What type of cook are you? That is the question Jeanine Donofrio, creator of the wildly successful blog Love & Lemons and bestselling cookbooks by the same name, asks her readers in her newest book, Love & Lemons: Simple Feel-Good Food. Jeanine is beloved for her bright and breezy cook-from-the-hip style where trips to the farmers market lead to impromptu, seasonal meals. But, as life has gotten busier (she’s a mom now), meal plans and weekly prep have entered into the rotation, too. Over the last few years, Jeanine has realized that getting fresh, nourishing, and flavor-packed meals to the table daily is doable through different approaches. After engaging with millions of her followers, two cooking camps crystallized: those who love easy, at-the-ready dishes that can be made at the drop of a hat and those who like to plan in advance (like Jeanine’s mom who always has a whole lasagna in the freezer, a trick Jeanine has since adopted). Now, for the first time, she’s put pen-to-paper serving up feel-good recipes for both types of home cooks, and those who toggle between, just like herself.
In Love & Lemons: Simple Feel-Good Food, each chapter—Breakfast, Salads, Soups, Dinner, and Dessert—is divided into two parts: one for recipes made with minimal prep and ingredients (“at the ready”), and the second for food prepared ahead of time (“in advance”), whether that be components or full dishes destined for the freezer. Here, morning meals can be met with quick-to-assemble Spiced Chickpea Waffles or Skillet Granola while pre-made pancake dry mix ensures a fluffy stack is just minutes away. Rainbow Blender Soups turn one base into four colorful bowls while Tortellini Soup with Lemon Peel Broth offers an elegant, no-waste trick. Quick, meatless mains include Spring Pea Fritters with Whipped Feta, Chickpea Cacio e Pepe, and a range of sheet pan dinners such as Eggplant Sheet Pan Shawarma, while two different homemade veggie burgers (White Bean Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Paneer) require some forethought but store brilliantly. Moreover, eight no-waste meal plans (what Jeanine calls 3-in-1 recipes — three dinner dishes made with one whole vegetable) further provide kitchen ease without sacrificing flair or freshness. And, as with her previous books, scattered throughout are Jeanine’s signature flow charts, offering visual guides to reusing, mixing, and matching ingredients to create fresh, must-eat dishes for grain bowls, lasagnas, tacos, and more.
Author Jeanine Donofrio
