Simply Green: Parties
by Danny Seo, published by HarperCollins, £7.25

I enjoyed Danny Seo's Simply Green: Giving quite a bit, so when I received a review copy of Simply Green: Parties, it was with enormous relief.  Here, I figured, was something that could be invaluable in planning this wedding thing in a practical way.  While it doesn't specifically address weddings, it does cover baby showers (no darling, that's not an oblique way of telling you anything), housewarmings and general summer parties.  Seo gives plenty of interesting little tips on how to improve the green factor of any social event at a minimal (if any) cost. Also engagingly written; every time I sat to flip through it I found myself absorbed by the accessible, sensible style.  Although I agree with his decision to showcase six types of parties to wrap his tips around, at the same time I would have appreciated more general advice on structuring a green event.  4/5.  [GT]

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Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings
by Margaux Sky, published by Rutledge Hill Press, £11.79

When I started looking for sandwich books over a year ago - trying to find quick, easy, healthy recipes for that midday meal I'm otherwise so prone to skip - there was Paulette Mitchell's Vegetarian Sandwiches and that's about it.  Now there's an explosion of panini books wherever you look.  One particular sandwich book stands out though, and that's  Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings by Margaux Sky, since it starts at the beginning of the sandwich - the bread - and walks you forward through sauces to fillings and sides.  Like many glossy food books it has its share of recipes that seem too complicated for an average person to put together in the timeframe I'd like - the Turkey and Wild Rice Sandwich Loaf looks great but involves having a batch of raw bread dough available, 45 minutes baking, 30 minutes cooling, plus the prep, for example - but there are enough on-the-fly productions to make this book worthwhile.  See the Garden Patch with Creamy Candied Carrot Sauce (best assembled on Maple Merlot Bread) or Chicken Salad in Minty Yogurt Sauce on Brown Harvest Bread.  Lunch as a meal is so often overlooked by cookbookery that it's lovely to see it get the royal treatment here, and the pictures alone tempt you to go above and beyond the usual Weetabix-and-toast that some of us at Shiny get up to after the second week of working from home.  3.5/5.  [GT]

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Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything You Need to Know About Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
by Cathy Thomas, published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd, £13.19

Melissa's Great Book of Produce has a grandiose name and is well deserved.  Written by Cathy Thomas of the Orange County Register, it is rife with luscious but very representative photographs of each fruit or vegetable, ranging from asian pears to yu choy sum.  Each entry has instructions on how to find a high quality, ripe instance of the fruit or vegetable, how to store it, prep, nutritional information, use, serving suggestions.  Many include recipes.  Having a decadently food-porn vibe and being totally useful, this is a very worthwhile purchase for any vegan, vegetarian, or, well, human being interested in high quality food.  [GT]

Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything You Need to Know About Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

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