Sure to inspire leisurely, locally crafted meals paired with excellent conversation and luscious wine, The Artful Way to Plant-Based Cooking: Nourishing Recipes and Heartfelt Moments is a breathtaking cookbook created by mother-daughter team Trudy Crane (a ceramic artist) and Chloé Crane-Leroux (a New York City-based food and lifestyle photographer) that could do double duty as an attractive coffee table display. Blending artistry with plant-based dishes, the duo makes enticing connections between food, taste and presentation, proving vegetables can be colorful works of art. With stunning photographs taken in Spain, the book highlights the shared love of travel that has always been a “deeply meaningful connection” between the mother and daughter. Divided into six sections of appetizers, date night dishes, friends for dinner, weekday favorites, solo suppers, and slow mornings and brunch favorites, a wide range of recipe types and flavor combinations are represented, among them crumbed artichokes with cashew aioli, a ricotta and squash galette, a traditional Greek salad and savory chickpea pancakes. I made the shawarma spice tofu skewers with hummus and wilted spinach, which proved to be a delicious blend of flavors and textures.
