I’ve been a fan of Elana Amsterdam’s work for several years now. I follow her blog. I regularly make a couple of my favorite recipes from her first book, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook and I’ve wowed people with cupcakes from her second book, Gluten-Free Cupcakes. Both books were bestsellers.

Her latest book, Paleo Cooking From Elana’s Pantry: Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes features almost 100 family friendly recipes that focus on lean proteins, simple vegetable dishes, and classic desserts, all made without grains, gluten, beans, legumes, dairy, and nightshades. Sweetened recipes rely on natural sweeteners, such as honey and stevia. The recipes follow her signature style: short ingredient lists, easy to follow instructions, a sweetness rating for desserts, and beautiful food photos. This compact book has a beautiful cover and interior design, and recipes suited for everyday cooking.

Whether you’re cooking for one or two or for a family, you’ll find easy recipes for any meal of the day. You’ll find muffins, pancakes, coffee cake, a raisin sweetened grain-free granola, sweet and savory breads and crackers made from high-protein blanched almond flour, an assortment of cooked and raw vegetable dishes, including cauliflower faux-rice recipes, savory and sweet sauces and salad dressings, as well as Elana’s infamous desserts. She includes super easy recipes for pies and pie crusts, fruit crisps, a handful of frozen desserts, half a dozen cookies and bars, as well as some unusual hot and cold beverages.

So far, I’ve made her Rosemary Balsamic Beets, Breakfast Sausage, Vegan Pesto Rustica, Rosemary Lemon Chicken, Upside Down Apple Tartlets, (decaf) Coffee Ice Cream, and Mojito Mocktail. The pesto was my favorite served over blanched vegetables and also a green salad.

This would be a great book for people new to paleo, primal, gluten-free, grain-free, legume-free, low-sugar, or whole foods cooking, and for those who are busy but want to cook with more fresh ingredients and eat more meals made from scratch. It’s a good basics cookbook.