Cookbook Review: More With Less

Overview

I have * a bit of * an obsession with cookbooks. I love reading them, buying them, checking them out from the library- and recently, I’ve started to really enjoy reviewing them. I received a digital advanced ready copy of More with Less by Jodi Moreno a few months ago, and I’m delighted to say that it’s a brilliant addition to my cookbook collection.

Jodi’s cooking is mostly plant-based, though she does use the occasional egg, pat of butter or dollop of yoghurt. Her recipes are innovative but simple- most can be on the table within 30 minutes, and very few contain ingredients you wouldn’t be able to source at a local grocery store.

Her cookbook is organised by a mix of meals and ingredients, which I initially found a bit odd, but it makes sense for the purposes of this book. There are chapters for breakfast, soup, salad, nibbles and snacks, veggie entrees, fish, and dessert. I obviously skipped over the fish section, and none of the desserts got me all that excited, but I’ve already marked loads of recipes from the breakfast and soup sections.

Some of the recipes don’t have serving sizes, which might have just been a result of my having a digital copy, but was still frustrating, because I am a firm believer in meal planning, and it’s difficult to do that if you have no idea how many people a recipe serves.

Recipes

For the purposes of this review, I cooked 3 of the recipes from the book:

• Curried Sweet Potato and Yellow Split Pea Stew with Crispy Shallots
• Hot Chocolate with Tahini and Cinnamon and Star Anise
• Coconut and Ginger and Turmeric Oats

Below are my thoughts on how they turned out.

Curried Sweet Potato and Yellow Split Pea Stew with Crispy Shallots

I love making a big pot of soup for lunches, and I’m always looking for more lentil recipes, so I thought this recipe would be perfect to try out. Roasting and then mashing the sweet potatoes is a bit of a faff, but other than that it’s an easy one-pot meal. Sadly, however, it was pretty flavourless. I had to add more lemon juice, more salt, more curry powder, plus some turmeric and garlic powder to make this palatable. Curries only work if there’s a real complex depth of flavour, and this just didn’t have that.

Hot Chocolate with Tahini and Cinnamon and Star Anise

This is my new go-to hot chocolate recipe. I was very sceptical about mixing tahini and chocolate together– despite tahini’s status as the newest ‘hot’ ingredient, I still think of it mostly as an ingredient for hummus, but oh ye of little faith. This drink was THE BOMB. Perfectly rich, thick, and, because the tahini I bought from Lidl had honey added, it was also just sweet enough. If you can’t find tahini with honey added (which is likely, since this is the first time I’ve ever seen it), I’d suggest adding a teaspoon (or four) of agave nectar to this to balance out the dark chocolate and the savouriness of the tahini.

Coconut and Ginger and Turmeric Oats

Again, I was sceptical about this one. Turmeric and oats? Um… I’ll happily guzzle all the turmeric lattes and golden milk you can give me, but I’m picky about my oats. But again, I shouldn’t have worried! This dish was so warm and comforting. I made it on a snowy weekend morning, and it was the perfect thing to curl up with. The turmeric and ginger added a subtle spice, and the coconut milk made the oats even more filling and moreish.

Verdict

All in all, I’d recommend this cookbook. More with Less by Jodi Moreno is a great cookbook if you’re looking for innovative, easy meals, and it’s also a great read if you’re looking for some cooking inspiration. The gorgeous photographs and simple recipes make it well worth a purchase.

The book comes out tomorrow, April 24, so order now!