Steve Petusevsky - The Whole Foods Market Cookbook: A Guide to Natural Foods with 350 Recipes

THINKING BACK to more than twenty-one years ago when we opened the doors to the first Whole Foods Market store, we set out with a pretty simple mission: to provide a more natural alternative to what we eat than the options the food supply chain was typically offering at the time. Our Team Members and customers alike have shared intense enthusiasm for the freshest, highest quality, and most flavorful natural and organic foods. Together we have helped instigate the transformation of the food industry back to naturalness and the support of small local farmers and food artisans. Though our Whole Foods Market family has now grown to more than 23,000 team members, thousands of vendor partners and millions of customers in the United States and Canada, we remain as committed as ever to our founding ideals.

This cookbook, with its hundreds of recipes and useful tips from our team members, is our attempt at capturing a bit of the essence of what the Whole Foods Market experience is all about. Our team members work with fresh, vibrant foods every day and proudly bring great, pure food to each of the communities we serve. They are passionate about sharing with our customers the highest quality foods and gourmet products as well as unique recipes and entertaining ideas. Many created and contributed their favorite recipes from our kitchens and from their own homes.

We hope that in sharing our mission, passion, and culinary creations with you, day in and day out, in our stores and within these pages, we can help you to quench your desires for great taste sensations from the freshest, highest quality ingredients bursting with the purest, most natural flavors. From our kitchens to yours, may you enjoy our collection of recipes and take pleasure in the warmth of breaking bread with family and friends.

John Mackey

Cofounder and CEO of Whole Foods Market

WHOLE FOODS MARKET stores feature an exciting choice of thousands of products and a unique shopping experience. Our stores are filled with healthful ingredients, abundant samples, open kitchens where our in-store chefs conjure up ever-changing selections of prepared foods, scratch bakeries, hand-stacked produce, take-out food stations, gourmet cheese displays, European-style charcuterie departments, and pristine seafood cases that bring fresh product up to eye level. To enrich your cooking at home, there are also recipe cards to take with you, entertaining ideas, and the latest information on emerging food issues.

From the beginning, Whole Foods Market emerged as a true innovator, transforming food shopping from a chore into a dynamic experience that enlivens all the senses. The wondrous sights, sounds, smells, and activity make each shopping trip a true experience of discovery. Like the public markets of years past, Whole Foods Market stores play a unique role as a community meeting place where friends can gather, interact, and learn, while at the same time discover the many joys of eating and sharing food.

Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet

WE believe in a virtuous circle entwining the food chain, human beings, and Mother Earth: Each is reliant upon the others through a beautiful and delicate symbiosis.

Whole Foods: We obtain our products locally and from all over the worldoften from small, uniquely dedicated food artisans. We strive to offer the highest quality, least processed, most flavorful, and naturally preserved foods. Why? Because food in its purest stateunadulterated by artificial additives, sweeteners, colorings, and preservativesis the best tasting and most nutritious food available.

Whole People: We recruit the best people we can to become part of our team. We empower them to make their own decisions, creating a respectful workplace where people are treated fairly and are highly motivated to succeed. We look for people who are passionate about food. Our Team Members are also well-rounded human beings. They play a critical role in helping build the store into a profitable and beneficial part of its community. Also, our customers are the lifeblood of our business, and we celebrate the fact that this knowledgeable consumer group turns to us for the very best, most natural food and nutritional products available. We go to extraordinary lengths to serve our customers competently, efficiently, knowledgeably, and with flair.