Jenny Rosenstrach - The Weekday Vegetarians: 100 Recipes and a Real-Life Plan for Eating Less Meat: A Cookbook

Part 1: Sources & Inspiration

People ask me all the time how I come up with my recipe ideas. Youd think that after writing about food for fifteen years (including five cookbooks) that Id have a pretty good answer by now. The truth is, recipe-generating is far from a straightforward or solo process, and to suggest otherwise is misleading. Much as Id love to tell you that I was brought up cooking at the apron hems of my Italian nonna and Jewish bubbie, I wasnt. In fact, I never knew any of my grandparents (they all died before I was born), let alone whether they preferred fennel in their meatballs or onions in their latkes. Like a lot of modern home cooks, I learned how to cook and create an arsenal of go-to family recipes from what Id call enthusiastic trial and error, by discovering recipes in magazines and on websites and, especially, following trusted voices in the proverbial village. In my case, that village includes my mom, who put a homemade dinner on the table every night in spite of working full-time, and who, in spite of her 100 percent Italian heritage, appreciated the power of a shortcut. And my husband, who threatens to divorce me if I dont generously salt the water when Im making pasta. And my mother-in-law, Emily, who mailed me a pack of family recipes handwritten on index cards when I joined the family. And Aunt Patty, who first introduced me to Marcella Hazan. It includes Marcella Hazan herself, of course, who taught me more about authentic Italian cooking than either of my kids two 100 percent Italian grandmothers. If were going down that road, it also includes a whole lot of cookbook authors, and professional chefs Ive never met: It includes David Chang, Madhur Jaffrey, Marcus Samuelsson, and Martha Stewart. And Nigel Slater, Michael Anthony, Alice Waters, Deborah Madison, and Yotam Ottolenghi, the four of whom taught me so much about why certain ingredients go with specific vegetables; and it includes Andrea Nguyen for teaching me a foolproof way to pan-fry tofu. It includes chefs from restaurants Ive had the privilege to dine in over the yearsfrom the dim sum spot in the Central District of Hong Kong to the taco truck in Austin with the best migas tacos on earth, to the bougie plant-based DIY salad bar in Brooklyn. It includes Chipotle! And Shake Shack! And Blooming Hill Farm, the rustic, vegetable-forward caf in Duchess County, New York, that made me realize how much I loved nuts crushed to powder on my salads! It includes my sister, Lynn, for giving me a subscription to Gourmet magazine in 1994. It includes an embarrassing amount of Instagram influencers, including the one whos never met a cheese plate she didnt call EPICCCCC!!!!

Ultimately, my point is this: The recipes in these pages belong to that village as much as they belong to me. Im just the lucky one who gets to present them to you.

Part 2: The Team

This is my fourth cookbook in the Dinner: A Love Story series, and Im always amazed that somehow for each one, Ive had the privilege to work with a team of friends and professionals who all seem to care about my project as much as I do. At the top of the list are the magicians at Clarkson Potter: Raquel Pelzel, my editor extraordinaire, whose fingerprints are all over these pagesfrom the tightly edited recipes to the behind-the-scenes cheerleading youll have to trust me happened as a matter of course; Stephanie Huntwork, who oversaw the art direction, holding my hand (via Zoom calls) during shoots, indulging my all-over-the-place Pinterest boards and sketches, and ultimately assigning the brilliant, on-the-nose designer Laura Palese to execute that vision to perfection. All the behind-the-scenes worker bees who make everything feel consistent and orderly: editorial superstar Bianca Cruz, copyeditor Kathy Brock, indexer Thrse Shere, and production editor Patricia Shaw. Lastly: Francis Lam, Doris Cooper, and Aaron Wehner, for having faith in the project all the way through.

A huge thank-you to the photography team: First and foremost, Christine Han, whose confidence and demeanor always seemed to communicate Trust me. (I was always glad I did!) Thank you for making every image look a thousand times better than I couldve ever imagined, and for just being so cool and fun to be around. To food stylist Olivia Mack McCool, who made every dish look like its best self, and who somehow ended up doubling (and tripling) as prop and wardrobe stylist. To digital technician Stephanie Munguia, the consummate professional, and to my two indispensable kitchen assistants, Lily Soroka and Marni Blank: I could not have done it without you three! Lastly, a big shout-out to little Coco and Dean for lending me your new moms all day even though you were just barely born. (You can thank me for reminding them to pump all that delicious breast milk for you every two to three hours.)

Speaking of the photo shoot, big-time gratitude for the partners who supplied the props: East Fork Pottery; Revol USA; Melissa Lauprete, the mastermind behind AtLand, maybe the most beautiful shop in the New York area; ceramicist Sarah Donato, who lent me her gorgeous, one-of-a-kind bowls and dishes (please look up her company, Signe Ceramics); and to Anthony Terranova from Terranova Bakery, who keeps my freezer filled with 16-ounce pizza doughs and pane di casa all year long, not just during photo shoot weeks. (I know! How does one get so lucky?)

To Christy Knell, Christina Cohen, and Katherine Bagby for creating HudCothe coolest, most inspiring workshare collective in Westchester County, NYso I could have the time and space when I needed it most.

How much do I love and appreciate my network of food-loving friends? Its impossible to measure. Thanks to those of you who have at one time or another (a) texted me something along the lines of I made your ____ last night, it was so good! (b) bought any of my books for yourself or as gifts, (c) sent me a link to a very Jenny recipe and saying This seems like a very Jenny recipe, (d) volunteered to be a real-life official tester, (e) just been there to cheer me on, or (f) all of the above. You know who you are: Robin Helman, Jenn Meyer, Ben Gardner, Jodi Levine, Ingrid Katz, Cara Thanassi, Cara Moretti, Clarisa Gracia, Jennie Kotler, Naria Halliwell, Dorian Pascoe, Julie Fischer, Jennifer Polimeno, Sonya Terjanian, Kate Solomon Sonders, Joanna Goddard, Kimberlee Rhodes, Caroline DOnofrio, Maureen Heffernan, Tom Prince, Todd Lawlor, Anne Scharer, Alisa Greenspan, Jeni Goldman Silbert, Rory Evans, Catherine Hong, Bonnie Stelzer, Lori Slater, Liz Egan, Barbara Shornick.

Thank you to the Rosenstrachs (Mom, Dad, Phil, Nathan); the Wards (Emily, Steve, Tony, Trish, Sophia, Aidan, Luca); and the Zerbibs (Nick, Lynn, Alison, Amanda, Owen). Because it feels wrong to do anything food-related without bringing the whole family along.

Lastly, to Andy, Phoebe, and Abby. This is the fourth and (maybe) final book Ill write about the four of us sitting in our red chairs around the kitchen table, eating family dinner. It goes without saying that none of thisthe books, the blog, any of the writingwould have been possible without you. And, Phoebe and Abby, though it might seem like Im the one cooking and taking care of you two all the time, its really the opposite. Nothing has been more personally meaningful to me than sharing a table with you night after night, watching you grow into smart, engaged, kind citizens of the world who are now off to college. Come back soon! Dinner's at seven.