”Hungry as Hell: Meals to Live By, Flavor to Die For” (Rodale, $26.99) is the fifth cookbook by Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway in their Bad Manners series, based on the blog that made them internet superstars and New York Times bestselling authors. Their companion Substack newsletter, the Broiler Room, boasts some 197,000 subscribers.
True to character, their latest effort is peppered with wisecracks, whimsical illustrations and off-color language. What makes this volume a keeper, though, are its practical, budget-minded recipes made with wholesome, recognizable ingredients rather than faux meats and the litany of other lab creations seeking to capitalize on the burgeoning market for plant-based alternatives. Kidney beans and eggplant, for example, sub for meatballs in Eggplant Polpetti; cashew butter and nutritional yeast take the place of cheese in the Queso Blanco used in Green Enchiladas and Savory Breakfast Hand Pies.
Chapters are filled with ideas for every meal situation from breakfast through dessert, with recipes categorized as “weekday” (made in 45 minutes or less) and “weekend” (those requiring a bit more prep). Scattered throughout are field guides for things like salad-making, burrito-building and sandwich-stacking, along with tips for freezing, making ahead, and mixing and matching. A Meal Manager provides a template for stretching leftovers into multiple meals.
I cooked up a batch of Red Pepper Rice to go with Sunday Beans (using dried black beans) and Everyday Cabbage Slaw, providing meal-makings for days. Creamy Broccoli Soup with Peanuts and Ginger, which Davis developed when she was “broke as a joke,” is bookmarked for later, as is Tomato Chickpea Fritters: “a mash-up of a Greek salad and a chickpea burger that you never knew you needed.”
“We are starving for real food and real connections,” they write in the introduction. And they’re here to humorously show us how to satisfy that appetite with no harm to our bodies, or the animals.
Susan Puckett is a cookbook author and former food editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow her at susanpuckett.com.
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