The Meditteranean stole my heart last summer when I traveled to Mallorca, Spain, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. I loved the food, the environment, and the wine, so naturally, when I found The Forest Feast Mediterranean cookbook, I had to grab it! It was a book full of my favorite kinds of food, and vegetarian!
The author, Erin, takes an extended trip across the Mediterranean, touring France, Spain, and Portugal. The book tells her story, then shares her favorite foods she ate there, recreated as vegetarian meals at home! I don’t want to spoil her travel adventures, because that is a huge draw to the book, but it is just a dream trip. After reading that, there are recipes for drinks, snacks, tapas, vegetables, desserts, and pastas. At the end, she also shows us a dinner party she hosted for friends with a Mediterranean theme! I wanted this to be my birthday party this year, but the world had other ideas (so I will come back to that).
In addition to the story telling and delicious food, the book has a homemade touch. Erin pairs her photos of her travels and photos of the food with hand, watercolor painted art and recipe pages. The recipes aren’t written in some boring font, rather, they are a beautiful arrangement of note typing, art, and hand done elements. They’re easy to follow and much more pleasant. She is so talented, and this too just adds to how special the book is.
Let’s get to the food! As I mentioned above, I fell in love with Mediterranean food on my trip to Mallorca. There’s something fresh, simple, and nourishing about it. I could eat olives and drink a bottle of wine nightly by the coast, just saying. Her book is full of recipes including snacks and dips, drinks, tapas (or small plates), pasta dishes, vegetables, and desserts. Everything is made with fresh ingredients, and no meat (though plenty of nutrition). All of the recipes are simple to make and don’t call for tons of ingredients. As a learning chef and graduate student, both of these things are good for me. If there is a niche ingredient, it’s usually repeatable for other recipes!
I’ve tried several recipes so far (though not all). This includes a Goat Cheese Beet Pasta (I’ve made this twice), Spaghetti Squash Cacio y Pepe, a Lemon-White Bean Oracchiette (with blanched, sauted lemons), Whole Wheat Rainbow Chard Spaghetti, Avocado Mousse, Lime and Honey Eggplant, and Banana Mousse.
Everything was absolutely delicious, the only thing that didn’t completely wow me was the Avocado Mousse, as I am a huge chocolate lover and the use of just cocoa powder was a bit bitter.
Each recipe turned out beautifully, and while my photographs don’t look as good as hers, each meal impressed my guests. I usually serve a recipe from this book if I am having someone over!
While I completely suggest purchasing the whole book, I wanted to link a few recipes from the book she has on her blog so you can see for yourself!
Grapefruit and Thyme Aperol Spritz
I completely suggest this book, especially if you’re a vegetarian, or a lover of fresh, Mediterranean food. Even my boyfriend, who isn’t vegetarian, loves when I make him these recipes. This is the prime book for summer, and really brings fresh, local food and flavors to the table with minimum time. The food, the art, and the story come together in harmony.
Would you like to see more cookbook reviews? Let me know if there’s one I have to try, and in the mean time, get yourself a copy of The Forest Feast Mediterranean!
All thoughts and opinions are my own. I purchased this book.