Joe Yonan

Red beans and rice

This is my 3rd favorite cookbook, ever. Not a vegan or vegetarian, but don't miss the meat at all. The standout recipe for my family (which I wasn't expecting at all) was the red lentil ful with sumac cauliflower.

This is a rich person's guide to recipes from expensive restaurants using hard to find ingredients and dirtying every dish in the kitchen. Considering the author is the food editor for the Washington Post, it's each to see how he wrote a cookbook that most people aren't going to be able to use.

I found this to be a very pleasing and accessible cookbook – and I fear cookbooks, so that’s saying something. Witty and engaging, with recipes that are easy to follow – more than anything else I really appreciate the thought that goes into how to plan for your leftovers to become something completely different.