"We believe strongly in eating seafood and vegetarian foods," explains Brenda Langton, founder of her namesake Cafe Brenda natural foods restaurant in Minneapolis.
Nutritionists generally agree that a diet of whole grains, beans, fruit, vegetables and seafood is healthier than one high in fat, salt and sugar. Yet, adopting a healthier diet can be difficult in a culture dominated by meals focused on fried meats and sweets.
This cookbook, filled with the most requested dishes at Cafe Brenda over a decade of dining, is aimed at easing the transition to a healthier diet by expanding one's repertoire of home-cooked meals. It includes appetizers like miso and herb pate, savory soups, vegetarian croquettes, stews, and entrees like poached rainbow trout served with fresh berry vinaigrette.
"The Cafe Brenda Cookbook tempts you with 'sinfully healthy' desserts, sweetened with only natural sugars and containing reduced amounts of dairy products," Langton points out.
"We hope you come to believe, as we do, that our kitchens are the hearts of our homes. Be happy and relaxed in them, and enjoy preparing your food as well as eating it."
Originally published as The Cafe Brenda Cookbook: Redefining Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine in 1992, this new trade paperback edition of The Cafe Brenda Cookbook: Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine from the University of Minnesota Press is dubbed the "Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition" in recognition of Langton's 25-year career as a natural foods restaurateur in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul.