The Complete Guide to Solar Cuisine with 150 Easy Sun-Cooked Recipes
Here’s a great read for someone getting started in the world of solar cooking. Not only do Lorraine Anderson and Rick Palkovic clearly explain the reasons for integrating a solar oven into your life, they also back them up with a variety of yummy-looking recipes that are tailor made for solar cooking. And there are no messy equipment lists getting in between you and your solar cooking dreams. You can purchase a copy through Amazon here.
Here’s a list, taken from the book, about what foods are best and worst suited to solar oven cooking:
Easy-to-Cook Foods (1-2 hours)
Fish, chicken, egg-and-cheese dishes, white rice, fruit, above-ground vegetables.
Moderately Hard-to-Cook Foods (3-4 hours)
Bread, brown rice, root vegetables, lentils, most meat.
Hardest-to-Cook Foods (5-8 hours)
Large roasts, soups and stews, most dried beans.
The first half of the book is a summary of important facts about solar cooking, including the history, the areas of the earth best-suited, and how to construct a few solar cookers, all under $15 for supplies. They also include great “cheats”, or ways that you can make everything work with the items you already own. Then come the recipes. They’re divided by ease-of-cooking. A sample”starter” recipe:
Applesauce
6 Golden Delicious Apples, peeled quartered and cored
Juice of one lemon
Dash of Cinnamon (optional)
- Place the apples in a dark pot, sprinkle the juice over the apples, and cover the pot tightly.
- Bake in solar sooker for 3 to 4 hours, until apples can be easily pierced with a fork.
- Mash apples with a hand masher or in a blender on low, adding cinnamon if you want.
Does it get any easier than that? Now that you’ve whet your cooking appetite, how about this artichoke frittata? It’s definitely on my “to try” list!
Artichoke Frittata
yield: 4 servings
6 eggs
6 saltines
2 (6-ounce) jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 bunches scallions, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
dash hot pepper sauce
dash Worcestershire sauce
- lightly oil a dark 8-inch-square or 9-inch-round baking pan.
- beat the eggs in a large bowl until frothy. Crumble the saltines into the eggs and beat again.
- add the artichoke hearts to the eggs. Stir in the scallions, garlic, parsley, cheese, salt, pepper, hot pepper sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Pour into the prepared baking pan, cover, and bake for 2 to 3 hours in the solar cooker, until firm.
Mouth watering yet? This is just the beginning. Get this book and get cooking today!
