Perfectly Good Food by Margaret and Irene Li is so much more than a cookbook it is a one stop shop guide to your kitchen! I expected this book to have a handful of creative reuses of food scraps and call it a day with a pesto or pancake, but no, I was blown away by the breadth and depth of material in this book. I particularly enjoyed that the book was arranged by type of food, ie vegetables, fruits, etc. In arranging it this way I could easily see myself scanning my kitchen and identifying the forgotten foods and being able to find a quick solution so that it did not go to waste. Also, the illustration style is eye catching and delightful! I heartily recommend this book to all who are looking to have a bit less thrown away on a weekly basis.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Great concept, boring cookbook. I can't stand cookbooks without pictures.

Zero waste and sustainable cooking is so important given today's climate and consumer culture. The Li sisters provide some great recipes and ideas for throwing something together with what you already have. Great set of tips for anyone's kitchen!

I really enjoyed how much this book made me rethink how I approach food and leftovers whilst trying to save money and live a more eco friendly lifestyle.

The ideas were easy to follow and the book itself is engaging - I know I'll refer to this time and again.

This is the cookbook I've been waiting for! I've been obsessed with trying to make my cooking practices as waste free as possible, but sometimes I just don't have the patience to track down answers for everything. When in doubt, I composed what I thought I couldn't use. This cookbook is thorough, easy to understand, and has a wealth of recipes and cooking hacks to help you reduce waste and make truly delicious food. The majority of the book is focused on fruits and vegetables, which is perfect for my vegan diet. I learned so much, and will be using this cookbook as a constant reference. I tried one of the recipes to help use up an enormous head of broccoli I got at the farmer's market, and whipped up a double batch of soup that was so yummy and easy to make, and it required only a few commonly used ingredients. That's another thing I loved -- this cookbook is focused on using up what you already have, so it gives lots of suggestions on how you can remix the recipes and substitute ingredients. There are illustrations throughout the text showing the steps of various recipes, instead of pictures of completed meals. I think that works perfectly with this cookbook, as it shows the versatility of the recipes by picturing many options/substitutions. There's also a section at the end for further reading that I can't wait to check out. I would recommend this cookbook to anyone, especially vegans as most of the recipes are either vegan or vegetarian, or could easily be made vegan with substitutions.

With the high cost of food, most of us are being more careful to eliminate waste in our kitchens. It seems that all of us let produce go to waste, or forget about leftovers in the back of our refrigerators. While sell-by dates are helpful, they, too are often overlooked. Cookbook authors, Margaret and Irene Li have assembled an excellent book to help all of us eliminate the waste in very appetizing and sometimes innovative ways. Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking is a colorful and fun book that will help everyone save money and eat whatever happens to be in the fridge, freezer, or pantry shelf.
There are chapters covering different ingredients with ideas for using them up, such as herbs, vegetables, fruits, meats, poultry, and tofu. While some of the recipes are from different places throughout the world, most (or many) of the recipes have an Asian slant, and they are very appealing. The recipes are written in the traditional manner with notes at the beginning, and a list of ingredients followed by step-by-step instructions. Most of the recipes are also easy to prepare, and one positive is that each recipe has plenty of options for using up whatever is in your fridge.

While there are no photographs, the book includes colorful and adorable illustrations that make the book fun to read.

One thing that is missing from this book is an index; although the table of contents is good, it would be helpful to have an index to seek out whatever is in your kitchen to use up.

All told, this is one of those books that belongs on every cookbook shelf, and will be used often to eliminate kitchen waste.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The book uses illustrations instead of photographs. It is full of information to achieve zero waste. It's divided into vegetables, fruits, and proteins. It is detailed with many tips and hints

With food prices high and unlikely to come back down anytime soon, this cookbook is a must have. Advice on using up the last of leftovers and what is safe to eat past the sell-by date (most things) fill this clever tome, along with recipes that can stretch leftovers into enjoyable meals without needing a prep team or even a particularly open mind. Illustrations of ways to organize your kitchen or flavor a scrap soup lie alongside mix and match plans for ingredients from avocados to zucchini. It's in constant rotation in my kitchen and is a good choice for anyone who would like a bit more value from their food cost.

As a personal fan of Mei Mei and Margaret and Irene Li I was very excited to pick up this title. Add in food waste and ways to make more out of your product and pantry and I am all in. This book did not disappoint! Perfectly Good Food is a user friendly manual on how to keep your food out of landfills via delicious and approachable recipes.

This book has the most beautiful, intricate hand drawn illustrations throughout that bring everything to life. A very beautiful and easy to read approach. I loved the diagrams drawn out for things like salads and smoothies. It is reminiscent of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat but with it's own twist! I love that much of this book is presented as a visual guide.

Highly recommend - everyone needs this in their library!

Thank you to Netgalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the ARC - Perfectly Good Food will be out 6/20/23

Such a great book full of recipes and tips to use up and store all the food in your fridge, it's sure to create many more zero waste home cooks as it shows you just how easy it is to use up everything! I learnt a lot about how to store your vegetables correctly, which is something I'm guilty of not doing properly, but now have the knowledge to do it right and make my produce keep way longer. The tip about how to correctly store lettuce so it doesn't go limp or slimy will be super helpful in our household! There was also really great advice for freezing all kinds of food including how to prepare your own frozen vegies and how to thaw frozen food safely. From all the recipes I'm most excited to try the broccoli and feta phyllo pie, the crispy vegetable peels, and the mango icebox cake. They sound so easy and delicious. The overall layouts, fonts, illustrations and colours all work so well together and make the book not only a practical handbook of great advice, but a visually pleasing one too!

I'm excited to pick up a hard copy version of this when it comes up- a very approachable philosophy with a wide variety of recipes, informative content, and beautiful illustrations!

A very colorful cookbook and full of images. Very fun to read and interactive. I love the recipes and the strategies to cook using what we have at home and how to reduce food waste. There are recipes and technics on how to use vegetables, fruits, proteins and dairy. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

I love this book. It is full of great ideas to use up what you already have in your fridge. The illustrations are gorgeous and so easy to use to inspire you. This is the way we should all cook. Great for saving food and money. An excellent buy for both foodies and those starting out in the kitchen.

Packed with useful tips on how to avoid food waste in your kitchen. Would have preferred the inclusion of photographs but the illustrated diagrams are great.

This book is a great resource for those trying to reduce their food waste. Lots of great tips, tricks and ideas. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great cookbook/reference book to have on hand if you are looking to help tackle the big issue of food waste. This book has easy to follow recipes and ideas for how to use food you might otherwise find yourself throwing away. I’ve tried a couple and saved a couple. Instead of big glossy foodie photos, this book had hand drawn pictures. Super down to earth and informative without being preachy!

I constantly think about trying to go zero waste with food but never know how to get started. This book was so helpful, the different lists, tips & tricks, and all the recipes seem like a great place to start!

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a unique book. Instead of pictures there are drawings for the recipes with information on reducing waste in the kitchen. The book includes ratios and helpful drawings to make your own bases, soups, and other foods to use up food that's normally discarded. I would have liked a little more guidance like traditional cook books, especially when it comes to time and how much of each thing to use. There are some helpful ideas to use all parts of foods in different recipes.

Great book for encouraging you to reduce food waste. Each section covers how best to store, with good basic recipes and what to do to adapt all of them. Would be good for a novice homecook who isn't sure what to do to avoid food waste.

Gosh, I'm so thankful to Margaret and Irene Li, in addition to W.W. Norton for granting me access to Perfectly Good Food, which showcases how cooks and bakers in everytime environments can utilize around-the-home ingredients and leftovers, even, to repurpose and rehash something delicious for everyone in the family to enjoy. Perfectly Good Food hits shelves on June 20, 2023, which is right in the middle of gardening season for me, meaning I'll have a lot of potential ingredients to work with!