Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
Finalist for the 2024 IACP Award for Food Issues & Matters
A Food & Wine Best New Summer Cookbook
A Smithsonian American Staff Recommendation
How to cook flexibly and fight food waste, with 80 recipes and 150 ideas to use up what you have.
You’re standing in front of your refrigerator, a week after your last trip to the supermarket. You’ve got a bunch of random veggies, some wrinkly fruit, near-expired milk, and those pricey fresh herbs you bought for that one recipe and don’t know how to use up. For a split second you picture yourself opening a trash bag, throwing everything away, and ordering takeout. We’ve all been there.
But instead…you pick up this cookbook. In no time you’ve prepared a Make-It-Your-Own Stir-Fry and How-You-Like-It Savory Pancakes, plus a Mix-and-Match Fruit Galette that you’ll have for dessert. Time to celebrate—you’re saving food, shrinking that grocery bill, and learning some key skills for making the most of what you have. It’s exciting to be able to create new dishes and waste less food, and most importantly—a delicious dinner is on the table!
Perfectly Good Food is a book for those moments everyone has, whether you cook for one or a whole household—moments standing before an overfull pantry or near-empty fridge, not sure what to do with an abundance of summer tomatoes or the last of the droopy spinach. Chock-full of ingenious use-it-up tips, smart storage ideas, and infinitely adaptable recipes, this book will teach you
why smoothies are your secret weapon;
how to freeze (almost) anything;
why using your senses in the kitchen (including common sense!) is more important than so-called shelf-life.
Written by the chef-sisters behind Boston’s acclaimed Mei Mei Dumplings, this cookbook/field guide is a crucial resource for the thrifty chef, the environmentally mindful cook, and anyone looking to make the most of their ingredients.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Li sisters, who co-own the Boston dumpling company Mei Mei, debut with an indispensable guide to cutting down food waste through simple lifestyle changes and casual recipes. Food-saving strategies, such as setting up an "eat-me-first" box of partially used ingredients and overripe produce at an eye-level spot in the refrigerator, are practical and easily adaptable. The Lis also share detailed advice for storing various types of food in the freezer, be it whole eggs (which should be removed from the shell, lightly beaten with salt, and placed in an airtight container) or cooked rice and oatmeal. The recipes—with names like How-You-Like-It Savory Pancakes, All-the-Fruit Smoothies, and Fish (or Shrimp, or Crab, or any Leftover Seafood) Cakes—encourage readers to create satisfying meals with whatever they have on hand. Instructions for braised tofu with mushrooms and leftover greens, banana ice cream, and "low-key" fruit jam will give readers plenty of inspiration for repurposing leftover produce. Other "use-it-up ideas" include pickling unripe avocados and using overripe and mushy ones in smoothies. The result is an excellent resource for home cooks who want to save both money and the planet.
