Cooks' Books by Lisa Messinger

"Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta: Recipes from the World-Famous Spa" by Deborah Szekely and Deborah M. Schneider with Jesus Gonzalez (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $35)

If cooking with the season means to you thick pastry-topped, overfilled pot pies and wide slices of pumpkin pie crowned with large lumps of whipped cream, you probably haven't recently visited Rancho La Puerta in Baja California, Mexico. Consistently ranked one of the world's top spas, seasonal cooking is the blueprint there, but includes lighter autumn choices such as Heirloom Apple and Smoked Gouda Salad with Walnut Honey Dressing, Mediterranean Saffron Stew with Lemon Zest Aioli and Butternut Squash Flan.

To "Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta" authors Deborah Szekely, the spa's founder and first chef, Deborah M. Schneider, a food writer, and Jesus Gonzalez, the spa's acclaimed current chef, the key is fresh, seasonal ingredients combined with light, natural flavorings and built into multicourse menus that cover all the nutritional bases.

This means delicious, innovative choices like "The Pink Menu": Sangria, Watermelon and Roasted Beet Salad with Fennel and Feta, Grilled Yellowtail Tuna on Asian Edamame Bean Salad, a dazzling Guava Creme Brulee or a "Fall Greens" soiree of Creamy Lima Bean Soup, Polenta Gratin with Braised Fall Greens, Goat Cheese and Roasted Bell Peppers and Quince-Apple Mermelada Tartlets.

Along the way, you'll learn healthful and delicious ways to cook the seasonal treasures, such as braising those fall greens or roasting pears for a pomegranate-chipotle salad and broiling oranges to serve with honey yogurt and pistachios.

Due to its perch in Baja California and kitchen staff from Mexico, some of Rancho La Puerta's signature healthful recipes bear that stamp, like regional shrimp enchiladas prepared with jack cheese, cotija cheese, crema fresca and picante sauce. An Aztec guacamole filled with vegetables to up the nutrients and lower the fat is "the Ranch's most enduringly popular recipe."

Szekely's tales of her early life and how the spa sprouted where it did are worth a food lover's memoir all on its own. Her mother was vice president of the New York Vegetarian Society and hobnobbed with the health gurus of the day. Due to shortage of fresh fruits and vegetables during the Depression, the family instead took up life in a hut in Tahiti.

There, as a 12-year-old, Szekely met Edmund Bordeaux Szekely, a "health nut friend" of her parents. She began working as his secretary at his health camp in Mexico, eventually by trial and error becoming the first cook there. Upon entering college, she married him.

His Romanian passport was canceled during World War II, and through a series of events where the couple could not stay in the United States, Rancho La Puerta was instead born in 1940 across the border in Baja California, Mexico. From a $17.50-per-week, bring-your-own-tent compound, it's grown into one of the most elegant and award-winning spas in the world.

Lovely color photographs in this keepsake cookbook chronicle not only the lush food, but the spa's lush grounds as well. An added bonus is a chapter including many of the spa's homemade skin and body treatments.

AZTEC GUACAMOLE

1 cup frozen peas, slightly thawed (see Note 1)

1 medium Hass avocado, peeled and pitted

2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice, or to taste

1 medium tomato, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/2 red or sweet onion, cut into 1/8-inch dice

1 jalapeno or Serrano chile, seeded and minced (see Note 2)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Yields 2 cups.

In a blender or in the bowl of a food processor, process the peas until smooth.

In a medium bowl, mash the avocado with a fork or potato masher. Add the lime juice, tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, salt and black pepper. Add the peas and mix well.

If the guacamole won't be served immediately, press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent browning.

Note 1: For a variation, instead of peas, use 1 cup of well-cooked broccoli, edamame or cooked asparagus tips.

Note 2: When handling fresh chiles, experts recommend wearing rubber gloves and not touching your eyes during or afterward.

SPICY JICAMA PEPPER SLAW WITH MINT-JALAPENO DRESSING

Dressing:

3 large shallots, peeled and roughly chopped

1 cup fresh mint leaves or a combination of mint and basil

1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, roughly chopped

1 cup water

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup agave syrup or honey

1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Slaw:

1 cup cubed jicama

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice or julienne

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

1 bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 cups finely shredded green and red cabbage

2 cups shredded peeled carrots

4 cups baby spinach or mixed greens.

Yields 6 servings.

To prepare dressing: In a blender, combine all of the dressing ingredients, pulsing until smooth. Set aside to use immediately in slaw.

To prepare slaw: In a large bowl, combine all slaw ingredients, except spinach, with the dressing, enough to moisten and marinate for several hours. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator and store extra dressing, covered, in refrigerator.

Just before serving, toss the slaw with the spinach and some additional dressing, if desired. Any remaining dressing can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for 1 day.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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