• peaceoutdesign on January 05, 2014

  Coconut cinnamon chips=excellent. Turkish chop Salad was also very good.

• mytai on September 03, 2013

  Just made the Bora Bora Meatballs - delicious! Notes: These are better the next day. They go incredibly well with the Sunshine Sauce (which, needs thinning and more acid to my taste, but is also really delicious, particularly after a day). If you follow the directions for meatball size (1 tablespoon) and cooking time, (25 minutes) it's too long and you end up with dry meatballs. I found this out on my first batch. The second batch I took them out at 18, and it was perfect. Go really easy on the coconut - 1 1/2 cups wasn't enough, even though I read the directions and thought I WAS going easy on the coconut. I ended up have to toast more, and needed a total of 2 cups + a tablespoon or so. And finally, I can't wait to get home and eat the leftovers!

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Grilled chicken thighs

  • Brittania on February 22, 2026

    Pretty sure I’ve made this.

• Ras el hanout

  • sarahawker on February 11, 2019

    Nice spice blend with sweet potatoes.

• Italian sausage seasoning

  • Emmsy4 on February 10, 2017

    This is amazing stuff - added to pork mince it turns it into the tastiest sausage with no additives. The fennel seeds are the magic ingredient!

• Cinnamon beef stew with orange gremolata

  • rmardel on July 04, 2022

    This is a fairly simple, easy recipe, good for adventurous beginning cooks with results that are better than average. Still, it did not sing to my palette, and I have recipes I much prefer. The cinnamon note was quite dominant initially, but that could have been because the cinnamon sticks I stock are both larger and softer than standard US grocery-store cinnamon sticks. The flavors soften and melded nicely by the second day.

• Waldorf tuna salad

  • rmardel on July 04, 2022

    This is a surprisingly good "stand alone" tuna salad. I used a small Granny Smith apple and the combination of sweet crunch from the apple, the richness of the nuts, and the fresh flavors of parsley and scallion greens made this very well rounded and satisfying. I did not use the author's mayonnaise recipe as I prefer my own. I do think the choice of mayonnaise will make a difference in the proportions here but simply recommending choosing one you love. I don't think I would appreciate this nearly as much on a sandwich, but served on a bed of tender lettuce it was divine.

• The best chicken you will ever eat

  • rmardel on July 14, 2022

    This is very good. The breasts remain tender, moist, and flavorful. The technique is really easy as long as you allow time for the marinade. She recommends 2 hours, but up to 4 will work. And I have on occasion marinated the chicken on one day, then grilled it the next. The recipe gives directions for doing this. One thing I do note though, is that the spice mixture that is used to coat the chicken gives a fair amount of heat, at least with the combination of chili powder and curry powder that I stock in my kitchen. Worth thinking about and I am not convinced I would recommend this to the spice-averse..

• Moroccan meatballs

  • rmardel on July 30, 2022

    These are best if they have been allowed to rest overnight, at which point they are excellent. Immediately after cooking, the sauce is fabulously rich and flavorful but the meatballs are rather bland and firm. After resting the flavors meld, and the meatballs absorb liquid and flavor from the sauce. I would make them the day before, then reheat them gently in the sauce before serving. That said, I used olive oil rather than coconut oil and more parsley than the recipe recommends, half a bunch in the meatballs, and another half bunch in the sauce. I sauté the parsley in olive oil, adding it after the onions and before the remaining ingredients. Sautéed parsley has a wonderful rich flavor. The meatballs also benefit from the addition of some fresh oregano and mint, and would probably work with a variety of herbs depending on what was available.

• Chocolate chili

  • DKennedy on August 02, 2015

    This is the first recipe I tried out of this book. It was absolutely no work and it would be a great option for a weeknight meal. Throw the onions in to soften and chop the garlic and measure spices while they are in the pan. The meat goes in next, then the spices, paste, tinned tomatoes and finally the stock. Bring to boil, then simmer for two hours. After two hours the flavors marry nicely. Added peppers. next time, I will add the spices and chocolate to the oils before adding the meat to allow them to cook. Very good, but a bit one dimensional.

  • TequilaMockingbird on May 02, 2018

    An easy-to-make flavorful chili that me and my friends love! You won’t miss beans at all!

  • rmardel on June 03, 2021

    I have made this recipe quite frequently over the years. Although it simmers a couple of hours, and these are critical, it is fast and easy to get started. Everyone seems to love it: even family members who say they hate beef devour seconds. It is a bit one-note, but it is a comforting note.

• Scotch eggs

  • wester on June 02, 2018

    This was the first time we made Scotch eggs. I liked them, my son loved them, although we found them really filling. I also had a problem with the meat coating splitting, exposing the egg. This may just be a matter of practice, but I'll check my other recipes to see if they have tips on how to prevent this.

• Bora Bora fireballs

  • Locavore on January 03, 2016

    Didn't have jalapeno, so subbed 1/2 tsp dried ground chipotle for the 1 tsp of cayenne inside the meatballs. Takes way longer to prep than 10 minutes -- more like 30. But the results were delicious and will last us several meals. We dipped them in a bit of tamari.

• Salmon a L'Afrique du Nord

  • Brittania on February 22, 2026

    Really good and easy!

• Meat and spinach muffins

  • rionafaith on January 10, 2018

    Great portable healthy breakfast. If anything they were a touch bland, I would increase the salt and maybe add more spices next time.

• Mashed cauliflower

  • Brittania on February 22, 2026

    :)

• Cocoa-toasted cauliflower

  • wester on January 20, 2021

    There is definitely potential here, but it does need a lot of tweaking. The end result is interesting but quite one-dimensional, not much interaction between the cocoa and the cauliflower. I tried a splash of vinegar, but that didn't work. I tried adding some cumin, and that did work. Now I'm still looking for a way to make the flavor fuller. Also, I thought the method was not quite optimal. Instead of melting the fat in the microwave, I much prefer using a very small skillet, which gives more control. And why take a long time mixing things with spoons when it works so much better to do it with your hands?

  • sarahawker on August 23, 2023

    Interesting. We ate it, but there was something not quite right. Even after quite awhile in the oven the cocoa tasted a bit "uncooked" to me. Maybe I was too generous w/ the teaspoon but it also seemed to overwhelm all of the other spices.

• Baba ghanoush

  • sarahawker on February 04, 2019

    This is an excellent recipe, good to devour with jicama sticks.

• Peach almond crisp

  • sarahawker on February 04, 2019

    Simple, very good subbed in apples for the peaches and served to guests who loved and did not notice it was not sweetened.

• Caramelized coconut chips

  • peaceoutdesign on February 06, 2015

    To keep the coconut ribbons from breaking down to smaller bits it is much easier to broil but watch closely

• Asian meat and spinach muffins

  • rionafaith on January 17, 2018

    Liked this variation better than the original! I used ground turkey instead of beef.