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An Apple-to-Zucchini Celebration of Impromptu Cooking

Photos by Jack Mathews

I am a farm to table kinda girl. I belong to a CSA (community supported agriculture) for most of the year, but it stops at the end of May as the heat makes growing anything here in summer very difficult. I have learned to can tomatoes, pickle beets, and make kale chips by the gazillion.

When I go out to eat, I will often choose a restaurant that offers healthier options and like many people, have fallen for the farm to table restaurant model. I say “fallen” for two reasons; I sort of fell in love with the idea, then found out I’d mostly likely been taken. If you haven’t read Laura Reiley’s article, “At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction” please do. Or listen to her interview on the America’s Test Kitchen podcast. I don’t live in Tampa, but I can extrapolate that if 90% of the farm to table restaurants in Tampa are lying, I’m pretty sure that statistic will follow over to where I live. And it pisses me off.

So in retaliation, I am taking Michael Pollan’s advice to cook more at home, and this cookbook is a great way to get me inspired. And FYI, this is yet another cookbook born of a blog. I’m going to continue as if I haven’t given you several links that will take you away from here.

Donofrio offers some great advice; “cook backward” is my favorite. In other words, don’t go to the market with a list, go to the market with an open mind and find the freshest, most beautiful, seasonal produce you can, then go home and find ways to prepare it. Start with this book, which is organized by vegetable.

First up is the most basic suggestion for “what to make when you have many vegetables.” When I’m starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the CSA. When I have no more room in the fridge! Then it’s time to add all those veggies to eggs, pasta, tortillas, soup or a salad. Fruits are included, by the way, lest you wondered about the lemons in the title.

Does Apple, Brie & Thyme Crostini work for you? How about Avocado Breakfast Tacos with spinach, eggs and salsa? I loved the Sweet Chili Charred Broccolini, although to be honest I subbed regular broccoli, which worked well. There’s a whole chapter on cucumbers, which I need to use up in the next few days so I’ll be diving into Cold Sesame Cucumber Noodles for sure. Loaded Sweet Potato Nachos is another winner.

The back of the book is very cleverly laid out with pages for smoothies, pesto, hummus, guacamole and more, with several variations on each.

There are tons of beautiful pictures that are enticing enough to get me to try a lot of these recipes.

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The recipes are clearly laid out with ingredients that are easy to find in season, and most importantly, that are really delicious. This is a lovely cookbook, especially for summer.

6/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE LOVE & LEMONS COOKBOOK by Jeanine Donofrio. Avery (March 29, 2016). ISBN 978-1583335864. 320p.

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A Mostly Wholesome Cookbook

Mitchell has lost a bunch of weight and kept it off for over ten years, apparently by eating food per the recipes she includes in this book – mostly healthy, but definitely with an occasional indulgence. It’s a nice take on a cookbook, part diet book with a dash of reality thrown in.

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Mitchell wrote a memoir, It Was Me All Along, which was published in 2015. People magazine said it was “A charming memoir about weight loss and self-discovery.” Kirkus Reviews said, “A candid and inspiring memoir.” And she has a beautiful blog,  Andie Mitchell: Recipes & Inspiration for a Feel-Good, Balanced Life, with many of her recipes and weight loss tips. Plus she has a Facebook group, along with Gina Homolka of Skinnytaste.com, where you can cook along with her and find even more inspiration.

But back to the cookbook. Every recipe starts with a brief paragraph about the genesis of the recipe, or something about the ingredients or where it came from, or what to serve with it. These are often charming little vignettes about Mitchell’s family; her mother, her grandmother, and they add a special appeal to the book.

I like knowing what the dish is supposed to look like, and there are lots of pictures. I have a review copy, so my pictures are black and white, but I suspect the pictures are just glorious in color in the finished book.

The book isn’t as divided up as many cookbooks are, so the table of contents is pretty short:

Introduction

Starting Fresh

Lunchtime

Vegetables and Sides

Dinnertime

For Sharing

All Things Sweet

The recipes are realistic for most home cooks. I like things like Lightened-Up Pad Thai in Under 15 Minutes, which uses shredded cabbage instead of rice noodles and is really filling and delicious. I also liked the Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki & Feta, which takes a bit longer as you marinate the chicken for half an hour but still very easy and good. I haven’t tried the Turkey Burgers with Apple, Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese yet but I will. Turkey burgers can be super dry unless additional fat is added but Mitchell uses a grated apple and some goat cheese instead. Mitchell insists her Brown Sugar & Chili-Rubbed Salmon with Avocado Crema would do the Barefoot Contessa proud, and I won’t argue with that.

There are some great salads and I especially loved the Bagel & Lox Salad – yes, you read that right. All the flavors including lettuce, red onions, lox and capers plus some pumpernickel crisps, and a dressing based on low fat Greek yogurt. I did add a tomato though. Another good lunch is the Tuna and Orzo Salad with Parmesan and Basil. It’s loaded with protein between the tuna and cannellini beans, and the simple lemon honey dressing pairs perfectly with the salad. Not all the lunches are salads though; I am intrigued with the Loaded Black Bean Burgers and will be giving them a try.

The Sharing chapter includes recipes that probably don’t belong in a healthy cookbook but again, it’s all about balance. The Cuban Pulled-Pork Sandwiches with Caramelized Onion and Thyme Mayo sounds fabulous. I’m not seeing the health benefits here but it is a slow cooker, can-make-it-in-the-middle-of-the-week-if-I-want recipe, so I may give it a go. I didn’t bother with the Sweets, I do enough of those but it is nice to have that chapter.

All in all, it is a good, mostly healthy cookbook with some interesting recipes. If you are looking for ways to eat healthier, (and really, who isn’t,) try this cookbook.

3/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

EATING IN THE MIDDLE by Andie Mitchell. Clarkson Potter (March 29, 2016).  ISBN 978-0770433277.  240p.

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Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat

with Adeena Sussman, Photographs by Aubrie Pick

There should probably be a sub-sub-title after “recipes for all the food you want to eat” that says “but you probably shouldn’t eat, at least not very often.” Most of the criticism leveled at Teigen about this book is that there is no way she can eat food like this all the time, and she admits she does not – but it is the food she likes. So take it from there.

In her introduction, Teigen addresses the issue:

“I don’t want to seem like one of those annoying ‘I can eat anything I want anytime’ chicks. It’s just that I wanted to be honest in this book about the kinds of food I love, the kinds of food I crave.“

So in case you’re even more out of touch than I am, Chrissy Teigen is a mega-celebrity supermodel, Lip Sync Battle TV host, and is married to John Legend. If you are a Teigen fan, or one of her 1.3 million Twitter followers, or one of her 5.5 million Instagram followers, then you probably already bought this book that debuted in the number one spot on the coveted NY Times bestseller list. If you are not familiar with her, you can take a look at her food blog, So Delushious, or her Instagram before deciding to buy – her voice is so unique and I am happy to say, is heard loud and clear throughout. It’s like she’s sitting there with you, making you laugh. While you cook. What could be bad about that?!

The book is divvied up into Breakfast All Day, Soupmaster, Salads (For When You Need Them), Noodles and Carbs, Thai Mom, Party Time, Sh*t on Toast, Vegetable Things, Things That Intimidate People but Shouldn’t, and Supper. There are lots and lots of pictures, and Chrissy and hubby John are in many of them.

Teigen instagrammed that the Lemon Arugula Cacio e Pepe is one of the top five recipes in the book, so it seemed a good place to start, especially since I just got a big bag of baby arugula from the farm. This recipe is simple and really delicious. Teigen’s mom is Thai, and the Thai recipes are explained so well that she makes it all look very approachable and doable. Shades of Christina Tosi emerged with the French Toast Casserole topped with salted Frosted Flakes, and that is very fine company to be in. And her soups – she is the self proclaimed “soupmaster” – are to die for, so I will happily concede her the title.

The book is edited by a food celebrity, former Top Chef Masters judge and award winning food writer Francis Lam, and apparently he was the one who put the idea of a cookbook in her head. So thanks, Francis!

This has to be one of the most charming and fun-to-read cookbooks out there, and the recipes are terrific, too. Add this one to your bookshelf.

3/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

CRAVINGS by Chrissy Teigen. Clarkson Potter (February 23, 2016).  ISBN 978-1101903919.  240p.

Kindle