The Don’t Panic Pantry Cookbook: Mostly Vegetarian Comfort Food That Happens to Be Pretty Good for You

Chef and YouTuber Galuten shows home cooks how to transform pantry staples into familiar favorites in his winning debut. Many of the recipes—broccoli-sausage pasta, turkey meatballs, and chicken parm among them—are influenced by the Italian American fare Galuten’s mother’s cooked and his father’s preference for vegetarian dishes. Indeed, vegetable odds and ends are put to use in such offerings as a veggie-loaded chopped salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette, and a goat cheese and veggie scrap frittata with broccoli stems. Some pantry items prove to be surprisingly versatile: sauerkraut appears in a breakfast omelet as well as a smoked cheddar broccoli bread. There’s no shortage of healthy salad options, among them a ginger-cilantro chicken salad that incorporates romaine lettuce, shredded cabbage, and pulled leftover chicken. Other recipes focus on basics, such as a tomato sauce that comes together “in the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta.” On the snack end, there are rosemary-tamari almonds and olive oil kale chips. Galuten’s instructions are straightforward, and he stresses that when it comes to cooking, “trying matters.” For home cooks hungry for nourishing meals but facing a depleted refrigerator, this is a solid resource. Agent: Alison Fargis, Stonesong. (Jan.)