I have been in a bit of a cooking slump. I am tired of my food and desperately missing having a roommate to share that responsibility with or even just tell me what she wants to eat on days I have no inspiration. In addition, leftovers hang around a lot longer, as a recipe that serves four will now last me four days as opposed to two or three. When I saw a review of Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings, billed as “food you’ll actually want to eat” and receiving a glowing endorsement from Blingle Bells, I thought, okay let’s see what this is about.
My Chrissy Teigen exposure is probably average. I’ve seen her Twitter, I know she’s a model who has been featured on a few television series, have watched many Lip Sync Battle episodes, and know she is married to John Legend. I was entirely won over by her when I read her op-ed from March 2017 in Glamour about her experience with postpartum depression where she backed up being open, honest, raw, and real. She is the same in her cookbook.
Yes, you read that right – Teigen is open, honest, raw, and real in a cookbook. Each recipe has an introduction where Teigen elucidates why she created the recipe, or what it means to her, or how she deploys it in her life. She owns who she is and how she eats and is not trying to oversell her personality, or persona. Instead, she offers a small glimpse into her real life and hopes that portions of it that are food based might help enrich and enliven yours. She is also someone who actually cooks, and she is always paying attention to what someone less experienced in the kitchen is going to need to know. The introduction of the book is full of quick and handy hints and tips to prepare you for success with this book.
I had this book out from the library as long as they would let me (and honestly a few extra days) and wanted to wait to review it until I had actually managed to cook something from it. My first go was Lemony Arugula Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe. I was severely limited by my grocery options and my time, as well as my energy, and this dish was delicious. So much so in fact that I am seriously considering just buying the book for myself because there were far too many recipes to photocopy – I might as well get the bound version.
Well that looks delicious and you should definitely either buy her book or ask for it as a gift. I am a huge believer in cookbooks. Even if I use the recipe more as a guidline than a rule, having the cookbook is both inspiration and grounding.