A fresh-Mex take on a familiar favorites

For anyone who's ever bemoaned the state of the chain restaurant chimichanga, behold, salvation.

Marcela Valladolid's "Fresh Mexico" (Clarkson Potter) makes a clean break with the bready, cheesey, beany Mexican food to which Americans have become accustomed. It offers instead a modern cuisine bursting with fresh vegetables, gentle queso fresco and a half-dozen different chilies, both fresh and ground.

Oysters, mangos, crab and even prunes make an appearance.

But don't be fooled by the range of ingredients. Valladolid is judicious in her demands, and seems to keep her promise of "authentic flavors without the fuss."

Individual recipes require relatively few ingredients, shun complicated techniques and promise bold flavors conjured with elements like anchos and chipotles, lemon, lime, tomatillos, cilantro, rosemary and oregano.

Valladolid immediately demotes the burrito to mere appetizer status, offering a duck-stuffed version as delicate finger food. Mascarpone-stuffed Squash Blossoms with Raspberry Vinaigrette provide a complex alternative to cheese-drenched nachos. And that giant taco shell filled with iceberg lettuce? Valladolid's idea of salad includes White Beans and Grilled Octopus spiked with scallions and lime.

Valladolid grew up in Tijuana on the U.S.-Mexico border, so it's not a stretch to think of her as an ambassador between the two cultures - and of her new book as a kind of passport.

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