• Eat Your Books

  2005 James Beard Award Winner

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Green beans with red pepper and garlic

  • nutrica6 on November 30, 2025

    These were crunchy and good. I blanched and froze the green beans ahead of time to make it even quicker. Very simple flavors but delicious.

• Butternut squash and plantain mash

  • wkhull on November 24, 2023

    I did not rate this recipe because I substituted buttercup for butternut squash. Dish came out kind of "meh". Not bad, but even if upping the fat, not sure it would improve much with the substitution I used.

• Grilled radicchio

  • wkhull on November 09, 2025

    This was terribly bitter. We could not finish it. Radicchio was in season and looked very fresh. I used the broil method. I did think the vinaigrette liquid to radicchio ratio was poor.

• Baked acorn squash with pine nuts and garlic

  • nutrica6 on November 30, 2025

    Maybe my knife wasn’t sharp enough but I had trouble slicing it that thinly, so ended up roasting about 45 minutes. Next time I would add the pine nuts only in the last couple minutes so they don’t burn.

• Braised celery root

  • babyfork on January 27, 2016

    This is a simple and tasty side dish.

  • babyfork on March 09, 2025

    I cooked this again for the first time in years and raised my rating slightly. It's easy to make and does a pretty good job of fooling you into thinking it's a richer sauce than it is. I followed the recipe exactly using some leftover frozen Roli Roti chicken bone broth. The celery root I had was a large fresh one from the farmer's market, and after peeling and chopping, it was just slightly over the 3 cups suggested in the recipe. Might use 2 tsp of Dijon next time for a little more punch.

• Miso soup with watercress and shiitakes

  • nutrica6 on December 02, 2025

    Light and easy soup that comes together quickly. I doubled it, made a large batch and froze some.

• Savory buckwheat pilaf with toasted spices

  • wkhull on January 21, 2022

    Healthy. Surprisingly less flavorful than I would have expected given the spice profile. If making again, I think I'd probably double the cumin and mustard seeds and add some mini-diced veggies like sweet potatoes and peppers to give it some ooomf.

• Double-corn spoon bread

  • nutrica6 on November 30, 2025

    So easy to make and turned out great. I used frozen corn. Pudding-like texture in the middle.

• Curried vegetable couscous

  • chawkins on May 12, 2016

    The little bit of curry powder really perked up this couscous.

• Black bean burgers with chipotle ketchup

  • birch on July 10, 2011

    Think about the best burger in your life. It was juicy with a perfect roll. And the occasion was something that called for virtually a fast food. Now a black bean burger can never become the best burger. You won't have the juice and the fat. It would be akin to creating a baking powder biscuit sans fat. The photo in the new Mayo Clinic Cookbook looks appealing and basically I played with elements of their recipe as well as the Best of America's Test Kitchen, 2011 black bean burger. When you envision fast food at home you don't imagine multiple pans and appliances that are required to make a black bean burger. For that much time and effort the result isn't worth it. Without the fresh out of the oven hamburger bun the burger would fail.

• Mahimahi with macadamia nut crust

  • wkhull on November 09, 2025

    I think there's potential for this recipe with a little adaptation or well-chosen accompaniment? I chose (full fat) yogurt to coat the fish before crumbing it up, which did keep the breading on and through to the end. My crust ended up to blackened in some areas and not enough in others, which just could be my oven. Would love to hear what others did to make this one a success. Over some simple coconut rice and greens was meh. Certainly was easy; nice weeknight fare.

• Grouper with tomato-olive sauce

  • wkhull on November 10, 2025

    I made this with grouper fillets instead of steaks and it came out well with adjustments to timing. I did use a bit more oil and a "stick" pan. Would really like to hear what other made with this (rice dish? potatoes?) to make it come together even better.

• Pan-braised swordfish with feta

  • wkhull on February 09, 2023

    This was a good balance of flavors and interesting with the raisins. Adding the feta at the end gave it a somewhat creamy, albeit thin flavor.

• Cornmeal-crusted sole with chili vinaigrette

  • wkhull on October 01, 2024

    I was surprised this did not pack more flavor punch given the spices and herbs. I think a chunkier vinaigrette would have done better here. Substituted flounder for sole.

• Spicy beef kabobs

  • nutrica6 on August 06, 2024

    These are good with the yogurt sauce. The kabobs themselves are a little dry, definitely need the sauce. I served with roasted veggies and pita bread. Also not spicy, not sure why they are called that.

• Red plum tart

  • nutrica6 on November 30, 2025

    I loved this. I made 1.25x the recipe for a 9.5” tart pan. The flavors are great. The crust dough needed a lot more water and a little more butter than what was called for.