Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta

Book excerpt: Great cooking--using fresh, seasonal, local ingredients--is at the heart of the experience offered by Rancho La Puerta, Baja California's premier resort spa. Cooking with the Seasons transports that regenerative experience to your own home kitchen, changing the way you think about food and cooking--and, just possibly, changing your life. This is no "diet cookbook," however. For Rancho's founder, Deborah Szekely, and co-author Deborah Schneider, food is the very force of life, and eating simply and healthfully is one of life's most profound pleasures. The book's 120 recipes are organized as a series of complete--and luscious--seasonal menus. As spring rouses the earth, you'll awaken your taste buds with Sorrel and Spinach Salad with Roasted Cumin-Orange Vinaigrette. When summer arrives, your senses will dance with Poached Wild Salmon with Avocado-Tarragon Aioli. You'll revel in fall's brilliant colors with Carrot and Ginger Soup with Pears. And, in winter, you'll welcome the new year with Mayan Chocolate Sorbet. Throughout, sidebar tips give valuable advice on everything from choosing the most healthful grains and flours, to preserving summer's goodness with dried herbs and homemade jams.