Bright Cooking

“Anyone interested in committing to a more mindful approach to cooking  … will joyfully embrace Becerra’s dazzling, flavor-punched collection of recipes.”—Library JournalFrom celebrated chef and tastemaker Camille Becerra: a uniquely beautiful primer that teaches home cooks new ways of cooking and thinking about nourishing, flavorful foods.  Great food should look beautiful, taste special, and make you feel good. In Bright Cooking, her highly anticipated first cookbook, Camille Becerra, acclaimed chef at the Ace Hotel’s As You Are, offers 140+ fresh, natural dishes to boost one’s body and mood with plant-based, healthful ingredients. More than 90 foundational pantry basics—mother sauces, broths, dusts, finishing oils, and more—are combined in uncommon and uncomplicated ways to create 50+ eat-anytime dishes.  Say you went to the farmers’ market and bought some beautiful chicories. From there, you could add some Chili Mushroom Pickle and swirl on some Crispy Honey Chile Oil from your pantry to create Maple Chicories with Chile Honey. Maybe you’re not in the mood to put together an involved meal, but you picked up some squash at the market—you could char it and nestle it in a cloud of Fennel Pollen Yogurt with a dusting of pistachios for a thrown-together treat, or add Coconut-Ginger Broth and curry paste to create a warming, brothy bowl.   Bright Cooking inspires you to create based on what you have in your kitchen, what you hunger for, and what your body is asking for. With advice throughout on adding big flavor and playfulness to your repertoire, Bright Cooking is a uniquely beautiful primer that teaches home cooks new ways of cooking and thinking about nourishing, flavorful food. After you work your way through the book, you’ll only be a smear of this, a few sprinkles of that, and a pinch of flourish away from confidence and creative freedom in the kitchen—and you’ll feel amazing, inside and out.