Leon Happy One-Pot Vegetarian

Food journalist Seal (Istanbul) and the team from the U.K. restaurant chain Leon (Leon Happy Salads) return with a selection of snappy if scattered one-pot vegetarian dishes. Influences skip lightly around the globe: a spring vegetable stew with jarred artichokes is purportedly Sicilian; bulgur with cauliflower and cabbage nods to the Middle East and “brings a dose of raw vegetable goodness during the coldest months of the year”; and an omelet sandwich with gochujang paste and mayonnaise leans Korean. Chirpy tips state the obvious—such as leaving out the vegetarian sausages from a bean-and-egg bake if one doesn’t enjoy them. Meanwhile, some ingredients seem added reflexively: harissa, for example, is called for in nine dishes—among them store-bought hummus that’s topped with canned chickpeas and cherry tomatoes, then roasted—and recommended as an option in several others. Packaged ingredients are plentiful, running the gamut from gnocchi to puff pastry for vegetable tarts, including one with frozen peas and ricotta. If authenticity and originality are lacking—recipes are inspired by everything from an Ottolenghi celeriac shawarma to a TikTok recipe for rice cakes with mozzarella—a cheery nature buoys this along. While it’s a serviceable choice for those newly on their own, anyone with a modicum of skill or knowledge in the kitchen will be left wanting. (Apr.)