This is a beautiful and easy to follow cook book. It is not my personal taste so I will probably not buy a physical copy, but it was a fun one to browse through and I am sure there is an audience that will absolutely love to add this to their shelf.

A BIG THANK YOU to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Bright Cooking: Recipes for the Modern Palate by Camille Becerra. This is a strikingly creative cookbook that offers a fresh perspective on cooking and eating well. With a focus on vibrant flavors, nourishing ingredients, and beautiful presentation, Becerra introduces readers to a new way of thinking about food that’s approachable and adaptable based on what you already have in your own pantry. Becerra places a major emphasis on creativity and versatility, empowering home cooks to experiment with ingredients and techniques to create dishes that are as visually stunning as they are delicious.

One of the book's highlights is its comprehensive approach to building flavor, starting with foundational pantry basics like mother sauces, broths, and finishing oils. Becerra provides readers with the foundational macrobiotic recipes they need to get started, offering guidance on how to combine these elements in unexpected ways. Her playful approach to ingredients and flavors encourages readers to embrace experimentation and trust their instincts in the kitchen.

With its beautiful photography, clear instructions, and inventive recipes, this cookbook is sure to inspire home cooks of all skill levels to infuse their meals with creativity, joy, and, of course, brightness. I plan on slowly incorporating a great many of these recipes into my own meal-planning rotation. Some of my personal favorites are listed below:

● Green Goddess Yogurt
● Walnut-Kimchi Dip
● Coconut-Ginger Broth
● Plum Molasses
● Turmeric-Chili Almonds
● Crispy Honey Chili Oil
● Napa Cabbage, Coconut, and Pecan Salad with Pecan-Coconut Dressing
● Collard Green and Peach Summer Salad
● Squash with Peanut-Coconut Curry
● Corn and Potato Chowder
● Salt and Pepper Seafood Fry

Although it will surely mean having to build yet another self in my kitchen to hold more cookbooks, this is one that I plan on purchasing and keeping on hand for constant reference. I definitely see myself coming back to this one again and again and taking something different away each time.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 25 June 2024
#BrightCooking #NetGalley

Bright Cooking is a unique, plant-based cookbook. It includes two sections: Elements and Dishes. The Elements section contains Mother Sauces; Pickles, Ferments, and Cures; Stocks, Broths, and Dashis; Flavor Pastes, Fruit Sauces and Tonics; and Finishings. The Dishes section contains Fruits & Cereals, Baked, Snacks, Salads, Vegetables, Grains, and Seafood. Some of the recipes are very creative and others seem more accessible. The photography is beautiful but feels more artsy than representations of the recipes. I enjoy the layout of the recipes.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #ChronicleBooks for a free copy of #BrightCooking by Camille Becerra. All opinions are my own.

Lovely cookbook with tons of easy, flavorful recipes. The format is nice - lots of little parts first (think sauces, nut mixes, butters, etc…) followed by recipes that use the parts. Will definitely be buying a copy of this once published. Not vegan, but easily adjustable!

What a lovely cookbook! The recipes are easy to follow and the photography is excellent. I love how the sections are broken up. So far we have tried the walnut-kimchi dip, the green tahini, the turkish eggs, and the clams and brothy rice. All were fantastic. I'm excited to try additional recipes from this book, especially those in the elements sections. I know I will come back to this book time and time again. If you are someone who is interested in adding more vegetarian/pescatarian flare to your kitchen, definitely check this one out.

Thank you to the publisher and author for a chance to get a sneak peak of this wonderful cookbook in return for my review.

Taking recipes and making them new and interesting is what this book is all about. Carrot harissa? fabulous. I have so many sauces and vegetables bookmarked to make. This book covers basics to extravagant. She gives so many ideas to take what you have on hand and make a wonderful meal from them. Beautiful pictures as well to see what your finished dish should look like. .

This will be a fantastic cookbook for some, and leave others wanting. It’s a beautiful cookbook for people who want to learn to cook gourmet, plant focused, gorgeous dishes. There are photos of every dish and these are generally show off recipes. There are really creative flavors and you are likely to seriously elevate your cooking game.

Descriptions keep calling it a plant based cookbook and that typically means vegan. This is not a vegan or even vegetarian cookbook, though vegetables do take center stage. There’s a lot of use of wheat and no nutritional information, two reasons it wouldn’t work in my kitchen. Recipes won’t necessarily be cheap either, but they are likely to be healthy and fun.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

I love this cook book! The recipes are unique but accessible. They layout of the book works well for enjoying the content on its own or working through individual recipes. The aestheics and uniform, stunning and bright. .

The vibrant cover drew me into this book, and the introduction caught me with this phrase: "cooking is sensorial, eating is intuitive, be responsible in your sourcing, and adventure is essential." I really could not love this book more. There is a focus on whole food ingredients with delicious and practical applications. The photos feel as though they were taken right in the author's kitchen. The use of quart container lids to display spices is both heart warming and genius. I have added this to my wishlist!

The premise of Bright Cooking is that food should look beautiful and make you feel good/nourished and it does just that.

The book is broken down into two sections: Elements and Dishes. The Elements section contains Mother Sauces; Pickles, Ferments, and Cures; Stocks, Broths, and Dashis; Flavor Pastes, Fruit Sauces and Tonics; and Finishings. The Dishes section contains Fruits & Cereals, Baked, Snacks, Salads, Vegetables, Grains, and Seafood. The author says that cooking is sensorial and eating is intuitive. She advises that you should be responsible in your sourcing and that adventure is essential. (I found the book to be pretty serious, especially considering some of the whimsical ways it had been described.)

The photographs are beautiful, but limited and often more mood photos than anything else.
Some of the recipes you’ll find are Savory Lemon Focaccia, Corn and Chickpea Fritters with Ginger-Garlic Mojo, Turkish Eggs with Crispy Honey Chili Oil, Dal Fritters with Leche de Tigre, Chilled Noodles with Peanut-Ginger Sauce, Clams and Brothy Rice. (There are ten or so fish recipes.)

There are also sections on building toast, fruit, and dragon bowls, how/why to sprout, forgotten vegetables, making crudo, steaming fish, and more.

Most of the recipes have easy-to-find ingredients although some of the preparations will likely be new to someone who doesn’t do a lot of Farmer’s Market-style cooking.

Bright Cooking would be good for someone new to plant-based/pescatarian cooking who wants to build a solid foundation of elements (sauces, Dashis, pastes, etc.) It’d also be useful for someone who wants to level up their commitment to a plant-based way of life.

A lovely creative cookbook beautifully illustrated book. I enjoyed reading the authors journey to this book. It’s educational, delicious and the recipes are easy to follow. I tried a few dressings and sauces and have a few others earmarked. This would be a lovely addition to anyones library. I'd have rated 3.5 if half avail so upped to 4.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to review. I love reading cookbooks, not just for the recipes but also for the stories of the author and how they came to write recipes and to cooking. I loved the writing, pictures, and how plant based it is. I don't often buy cookbooks because I have so many but this one will definitely be on the list when it comes out.

I love when recipe books give actual instructions and the reasons behind the ingredients. I tried a couple of the sauces and a yogurt recipe and loved them all. Great pictures and clear recipes.

I am sure that this cookbook is for someone but it just wasn't for me. Beautiful but just not for the home cook.

Wow this may be the best cookbook I’ve checked out in ages. Fun layout, beautiful photos, and great recipes. I loved how easy it was to read through. So many good tips and ideas. I’m in dire need of a physical copy of this book asap. Can’t wait to make all the things.

This is a gorgeous, colorful, unique cookbook!

The foundation of the book is based on various sauces- yogurt based, herb based, butter based, etc. There are also a few recipes for pickles, ferments, and vegetarian/pescatarian based broths/stocks. Each recipe comes with several ideas for how to use them, which is great!! These components are also then incorporated into mostly simple recipes (such as salads, grain bowls, pescatarian mains) with unique ingredients for some very interesting flavor combinations.

I can see myself trying some of the sauces when it’s farmer’s market season, and I can more easily locate fresh ingredients. Some recipes would be very hard to find the ingredients any time of year here in the Midwest U.S. I wasn’t especially interested in the recipes that included the sauces, but I can see myself using them with my own recipes.

Overall I would recommend it for people looking for a bright, colorful cookbook with creative ideas to add to their shelves!

Bright Cooking by Camille Becerra, a New York-based chef entering her third decade of professional cooking, is really two books in one. On one level, it’s kind of a woo-woo experience with the stated goal of “demystify[ing] the practice of listening to your body and honing your instincts in a healthy and intuitive way.” Unfortunately, my body believes I need more chocolate and cheesecake, so it didn’t work for me. But, for a lot of people, I’m sure that would be a draw. On the other hand, a recommendation to buy organic and sustainable food is always a good idea.

The other part of this book are the recipes, most of them vegetarian, although a few include fish. She has a recipe on making your own butter, pickled things, broths, powders, oils jams and more, most of them pretty exotic. This would be a great book for someone with a definite Brooklyn hipster vibe. That’s not throwing shade on this very beautiful cookbook; it’s just a realization that this book isn’t for me. Nearly all of the recipes are like these: Maple Chicories with Chile-Mushroom Pickle Toast; Endive and Parsnip Salad with Pistachio, Blue Cheese and Citronelle; Salt-Baked Vegetables with Cacao Seed Mix, Dressed Rice with Shiso and Summer Gomasio, and Kombu-Cured Fish with Quinoa-Potato Crisp. If that’s up your alley, this would be a five-star find for you.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Chronicle Books in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, what an informative book! There are so many delicious recipes in this book.. I’m excited to implement the recipes in the future.

Loved the photos. So beautiful and vibrant! There are a couple of recipes I'd definitely make (particularly the sauces) so definitely well worth a read!

Bright cooking is one of those beautiful, aspirational types of cookbooks. One where you page through it and think to yourself, this is what I would do and cook if I had more time. The pictures were beautiful and I loved the smallest details of making everything from scratch and being very aware of all of your food and culinary choices. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!