Super Foods, Super Book: Sue Quinn nails it!

This is my review of Sue Quinn's very informational book about those feisty little phytochemicals and nutrients we all need to get to know and love. Titled Super Foods Every Day, this compact volume gives a wealth of information in a concise and quite appealing format. My one reservation in giving this book five stars is the smallness of the print. I, being a bonafide member of the Menopause Club, found it a tad challenging to read the words but read them I did, and aren't I glad of that? This book charmed even a steadfast junk food junkie like me, and that's no small order to fill.

Published by Ten Speed Press, one of my favorite publishers, Super Foods Every Day is attractively designed, with lots of good clean white space and gorgeous pictures of the powerhouse foods chosen by Quinn to offer what she calls a cross-section of super foods in a variety of food groups.

From her interesting intro, "What Is A Super Food?",  to the attractive Super Foods 101 chart and Super Foods Glossary, this author had me drooling. That's a tall compliment from me, as I mostly drool over hot salty French fries and cheesy pizzas, but it's the truth. I knew I needed to start learning about and eating healthy foods when I was diagnosed with Coronary Artery Disease, but many of the books I went to for information seemed geared for die-hard cooks, maybe chefs even! For someone who doesn't know, exactly, what a free radical even is, I needed something different. I found it in this book.

Quinn packs every page full of vital information, from definitions to descriptions to recipes, but it is all done simply, quietly, and practically. I felt as if I were following her around her kitchen, listening as she measured out ingredients and explained which super food went with which vitamin or mineral. I loved the look of the pages too...she uses two pages per recipe. On one page, she shows the ingredients in the amounts needed, and on the opposite page, you get to see a picture of the finished product! I don't know how she managed it, but take the Choco Smoothie recipe, on pages 20 and 21, for example. One small banana, cut in halves, shares center stage with tiny bowls of chia seeds, cocoa powder, rolled oats and more to create a really really attractive page. I loved it! Clean, clear and inviting.

I will give this book a Five Star rating even though the print was small, because I know this is one of those books I will use over and over again, til its pages are berry-stained and flour-smudged, because it is so approachable and user-friendly. Kudos, Sue Quinn!