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.)