• ellabee on November 22, 2023

  What Gangs said. Worth the price of the book was her tip on handling farmer's market hauls: process big bulky items before they ever hit the fridge. I planned for leftovers or take-out for market day, so I'd have the energy to follow through -- and it transformed cooking the rest of the week.

• Ganga108 on March 07, 2022

  How I love this book - it is such a joy to read, and full of suggestions, tips and recipes. There are more recipes shared in-line than described formally - I have cooked more of those than of the listed ones. I head for this book whenever I need some inspiration in the kitchen. It is also great to delve into with an afternoon cuppa - a half an hour's random dive into the book will not only have you designing next week's menu, it will put a big smile on your face.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Salsa verde

  • Ganga108 on March 07, 2022

    Gotta love a good salsa verda with a bucket of the best, crispy fried chips around - a Sunday night feast! I add mustard and leave out the anchovy. A little miso can be added to get that salty anchovy taste, but it is great without it.

• Garlicky leaf, stem, and core pesto

  • westminstr on September 30, 2014

    I've made this a few times - it's quite good. I would make it more often, but the only thing I can think to do with it is mix with pasta or spread on bread, and the kids don't love it. It's been a while though, I should try it again.... and I did! Yum. We just ate it with a spoon. I will make this more often. (But it does take about 2 hours to cook)

  • bernalgirl on March 13, 2019

    Meh

• A vibrant vegetable salad

  • westminstr on January 24, 2014

    I very much enjoyed this adaptable salad. As she says, its a good way to brighten leftover roasted roots. I didn't have quite all the ingredients, but it hardly matters.

  • Ganga108 on November 19, 2023

    This is today's salad from the weekend's roasted veg. Vibrant indeed.

• Greens gratin

  • Ganga108 on November 22, 2023

    Using her "cook ahead" methods in the previous pages, I made this dish with the pre-prepared greens (added some orzo pasta to the greens to bulk it up). Delicious in a week-night meal. I don't simmer the bechamel for the stated time - only a max of 10 otherwise it would all simmer away. UPDATE: also made one with added cooked chickpeas.

• Minestra di herbe passate

  • westminstr on October 29, 2013

    I've made this soup a couple of times and it has always been good. Most recently made with just potatoes and sorrel (about 5 cups worth) -- this was excellent! Though when I blended the soup it was a bit thin so I added in the remains of a head of lettuce that I didn't think we'd get around to. The lettuce bulked it up nicely but the flavor was a little better with just potatoes and sorrel. Still quite a good soup though. Made again 1/2014 with about two cups minced dill and parsley (mostly stems and some leaves). It was a bit fibrous so I forced it through a strainer before serving. I love this soup!

• Olive oil tart dough

  • mlbatt on October 22, 2020

    I really wanted to like this, as I adore Tamar Adler's writing and recipes. However, this did not work for me. Dividing in 1/2 and rolling out to 1/4 inch didn't give me enough for a 9-inch pan. Also, the directions were vague. My crust, rolled (thinner, because of above) and blind baked, still had enough shrinkage to be useless. It tasted great, and was like a cracker. Oh well, I will try the Food52 olive oil press-in tart dough instead.

  • franchimou on April 22, 2026

    easy but not as good as butter dough

• Ribollita

  • clcorbi on November 27, 2016

    I followed this recipe VERY loosely, adding half a chopped fennel bulb, a head of broccoli, a TON of extra stock, a crumbled Italian sausage, and some tomato paste. I had never tried adding stale bread to a soup before and found that I wasn't too crazy about the result--even after a long simmer, the bread chunks had not broken down quite as thoroughly as I'd expected. I think if I try this soup again I'll be sure to rip the bread (this time, it was sourdough) into even smaller pieces. Despite the fact that I barely followed this recipe, we both loved the final soup, which managed to use up almost every extra vegetable scrap in the fridge! The improvised result felt very much in keeping with the spirit of the book.

• Marinated goat cheese

  • May3 on October 28, 2014

    This is outstanding. Delicious on bruschetta topped with diced cherry tomatoes and a little spring onion. I added a little garlic and grated lemon rind. Keeps well in fridge and gets better after a day or so.

  • anniette on October 10, 2021

    I like this idea very much, but found the spicing a tad bland. Also, the jar — I used a standard canning jar — was awkward to fish around in to retrieve cheese without pulverizing it on the way out. I switched to a wide glass storage container. Now I can add more cheese as I go, but still fish out the oldest, most marinated piece first. I increased the garlic and fennel seeds, added a pinch of red pepper flakes and some rosemary. Now I'm addicted. On crunchy toast, it is the perfect breakfast. The olive oil solidifies somewhat in the fridge, and the oil and cheese are delicious spread on toast. Cumin seeds next batch.

• Parsley salad

  • mcvl on August 28, 2020

    I love parsley salads, and this is a particularly good one. Since raw rough-chopped Italian parsley has the texture of shredded file folders, I made it a day in advance so it could fatigue, or soften. Next time I'll use curly parsley, which I also like very much.

• Dogged vinaigrette

  • westminstr on September 30, 2014

    I used this to dress some puntarelle, IIRC. It is indeed a very strong viniagrette, not for the faint of heart, but good if you have strong bitter greens.

• Minestrone

  • westminstr on December 22, 2012

    this is the best minestrone recipe. Great every time!

  • mlbatt on June 10, 2017

    This is my "go-to" minestrone recipe. I make it every other month or so, and love it every time. So versatile and delicious.

• Rice and lettuce soup

  • bernalgirl on March 13, 2019

    Absolute comfort food when made with a rich chicken stock.

  • mcvl on May 16, 2022

    Refined and luscious with lashings of cream added in.

• Rice pudding

  • Culinarycarol on April 05, 2024

    We love this rice pudding and make it whenever there is leftover rice from a dinner meal. I keep cans of coconut milk in the pantry specifically so I can make this. If I don't have cream I use milk but cream makes it much better, of course. And, don't skimp on the nutmeg!

• Baba ghanoush [Rescue dish for charred or burnt eggplants, zucchini or tomatoes]

  • skvalentine on August 01, 2023

    Made a version of this but added too much garlic, so I ended up mixing with some plain yogurt to tame it a bit. Really delicious with a large squeeze of lemon!

• Chickpea pasta

  • IndyGirl on November 27, 2015

    Used 3 cans of chickpeas--simmered for at least 1 hr, possibly even two hours. Also, needed 2 cups of pasta water to loosen the sauce. Put in 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese--didn't taste the cheese. Hearty taste. Added lemon zest of one lemon the same night, and didn't taste it Added sundried tomatoes to the leftovers, and it was even better. For next time: Put on low boil, will likely be done faster. Reserve at least 4 cups of pasta water, some of the water for leftovers. Skip the parmesan. If desired, add more lemon zest than the zest of one lemon. Definately add sun dried tomatoes--is so, don't need the lemon zest.

• Spicy green beans

  • clcorbi on January 11, 2017

    I chose this recipe in order to use up a random can of green beans we'd had in the pantry for at least a year. This was delicious! We used 1.5t of red pepper flakes but I think, if I ever have need to make this recipe again, I'd use the full 2t. This dish was so pungent and tasty--Adler suggests serving it with rice, which I think would be delicious, but we had it with the Bread Fritters from Jerusalem and really loved the combination. A great way to use up canned green beans!

• How to boil broccoli or cauliflower

  • westminstr on September 30, 2014

    I've done this many times since reading this book. I do prefer cauliflower roasted if I have the time, but the boiled broccoli is excellent, better than steamed.

  • Ganga108 on November 12, 2023

    I make the variation for older, back-of-the-fridge cauliflower - stewing slowly with olive oil, garlic and lemon peel. It is very excellent.

• Sedate vegetable pasta

  • westminstr on September 30, 2014

    I've made this pasta quite a few times for emergency meals. As she says, you can really improve it by adding parsley, olives, capers, breadcrumbs, anchovies etc. -- but the basic version is still pretty good.

  • Ganga108 on November 12, 2023

    Delicious!

  • yelizaveta_38dvwk on April 22, 2026

    Easy sick day lunch, plus you end up with leftover blanched broccoli or cauliflower. Recommend adding the optional parsley and toasted bread crumbs, plus a good squeeze of lemon

• Boiled chicken meal

  • Ganga108 on November 12, 2023

    I often make the variation using the broth, pasta and a seasonal vegetable. I use a vegetarian broth or just the pasta water. Small soup pasta with a cubed vegetable in the broth. Peas or very young broad beans are particularly good to use. Add finely chopped parsley if you wish.

• Oyster and rémoulade omelette

  • bernalgirl on May 25, 2025

    These were a fine accompaniment to the lamb but I much prefer the version from Zaytinya by Jose Andres. Those were more unctuous and flavorful, while these barely picked up the flavor of the wine.

• Garlicky yogurt omelette

  • radhablack on December 05, 2021

    P 27

• Roasted vegetables

  • Ganga108 on November 19, 2023

    Such great advice over several pages for roasting vegetables for use during the week. There is specific advice for each vegetable. In previous pages there is a suggested week's menu from the roasted veg, and in subsequent pages, recipes for the salad, soups, pestos etc..

  • Ganga108 on November 19, 2023

    The way of cooking beetroot (beets) here is the best ever.

  • Ganga108 on November 20, 2023

    Tamar also advises how to toast a week's worth of nuts (for salads) in this section. For the first time I've been brave enough to do them in the oven. Usually I just toast a few at a time in a small pan on the stove. Very grateful for these hints.

• How to cook greens

  • Ganga108 on November 19, 2023

    Included in the how to roast a pan of veg for the week" pages, is also how to cook a couple of bunches of greens. Basic information, but a great help in how to do it effectively and efficiently. Delicious! Yum. (I keep the stalks and cook them too, separately.)

  • Ganga108 on November 22, 2023

    One of the delicious meals I made from these greens was a generous amount of orzo pasta, topped with the greens, some chickpeas, and a drizzle of olive oil. Delish.

• Greens sandwich

  • ellencooks on November 21, 2022

    I made this into a grilled sandwich with a bolillo roll with leftover beet greens cooked with onions and garlic, ricotta and a bit of grated mozzarella left over from making pizza. So good!!

  • Ganga108 on November 13, 2023

    Always delicious and easy!

• Cauliflower or broccoli soup

  • westminstr on September 30, 2014

    I used this variation of "potage" to make soup out of my leftover kale stems! This turned out to be a big success! I wasn't sure whether the kale stems would break down, but I sliced them very thinly and they were fine. (More than fine - delicious) I used three cups sliced kale stems for one potato, half an onion, and a large clove of garlic.

• Sweet potato soup

  • yelizaveta_38dvwk on April 22, 2026

    This was adored by the whole family - a real hit, especially for how simple it is to make.

• Roast zucchini or eggplant on toast

  • Ganga108 on November 14, 2023

    Always special, particularly so when the veg is straight from the garden.

• Ricotta tart

  • bernalgirl on March 13, 2019

    Endlessly versatile and delicious, use any leftover vegetable, gorgeous with cherry tomatoes. Can use whole eggs.

  • mlbatt on October 23, 2020

    Cherry tomatoes roasted in a little olive oil with chopped fresh rosemary leaves top a rich ricotta custard in an olive oil crust. I attempted Adler's olive oil tart crust, but it didn't work out for me (see recipe index for my comments). I searched and found an easy press-in olive oil crust that worked out fine. Hubby really enjoyed the tart. I thought it needed more punch -- a bit more salt in the custard and some in the tomato topping, and we could barely taste the rosemary. I probably erred on the low side for that herb because it can easily overtake the flavors. Another option was thyme, but I used fresh rosemary because that's what I had in the house.

• Roast broccoli salad

  • clcorbi on February 20, 2017

    Inspired by this idea, I made a salad with broccoli roasted until quite crisp, tossed with sliced red onions, red wine vinegar, and a bit of nutritional yeast. Delicious! The leftovers got even better, too--the broccoli was obviously no longer crispy, but the flavor was wonderful. This is a great treatment for roasted veggies and I will try again with a thinly sliced chile, like Adler recommends.

• Cauliflower or Potato salad

  • westminstr on September 30, 2014

    This wasn't my favorite cauliflower preparation, but O liked it because of the olives and capers, and he actually asked to take some in his lunchbox. So for this reason I call it a success. I boiled the cauliflower for convenience/speed but would have liked it much better with roasted cauliflower. Used a purple cauli and the vinegar bleached it such a pretty pink! O loved the "rainbow cauliflower."

• Clarified butter

  • Ganga108 on November 13, 2023

    We make ghee (clarified butter) here on a regular basis.

• Chicken broth with vegetables

  • Ganga108 on November 13, 2023

    One of my favourite meals, although I make it with a vegetable broth. It is simple yet tasty, healthy and comforting. I vary the amount of broth, sometimes just a little to wet the ingredients, sometimes more soupy.

• How to cook beans

  • Ganga108 on October 05, 2024

    An extraordinary chapter on cooking dried beans. Her writing is so evocative, it will make you put some beans on to soak immediately. She reminds us that the water that beans are cooked in becomes a beany broth, and that all beans should be treated with love during the cooking. Today I came back to this chapter to check on additions. I love that she says beans should always be cooked with fennel. So I have added all my garden pickings - I was going to cook it in the Instant Pot but because she insists on long slow, just under the boil, cooking, I brought them to a simmer than used the Slow Cook function of the IP. (And OH THAT BROTH - worthy of being eaten on its own with just a few of the beans in it.)

• Straightforward bean soup

  • Ganga108 on November 19, 2023

    We make simple bean soups all the time, with either left-over beans or overcooked beans. I add dried or fresh herbs, and sometimes spices. An easy way to add protein to your diet. Today's is made with lima beans.

• Nasturtium seed "capers"

  • Ganga108 on October 03, 2024

    An easy way to make nasturtium seed capers. I prefer approaches that don't pre-simmer the seed pods.

• Pickling onions, chiles, okra, green beans, radishes, green tomatoes, cabbage, celery and cooking greens

  • Ganga108 on October 05, 2024

    A super chapter on pickles and how to integrate making a pickle into 5-min opportunities in your day.

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