I am a fan of America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks because they’re consistently good and the recipes are easy.  This one is perfect for fall football weekends, with snacks such as fresh pineapple salsa, pickled cherry peppers stuffed with prosciutto and provolone, and sausage and cheddar stuffed mushrooms.  Dips include green olive tapenade, a garlicky pimento cheese spread, and whipped feta (note: you can never have too many dip recipes!).  I’m also looking forward to the Green Chile Sliders with Pepper Jack Cheese.

This cookbook’s goal is to minimize food waste.  Recipes are arranged by the specific item you need to use up before it goes bad: herbs, mushrooms, avocado, cucumber, potatoes, fruit, etc.  For example:

• Make limp herbs into a creamy green sauce by blending with garlic, olive oil, and a dairy component like cream cheese, feta, or sour cream
• Transform wrinkly grapes into Roasted Grape, Olive, and Blue Cheese Toasts
• Create Any-Cheese Fondue with whatever hodgepodge of cheese you have in your fridge

It also gives ideas for using things that are usually thrown out: 

• Cheesy Broccoli Stem Soup
• Crispy Vegetable Peels roasted with olive oil and Parmesan
• Candied citrus peels

You may know Lukas Volger from his other excellent cookbooks Snacks for Dinner and Start Simple.  This one is worth checking out for the Easy Bean Burgers recipe alone, but here are a few others that looked unusual and delicious:

• Carrot-Parsnip Burgers with Almonds
• Armenian Lentil Burgers
• Thai Carrot Burgers
• Rutabaga Fries

This was one of the more approachable vegan cookbooks I’ve seen, with two salad standouts:

• A Rainbow Salad of arugula, beets, tomatoes, avocado, radishes, and orange with sesame vinaigrette
• A Greece-inspired salad with pepperoncini, tomatoes, cucumber, lima beans, kalamata olives, and pita bread

Happy cooking!