Come hungry Salads, meals, and sweets for people who live to eat

Baked by Melissa cofounder Ben-Ishay (Cakes by Melissa) presents an accessible if somewhat uninspired collection of veggie-packed recipes. Some of these dishes are adaptations of meals she ate during her childhood: the honey chicken salad is based on one she frequently ate as a teen at the mall, and her crunchy ramen slaw with grilled ribeye is a veggie-heavy rendition of a dish her mother used to make. Other recipes, which draw inspiration from Ben-Ishay's Israeli husband and in-laws, have a Mediterranean flair, but flavor profiles are limited: the Israeli salad and the Mediterranean chopped salad have a large overlap in ingredients, as do "my favorite toast" (sour dough topped with cottage cheese, tomato, and cucumber) and the cucumber cottage cheese toast. There are several vegan options, including black bean and tofu taco salad and herby macaroni salad with vegan Caesar dressing, but Ben-Ishay curiously incorporates some of her vegan sauces into dishes already containing animal products: for example, her creamy vegan pesto dresses marinated tomato toast that contains burrata cheese. The bread and dessert recipes, which range from garlicky phyllo bread to cookie butter blondies, are by far the most successful elements. This is hit-or-miss. (Jan.)

Cofounder of the bite-sized cupcake business Baked by Melissa and author of Cakes by Melissa, Ben-Ishay holds the culinary philosophy that mealtime is for nourishment, and dessert is for indulging. When her green goddess salad became a viral sensation, it provided her the opportunity to bring her veggie-forward, nutrient-packed approach for eating to readers in the form of this cookbook. It contains 100 recipes for everything from salads (caramelized tomatoes and leeks with arugula; orzo pasta salad) to different delicious spins on toast that embrace avocados, tomatoes, cottage cheese, and cucumbers. Ben-Ishay then offers up sweet treats such as a cookie-butter icebox cake and cheesecake-stuffed chocolate cookies, as well as providing practical tips on making one's own spice mixes and pickling vegetables. The book's vibrant color photographs make all the dishes look even more tempting, and the easy-to-follow format of each recipe practically guarantees success. VERDICT This fresh, flavor-packed cookbook makes it easy to load up on vegetable-focused meals.--John Charles