Continued: Spices of Life

But Simonds is a cook above all, and a good one, a former Asian correspondent for Gourmet magazine and a Cooking Light contributor. If you choose, you can bypass the tonics and testimonials and dive into more than 175 vivid recipes. A Napa cabbage soup with gingery pork meatballs was light, warming, touched with soy. Beets with Ginger and Balsamic Vinegar or Sesame Grilled Eggplant yielded interesting sides.

GIVE THIS TO: Adventurous cooks open-minded enough to roll with this oddly affecting cookbook. —Scott Mowbray