If you've ever thought that cooking with local and seasonal foods in Minnesota is limiting, Beth Dooley's "The Northern Heartland Kitchen" may change your mind.

Dooley's book pairs an abundance of seasonal recipes using local foods with informative asides: a blurb about Lake Superior smoked fish accompanying the recipe for smoked trout/apple/fennel salad; a description of the restoration of chestnuts by Minnesota nut-tree farmers is next to instructions for fresh chestnut soup.

Soon, the book suggests, we'll see "kiwi, pawpaw, artichokes, frost-tolerant apples, farro, chickpeas, pecan-hickory nuts, hazelnuts, and nut oils coming in from around our region, not from around the world." Combine that with a growing selection of artisan cheeses, increased availability of meats such as goat and heritage pork, and reintroduction of various heirloom vegetables, and it all bodes well for cooks and lovers of local foods.

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