Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking

Price: $28.00 - $22.65
(as of Sep 14, 2026 08:48:07 UTC – Details)

Finalist for the 2024 IACP Award for Food Issues & Matters
A Food & Wine Best New Summer Cookbook
A Smithsonian American Staff Recommendation
How to cook flexibly and fight food waste, with 80 recipes and 150 ideas to use up what you have.

You’re standing in front of your refrigerator, a week after your last trip to the supermarket. You’ve got a bunch of random veggies, some wrinkly fruit, near-expired milk, and those pricey fresh herbs you bought for that one recipe and don’t know how to use up. For a split second you picture yourself opening a trash bag, throwing everything away, and ordering takeout. We’ve all been there.

But instead…you pick up this cookbook. In no time you’ve prepared a Make-It-Your-Own Stir-Fry and How-You-Like-It Savory Pancakes, plus a Mix-and-Match Fruit Galette that you’ll have for dessert. Time to celebrate―you’re saving food, shrinking that grocery bill, and learning some key skills for making the most of what you have. It’s exciting to be able to create new dishes and waste less food, and most importantly―a delicious dinner is on the table!

Perfectly Good Food is a book for those moments everyone has, whether you cook for one or a whole household―moments standing before an overfull pantry or near-empty fridge, not sure what to do with an abundance of summer tomatoes or the last of the droopy spinach. Chock-full of ingenious use-it-up tips, smart storage ideas, and infinitely adaptable recipes, this book will teach you

why smoothies are your secret weapon;how to freeze (almost) anything;why using your senses in the kitchen (including common sense!) is more important than so-called shelf-life.

Written by the chef-sisters behind Boston’s acclaimed Mei Mei Dumplings, this cookbook/field guide is a crucial resource for the thrifty chef, the environmentally mindful cook, and anyone looking to make the most of their ingredients.

30 illustrations

From the Publisher

Who are we and why listen to us?

We’re sisters Margaret—who goes by Mei—and Irene Li, and we’ve been running restaurants, writing cookbooks, and working toward a more sustainable food system for the past decade. We co-founded an award-winning food truck and restaurant that’s now a dumpling company in Boston, so we’re used to dealing with food waste on a large scale. Our restaurant, Mei Mei, was certified as a sustainable business and recognized for its efforts to cut down on food waste. In the notoriously difficult restaurant industry, successful businesses track their ingredient costs down to the tenth of a percentage point. If we waste food, we’re throwing away money. From cilantro stems in our curry to yellowed collard greens in our pesto, our cooks strategically use every edible part of a plant or an animal. Plus, we work closely with farmers, visiting farms and participating in harvest days. We see the immense love, care, and effort that goes into producing food. No one wants all that hard work to go to waste.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 20, 2023
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 039354107X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393541076
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #124,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #226 in Cooking Encyclopedias #227 in Budget Cooking #278 in Cooking, Food & Wine Reference (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (79) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers find the cookbook engaging, with one mentioning it made them excited to cook. Moreover, the book is practical, with one review highlighting its tips for food storage, and customers appreciate its full of ideas approach. Additionally, they find it suitable for all levels, with one noting it’s great for beginners.