November 8 is National Cook Something Bold Day, so we’re dusting off our cookbooks to inspire you, too, to cook something bold. After all, simmering something new up in your kitchen may inspire you to try something new in other parts of your life—embark on a new career, start a new hobby, or embrace a new relationship.

SparkPress is home to two cookbooks, Oh, What A Treat, and Go Clean, Sexy You. Both cookbooks provide their own unique brand of bold cooking.

Go Clean, Sexy You by Lisa Consiglio Ryan is more than just a cookbook. It’s a comprehensive guide to a year of clean eating. Beyond providing more than 100 recipes, it also provides meal plans for seasonal detoxes.

Go Clean, Sexy You boldly forays into the world of clean cooking. The recipe for Avocado Tomato Salad with Hot Stuff Dressing seemed particularly bold.

Salad
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bunch spinach (1 cup leaves)
½ avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Dressing
3 tablespoons cashews
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon paprika
½ onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Soak cashews in bowl of cold water for 30 minutes, then drain and put in blender or food processor. Add rest of dressing ingredients and process until creamy.

Combine tomatoes, spinach, avocado, cilantro, and parsley in a bowl and toss with dressing. Top with pumpkin seeds. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Oh, What a Treat! by Sandra Denneler may have only 36 recipes, but each one is cuter than the last. These recipes are innovative and adorable. With everything from Pinata cookies to a watermelon grill, any recipe from this cookbook will impress and delight your guests.

While most of the recipes are desserts, one of the boldest recipes will surprise your taste-testers with its kick. The Spicy Sweet Potato Pumpkin Bites are perfect for fall!

Ingredients:
Two sweet potatoes
4 strips cooked bacon
½ cup roasted almonds
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon chipotle pepper
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon black pepper
3-5 ounces tuna or crabmeat (optional)
1 egg
½ cup breadcrumbs
3 cups Cheez-It Chipotle Pepper Zings
Pretzel sticks
Fresh herb leaves (tarragon, marjoram, or savory)

Cook sweet potatoes
Peel the sweet potatoes. Wrap them separately in plastic food wrap and microwave each of them for 5 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and cut the potatoes into cubes.

Puree the ingredients
Put the sweet potatoes, bacon, almonds, cream cheese, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, chipotle chili pepper, salt, paprika, and black pepper in a food processor. Puree until smooth.

Make it hearty
Stir in the breadcrumbs, egg, and if desired, tuna or crabmeat. Refrigerate for one hour.

Roll the mixture in cracker crumbs
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Crush the Cheez-It Chipotle Pepper Zingz crackers and put in a bowl. Roll the sweet potato mixture into 2-inch balls and coat with the crushed cracker crumbs.

Add the pretzel stems and bake
Insert the top of a pretzel stick into each sweet potato ball and push down slightly to form a pumpkin shape. Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.

Add leaves to stems
Add herb leaves next to each pretzel stem.

With these recipes in mind, go forth and cook something bold!