I love giving cookbooks as gifts as they are truly gifts that keep on giving. Not only can the recipient enjoy reading the book, but they can also remember you when they make dishes from the book. I have received numerous cookbooks as gifts, and I treasure them all. Following are five books I recently read and highly recommend.
Mostly Plants: 101 Delicious Flexitarian Recipes from the Pollan Family
I actually received this book as a gift from my friend Lara, and it's especially meaningful to me because I first met Lara in person (after communicating with her via my blog and by email for about a year) at a Michael Pollan talk. That was 9 years ago. The book is beautifully written and contains recipes for foods we love to eat: lots of vegetables with a little meat sprinkled in here and there.
Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
We watched the Netflix series by the same name and really enjoyed it. Samin's love for and curiosity about food really shines through in the series as well as in the book. The book contains a lot of very useful information and makes one think about how to put together meals. This is especially useful for someone like me who likes to experiment in the kitchen. The recipes are really delicious and lots feature simple ingredients and instructions. Salt Fat Acid Heat is on sale right now on Amazon for a great price.
East Bay Cooks by Carolyn Jung
Carolyn is a San Francisco Bay Area food writer, and I have been following her since she wrote for the Mercury News and then her blog. On a side note, we like to work out in the same places; her intense workouts explain how she stays in fantastic shape while eating for a living. In East Bay Cooks, Carolyn showcases a diverse and delicious area of the Bay Area that is often forgotten. I love the introductions to the chefs and their signature dishes. The recipes are wonderful. This is a great gift for anyone in the Bay Area who enjoys food and wants to learn more about the East Bay and its culinary scene and cook some delicious food.
I Love my Instant Pot Recipe Books Series
I got an Instant Pot almost a year ago as a gift, but I was too afraid to actually use it. And from what I have learned by talking to others, I'm not alone! I think there are many of us with unused Instant Pots hiding in the garage! I had been looking for Instant Pot recipes, but often they didn't quite fit. They were either not "healthy enough" or required too many ingredients I did not have or contained ingredients I could not eat. The I Love My Instant Pot books solved this problem for me. Each book starts by going over Instant Pot basics, which made me feel at ease and actually made me use my pot! The first thing I made was a "Vegetable 'Cheese' Sauce" (from Anti-Inflammatory Diet) that contains no cheese but lots of vegetables and nutritional yeast. It was quick and really tasty and a great way to use up some of that nutritional yeast I had sitting on the counter. I also made artichokes and pinto beans (from Affordable Meals). I like that the Affordable Meals book lists prices for each meal in the book.
Besides the two books above that I own, there are many more titles (click on the images to be taken to the books on Amazon). I'm especially interested in the Keto diet and the Gluten-free ones. There is definitely no more reason not to use that Instant Pot!
I hope I inspired you to consider giving a cookbook or two this holiday season.