Gizzi’s Healthy Appetite: Food to Nourish the Body and Feed the Soul

Erskine (Skinny Weeks and Weekend Feasts) presents over 100 recipes organized by verb-centric chapters (“Slurp,” “Crunch,” “Ooze,” “Soothe,” etc.) as well as a “Basics” chapter, providing direction on homemade stocks, hollandaise sauce, and “new basics” such as cauliflower rice. International flavors permeate the title with dishes such as the lamb “shawarma” with burned pita; hummus and pomegranate tabbouleh; tuna tataki with yuzu, ginger, and crispy garlic; and Korean fried chicken. Short prep and cooking times make for ideal midweek dinners. A brief yet well-chosen selection of desserts includes black velvet cake made with chocolate stout, and a maple syrup, orange, and rosemary tart. Extensive headnotes give the reader insight into the author’s cooking history and provide nutritional information. The book offers whimsical ingredient illustrations, full-page color photos, and a quirky collage of people, places, food, and cats on the end pages. This is an upbeat, inspiring collection just in time to battle the winter blues. (Feb.)