Some times I feel like I am in the kitchen all day long. I’m not complaining. I enjoy cooking, even if I end up achy from being on my feet all day.

Recently, I received a cookbook to review called Tasting the Seasons by Kerry Dunnington. It’s a cookbook designed to help readers make great meals with seasonal foods, including some you may never have thought of. Have you ever tried sweet potato leaves?

Me, either. I’m not fond of sweet potatoes (yes, I am weird) but I might have to try Sweet Potato Leaves with Sweet Dressing if I can find someone with some leaves. Just to say I tried it. The author says they taste like spinach and I like spinach.

I can see it now. I’ll be growing sweet potatoes just for the leaves. Then again, I could make bread with the actual sweet potatoes. But I digress…

So besides some amazing recipes, Ms. Dunnington also has some challenges in the front of the book. I thought these were pretty cool and they can really make you think about your food and what you buy. She has the Down with Plastic Challenge (don’t buy anything with plastic for a week, month, year…whatever), the Eat In Challenge (eat at least one from-scratch meal a day), and the Home State Challenge (eat only locally grown foods) among others.

In the back of the book is a Product Resource List – What to Buy, Where to Buy, Why to Buy – with a focus on organic foods. This book really teaches a lot about eating real food as opposed to processed junk that so many people live on these days, though I was a bit surprised to find a recipe, Crispy Mushroom Rolls, that calls for white sandwich bread. That being said, the recipe sounds yum and I plan to try it soon.

I had actually expected this cookbook to be broken down by season, but it is broken down like most other cookbooks: Appetizers, Soups, Breads, etc. I was also disappointed with the lack of pictures. One of the things I love about cookbooks is color pictures of the food. There isn’t a single picture in this book.

Aside from those little issues, the cookbook itself has some really great recipes. If you want to learn more about eating with the season, you should check it out.

The recipe I’d like to share with you is called Chicken Salad with Broccoli and Bacon. I choose this one because… well… Bacon! And it will fit with the low-carb lifestyle my husband and I try to follow. The picture above would have been prettier if I’d had red peppers instead of green but even though I went to the store to buy what I needed for the recipe, I managed to skip red peppers.

Chicken Salad with Broccoli and Bacon (4 servings)

The dressing is:

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dry dill
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Mix this all together and then add 2 cups bite sized pieces of cooked white meat chicken, 2 cups bite sized broccoli florets cooked until fork tender, 1/2 cup chopped red pepper.

Put a handful of assorted lettuce on each plate, add a scoop of chicken salad and top with crumbled bacon (the recipe called for 6 pieces, divided among the serving).

Yum!