Little Flower: Recipes from the Cafe

I have usually found that cookbooks tend to fall under a few different umbrellas. There are the aspirational ones that make a valiant effort to translate high-brow methods for the home cook; the tomes, which take an encyclopedic approach, both in their size and breadth, to a specific genre of cooking; and, of course, the countless offerings proffered by celebrity chefs. And while I take a more the merrier approach to cookbook-buying, the category I have been especially enamored with of late is what I like to call the easy, breezy cookbook—those focused on simple, pared-down recipes perfectly fit for quick weekday meals. Little Flower (Prospect Park Books) by Christine Moore definitely qualifies. Moore, a onetime pastry chef in Paris first attracted the food world’s attention with indulgent sea salt caramels that she made in her California home and sold at the farmer’s market nearby. She soon opened  Little Flower Café, now a local favorite in its Pasadena neighborhood, and this book culls its recipes from the dishes she serves up there—that translates to a parade of satisfying soups, salads, sandwiches and single-serving sweet treats. Already in heavy rotation in my kitchen: the lemony lentil soup, leek and dijon quiche, broccolini and burrata sandwich and coconut macaroons. All of them easy to cook, and even easier to devour. FIORELLA V.