Book excerpt: When Nina Planck toured to promote her two earlier books, Real Food and Real Food for Mother and Baby, the question she heard most was, “When are you going to write a cookbook?” At long last, The Real Food Cookbook is here. In a dietary landscape overfull with low-carb bread and dubious advice about triglycerides, Planck is revolutionary in her complete embrace of a more old-fashioned and diverse way of eating. Aptly described by the Washington Post as “a cross between Alice Waters and Martha Stewart,” Planck showcases traditional, real foods-produce, dairy, meat, fish, eggs-through tempting and straightforward recipes for the beginner or regular home cook. The Real Food Cookbook takes 150 classic dishes, from starters, soups, and salads to the center of the plate, to sweets and the cheese course, and makes them anew, transforming them with Nina's signature approach: using fresh herbs, good butter, seasonal fruits and vegetables, grass-fed and pastured meats, and whole grains. With essays and tips throughout, sharing Nina's own real-food lifestyle, The Real Food Cookbook will provide inspiration for any omnivorous cook or eater. Find recipes for every occasion: a cheese plate with drinks, a family Seder, Easter egg salads, a summer barbeque.Learn how Nina stocks her pantry and where she buys real food.Whether you're preparing the meals or simply eating them, everyone will enjoy the stories, feast on one hundred gorgeous full-color photographs, and beg the family cook to make the meals Nina loves.