Personal Chef Resource Book Review by Ruth Paget

Personal Chef Resource Book on Mediterranean Food Review by Ruth Paget 

Milk Street Tuesday Nights Mediterranean by Christopher Kimball (283 pages) is a handy reference book for personal chefs, who would like to offer dishes from across the Mediterranean in their skill portfolio. 

The left pages of the book show large photos of the finished dish, which give presentation ideas for the dish as well as clear photos of the ingredients for clients who would like to remove or add items to a dish. 

The right page provides the recipe name, ingredients, and step-by-step instructions. Potential clients can see what exactly goes in the dish and make any adjustments for dietary and/or religious preference. 

Kimball separates the recipes into chapters with the following accurate descriptions: 

-fast 

-faster 

-fastest 

-salad suppers

-hearty vegetarian 

-supper soups 

-flat and folded 

All the book’s recipes can be made with produce from farmers’ markets. (There are 6 farmers’ markets in Salinas, California alone throughout the week.) Recipes that can be easily made with ingredients from farmers’ markets include: 

-rigatoni with artichokes, basil leaves, and pecorino cheese 

-pasta with crumbled Italian sausage, tomatoes, and eggplant 

-fennel-steamed salmon served with olives and caper vinaigrette 

-seared pork chops with fennel and herb salad 

-swordfish with potatoes, tomatoes, and capers 

People who already like Mediterranean food will find much to love and try in Milk Street Tuesday Nights Mediterranean by Christopher Kimball. 

Personal chefs who learn to cook the recipes in Milk Street Tuesday Nights will have a ready portfolio of dishes they can prepare to show potential clients. 

Happy Cooking! 

Note: My blog with the contact information for a personal chef organization in Salinas, California follows:    

https://ruthpaget.blogspot.com/2026/03/personal-chef-information-to-consider.html?m=1

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

A Diet for the 21st Century: Mediterranean Style by Ruth Paget

A Diet for the 21st Century by Ruth Paget 

To adapt my diet to the needs of the 21st century, I read More Mediterranean: 225+ New Plant-Forward Recipes – Endless Inspiration for Eating Well by America’s Test Kitchen based in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Two issues in particular have influenced the 21st century: 

-greater food insecurity even in the United States, which has historically exported food surplus 

-a world population that has almost doubled since I was a teenager 

For example, In 2025, 7.822 million women who are pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding women, and young children need the services of Women, Infants, and Children according to to the USDA WICData Tables below (2025 is the latest data available):

https://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/wic-program

Without WIC these individuals would be food insecure. 

I used the Macrotrends website for world population figures below: 

2025: 8.19 billion 

1979: 4.36 billion 

To use the Macrotrends website below, slide your finger along the chart to find years and population data:

https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/wld/world/population 

Higher population levels place a strain on existing food resources, which encourages the greater consumption of lower-priced vegetables. 

I happen to like vegetables, so I found many recipes to try at home and look for in restaurants and delicatessens in More Mediterranean. This cookbook also provides what they describe as vegetable-heavy fish and seafood dishes. I love fish and seafood, so I found these recipes appealing as well. 

America’s Test Kitchen describes the Mediterranean Diet as very desirable to follow for its health benefits:  

-wards off heart disease 

-encourages good gut health 

-promotes positive mental health 

-prevents Alzheimer’s Disease and cancer 

America’s Test Kitchen writes that the approach to following the Mediterranean Diet had changed from a pyramid approach to a plate approach. The Mediterranean Meal should look like the following: 

-1/2 plate vegetables and fruits 

-roughly ¼ plate whole grains (3/8 plate)

-roughly ¼ plate protein (1/8 plate)

Vegetarian protein combinations take on more of a significance here with seed and grain and pulse (lentils for example) and grain combinations augmenting the protein on the plate. 

My family also uses 00 flour to make bread. This flour traditionally used in Neapolitan pizza dough has a high protein content by itself that can augment the protein content of a meal with smaller portions of meat.  

Another reason I like the More Mediterranean cookbook is its inclusion of recipes from Mediterranean Africa and the Middle East in addition to Mediterranean Europe. 

The spice blends from these regions all by themselves would probably be good with buttered pasta, buttered rice, and baked potatoes with sour cream and butter. 

Several of the recipes I would try or buy at a delicatessen include: 

-beet salad with spiced yogurt and watercress 

-parsley – cucumber salad with feta cheese, pomegranate, and walnuts

-horiatiki Greek village salad with chopped vegetables, oregano, and feta cheese 

People who already like going to farmers’ markets will find much to like in More Mediterranean: 225+ New Plant-Forward Recipes – Endless Inspiration for Eating Well by America’s Test Kitchen. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games

Vegetable-Rich San Francisco by Ruth Paget

Vegetable-Rich San Francisco by Ruth Paget 

One of the main reasons I have always eaten vegetables, grains, eggs, and dairy products is that they provide a huge nutritional value at a small price compared to red meat, which I eat once a month to save money as part of the Mediterranean Diet. 

Being able to easily follow the Mediterranean Diet is one of the reasons I like living in Salinas, California for access to the 200+ organic vegetables and fruits that grow here. (Salinas calls itself “Americas Salad Bowl.) 

San Francisco dwellers also like the organic food options available just two hours south of them in Salinas. The Bay Area’s love for produce is reflected in The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook edited by Michael Bauer and Fran Irwin. I

have made recipes from this cookbook over thirty years as part of the Mediterranean Diet. Despite rising food prices, these dishes are still relatively inexpensive to make compared to red meat. 

Some of the cookbook’s great produce recipes follow: 

-puréed artichoke bisque made with artichoke hearts (can use frozen), potatoes, and garlic 

-chilled cucumber soup made with puréed cucumber, garlic, and yogurt

-mixed greens soup with fennel-scented croutons made with spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and kale, which are boiled and puréed with seasonings 

-sorrel and potato soup (can also be made with young spinach and dandelion greens) 

-fava bean soup made with onion, potatoes, and heavy cream (can also be made with lima beans) 

-yellow squash soup made with cumin and salsa 

-mustard-celery salad made with 3 cups of diced celery 

-fennel coleslaw made with green and red cabbage, carrots, and fennel 

-macaroni with wild mushroom gratin and Parmesan cheese – worth the price of the cookbook for this recipe alone 

-pasta with red peppers, greens, white beans, garlic, and lemon zest 

-braised bitter greens 

-roast-garlic mashed potatoes 

-chard and red potato gratin 

-oven-fried sweet potatoes 

-creamed spinach with bacon and onions 

-parsnip and potato purée If you love vegetable dishes, 

The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook edited by Michael Bauer and Fran Irwin will greatly appeal to you, especially if you are looking for recipes that will help you follow the Mediterranean Diet. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books