Refresh your spring meals with these new cookbooks

In 2020, cooking at home was a whole mood, but all trends pass with time. If you find yourself exhausted and uninspired in the kitchen, it might be time to hit the refresh button on your cookbook collection. We’re making space on our bookcases and in our kitchens for these new titles.

By Julia Turshen; HarperCollins Publishers, $32.50

The author and recipe developer is helping cooks redefine what it means to live a well-nourished and healthy life with a collection of dishes that are nutritious takes on classic comfort meals. With over 110 recipes, many of which are plant and grain forward, Turshen covers weeknight dishes, such as a “fancy” salmon salad and vegan one-pot meals (Caribbean pelau and chili). She devotes an entire chapter to chicken recipes, including a Greek chicken and potatoes dish. Lemon ricotta cupcakes are among the accessible baked goods.

By Deborah VanTrece; Rizzoli, $35.

Twisted Soul Food is the debut cookbook by chef Deborah VanTrece, from Atlanta’s Sweet Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours. She is famous for serving up modern soul food with global flavors. The dishes in her new cookbook are what happens when you give soul food a passport. Twisted Soul Food offers almost 100 fresh salads and side dishes, main courses, decadent desserts, and pantry staples that are simple to incorporate into your meal rotation. VanTrece is an expert teacher and storyteller, guiding the reader through techniques both sophisticated and straightforward.

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By Jake Cohen: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $27

Jew-ish is a selection of recipes by a rising star in the culinary world, Jake Cohen, the former culinary director of the digital site The Feed Feed. Jew-ish features approachable classics like chicken soup with matzo balls, challah, and babka, and new takes on the food of his Ashkenazi roots. Drawing inspiration from his husband’s Persian-Iraqi culinary traditions, Cohen creates modern, fresh, and appealing recipes for a new generation of cooks.

By Rodney Scott and Lolis Eric Elie; Clarkson Potter, $29.99

Pitmaster Rodney Scott explores his remarkable South Carolina barbecue legacy, from the small town where he worked for his father in tobacco fields and at a smokehouse to the sacrifices he made to grow his family’s business and the difficult choice to venture out on his own in Charleston. Cowritten with award-winning writer and filmmaker Lolis Eric Elie, Scott shows off techniques for his pit-smoked turkey, spare ribs, smoked chicken wings, hush puppies, Ella’s Banana Puddin’, and his award-winning whole hog, making this book the ultimate barbecue bible.

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By Michael W. Twitty; University of North Carolina Press, $20

Michael W. Twitty has won two James Beard awards for his 2017 book The Cooking Gene. His second book, Rice, joyously illustrates why rice is a staple of diets worldwide and is central to the chefs and practices of the American South and the African diaspora with 51 recipes, including Savannah Rice Waffles, Red Rice, and Ghanaian Crab Stew.

By Brandon Jew and Tienlon Ho; Ten Speed Press, $40

This cookbook traces the Chinese influence on American food culture through personal recipes, stories, and images from San Francisco’s Chinese community, the birthplace of Chinese American food. Taking inspiration from classic Chinatown recipes, chef Jew creates innovative spins like Squid Ink Wontons, Lemon Chicken Wings, Liberty Roast Duck, Mushroom Mu Shu, and Banana Black Sesame Pie.