4 Seasonal Cookbooks

From vegan and vegetarian recipes to beautiful baked goods, we review the freshest cookbooks on shelves now. Plus, get four bonus recipes! 

FOR BODY AND MIND

In Ayurveda, India’s ancient healing system, food plays a central role in both physical and mental well-being. In Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm, Clear Mind (Shambhala, 2018), nationally certified Ayurvedic practitioner Kate O’Donnell shares 100 simple sattvic recipes that blend Indian and Western food traditions. O’Connell writes that “…the sattvic diet is the aspect of Ayurveda that focuses on life-giving, pure foods to promote harmony in the mind.” The book includes an introduction to Ayurveda and the body-mind connection, followed by recipes such as a Sattvic Smoothie, Gingered Sweet Potato Dal, and Toasted Coconut and Cumin Pea Soup.

Get the recipe for Sattvic Smoothie. 

FARM COOKING

“Let’s face the facts: Fresh food just tastes better,” says Shaye Elliott, star of the Food Network’s Homestead Table. In her latest cookbook Family Table (Lyons, 2018), Elliott offers more than 80 favorite farm-to-table dishes using ingredients from her family’s 5-acre farm, The Elliott Homestead. Recipes run the gamut, from breakfast (Blueberry and Banana Breakfast Bake) and fresh-baked bread (Maple Soda Bread with Raisins) to soups (Creamy Leek and Chickpea Stew), salads (Cucumber Salad with Mint), main dishes (One-Skillet Beef and Potatoes with Goat Cheese) and dessert (Instant Berry Ice Cream).  

Get the recipe for Blueberry and Banana Bake. 

SWEET AND SAVORY BAKING

A trained pastry chef, Henrietta Inman focuses on using simple, whole foods and fresh ingredients for the 80 recipes in her new book, The Natural Baker (Quarto, 2018). “Natural ingredients, for me, are those simply without additives, preservatives or colourings…such as whole-grain flours, less-refined cane and coconut sugars, other sweeteners such as raw honey and maple syrup, and real fats and oils,” she writes. Recipes include sweet and savory: Rhubarb and Strawberry Galette; Sticky Pear, Ginger and Molasses Cake; Caramelized Red Onion, Parsley and Cheddar Scones; Carrot and Coriander Crackers; and much more.

Get the recipe for Carrot and Coriander Crackers. 

VEGETARIAN WITH THE SEASONS

Plants are at the heart of Anya Kassoff’s new cookbook, Simply Vibrant (Roost, 2018). The book’s 130 vegetarian and vegan recipes journey through the seasons: “When it comes to seasonal produce, utilizing the most available resources leads to easier, tastier and more affordable meals,” she writes. There’s a Spring Vegetable Chowder; Superfood Summer Porridge with peaches and avocado; fall-style Roasted Root Vegetable Oven Risotto; and a Kitchari Winter Stew, to name a few delicious options. Almost every recipe is accompanied by a beautiful photo, taken by the author’s daughter, Masha Davydova.

Get the recipe for Superfood Summer Porridge.