Starred Review:

The Long Table Cookbook

Plant-Based Recipes for Optimal Health

Understanding food as nourishment for mind, body, and soul, Amy Symington’s The Long Table Cookbook is a guide to plant-based cooking meant to be enjoyed together. Emphasizing both the physical benefits of plant-based recipes and the mental and emotional benefits of enjoying meals with others, this is a new bible for the communally minded cook.

Striking for its sheer beauty, brilliant, full-page pictures accompany most recipes in the book, transforming plant-based dishes from concepts into cravings. Bright Apple, Fennel, and Beet Salad with Orange-Ginger Cider Vinaigrette, creamy Artichoke and Oyster Mushroom Chowder with Sweet Potato, and luxurious Black and Blue Cashew Cheesecake images provide plentiful motivation. Symington’s skill as an educator shines as she makes excitement about plant-based options sustainable, her resources including charts of the benefits of various plant-based ingredients, a grocery-reference list for new shopping habits, and a guide to reading a nutrition facts table.

Most notable is the book’s emphasis on mental and emotional nourishment in addition to physical nutrition. Symington cites the science regarding the many mental, physical, and emotional benefits of sharing meals and includes tips for starting your own supper club. Every recipe is written for either six or twenty-four servings, posing cooking for a crowd as a norm, rather than gargantuan task. Recipes are organized by the type of gathering they’d best suit. Brussels Sprouts with Roasted Apples and Shiitake Bacon, for example, are among the recipes ready to become your next holiday tradition, while Watermelon, Mint, Feta, and Arugula Salad is listed among picnic and barbecue recipes for your next summer shindig.

Visually stunning, information-packed, and ready for any size crowd, Amy Symington’s The Long Table Cookbook is a plant-based lifestyle inspiration manual. Perfect for the holistically minded cook looking to bring both plant-based meals and community connection to their table, this book will start as New Year’s resolution fuel and quickly become an all-year-around staple.

Reviewed by Jessie Horness

Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Load Next Review