Book Review: Paleo Comfort Foods by Julie & Charles Mayfield

This is one of those amazing cookbooks that can cause you to lose track of time as you go poring through each of the wonderful recipes and gazing at the gorgeous photos of each finished dish.  It is deep with deliciousness and filled with recipes that are clearly borne of a love for food and good health.

After another great forward by Robb Wolf, the Mayfields take turns talking about their respective backgrounds, how they came to fall in love with good food and indeed, with each other.  They then discuss some food basics, giving good advice on stocking your pantry with Paleo staples.  There is a nice section on cooking tools that is both practical and quite extensive.  Then they get right into it.

Each section of the book has a wealth of great looking recipes, with many having a southern bent (okra, anyone?).  The recipes are all pretty straight forward and all are accompanied by some of the most beautifully photographed food I’ve seen anywhere.  They literally look like you could reach onto the page and eat them.

The recipes run the gambit from simple salsas, nut butters and interesting sauces (I’m totally making that Chimichurri the first chance I get), to salads, soups and side dishes, each more savory and mouth watering then the last.  The Sweet Potato Casserole is on the short list.  The main course section has simple twists on chicken and fish but also some restaurant worthy items like Osso Buco.  The dessert section is intentionally light, but after eating some of these terrific dishes I can’t imagine having any room leftover for dessert.  OK, maybe some of the Peachberry Cobbler, if you insist.  Yum!

If you’re already living la vida Paleo and have your diet dialed in, or if you’re new to the lifestyle and want some culinary inspiration, you can’t go wrong here.  Just note that this is not a book about Paleo, its a cookbook for those already in the know.  If you want to learn more about Paleo, start here, otherwise, dig in!