The Cookshelf: Early Summer 2019

Love & Lemons Every Day
More Than 100 Bright, Plant-Forward Recipes for Every Meal
By Jeanine Donofrio
Avery, $35.00

Popular Love & Lemons food blogger and cookbook author Donofrio is out with her second book featuring healthy, vegetarian fare. She doesn’t disappoint. The book is loaded with bright, colorful photos using equally colorful ingredients, like the picture-perfect Spring-on-a-Plate Socca Flatbread and Beet Salad with Pistachio Beet Green Gremolata. You’ll have no trouble finding ways to take advantage of summer corn season with Creamy Sweet Corn Pappardelle or Sweet Corn & Blueberry Arugula Salad. Recipes that are vegan or gluten free are tagged as such, with tips on adapting them if they are not. Included among the vibrant recipes are smart charts and graphics packed with helpful information, like the Giant Grid of Salad Dressings, and Roasting Vegetables A-Z, which lists oven temperature, preparation instructions and roast times for dozens of summer market favorites. Quick preparation guides, such as 6 Ways to Scramble and Fruit Crumble 4 Ways, provide cooks with even more flexible and creative options.

Simple Cake
All You Need to Keep Your Friends and Family in Cake
By Odette Williams
Ten Speed Press, $23.00

Bake. More. Cake. These simple yet visually stunning cakes are for any occasion. Ten delicious cake flavors and fifteen versatile toppings make for a multitude of cake combinations that Williams details in a chart for easy reference. Nana’s Simple Glaze works well on Very Vanilla Cake. Drizzle Lovely Lemon Yogurt Cake with tangy Citrus Syrup. Even if there are no birthdays on the horizon, Williams offers up plenty of reasons to bake and eat cake. Had a bad day? Milk and Honey Cake with Honey Whipped Cream, aptly named A Self-Care Cake, will help lift your mood. Need a favor? Offer up the decadent chocolate Bribery Cake. Roped into a bake sale? Bring the Bake and Buy Back Immediately Fundraiser Bundt Cake featuring chocolate coconut cake with coconut glaze. Surprise someone with a homemade cake from this collection, and maybe even tuck in a copy of this heartwarming book, too.

Modern Lunch
+100 Recipes for Assembling the New Midday Meal
By Allison Day
Appetite by Random House, $24.95

If you are tired of packing the same old lunches, Allison Day’s lovely new book, Modern Lunch, will get you out of your lunchtime rut. How about a colorful 9-Layer Salad with Lemon Curry Dressing packed in a nifty jar? Assemble a Soba Noodle Kit with Bok Choy and Teriyaki Tofu before you head out the door. Day includes a “Gear Guide” for tips on where to find fun, contemporary lunch boxes, jars for salad layering, and portable containers. If you telecommute or can take your lunch break at home, give the can opener a rest and try Greek Chopped Salad with Crispy Peppercorn Salmon or a California Lunch Bowl with a poached egg. Finish with a little something sweet, like Express Chocolate Pudding Cups or Berry and Apple Oat Squares. This comprehensive guide to this revamped midday meal includes recipe ideas for leisurely weekend lunches, and lunches to take on the road.

Batch Cocktails
Make-Ahead Pitcher Drinks for Every Occasion
By Maggie Hoffman
TenSpeed Press, $19.99

The summer entertaining season just got easier! Batch cocktails are made ahead and made in quantity, which means you can enjoy cocktail hour along with your guests. Just off the beach? Come home to a previously made and expertly chilled pitcher of Sandy Bottoms featuring white rum, watermelon and lime. Raid your herb garden for the Birds Again cocktail that includes basil, dry vermouth and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc. Gather the neighbors to watch the sunset with chilled glasses of tequila-based Porch Swing at Sundown. Drinks are categorized to suit a variety of moods, such as Herbal & Floral, Savory & Smokey, and Fruity & Tart. Hoffman even explains how to “batch” your own favorite cocktail recipes (there is some math involved, but she helps!). There’s an alcohol-free section, too. Cheers!

The Nimble Cook
New Strategies for Great Meals That Make the Most of Your Ingredients
By Ronna Welsh (Illustrations by Diana Vassar
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30.00

Are you ready to rethink your approach to cooking? Maybe you’ve noticed that ingredients go bad before you can use them, or the recipes you’ve chosen to make this week leave you with extra items that you don’t know how to utilize. If this sounds familiar, Welsh’s beautifully illustrated and intelligently written cookbook can help. She deeply explores the potential of each ingredient she features (from herbs to meat), providing basic preparations she calls “starting points” that can be built upon. Take a summer favorite, watermelon, and see how versatile it can be. Pureed, the juicy flesh can be made into Watermelon Lemonade. Grated, it pairs with another summer favorite, the tomato, to make Watermelon Tomato Soup. Chop it for a Watermelon, Feta and Lemon-Onion Slaw. Don’t forget the rinds (a nimble cook will use as much of each ingredient as possible). The green part of the rind can be pickled for Watermelon Rind Salad with Salami and Feta, or use the white and pink rind raw in Watermelon Rind, Corn and Green Bell Pepper Salad.

Martha Stewart’s Grilling
125+ Recipes for Gatherings Large and Small
From the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living
Potter, $26.0

Summer wouldn’t be summer without firing up the grill. This accessible grilling primer is for everyone – veteran grillers and novices alike. Recipes are exciting yet approachable, and there are tips to ensure success (stop pressing all the juice out of those burgers!). Wow your guests with starters of Grilled Oysters with Fennel Shallot Butter or Grilled Vegetable Antipasto. For a new play on surf and turf, serve up the Rib-Eye with Jalapeño Butter alongside Swordfish with Sicilian Oregano Caper Sauce. Going casual? Utensils aren’t necessary for All-Time Favorite Turkey Burgers or Tofu Bánh Mì. And yes, you can grill dessert, too!

Browseabout Books: 133 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, DE