What I’m Reading Now: Cookbook Edition

This week has been nuts, y’all.

I kicked it off on Sunday by cooking Arroz con Pollo for about 300 people at the nonprofit I work with, then Jaden & her hubby arrived for a few days and I’ve been visiting with some of my best blog buddies at the IACP conference. I’m also preparing for my big Noonday launch party on Saturday! It’s been go-go-go and now, unfortunately, I feel like I’m coming down with something. Of course!! Needless to say, I haven’t had a chance to be in my kitchen as much as usual this week. A few of you have been asking lately about my recent favorite cookbooks, so I thought today would be a great day to share.

My first “recent” favorite is Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi, featured above. YOU GUYS. You HAVE to get this book. It’s gorgeous and filled with amazing recipes. I’m making the hummus and a few other goodies out of it for my party on Saturday! It’s the type of book you want to just curl up in bed reading. I love it.

Another recent favorite is Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters. This is definitely an older book {I believe it was first published in the early nineties} but every time I open it, I’m filled with new inspiration on how to cook my veggies! This is a classic and rightfully deserves a special spot on your shelf.

Now, I know y’all have heard me talk time and time again about Perfect One-Dish Dinners by Pam Anderson. Out of all my cookbooks {and I have a lot of cookbooks!}, this is probably the one I cook out of the most often. I’m obsessed. I think I’ve pretty much made the entire book by now and everything is  absolutely delicious. My two favorite recipes are the paella and the salsa verde chicken n’ dumplings.

Aida Mollenkamp’s Keys to the Kitchen is just such a gorgeous book. It really is. I love to just flip through it and drool. My favorite recipe out of it is the “date night” chicken with pan roasted figs. DROOL. I made it for Adam and then a couple weeks later he proposed…obviously. I got a chance to finally meet the talented Miss Mollenkamp over the weekend and I’m happy to report that she’s equally as fabulous as she appears in her book.

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi is another wonderful veggie cookbook! I actually borrowed both this and Jerusalem {same author} from a friend and after my hand cramped up from copying down recipes for an hour, I finally just ordered my own copies. I’m so glad I did. So many good eggplant recipes in here!