Cookbooks for Foodies This Spring

Bye-Bye Sugar

It’s an eye-opening statistic: Kids consume their weight in sugar, about 64 pounds each year. In their new book, Half the Sugar, All the Love (Workman, 2019), health food advocate Jennifer Tyler Lee and Anisha Patel, M.D., associate professor in the Division of General Pediatrics at Stanford University, have created 100 low-to-no-sugar, kid-friendly ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner…and dessert. Their solution: sweetening naturally with fruits and veggies. Recipes include BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders with ripe nectarines and cocoa powder to sweeten the sauce; and Chocolate and Peanut Butter Snack Cake, sweetened with dates, cocoa powder and vanilla.

Cooking Solo

In cookbooks, it seems that every recipe is for four or more. But what if you’re cooking for just one? Joanie Zisk makes it easy with her new cookbook, The Ultimate Cooking for One Cookbook (Adams, 2019), featuring 175 single-serving recipes for solo chefs. The creator of OneDishKitchen.com, Zisk is an expert at creating single-serving and small-batch recipes that are fun and flavorful—dishes like Quiche Stuffed Pepper, Chicken Soft Tacos with Corn Salsa, and Chili Cheese Baked Potato. Along with easy-to-make recipes, Zisk includes a chapter with tips and tricks on the basics of cooking for one, including a section on shopping tips to avoid food waste.

StarStruck

Do you check your horoscope to learn more about love and life? That same convention can work for food, according to Catherine Urban, astrologer, foodie and author of Your Astrological Cookbook (Adams, 2019). Urban’s book helps you find the perfect meal and drink for any occasion from more than 200 recipes—all determined by your astrological sign, as well as food and personality traits related to your sign. Are you a spontaneous Aries? Try an easy-to-make Salami, Mozzarella and Red Onion Panini. Are you an adventurous and curious Gemini? Try a Lemon Poppy Seed Smoothie. Or a luminous, lovable Leo? Try the colorful Farro with Rainbow Chard.

Air-Fry Everything

It may seem that the air fryer has only a few tricks—perhaps roasting vegetables or reheating leftovers. But The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook (Voracious, 2019) suggests otherwise. It serves up more than 300 air fryer recipes—from apps and snacks to sandwiches and main dishes, plus 34 desserts. Authors Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough supply easy-to-follow instructions, along with creative serving tips and pairing ideas for each recipe. They list ingredient amounts to match three different sizes of air fryers (2-quart, 3.5-quart and 5.25- quart). A few of our favorite recipes: Eggs in Avocado Halves, Chicken Souvlaki and Tahini Sauce, and Crispy Cauliflower Puffs.