GREEN CULINARY QUEEN: Author Alexandra Zissu didn’t leave us with too many questions when she titled her tome: “The Conscious Kitchen: The New Way to Buy and Cook Food — to Protect the Earth, Improve Your Health and Eat Deliciously” (Clarkson Potter; $13.99, Borders.com). Why mince words, anyway? Zissu holds your hand on your quest to go green in the kitchen, guiding readers on matters such as when to buy organic, deciphering meat labels and avoiding pesticides and chemicals.

Growing Connections with Deborah Madison. Deborah’s guest today is Alexandra Zissu.

Two small but very important books have come out within the past year and both contain ideas that can easily be put into motion, thereby bettering our lives.

The first book, Michael Pollan’s Food Rules is “written with the clarity, concision and wit that has become bestselling author Michael Pollan’s trademark, and lays out a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, one per page accompanied by a concise explanation.”

Alexandra Zissu’s The Conscious Kitchen, isn’t about how to eat, but rather understanding the foods, materials and fuels that we use in our kitchens on a daily basis. Think of The Conscious Kitchen as as a nuts and bolts guide that helps make sense of the many things we consume without questioning, but probably know we should.

Alexandra Zissu has a penchant for using her own life to unravel problems, find, and share solutions, which was coincidentally the focus of her first book: The Complete Organic Pregnancy. She is known as an “eco-lifestyle consultant” and her work has appeared in Health, Plenty, and The New York Times. www.alexandrazissu.com.

“This book unearthed a slew of disgusting details about the American diet I was previously blind to. For example:

• Conventionally raised poultry are given chlorine baths (a practice banned in the EU) in an attempt to eliminate salmonella, E. coli, and other bacteria.
• “If the shrimp in your supermarket display glisten unnaturally, or if they taste soapy even after being cooked, they have probably been treated with STPP, or sodium tripolyphosphate, the suspected neurotoxicant used to prevent drying…” (as quoted from Taras Grescoe’s book, Bottomfeeder.)
• Most decaf coffees are made by soaking the beans in solvents like methylene chloride – which is also used as a paint stripper.
• Most vanilla flavoring is either made from petrochemicals or derived from a by-product of the paper industry.

Seriously? Ew, ew, and more ew. How has our food become so unappetizing?”

Mantra
“You will never again stand in the market bewildered, wondering what to buy,” the author of this indispensable little reference guide says right up front. No small promise, yet Zissu delivers big.

Epiphanies
The author, bless her, includes a list of conscious chocolate makers (open the book straight to page 136). And although it’s not a cookbook, this little guide does include seven “recipes,” in a manner of speaking, including the simple, seasonal, satiating reminder that takes the shape of Roasted What’s-In-the-Garden.

Hippie, or Hipster?
Neither, actually. “Conscious food is for everyone. It is not holier-than-anything, judgmental, or elitist,” says Zissu. Thankfully, neither is her writing style, which has an easy-going, just-like-one-of-us, only marginally sensationalistic approach that transcends cliques and social allegiances. She’s not dogmatic, just diligent in her research.

Planet-Saving Potential
Immense. It could easily become as thumbed-through and trusted a resource for conscious cooks as Mastering the Art of French Cooking was for home cooks.

Education is key. “Spread the word,” said Zissu. “Educate everyone you know. Make noise; together we can make a huge difference.”