{"id":26225,"date":"2026-02-16T10:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=26225"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:56:41","slug":"linger-salads-sweets-and-stories-to-savor-features-creative-plant-centered-recipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2026\/02\/16\/linger-salads-sweets-and-stories-to-savor-features-creative-plant-centered-recipes\/","title":{"rendered":"Linger: Salads, Sweets and Stories to Savor Features Creative, Plant-Centered Recipes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n

For a long time, I\u2019ve bookmarked recipes by Hetty Lui McKinnon, a regular contributor to New York Times Cooking. When I saw her book, Linger: Salads, Sweets and Stories to Savor, <\/em>on the list of new acquisitions from my local library, I requested it, thinking there might be a few vegan recipes I\u2019d be interested in.<\/p>\n

To my delight, Linger<\/em>, is a mostly vegan cookbook. By my count, there are 94 recipes that either are vegan or could easily be made vegan and 8 that are vegetarian but not vegan. Each recipe is clearly identified as vegan and\/or gluten-free and is accompanied by an enticing photo.<\/p>\n

McKinnon\u2019s book is organized around shared meals based on salads. Each of the 12 chapters features a collection of recipes that could be served together for a lunch or dinner party. Of course, the recipes also work well for smaller gatherings, say family dinners where you could make one or a couple of dishes.<\/p>\n

An exciting feature of this book is McKinnon\u2019s philosophy that anything can be a salad, or at least can inspire a salad. For example, Linger<\/em> includes salads based on gnocchi and on dumplings, as well as salads inspired by falafel, French onion soup, and shawarma. Salads feature a variety of vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Each chapter also includes a dessert recipe such as Black Sesame Tofu \u201cBasque\u201d Cheesecake and Hong Kong Milk Tea Tres Leches. Both of these recipes are vegan.<\/p>\n

So far, I\u2019ve made Charred Gai Lan with Black-Eyed Peas and Chile Crisp Vinaigrette and Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Tofu Crumble, Shiitake and Hot Tahini. Both recipes were quick to prepare and super-flavorful. I appreciate McKinnon\u2019s suggestions for substitutions which accompany each recipe. I didn\u2019t have gai lan, so I successfully used her suggestion to substitute bok choy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking forward to trying Hot-and-Sour Potato Salad; Mushroom, Seaweed, and White Bean Burger Salad; Kung Pao Cabbage with Tofu; Ginger-Roasted Kabocha with Black Rice and Ginger-Miso Dressing; and Cherry Tapioca Pudding, among others.<\/p>\n

Linger: Salads, Sweets and Stories to Savor <\/em>(ISBN 9780593804193) is a 310-page hardcover book. It is published by Alfred A. Knopf and retails for $40.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD For a long time, I\u2019ve bookmarked recipes by Hetty Lui McKinnon, a regular contributor to New York Times Cooking. When I saw her book, Linger: Salads, Sweets and Stories to Savor, on the list of new acquisitions from my local library, I requested it, thinking there might be a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26227,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26225\/revisions\/26227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}