With graduation season upon us, we asked our favorite Hill Country dietitian—and one of frequent contributors— for her best cookbook picks for young adults.
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Story by Heather Martin, R.D.
Editor’s Note: this helpful list contains Amazon.com affiliate links for which this website receives a small fee when a book is purchased. Please see our official disclosure statement at the bottom of this page.
Wracking your brain for a great graduation gift? Consider a cookbook! They are a great way to inspire healthy eating and good financial habits, and they’re beautiful to boot. Wrap one up with a good wooden spoon and the spices used in the recipes, and you’re all set.
Whether your favorite newly minted grad is heading to a new office building this summer or a college dorm this fall, they’re going to crave simple, affordable, and delicious meals. Made in the Office: Tasty and Hasty Meals with Just a Kettle, Toaster, and Microwave (Frances Lincoln, 2016) by Rachel Maylor will be a boon to the tried-and-true instant noodle routine. With a modern aesthetic and emphasis on fresh produce, whole grains, and fish, the ingredient list may not fit the lowest possible budget. Still, bringing one’s lunch is a terrific money-saver, and these simple but sophisticated recipes won’t leave anyone feeling deprived. Many of the recipes are vegetarian or easily adaptable, and breakfast, snack, and beverage options are included.
Leanne Brown’s Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day (Workman, 2015) will make your student forget they are “starving”—and they’ll be healthier for the effort, too. Beautiful photographs, easy recipes, and delightfully creative inspiration pages combine for truly economical and practical menus that are far from boring. Plus, the meals can be as Instagram-worthy as they are budget friendly. Another feel-good bonus: for every copy purchased, a free copy is given to someone in need.
The 5-Ingredient College Cookbook (Rockridge Press, 2017) by Pamela Ellgen is a great choice for the microwave mac-and-cheese set. While not every meal is strictly health-conscious, they are largely thrifty and accessible to culinary novices with basic starter equipment. They’re also speedy to assemble. (Important note: the ingredient counts don’t include basic pantry staples like spices and cooking oil.)
Serena Wolf’s The Dude Diet: Clean(ish) Food for People Who Like to Eat Dirty (Harper Wave, 2016) is aimed at the fellas but not necessarily just at them. Wolf’s book elevates popular bar food like nachos and Buffalo chicken to a high art with tons of gorgeous photographs and flavors worthy of the chef-author’s Le Cordon Bleu cred. They might not even notice that it’s healthy(-ish)! The recipes are not as pennywise as other books on the list, but with an emphasis on basic equipment and food young people love, it’ll trim the fat on the monthly take-out expenditures.
If you just *happen* to know (wink, wink) that your grad is getting a pressure cooker, Urvashi Pitre’s The Indian Instant Pot® Cookbook: Traditional Indian Dishes Made Easy and Fast (Rockridge Press, 2017) is a winner. The recipes are easy, truly made in one pot, and every bit as good as your young adult’s favorite restaurant. They’re also gluten-, soy-, and dairy-free friendly. Since the spices are varied and used in large amounts, a bundle of them added to the gift might be appreciated. It will make the whole box smell amazing! Not sure they like Indian food? The Essential Instant Pot® Cookbook (Robinson, Undated) by Coco Morante is a great alternative full of tried-and-true standards.
Have a grad who already enjoys cooking? Help them make rubbery chicken and lackluster vegetables a thing of the past with The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science (W.W. Norton and Company, 2015) by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. The author is a chef, food columnist, and adviser to Serious Eats—which makes for a seriously impressive resumé. Short on photos but long on information, this massive food science tome is rigorous enough to appeal to chemistry majors yet fascinating to the home cook who wants to prepare food, well, better. Anyone wanting to fine-tune their brining, browning, and brunching skills will find tons of enlightening solutions to common home-cooking problems.
Heather Martin is a registered dietitian who loves cooking almost as much as she loves eating! A native Texan, she’s lived North, South, and East—but not yet West. Heather writes about Zen practice at Mom of No Rank, and you can follow her on Twitter or Instagram.
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