A Source of Inspiration and Knowledge About Natural Cooking.

If you need a new idea on how to cook swiss chard, 101cookbooks is your site. If you want a gluten-free dessert, 101cookbooks is your site. If you need some inspiration for new vegetarian/vegan entrees, 101cookbooks is your site.

101cookbooks.com is an online recipe collection by Heidi Swanson, a cook, photographer and designer from San Fransisco. She has also written for various newspapers and food magazines. In 2007 101cookbooks won the Food Blog of the Year award.

The site features a collection of recipes that Heidi has collected over the years from various cookbooks, friends, neighbors, and also recipes she has created, inspired from her travels and other experiences. Every recipe is tried and modified and Heidi always offers substitution suggestions for uncommon ingredients and technique tips on how to cook.

The recipes focus on using natural foods, whole grains, and overall good-for-you ingredients. Heidi doesn’t just show you a photo and a recipe; she gives you a story behind the recipe, and a reason why to eat certain foods, how to cook them, and where to buy them

The recipe archive separated into categories, including types of food, such as sandwiches, desserts, and also classifications, like vegetarian and low carb. When you click on a category, a endless list of recipes comes up.

Each recipe has large photograph of the completed dish, the main ingredient, or another related photo, with a blurb about it below, followed by the recipe, and then comments.

Not only does the website feature recipes, it also has a lot of good advice on product recommendations and travel/cultural writing. There are some posts about how to photograph food, a quinsenera, and numerous photo essays about Heidi's travels and other food related experiences. One was about her husband’s lunch at the White House, and another was about her experience shopping in a Rome open market.

I highly suggest you check out 101cookbooks the next time you need a little food inspiration or need to integrate some natural foods into your diet.