Fifty million blogs exist on the internet, and most of them are not worthy of time or attention. But that just makes you appreciate the good ones even more.
www.101Cookbooks.com is a digital “healthy recipe journal” founded and maintained by food lover Heidi Swanson. She focuses on natural, whole food ingredients and unusual flavor pairings, like her Pumpkin and Feta Muffins. 101 Cookbooks is a good place to look if you’re trying to be more health conscious about what you eat or more adventurous in what you cook. Swanson’s quirky, quasi-gourmet style dishes will impress your friends at that weekly potluck dinner more than a bag of Tostitos and salsa.
“Quasi-gourmet” is not a euphemism for “difficult.” There are certainly recipes that are more time consuming than others, but there is no shortage of quick, simple ingredient dishes. Another plus is that I always have leftovers for the upcoming week because most of the recipes yield enough for four or more people.
Swanson also makes recipes easy to find. She organizes by ingredient, dish, and additional helpful categories such as “High protein”, “Gluten free”, and “Quick recipes”. She also has a search bar on top, something that makes any blog that much more functional and easy to navigate.
While I love how easy it is to find what I want to cook, the overall arrangement of information on the website could use some help. 101 Cookbooks suffers from the usual maladies that afflict blogs: sidebar clutter and content/advertising confusion. These are both forgivable symptoms, but they bring down my rating of 101 Cookbooks a few notches.
All in all, 101Cookbooks.com is a great website for the curious cook, or anyone tired of eating boxed Mac and Cheese and PB&J sandwiches. Invigorate your health and creativity with Swanson’s nutritious and delicious recipes. Just don’t be distracted by the website’s sidebars.
