Noon Simple recipes for scrumptious midday meals and more

"Lunchtime can easily be as exciting as dinner," assures James Beard award winner Peters (Eat in My Kitchen) in this inspired collection of quick and delicious recipes. Pantry ingredients are the star of many of these simple yet vibrant meals: from a can of butter beans, Peters makes gnocchetti sardi with butter bean--basil pesto and tomatoes, butter bean and fennel soup with crispy bacon, and one-pan butter beans and spinach with ricotta and lemon. She also relies on batch-cooking fresh produce and repurposing it for different recipes: the roasted veggies for the squash, parsnip, and grape salad with blue cheese can be doubled to use later for the autumn panzanella with roasted squash, shallots, and plums, as well as the squash pesto sandwich with feta and dates. Other options drastically cut cooking times through practical shortcuts: no soaking is required for the red lentils with spinach and spiced feta, for example. Peters also includes helpful tips for transporting lunch to work (for the seared zucchini and chickpea salad with grapes, pack zucchini and chickpeas into a container, layer the grapes and arugula and top, and keep the dressing in a separate jar until lunchtime). The result is a brilliant solution for busy home cooks looking to jazz up their midday meals. (Sept.)

Move over, breakfast: lunch is about to become the most important meal of the day. At least if James Beard Award--winning author, photographer, and food blogger Peters (365: A Year of Everyday Cooking and Baking) has anything to say about it. With her latest gorgeously photographed cookbook, Berlin-based Peters serves up 115 simple but thoughtfully conceived recipes for soups, sandwiches, salads, pasta dishes, and more that focus on delivering a maximum of bold flavors with a minimum of ingredients and some smart use of pantry staples. While many of the recipes, such as cucumber and fennel salad with melon and Rosti with pistachio-feta dip, are vegetable-forward in nature, carnivores and pescatarians will also find a sampling of yummy treats, like Mediterranean meatloaf with vegetables and herbs and beet cream cheese and smoked fish on a bun. VERDICT Perfect for experienced cooks, who will relish Peters's imaginative takes on classic dishes as well as her inspired original culinary creations, and those new to the kitchen, who will feel empowered by the clear, easy-to-follow format and welcoming tone of the recipes.--John Charles