Debut cookbook by former resident hot off the grill

| September 1, 2022 | 0 Comments

COOKBOOK AUTHOR barbecues her own dinner.

Ali Slagle, author of many recipes for the New York Times and the Washington Post, recently wrote a new cookbook, “I Dream of Dinner (so you don’t have to).” Slagle started experimenting with food in high school. Growing up in Hancock Park with her mother and nonna busy in the kitchen, she attended Marlborough School and ate her favorite caprese sandwich on the Boulevard at Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese. At Marlborough, she wrote a column for the school’s newspaper that included a recipe in each issue.

She’s come a long way since then, including transplanting herself to Brooklyn.

Her debut cookbook is very practical, easy to use and easy to read. All 150 no-nonsense recipes need no more than 10 ingredients — nothing obscure — take about 45 minutes to create and are accompanied by a full-page color picture of the finished product.

The color pictures are very helpful. My 12-year-old made Ideal Sweet Potatoes with Buttered Nuts and the meal looked just like the picture.

Not only do the recipes look good, more importantly, they taste delicious.

Slagle’s childhood kitchen was flooded with light. She says, “The light influences my choices of ingredients, wanting to create bright, happy and colorful food.” Bright, fresh and colorful recipes fill her book.

COVER OF book by author Ali Slagle.
Photos by Mark Weinberg

The cookbook includes a list of pantry staples organized by category. This gives the chef the ability to swap ingredients to make the dish your own, or use what you happen to have in your pantry that night.

For a renowned recipe writer, Slagle doesn’t take herself too seriously in the kitchen and has a sense of humor about food that makes the recipes unintimidating. At the back of the book, she’s categorized recipes with titles such as “Max two dishes,” “To clear the veg drawer” and “To set it and forget it.”

At 400 pages, this hardcover cookbook, published by Clarkson Potter, will end up tattered and filled with food splotches from continual use. In its third printing, the $29.99 cost is worth every cent. Go out and get your copy before dinner tonight.

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Category: Entertainment

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