Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers

by Julia Turshen, David Loftus (Photographer)

Small Victories, one of the most beloved cookbooks of 2016, introduced us to the lovely Julia Turshen and her mastery of show-stopping home cooking, and her second book, Feed the Resistance, moved a nation, winning Eater Cookbook of the Year in 2017. In Now & Again, the follow-up to what Real Simple called "an inspiring addition to any kitchen bookshelf," more than 125 delicious and doable recipes and 20 creative menu ideas help cooks of any skill level to gather friends and family around the table to share a meal (or many!) together. This cookbook comes to life with Julia's funny and encouraging voice and is brimming with good stuff, including:

  • can't-get-enough-of-it recipes
  • inspiring menus for social gatherings, holidays and more
  • helpful timelines for flawlessly throwing a party
  • oh-so-helpful "It's Me Again" recipes, which show how to use leftovers in new and delicious ways
  • tips on how to be smartly thrifty with food choices

Now & Again will change the way we gather, eat, and think about leftovers, and, like the name suggests, you'll find yourself reaching for it time and time again.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

Julia Turshen is the bestselling author of Now & Again, a Goodreads Choice Awards 2018 semi-finalist (vote for her here), as well as Feed the Resistance, named the Best Cookbook of 2017 by Eater, and Small Victories, named one of the Best Cookbooks of 2016 by the New York Times and NPR.

Epicurious has called her one of the 100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time. She is the founder of Equity At The Table (EATT), an inclusive digital directory of women and non-binary individuals in food. Julia lives in the Hudson Valley with her wife and pets.

Reviews

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now & Again is a cookbook that utilizes leftovers from the dishes within its pages to create new and exciting meals using the same ingredients in different ways.

I thought the premise was a good one. People who find themselves cooking meals for one or for a large family may have trouble with wasting perfectly good food. Not because the meal isn't tasty, but because it is tricky to get the proportions correct during the preparation.

I liked the pork chop recipe from Now & Again. By following the written instructions, the meat was juicy when I ate it, which is a fair indicator of the skill of the chef who authored the book. At least, that's what I believe.

However, the apple cake I attempted from this book was probably one of the worst things I've ever baked. The author said the cake should have the texture of banana bread. That was not the case for me.

To borrow a term from The Great British Baking Show, the cake was stodgy. The texture was all wrong. And it seemed to stick going down my throat. I took one bite and threw the rest away.

Banana bread, as most lovers of baked goods are aware, has a moist and cake-like texture rather than the feel of traditional grain-based bread.

So, other than a failed baked good, I recommend this cookbook for anyone looking to make the most of their grocery budget and prepared portions.

Happy eating and thanks for reading!

[Cynthia Shannon]

This has quickly become one of my go-to cookbooks for weeknight meals. Julia's recipes are solid and easy to follow - she writes as if she's in the kitchen with you cooking, and reassures you that it's ok to adjust the recipe if you feel like it ("whatever works"). I've made her Spiced Banana Brown Bread twice now (adding chocolate chips the second round) and my husband keeps asking me when I'll make the Simplest Pulled Pork again. I made the Polenta Nutella cookies for my colleagues at work and they were gone within 30 minutes. I've made the Tortilla Soup that fed the two of us for about a week. And I've made a bunch of other recipes because they're just so darn easy and good and healthy. Highly recommend this!

Disclaimer: I work for the publisher of this title and am the marketing manager for this book. This doesn't influence my review, it just gave me early access to the cookbook. I'm thrilled it's been nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Cookbooks 2018. Vote for it here!

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia Turshen writes the most gorgeous, fun to read cookbooks!

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Julia Turshen shows that her earlier cookbook, Small Victories: Recipes, Advice + Hundreds of Ideas for Home Cooking Triumphs, was no one-off. Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers contains recipes that provide an initial meal, with plenty for leftovers that star in future meals — sometimes completely unrecognizable from the original! Not only does Turshen give you one possible encore dish, but she invariable includes several. Never throw leftovers out again.

I adored Small Victories; I love Now & Again just as much. I can’t wait to purchase Turshen’s cookbook for entertaining: Feed the Resistance: Recipes + Ideas for Getting Involved! Highly recommended!

[Offbalance · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely have A Cookbook Problem. I own dozens, and I usually have to be physically removed from that section of the bookstore. It is through this passion I have discovered that not all cookbooks are created equal. While some offer bizarre ideas of what is considered palatable, others seem to have an interesting idea of how time works (and are written by sadists who would make flour from scratch if they could, because they insist it's SO EASY). Some truly bizarre ones are a combination. I enjoy cooking very much, it's one of my non literary-based pursuits, so naturally I'm very picky about what cookbooks I read. This one has it all - terrific recipes, bundled into different meal plans combined with genuinely amusing anecdotes from the author's life. This and her other work - Small Victories - blew me away so completely that I'm lifting my purchase ban and buying these two as soon as I can.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this cookbook three stars because I don't think it's one I need to buy and keep on my shelves to return to now and again. This is mainly because I didn't find the recipes particularly inspiring. I made a purely mediocre meatloaf, and while the book did encourage me to turn it into a pretty tasty meatloaf sandwich for lunch the next day, there were really no other recipes I wanted to cook. They were a bit pretentious, and although I really wanted help in using up my leftovers, all of Turshen's leftover recipes would've required me to buy all new ingredients and thus defeated the purpose (except for the lists of seven in the back, which were my favorite part). However, I truly enjoyed Turshen's writing style and the little stories she shared throughout the book - she seems the exact opposite of pretentious as a person (if not as a chef). Flip through this one, but don't keep it.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Julia’s first cookbook, Small Victories, so I was really looking forward to this one. One of the best things about this cookbook isn’t the recipes (although I can’t wait to cook the shit out of this thing - spaghetti pie is on the menu tonight, hey-o) it’s how Julia writes about food as an act of comfort and care, to show how a dish or menu can act as an aide du memoire or to express love. And anytime she writes about her wife Grace (founder of Design*Sponge) it is the sweetest thing ever. 💖

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not inspired to try any of these recipes.

[Shipshapeeatworthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are just some people in life that make you want to be a better person -- and not through any kind of cajoling, guilt, or other tactics. They lead by example and advocate. I think that Julia Turshen is one of these rare people who looks at the world and doesn't complain but tries instead to make the world better. I could start my review of her newest book Now & Again by talking about the recipes or the
organization of the book but what I will do instead is tell you that (in my opinion) the most important part of the book doesn't happen until almost the very end. Although I am one of those annoying people who reads the end of every book before the beginning, I promise there’s no spoilers here for in the section Give Back + Do Good she outlines ten ways a person can build a more equitable community through food.


We’re all in this life and this world together, and food is a tangible, wonderful way to connect and share. (288) Sometimes it can be challenging to think outside our situation but after reading through her list I found that there are two way I am already working to support my immediate community of family and friends — “teach” and “show up.” When my daughter climbs up to be beside me at the counter to watch what I’m doing or to help out with making a recipe it’s easy to take for granted the fact that this simple act of teaching her to cook and giving her the opportunity to try things on her own is so empowering for her. While she’s seen me make shortcakes and biscuits before it was with Turshen’s Whole Wheat Berry Shortcakes that she really got to work on the recipe by herself. I helped out with measuring the ingredients but she whisked and then used her hands to incorporate the butter into the dry mix. By the look on her face as she held her plateful of shortcake, whipped cream, and berries I’m sure it’s never tasted as good as when she finally made it. (If you’re new to Julia Turshen and her cookbooks, then try her book Small Victories. This is where she teaches people to become confident home cooks who are able to triumph over the culinary techniques that may hold them back).


Showing up to support someone going through a difficult time is something we’ve all done. A few years ago when my friend had her first baby I filled a box with cookies and granola (food I’d hoped would make it through the mail). It wasn’t until later she told me that the granola really helped her — those late nights that seep into early mornings with a newborn can be excruciating but she said that taking a handful of granola at a time really helped to bolster her spirits. It’s the small things that can mean so much.


In some ways Julia Turshen is really a maestro of cookbook writers — there are many elements comprising Now & Again — seasonal cooking, menu planning/entertaining, delicious recipes to inspire and make now with the sections following that help to reinvent the leftovers, and most importantly demonstrating that cooking need not be an expensive undertaking. So much information and inspiration  jammed into one cookbook but she manages to harmonize all of these elements to create one of the most universally usable cookbooks. I think she really understands food at it’s core — how we connect to each other and the world around us. But what sounds like an esoteric discussion is really a practical one — what am I going to make tonight and how will I deal with the leftovers?
The book is organized into seasons (Autumn, Winter Spring, Summer), with each season having related menus. The sections that follow each menu called “It’s Me Again” are a clever way Turshen reinvents those elements of any particular menu. Take her Just My Type of Dinner menu (salad, meatloaf, and mash) — the Confetti Meatloaf (I made this recipe vegetarian by subbing in lentils and almond meal) one day becomes tomorrow’s Open-Faced Meatloaf Melt (full of tangy Dijon and creamy mayo with a side of pickles — my mouth waters just describing it). If there had been any Creamy Garlic Mashed Cauliflower or Salad leftover to enjoy I would have definitely tried her soup suggestion (putting the two together in a blended soup). She finds uses for the seemingly unsavable and unpalatable — wilty, next-day salad I’m looking at you — and she works to show us how to really see our leftovers and truly manage how to use all of our food without waste.
While there are menus and suggested uses for leftovers I also felt very free to not make an entire menu. If I wanted to make just one element (the Frozen Watermelon Aguas Frescas or Italian Flag Baked Pasta for example) or if her “It’s Me Again” suggestion sounded particularly good (like the Flatbread Pizzas) I just used that idea. Inspiring, accessible, and delicious — this cookbook lacks any pretentiousness and is one that can appeal to many different levels of home cook.


When it comes to sourcing ingredients I don’t think there is anything you couldn’t get at your local farmer’s market or grocery store. Turshen takes humble and even overlooked ingredients and makes them into a dish to celebrate and savour. Take her Iceberg Wedge Salad with Pickled Shallots — is there any vegetable more scorned or overlooked than Iceberg Lettuce?? You can practically hear it screaming “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!” from its seat in the refrigerated case at the supermarket from constantly being ignored (like a middle child) for more interesting leafy vegetables like Romaine, Spring Mix, or Spinach. I’m here to report that this recipe compelled me to buy the first Iceberg Lettuce I’ve purchased in years (and, having enjoyed this salad so much I’ve made it several times since I got this cookbook). While this book has meaty recipes there’s much to offer vegetarian and even vegan cooks with recipes that kin to these diets or some of the other highly-adaptable recipes (I made the meatloaf “meat”loaf just by subbing in my favourite animal-free ingredients.)


Tushen’s ingredients and recipes are also highly influenced by her wife Grace — the special dishes she makes for her and how those recipes (like her original Happy Wife, Happy Life Cake from her first book) changed when Grace was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Even her recipe for Raspberries and Cocoa Whipped Cream is a way to address the change in their diet after the diagnosis — learning how to be inspired by adversity and adapt. Her love for her wife permeates the book in a very real and touching way. Another example of how food connects us to the people in our lives.


I think for anyone familiar with Turshen’s work Now & Again is full of her stories, passion, and love just like her other books. Whether you discover new go-to recipes or are inspired to see leftovers in an entirely new way I think this cookbook is one to keep handy. It’s like she says at the end of her introduction — Connection and change happen at the table — which is what she’s encouraging us to do.

Please note this is an excerpt of a longer review posted to www.shipshapeeatworthy.wordpress.com


I would like to take this opportunity to thank Raincoast Books and Chronicle Books for providing me with a free, review copy of this book. I did not receive monetary compensation for my post, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.


[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read about this book, and before I could go to it, I listened to a podcast interview on The Taste with this author. I like that she plans out some meals for you and guides your cooking so that you could easily do something with your leftovers. It's beautifully photographed and I spotted a few recipes that I would like to try.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turshen's Now & again : go-to recipes, inspired menus + endless ideas for reinventing leftovers is reminiscent of Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Round 2 recipes, however, none of the recipes in this cookbook were items that appeal to me or would appeal to my family. What I do like in this book are the lists of seven, which gives ideas on how to use leftover wine to what to bring to a pot-luck when asked.

[Amanda Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe it was Jenni recommending I read this, maybe it’s all the tips on how to use leftovers to reduce food waste, but this is a dinner party girlie’s dream cookbook!

[Rachel Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I'd read a cookbook from cover to cover, but Turshen's storytelling is fantastic. I was first intrigued by her recommendations for making extra and reinventing your leftovers, but I stayed for her original and updated recipes and anecdotes. She does suggest recipes to go together, and makes everything seem as if it just naturally flows together. Most of the recipes are not exceptionally difficult but still inventive. I waited to try a few recipes before reviewing, but the recipes are just as good as Turshen's format, pictures, and text.

[Katrina Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is beautiful but not what a useful cookbook needs to be....full of delicious, easy to follow recipes (not necessarily easy). If you own any MS cookbooks you know what I mean. Anthony Bourdain's too. Food is fantastic.this is a cook book with learning and tweaking required.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this cookbook so much I bought it. Turshen's partner is diabetic so many of the recipes are geared to low carb. Some really good one pan cake recipes.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Turshen is a star recipe developer, and some of the recipes is here will definitely added into my next meal plan. I also love her warm, generous authorial voice and her wit. My only complaint with this book (and with her first cookbook Small Victories as well) is that the gimmicks don't work for me. This cookbook is loosely organized around the idea of reusing leftovers in creative ways, which sounds fine but ends up feeling like a flabby way to fill pages and give some sense of cohesiveness to the book. Turshen's recipes don't need these kinds of gimmicks. The meals she presents here are beautiful, well balanced, and inventive, and the imposed structure of the book feels totally superfluous. Since this is the second of her books that I have felt this way about, I suspect the issue is editorial. Perhaps when Turshen becomes slightly more well known, just her name and warm personality will sell cookbooks for her and she won't have to rely on arbitrary themes.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially sought out this book bc of the leftover element - she focuses mostly on original recipes, but has a lot of little "if you have leftovers, this is what you can do." I wish the book focused more on that - I felt like that was minimized and not as easy to read as regular recipes in the book (prob bc leftovers vary and are more of a casual affair) but I would have loved leftover-only book. Meat in the recipes, but still worth a browse for the veg reader for the inspired ideas.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not that excited by these recipes. I already know how to resurrect ingredients in other ways.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neat idea, but none of the recipes particularly interested me.

[Professor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book about using leftovers should actually talk about that instead of giving recipes to make food which gives you leftovers you can then use.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve fallen head over heels for this cookbook. Written by Julia Turshen, author of Small Victories, this collection of simple but flavorful recipes is unusual in two ways: 1) it’s organized around menus, so you understand what sides to make with each dish, and often desserts and cocktails as well, and 2) each set of recipes has suggestions for how to turn leftovers into something new.

Somehow these leftover suggestions avoid being trite and are less the kind of thing you’d see in Real Simple or Good Housekeeping, and more the kind of thing you’d see in a cookbook like Bar Tartine. They are also dead useful: we’re constantly throwing out leftover scrambled eggs and steamed broccoli - stuff that doesn’t keep very well. But thanks to this cookbook I know to whip up some curry egg salad or some broccoli fritters.

The menus seem both personal and diverse. The author describes herself as a non-religious “gastronomic Jew”, and there are a lot of Jewish holiday menus. But also Bangladeshi breakfast and an Italian inspired Christmas feast.

The anecdotes that accompany each menu and set of recipes are charming, and are stories of love, community, joy, and family.

Noteworthy - the menus have a timeline of what can be prepared in advance, sometimes up to a month ahead of time, which for anyone who likes to entertain is essential. Some menus are specifically designed to feed a crowd at low cost, with food that can be served at room temperature (important if you want to enjoy your company).

What a delight. Like most Chronicle Books, this cookbook is full of gorgeous photos and had a pleasingly textured cover. My only quibble is that I wish the pages were glossy instead of matte.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book to review.



One thing I

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book because it gives you lavish, fun menus for larger meals then tells you what to do with your leftovers. The main meals, with a few exceptions, were generally to lavish or complicated for me to do on a weeknight, but they would be perfect for weekend gatherings. And the ideas for leftovers were a lot of fun. I also found the lists of seven at the end of the book to be very helpful, and her notes on what she uses and how she sources her ingredients was a lot more helpful than most.

The pictures a good, and there are photos for most main recipes. She does go on quite a bit about her personal life - it's not really a problem, but it gives the book more personality than most cookbooks. Sometimes it was helpful - like she explained that her spouse is a type 1 diabetic, so she had to make a healthier birthday cake, and it also explains why a lot of the recipes are diabetic-friendly. But other times, it seems like she was just talking about how amazing her spouse was, and I was kind of like - let me hear more about the food. But overall, I liked the conversational tone and Julia seems like she'd be a lot of fun to cook with or take a cooking class from.

Worth checking out for some very creative ideas that I think are manageable for most home cooks.

[Kuster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia Turshen's recipe collection may not be the type of food that I crave or want to make on a regular basis, but I absolutely adore her approach. Each "chapter" is a fully realized meal with appetizers, a main, a side or two, maybe a drink and some dessert - but more importantly, inspirations for reinventing the leftovers. Meals are then grouped by season to encourage seasonality of the ingredients and even the setting in which you may be consuming them - picnics in the summer, late lunches in the fall... it's truly inspiring. The collection is not particularly picture-heavy, but each photograph is gorgeous and allows for the recipe to stand for itself without the feeling of a fussy/staged presentation. The final pages end on notes about tools, suggestions on what to do with leftover wine, takeout items and suggestions on how to "Give Back + Do Good". Just an utterly lovely recipe book all around.

Recipes to Try:
- Applesauce cake with cream cheese + honey frosting
- Easy pumpkin + olive oil cake
- Spiced banana brown bread
- Grilled Vietnamese flank steak
- Pressed broccoli rabe + mozzarella sandwiches

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting cookbook emphasizing seasonality and minimizing waste, admirable goals that would benefit our food system and oftentimes, our health. While Turshen uses meat in many of the menus that compose the book, she emphasizes vegetables and offers substitutions for vegetarian and vegan options well. In addition to the many vegetable dishes, she encourages the use of whole grains and minimizes the use of white sugar. Instead of simple and processed carbohydrates, she offers alternatives or emphasizes vegetables and protein things less likely to affect ones glycemic index. As her partner is a Type 1 Diabetic, she is well-schooled at cooking delicious and healthful meals that are less likely to affect insulin levels in a negative way. However, Julia Turshen's meals and menus are crafted in such a way that variety, taste, and flavor are as much a part of the meal as the abundant seasonal fruits and vegetables. In addition to offering convenient, practical meals, she offers delicious suggestion on what to do with leftovers (many you might strategize for in order to simplify another meal). This cookbook is a great practical choice with many healthful and flavorful options.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mmm. I liked this book. I took it out of the library because of Turshen's Washington Post column/excerpt about meatloaf: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifest...

She has an engaging manner in her writing, and there are a good number of recipes I'd like to try - first up will be chicken enchiladas, I think.

I might even buy a copy, OMG.

[Galinson Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great concept and a lovely conversational style. I love Turshen's voice and this book doesn't dissappoint. It's similar to her earlier work (which I gave to my twenty-something daughter for xmas) but lighter for her fifty-something mother. I haven't cooked a ton of the recipes, but the ones I have I've repeated multiple times, like the delicious winter squash and radicchio salad on the cover. Having read it cover to cover for the narrative (and the tips) I think it will be a book to revisit, and enjoy, as the seasons change.

[Book Grocer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase Now and Again here for just $15!

This is a collection of simple but flavourful recipes with plenty for leftovers that star in future meals. No need to think about what dishes to combine to form a meal - it's all planned out for you. A wonderful cookbook!

Alicia - The Book Grocer

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea (and recipes) of this book.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how wasteful I can be with food and I've decided it's something I need to work on, especially being on a budget. There's some great, tasty ideas in this book and it's great inspiration to be more creative with leftovers so that I can avoid boredom and burnout with my meals.

The author's voice is warm, inviting and entertaining. The pictures were charming and honestly that alone is a good way to win me over, the feel of this cookbook is for the most part simple and doable and I thought the layout was clever.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julia invites us to broaden our taste buds with her fresh, approachable, never-fussy cooking. Now Again leaves no dish and no one behind: garlicky shrimp with tequila and lime will turn the next day to shrimp and kimchi pancakes; cucumbers with sumac and warm pita are a no-brainer for even the most novice of cooks; matzo ball soup and Pass­over tradition aren't abandoned; and a wife's birthday cake will leave no spouse unsatisfied.

Yotam Ottolenghi

---

From what I see, 20% of everyone is pretty disappointed with the book...
maybe 30% of the planet hates leftovers!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia’s writing is so encouraging and soothing. I loved all the make-ahead tips for each menu and the stories behind each one. Not a title I need on my shelf but I did get inspired to host people soon! I didn’t actually tried any of the recipes before returning it to the library.

Not sure why the serving sizes were different throughout the book, though—some menus served 4 and some 6 or 8, but all had leftovers “again” ideas, which seemed silly for the 4-serving recipes unless you intentionally doubled them.