what's for dinner?

bon appétit

For six years I worked at Book Larder, a cookbook store in Seattle, as the events manager and a Jill of all trades¹. Well, all trades except the customer service part.² Believe me when I say that organization, brainstorming and planning are where my strengths lie. They do not lie with customer facing extroversion or kindness. I was happy in the coldish, darkish, book-filled back room of my own where I could often be heard cackling to myself as I listened to podcasts³ as I inspected each individual copy of a pallet of cookbooks, checking for damages.⁴ I hope my witchy cackles are heard still, my spirit haunting the tote bag filled loft keeping the newer employees on their toes.⁵

Anyway, because I had the pleasure of working in a cookbook store⁶ I have the pleasure of owning many cookbooks. If we didn’t have the annual Purge⁷ then I would probably have more than just one BILLY bookcase full. The little free library across the street is an embarrassment of riches every January, seriously. I hope my neighbors are grateful.

Anyway again! Today I’m sharing a few of my go-to cookbooks when it comes to dinnertime. These are three titles I reference consistently, have given as gifts and recommend for anyone looking for creative, solid meal inspirations for dinner and beyond. The links take you to Book Larder’s website where you can purchase the book⁸, but if you want to audition them first, try your local library! You can get cookbooks there very often! Pretty cool stuff.

Extra Credit 1: If you are nerdy about cookbook creation, I recommend the Everything Cookbooks podcast. Hosted by 4 extremely accomplished cookbook writers (and edited by yours truly!) its got over 80 episodes that go behind the scenes of writing and publishing cookbooks.

Extra Credit 2: If you also have multiple shelves of cookbooks and thus cannot keep track of all of those recipes, try out Eat Your Books. A website that indexes selected books, magazines and websites so you can throw “rhubarb” into the search box and see alllllll the recipes just waiting to be made with those tart, pink harbingers of spring.

Dinner by Melissa Clark

Written by the prolific Melissa Clark, this one is overflowing with simple, approachable and comforting dinners. Divided by various proteins and basics like eggs, pasta, beans, salads, soups and pizza its got a solid dinner idea for anytime you’re running low on time and don’t want anything too fussy or ingredient heavy. I’m pretty sure every recipe fits on one page, so no annoying flipping back and forth needed, and most have photos so you can let your eyes make the choice of what’s for dinner.

SOME of my FAVORITE RECIPES

• Salt & Pepper Roasted Chicken

• Spicy Pork and Black Bean Chili with Sage and White Cheddar

• Herbed Parmesan Dutch Baby⁹

• Cacio e Pepe with Asparagus and Peas

• Chili & Ginger-Fried Tofu Salad with Kale

• Red Lentil Dhal with Spiced Brown Butter and Yogurt

• Black Bean & Roasted Poblano Quesadillas

• Leek, Tomato & Farro Soup with Pancetta

Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden with Martha Holmberg

This one is vegetable focused and divided by the six seasons: Spring, Early Summer, Midsummer, Late Summer, Fall and Winter. Recipes highlight the vegetables in season at these times of the year and the chapters include quick, useful information about how to select, prep and serve them. Most of the dishes are light and zesty; full of fresh herbs, tart vinegar and crunchy bits and bobs that come together in a punch of a bite. There’s a terrific ingredient section (drool over those pantry and fridge pics) and lots of fun extras like compound butters, dressings, sauces, pickles, and instructions on the best way to season a salad. I predict that you’ll season your food differently after reading this book, “bringing everything into sharp flavor focus”.

The goal… is for the dish to taste ‘like a potato chip’. Meaning so tasty and savory that you can’t help with take one more bite… and another.”

SOME of my FAVORITE RECIPES

• Raw Asparagus Salad with Breadcrumbs, Walnuts and Mint

• Fava, Farro, Pecorino and Salami Salad

• Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter, Chile and Honey

• Sugar Snap Peas with Pickled Cherries and Peanuts

• Pasta alla Gricia with Slivered Snap Peas

• Broccoli Rabe, Mozzarella, Anchovy and Spicy Tomato

• Burnt Carrots with Honey, Black Pepper and Butter

• Crushed and Fried Potatoes with Crispy Herbs and Garlic

Cook This Book by Molly Baz

Molly Baz’s first book has lively, fun recipes that are (mostly) easy to understand; unlike her second book¹⁰ which creates an almost a cult like language and has migraine inducing design choices.

I haven’t used them personally, but this book has QR codes scattered throughout that take you to video tutorials to visually walk you through techniques and tricks if you are looking for extra guidance. It is divided into a few protein sections, “noods”, salads, “so many veggies”, soup and “snack attack” chapters and the recipes (mostly) all fit on a page with its pretty and helpful photo opposite. She formats her recipes a bit differently than some, with a list of Produce, Pantry and Meat items up top and a conversational style of instructions below. She includes some tips and tricks at the bottom to help you understand why you do certain steps so you’re prepped to improvise should you choose¹¹. Molly has a young, peppy voice and creates delicious recipes that are full of unexpected flavor combos. If you become a fan, she’s got a weekly recipe club you can join. Just note that it can sometimes take a few reads before you understand the recipe title…

SOME of my FAVORITE RECIPES

• Slow Roasted Piri Piri(ish) Chicken with Crushed Potatoes

• Crispy Skinned Salmon with Harissa & Citrusy Fennel Salad

• B-fast Tacos with Charred Scallion Salsa & Fried Pepitas

• Fancy French Egg Salad

• Peanutty Pork Noodles with Crunchy Celery

• Big Shells with Escarole, ‘Chovies & Mozz¹²

• Peach & Tomato Salad with Sizzled Halloumi

• Charred Cabbage with Salty Peanuts & Nuoc Cham

• Charred Brussels with Soy Butter and Fried Garlic

• Golden Get-Well Soup

Any other cookery genre requests?

1. i like to think at least

2. pretty vital in retail…

3. usually How Did This Get Made? jason4eva

4. can’t sell damaged goods!

5. but seriously, i have it on good authority there is a witch in the basement

6. honestly, sometimes i was jealous of myself. especially when there were leftovers from yesterday’s cooking class

7. the purge is explained in my first post here

8. obviously

9. brinner!

10. more is more

11. i always do. recipes are guidelines for me. i only really ever exactly follow baking ones

12. ugh. do these even count as words?