Jesse Ziff Cool is a passionate advocate for organic, sustainable food. But she doesn’t beat you over the head with it. She’s a cook, a mother and a very down-to-earth soul (in more ways than one).

She knows she was blessed to be raised in a family where a love of real food was fostered. She knows not everyone has access to organic or even fresh produce.

Her aim with this book is simply to share some of the wisdom she has garnered over 35 years in the organic food business and encourage you to get into the kitchen and go for it.

She engages the reader with a little of her history, tells us the reasons why organic and sustainable food are so important and then lets rip with page after page of mouthwatering recipes.

This beautifully designed book is divided neatly into seasons, for eating fresh produce at its peak is at the heart of Jesse’s cooking philosophy. Try steamed bok choy with water chestnuts in spring; fresh corn bites with tarragon in the heart of summer; pork chops with dried berry-port sauce in autumn; or a heartwarming chicken vegetable soup with noodles in winter.

None of the recipes are terribly long, some only have a few ingredients, and Jesse offers variations on how to spice up or alter many of the dishes, depending on what’s available. There are also useful tips galore, from how best to wash leeks to making the perfect granita.

Each section is broken up with an inspirational story from others who share this cook-come-food-advocate’s passion. Learn a bit about the Seeds of Change, hear how Paul Newman’s daughter Nell started Newman’s Own Organics, and sample the delights of an organic winery.

If this doesn’t inspire you to buy the best food you can afford and actually cook it, nothing will.

Cool eats: Jesse believes fresh, organic ingredients make all the difference.

What are your favourite ingredients? Eggs; onion; bacon; avocado; great cheeses.

What do you always have in your fridge? Eggs; cheese; milk; yogurt; onions; smoked tofu; sun-dried tomatoes.

And in your pantry/larder? Canned organic soup (breakfast!); organic granola; flour; herbs; spices; canned tomatoes; organic chicken and vegetable stock.

What’s your after work standby meal? Eggs from my chicken, fresh herbs and veggies from my garden…maybe bacon or cheese.

What dish to you prefer to cook for those you love? Short ribs; organic chicken soup; meatloaf; fresh vegetables with olive oil/herbs.

What do you like to drink with friends? Martinis, then great wine.

What is your favourite cookbook? I used to list Joy of Cooking (by Irma S Rombauer, it has been in print since the 1930s). But, as of late, I am totally inspired by (Australian cooks) Donna Hay and Bill Granger’s books. Their food is very close in style to mine in the uncomplicated way their traditional style blends with little twists of bright, fresh, simple innovation. (Can I come to Australia and cook with them?) 

Where do you draw your inspiration for cooking? From my farmer friends.

And your secret foodie indulgence? Fresh, perfect gnocchi that are as light as cloud puffs with truffle oil, butter and parsley and a little shaved parmesan or sprinkle of chilli; or really good chopped liver; or really moist, buttery turkey stuffing.

My Favourite Ingredients by Skye Gyngell

Garlic, olive oil, beans and cheese…. these are a few of my favourite things. By happy coincidence, they also happen to be up there for restaurateur and food writer Skye Gyngell, which means more fabulous recipes in which to explore their taste sensations. Chicken with garlic and fennel? Yes, please. Carpaccio of beef with red pepper relish (and lashings of extra virgin olive oil)? Absolutely. Borlotti with garlic, sage and olive oil? Yum. As for the bruschetta of sheep’s milk ricotta, lemon oil and bresaola, the dish is for four, but I confess I could gobble the lot.

Like all good cookbooks, Skye’s recipes make you hungry and eager to head to the kitchen. Among her other favourite ingredients – 16 in total – are cherries, chocolate, leaves, tomatoes and vinegar. In keeping with this Australian-born, UK-based chef’s philosophies, all recipes hinge on what is fresh, local and, importantly, in season. Her award-winning restaurant, Petersham Nurseries Cafe, is driven by fresh produce, so much so that her menus are composed daily and are determined by what arrives in the kitchen at its best each morning. “I believe that food eaten in its right season and grown as close to home as possible tastes far better than food flown in from afar,” she writes in the introduction.

It’s a mantra Skye returns to time and again as she explores the merits of the short-lived but delightfully sweet asparagus; the evocative smell of tomatores ripening on the vine; and the powerful flavours of an array of citrus fruit. Even nuts, something many of us keep in our cupboard for months (ahem, if not years), deserve respect. “They are fragile and perishable, soon losing their freshness and turning rancid,” Skye tells us. “So, wherever possible, nuts should be bought in their shell, in small quantities and kept in a sealed container in a cook dark place. They really need to be eaten within a couple of weeks of purchase, at the most.”

This is a delightful cookbook, packed with valuable information about each ingredient as well as enticing recipes. Work you way through them and by the time you get to the final entry – a mouthwatering chocolate and hazelnut cake – there will be one more convert to the wisdom of eating by the seasons. (And, if you love this, make sure you pick up her previous book, A Year in My Kitchen, which has picked up numerous awards, including Best Food Book at Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards.)

Wholefood champion: Jude Blereau

A cook, author and passionate advocate of real food, Jude Blereau has been involved with the organic and wholefood industries for more than 20 years. Through her cooking school and her books, Wholefood and Coming Home to Eat, Wholefood for the Family, she encourages us to embrace fresh and natural ingredients and get into the kitchen to rediscover the joys of organic cooking and eating food that nourishes. We asked her to share some of the secrets of her kitchen.

What do you like for breakfast?
It varies – whole oat porridge, fruit, honey, yoghurt and LSA (ground linseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds), with coconut milk added sometimes. In summer, I like black sticky rice with coconut milk and mango. When I have a very heavy morning, it’s usually a few veggies (in spring, I would do asparagus) cooked with a bit of butter, then an egg fried on top. Or scrambled eggs and a piece of toast. On weekends, it’s French toast, with lots of gorgeous fruit, coconut milk, maple syrup and LSA. Sometimes in winter, I will have leftover soup.

What are your favourite ingredients?
Coconut, pumpkin, coriander, spelt flour, rapadura sugar, basil (pesto!), mirin.

What do you always have in your fridge?
Pumpkin, a good curry paste (Christine Mansfield Massaman Curry), sweet potato, parmesan or pecorino, butter, grains, nuts, seeds, white miso, unpasteurised genmai miso. Almond oil, unrefined sesame oil, flax oil, nuts and seeds. I try to have  homemade chutney in the fridge, I love chutney.

And in your pantry?
Tinned or Vacola tomatoes, coconut milk, sweeteners – all of them (Billingtons), rapadura, agave nectar, rice syrup, barley malt, spelt syrup, palm sugar, apple juice concentrate, pear juice concentrate; pulses – all of them; sea vegetables – all of them; grains – all of them (these go into the fridge when the weather gets warmer). Brown rice vinegar, balsamic, raspberry balsamic, apple cider vinegar, umeboshi vinegar, mirin, wheat-free tamari, tomato sauce, honey and homemade jams. Also organic herbs and spices – all; preserved lemons.

Action station: Jude's light-filled kitchen.

What’s your after work standby meal?
Generally a curry base, then throw in some coconut oil, add onion, ginger and garlic, throw in some pumpkin, sweet potato and carrot, add half coconut milk and water. For protein, sometimes I add split red lentils. When veggies are cooked add top veggies – kale, broccoli, snow peas… whatever is in the garden really. Sometimes I add kefir leaves from the garden, sometimes some of the Paramount wild Alaskan salmon. The thing that makes this work is the biodynamic Sonnentor sweet curry spice… it’s glorious. Have with brown rice and chutney.

What do you prefer to cook for those you love?
A roast always goes down well. We had the most glorious mutton – grass fed, biodynamic from Sid and Edith De Burgh from Baramba the other week. The fat was golden and the veggies tasted glorious. But also lasagne or canneloni are big favourites.

What do you like to drink with friends?
I’m not a big drinker, but probably a Bailey’s, no ice, just straight. If it’s very cold, Wild Turkey, straight no ice.

What’s your favourite cookbook?
Apart from mine (just kidding)… Peter Berley’s The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. Brilliant stuff.

Where do you draw your inspiration for cooking?
Biggest one is not being tired; meditating (really); reading billions of cook books; going to great markets; traveling.

And your secret foodie indulgence?
Currently, I’m addicted to Unique Organique coconut chocolate fudge, but just bits. Good chips with nice sea salt, fried in good oil (olive) and rosemary.

If you’d like to know more about Jude’s books and cooking classes, click here.