The Globe and Mail
Summer is when we tend to spend more time lounging in the shade and flipping through cookbooks. Not only will these new books inspire you to use all that’s in season at this time of year, but to tend your garden, reduce food waste, celebrate with friends and protect the planet – all while feeding yourself and your family well.
Plant Magic: A Celebration of Plant-Based Cooking for Everyone, by Desiree Nielsen, Penguin, $34
Plant Magic is a must for anyone who lives plant-based or is looking to incorporate more plant-based recipes into their daily lives; bestselling author and registered dietitian Desiree Nielsen is also a brilliant cook, and her recipes (from apples to breakfasts to desserts) are simple yet inspiring, and she has a knack for coaxing the best out of nutritious, affordable staples such as beans, grains and vegetables.
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Better Cooking: Life-Changing Skills & Recipes to Tempt & Teach, by Alice Zaslavsky, Appetite, $40
Aussie author Alice Zaslavsky focuses on plant-forward (though not exclusively vegan) cooking; her previous book, In Praise of Veg, is an international sensation, shortlisted for a James Beard Award. With endorsements from the likes of Nigella Lawson and Yotam Ottolenghi, the brightly designed and beautifully photographed Better Cooking is full of appealing, approachable recipes. It also helps us learn to cook more intuitively, when we need to throw something together or make use of what we have that might otherwise wind up in the compost bin.
The Side Gardener, by Rosie Daykin, Appetite, $45
This stunning cookbook tells the story of how bestselling and award-winning cookbook author Rosie Daykin turned a languishing patch of land beside her home into an informal working garden during the first year of the pandemic. The book appeals to both home gardener and home cook, with dreamy photos, rustic recipes and advice on how to plant your vegetable garden and what to do with the harvest – but also a chapter on florals, and which blooms are edible, and a chickens 101 for anyone interested in adding their own coop.
Good Food, Healthy Planet: Your Kitchen Companion to Simple, Practical, Sustainable Cooking, by Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma, Touchwood, $45
Writer, food advocate and climate activist Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma focuses on feeding yourself and your family well while considering the environmental impact of what you eat and how you prepare it. She addresses issues around emissions and land use, outlining an accessible framework she calls “Eating with Benefits.” Her recipes are mostly meat-free, with a focus on reducing waste, making your own staples (such as yogurt), cooking Earth-friendly and affordable dried beans and how to shop from your pantry and use what you have. It’s modern-day comfort when you want to nourish yourself – and the planet.
Tiffy Cooks: 88 Easy Asian Recipes from My Family to Yours, by Tiffy Chen, Penguin, $34
In her debut cookbook, popular food blogger and TikToker Tiffy Chen shares 88 (a lucky number in Chinese culture) of her favourite family-style recipes, inspired by all she learned from her mother and grandmother growing up in Taiwan and travelling across Southeast Asia. Besides some of her most cherished family recipes, there are great suggestions to stock your freezer: wontons, dumplings and bao – and step-by-step photography that makes you feel like she’s there in the kitchen with you.
Heydays at The June Motel: Beach Town Classics, by Katie Laliberté, Freddy Laliberté, Evan Baulch and Emma Baulch, House of Anansi, $45
This is the perfect summer cookbook – Heydays is an indoor-outdoor restaurant at the June Motel on the shore of Lake Huron in Sauble Beach, Ont., described as “New England seafood shack meets 1970s California coastal cuisine.” This is their first book, and it’s reflective of their style in both food and design, with reinvented coastal classics such as buttered lobster rolls, Old Bay fried chicken and charred broccoli Caesar salad, paired with retro cocktails.
The Book of Sandwiches: Delicious to the Last Bite – Recipes for Every Sandwich Lover, by Jason Skrobar, Penguin, $35
Who doesn’t love a good sandwich? There is no better season than summer for sandwiches – from classics (grilled cheese, perhaps a tomato sandwich or BLT) to hot messes (the Ragù for You or the Hawaiian Pizza Sandwich) that are best eaten outdoors in flip-flops, this cookbook is full of hand-held meals you’ll start to crave just by flipping through the pages.