classique-1One of my all-time favorite breakfast treats are the French breakfast muffins from the Junior League of Denver‘s very first cookbook, Colorado Cache. What’s not to like about little nutmeg cakes drenched in butter and then dipped in cinnamon and sugar? Thirty years ago, those muffins, and the book of recipes they came from, solidified the Junior League’s culinary prowess.

But as the organization of do-gooder women launches its fifth cookbook today, it’s clear that those sweets are of a past era. The new Colorado Classique is much more concerned with healthy eating: It includes recipes for lighter dishes as well as nutrition information and more than 50 gluten-free eats.

Colorado Classique, though, is no hippie-dippy book of salads. Its 210 recipes call for ingredients like quinoa and Thai fish sauce, and turn them into internationally influenced fare with decidedly Colorado roots.

I look forward to snacking on the refreshing Rocky Mountain ceviche (lime-cured trout) on a warm summer evening, or mixing up a batch of Steuben’s deviled eggs. (The cookbook includes recipes and tips from several well-known local restaurants and culinary figures.)

Available at Tattered Cover, as well as local Barnes and Noble and Borders.