My 2025 Cookbook Shortlist

This year, I broke my cookbook-buying habit. Instead of 5 or 6 new cookbooks, I bought only two. It wasn’t an intentional move. It just happened.

Neither book is 100% plant-based; I consider each plant-forward. Both were written by recipe creators I follow religiously, on Substack, in NYT Cooking, and in The Guardian. I know their work. That means I knew I’d cook my way through most of each book — far more than the 2–3 recipes home cooks typically make from a cookbook. Are you looking for a gift that keeps on giving? Or perhaps a self-gift?

What Made the Cut (and Why)

Linger, by Hetty McKinnon. I’m a die-hard Hetty McKinnon fan-girl. I fell hard for her Crispy Sheet Pan Noodles with Glazed Tofu. (NYT paywall, sorry). Hetty’s Roasted Tomato Bread Salad sealed the deal. Her new book, Linger, celebrates salads. In Hetty-speak, salads are “layers of flavors, balancing acid, and weaving textures, while always remembering the principles of good seasoning.” You will not find a recipe for romaine leaves slathered in Green Goddess dressing in this book. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Each salad has a backstory. Bibimbap Style Gnocchi with Gochujang Vinaigrette was inspired by Hetty’s frequent trips to the beloved Korean supermarket chain, H Mart. Coronation Cauliflower and Chickpeas is a riff on “Poulet Reine Elizabeth,” a cold chicken dish served for lunch at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Sprinkled throughout the book are gorgeous food essays, Hetty’s photographs of her friends and food, even QR codes linked to playlists curated by her daughter, to be enjoyed while cooking and lingering.

Linger is the name of Hetty’s monthly lunch gathering. Her idea was to invite guests to enjoy a mid-day meal together, unhurriedly, to fill their souls with new foods and new friendships. Why salads? So the cook (Hetty) could prepare the dishes ahead of time, and place them on the table before anyone arrived.

What a concept! Finish cooking before your guests arrive, so that you can get out of the kitchen and enjoy the company of your friends. This will be my one and only 2026 New Year resolution.

Want more Hetty? There are dozens of (free) recipes on her website, and Substack, where you can find her newsletter, recipes and musings “dedicated to vegetables.”