Don’t have to cook to enjoy this cookbook

I’ve been sidelined from my kitchen duties for almost two months now as I recover from a fall that left me with a broken femur on one leg and broken knee cap on the other. Since I can’t walk right now, that means I can’t safely do so many things in the kitchen that I enjoy — from baking a batch of chocolate chip muffins early in the morning to making turkey burgers for my granddaughter for supper.

But I can still flip through the pages of my favorite food-themed magazines and scroll through new recipes on Instagram and Pinterest. It will take me a year or two to make every recipe I’ve saved from Peach Cobbler Pound Cake to Roasted Veggie and Ricotta Pasta.

I daydream of baking my favorite breads, making sauce with the tomatoes we are growing in the backyard and finally trying a cake recipe I have been wanting to make since the week I fell.

I also pre-ordered a cookbook that won’t come until the end of summer, and I purchased a new cookbook I’ve been wanting to read. I was too impatient to wait my turn in line for the Wilson County Public Library’s copy of Valerie Bertinelli’s “Indulge,” so I bought it. Thanks Amazon Prime!

I’m around the same age as Valerie (I like to think we’d be on a first name basis if we ever met) and have followed her career since the 1970s when she was on the sitcom “One Day at a Time” and recently on her Food Network show “Valerie’s Home Cooking.” I got inspired watching her prepare meals on her cooking show and knew I’d enjoy this cookbook.

In the last several years, Bertinelli has dealt with more than her fair share of personal and professional challenges as her marriage fell apart, former husband Eddie Van Halen died and Food Network dropped her show. It was a lot to cope with, and she struggled. She even stopped cooking. She addresses that in her book and how she’s gradually come out on the other side.

In “Indulge,” Valerie shares how she now indulges in the joy of cooking — from deciding what to cook based on what her body needs, to choosing the ingredients at the grocery story. She finds pleasure in making new recipes or adapting family favorites and then sitting by herself or with company and enjoying the meal.

For her, “indulge” now means finding her own joy. “I indulge in life,” she writes. “In the pleasure of being alive. It sounds simple, but it took me most of my life to get to this place, and I work hard at it. And food is one of those pleasures — an essential pleasure.”

As I read her cookbook, I found myself wanting to indulge in something as simple as her Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey Sandwiches but also Four-Cheese Baked Ziti, Multigrain Cinnamon Raisin Bread and Quick Turkey and Butternut Squash Soup.

Not sure what I’ll cook first when I’m back at the helm in my kitchen. It might be one of her yeast bread recipes or it might be Lazy No-Bake Lasagna made with her marinara sauce. But I’ve also been eying her recipe for Carrot Ginger Loaf.

Reading this book was a real treat — a nice diversion while I’m healing. I loved taking my time to read the chapter and recipe introductions and could relate to her joy in cooking for her son, Wolfie Van Halen. I could also relate to her references to her mother and former mother-in-law. I loved the photography, the range of recipes and the ideas.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys cooking or just enjoys reading a new cookbook and daydreaming of new recipes.

As for me, I’m able to do a few more things each week. I can reach the kitchen counter from my wheelchair, and I made a BLT with pimiento cheese for my lunch today. That’s a win!

Lisa Boykin Batts has been writing a weekly food column since 2001. Her column includes recipes she and her family enjoy.

Marinara Sauce

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

Three 26-ounce cartons chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 large basil sprig

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, just until it turns golden, 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, basil, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. After cooling, store any extra marinara in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Makes 8 cups.

“Indulge” by Valerie Bertinelli

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