Dwell Picks: Our Favorite Cookbooks, Just In Time for Fall

Dwell Picks: Our Favorite Cookbooks, Just In Time for Fall

Looking to evolve dinner into something new, inventive, and delicious? We asked Dwell staff members to name some of their favorite cookbooks to get out of any culinary rut.

Mike Chino, Senior Editor:

"We, the People cannot live on sourdough alone! In order to form a more perfect lunch, we elect to eat healthier and secure the blessings that crisp veggies and fruits bestow."

Salad for President: A Cookbook Inspired by Artists
The creator of the immensely popular Salad for President blog presents a visually rich collection of more than 75 salad recipes, with contributions and interviews by artists/creative professionals like William Wegman, Tauba Auerbach, Laurie Anderson, and Alice Waters.  Julia Sherman loves...

Anna Gibertini, Articles Editor:

"The OG hippy-dippy cookbook. If you're considering going vegetarian, you won't do better than Mollie Katzen's collection of seminal recipes for plant-based cooking. If you find yourself in Ithaca, NY, I highly recommend going to the Moosewood co-op, too!" 

The Moosewood Cookbook: 40th Anniversary Edition
The Moosewood Cookbook has inspired generations to cook simple, healthy, and seasonal food.

Sam Daly, Associate Editor:

"When he says easy, he means it! I’ve been cooking my way through this for the last month—each recipe is more delicious than the last. My personal favorite: onigiri stuffed with tofu and kimchi."

Vegan Japaneasy: Over 80 Delicious Plant-Based Japanese Recipes
Japanese cuisine: Fatty tuna! Wagyu beef! Pork broth! Fried chicken! Squid guts! It's a MINEFIELD for mindful vegans. OR SO IT SEEMS. In reality, there's an enormous amount of Japanese food that is inherently vegan or can be made vegan with just a few simple substitutions.

"So many sauces! So many vegetarian dishes! I’m in love and in awe of this wonderbook."

Indian-ish: Recipes and Antics From a Modern American Family
Indian food is everyday food! This colorful, lively book is food writer Priya Krishna’s loving tribute to her mom’s “Indian-ish” cooking—a trove of one-of-a-kind Indian-American hybrids that are easy to make, clever, practical, and packed with flavor.

"Another title with a beginner attitude—maybe I need to check my kitchen confidence level? Either way, Ottolenghi’s approachable recipes make dinner a breeze."

Ottolenghi Simple: A Cookbook
The New York Times bestselling collection of 130 easy, flavor-forward recipes from beloved chef Yotam Ottolenghi.  In Ottolenghi Simple, powerhouse author and chef Yotam Ottolenghi presents 130 streamlined recipes packed with his signature Middle Eastern–inspired flavors, all simple in at...

Zach Klein, CEO:

"I keep coming back to the River Cottage Handbooks. They're basically little Scouting guides for adults with a separate trim little hardcover volume for every topic a self-reliant cook needs to know: bread, preserves, fermentation, curing, herbs, foraging."

The River Cottage Preserves Handbook
In this new addition to the award-winning collection, River Cottage master preserver Pam Corbin helps you transform the abundance of your garden (and your friends' and neighbors' gardens) into everything from jams and jellies to vinegars and sauces.
The River Cottage Booze Handbook
A thoroughly practical guide to making wine, beer, cider, and infusions at home.
Fermentation: River Cottage Handbook No. 18
In Fermentation, Rachel de Thample shines a light on one of the oldest methods of preserving food, which is just as relevant today, and shows you how to produce delicious and health-boosting ferments in your own kitchen.

Erin V. Mahoney, Community and Social Media Manager:

"Cooking has long been a joy-less task for me—that is until I watched Samin Nosrat make a bowl of oatmeal. She infuses so much joy and warmth into every dish that even the most resistant home cook will feel called to the kitchen."

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
A visionary new master class in cooking that distills decades of professional experience into just four simple elements, from the woman declared "America's next great cooking teacher" by Alice Waters.

"Dinner and a movie looks a little different these days, but date night can still feel special with Binging with Babish. I can think of no better time to master boeuf bourguignon and cue up Julie & Julia—it’s on Hulu."

Binging With Babish: 100 Recipes Recreated From Your Favorite Movies and TV Shows
The internet cooking show Binging With Babish has taken YouTube by storm with views as high as 12 million per episode.

Haley Heramb, Branded Content Manager:

"!!"

Simple Fare: Spring/Summer
Simple Fare: Spring/Summer is a beautifully illustrated cookbook featuring seasonal, market-driven fare that encourages readers to cook simply and intuitively.  Karen Mordechai of the acclaimed Brooklyn-based food community Sunday Suppers shares her meals for cooking at home and her studio.

Maris Berkowitz, Sales and Marketing Assistant:

The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes From a Delicious Revolution
An indispensable resource for home cooks from the woman who changed the way Americans think about food.
The Kinfolk Table
The Kinfolk Table puts the emphasis back on the relationships that surround eating.
Cooking by Hand: A Cookbook
One of the most respected chefs in the country, Paul Bertolli earns glowing praise for the food at California's renowned Oliveto restaurant. Now he shares his most personal thoughts about cooking in his long-awaited book, Cooking by Hand.

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