90 minutes!
The use of ground turkey in a lot of these recipes makes them healthier and less cholesterol-laden than using other types of meats.
You are also given healthy hints at the end of the book so that you may substitute healthy ingredients for high fat ones too!

Great concept - and love that the book is in English as well as Spanish. The only issue I had was the compressed layout of the recipes, and the font of the recipe title (too fancy and difficult to read) and the font of the recipes and text (too crowded and difficult to read). As someone who cooks 1 - 2 dinners a week from international cuisines, this was a fun read.

This cookbook, released by Moonstone Press and edited by Stephanie Maze and Karin Kinney shows a lot of promise. I was attracted to the wide range of recipes that are perfect for any beginning cook. The recipes are clearly written and are in fact bilingual -- one page in English and the other in Spanish. This could have excellent use in teaching Spanish to English-speaking students, English to bilingual Spanish speaking students, or even in explaining to a staff member what to make for dinner.

However, at only 84 pages, including a blank page for notes, a forward, table of contents and index, this is one of the shortest cookbooks I've encountered. Even moreso considering the recipes are repeated in two languages. This means the pages of recipes number less than 40. What there are of the recipes are clearly written with excellent photography of the finished dish. Unfortunately, there are no step by step photos for any of the recipes which would be a welcome addition.

I think this book has enormous potential but is in fact only half a book. I would advise the author to triple the number of pages at the very least. She has picked a good range of dishes for the beginner to intermediate cook, things most families would enjoy. I also like that she often includes variations -- for instance in the Heuvos Rancheros she gives options for poached or fried eggs. Again, tremendous potential, but not quite a full book, but it might be the right length if used in a classroom setting.

(**Review may not be edited or shortened if used elsewhere)

Lots of interesting recipes to try out. Nice layout and lots of lovely pictures which I think is very important in a cook book. I’d buy this one