Mary Berg is a true gem – in every sense. It’s been close to a decade for me since I started to enjoy the energy, kindness, and skill Berg brings into the kitchen. First, as a competitor (and winner!) of MasterChef Canada, then through her TV programs (Mary’s Kitchen Crush, Mary Makes It Easy, Cross Country Cake-Off, and The Good Stuff), and finally in the pages of her cookbooks (Kitchen Party – review here and Well Seasoned – review here). For Berg, food is about connection – nourishing ourselves and the ones we love, she looks to help us discover the simple pleasure of cooking. In her latest cookbook, In Mary’s Kitchen, Berg shares with home cooks “straightforward, cookable recipes that will hopefully make the kitchen [our] happy place too.” I see this book as an extension of her show, Mary Makes It Easy, where home cooks from all across the country asked Berg for help solidifying their skills using simple to prepare recipes (As a side note, my daughter was one of the home cooks Berg helped! During the first season of the show, Katie appeared on a segment in which she asked Berg for baking help. Berg sent her a recipe for Crowd Pleasing Birthday Sheet Cake that she could use to bake my husband and I cake for our special days. It was a thrill for my daughter, and it also empowered her to become more active in the kitchen. We’re grateful to Berg for how she encourages home cooks and brings joy into the kitchen.)
I appreciate what Berg says in the opening sections of In Mary’s Kitchen: “Life is stressful enough – cooking shouldn’t have to be.” And, in speaking with friends and family, putting a meal on the table at the end of a long day can feel like a feat but with Berg’s approach she makes excellent use of ingredients so that dinner is delicious and nourishing rather than onerous. The recipes are organized into 8 chapters: 1) Eggs & Things, 2) Veg & Starch, 3) Pasta, 4) Fish, 5) Chicken, 6) Beef, Pork & Lamb, 7) Sweets, and 8) Basics. As a vegetarian, cooking for a family of vegetarians, I found so many recipes for us to enjoy! And, since receiving the book, several of the recipes have become part of our weekly meal schedule.
Maybe you’re wondering what my favourite recipe is – the one that I dream about? It would be Berg’s Green Eggs sans Ham! Spinach is cooked in a cast iron skillet, basil pesto is stirred in, then a couple of eggs are put on top. Served with some toasted bread, this is one of the easiest, most delicious breakfasts! I adore cooked greens (after making this recipe many times, I’ve found that using kale as a substitution for spinach works too) and, the pesto kind of ties it all together. This meal has transcended breakfast to include lunch and after school snacks (Katie will often enjoy an egg after school, and when I make a smaller version of this dish she says it feels “fancy”).
Another recipe that we love (that Katie wrote “fan favourite meal” across the top of the recipe in the book) is Pan-Fried Halloumi with Greens and Romesco. Romesco – a tomato and bell pepper-based sauce from Spain – is a great, no-cook sauce that tastes delicious with everything. For Berg’s version, she uses jarred roasted red peppers as well as oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes as the base. Then garlic, fresh herbs, toasted almonds, smoked paprika, lemon and olive oil are added to round out the sauce. It’s as flavourful as you can imagine, and it pairs really well with seared slices of halloumi (a type of Cypriot cheese) and cooked kale.
One thing I don’t often make are veggie burgers. Is it because good recipes are hard to find or is it that the frozen, pre-made versions feel easier? All I know is that when I do make them, my husband feels extra-loved because I made the effort. Needless to say, when I tried Berg’s recipe for Black Bean Chipotle Veggie Burger, everyone felt loved! Like most veggie burger recipes, this one is multi-step and requires a food processor but it’s not too time consuming. The base of the burgers contains a mixture of pan-fried mushrooms, onion, and garlic, toasted nuts, as well as black beans. I appreciate that these burgers are flavourful and dense because no one enjoys a mushy patty that tastes pasty. This was also a great recipe for us, as it yielded 6 patties – meaning that I had leftovers for the next day! In this case, I don’t mind if a recipe takes a bit more time when it cuts down on meal prep for the next day.
Now that the temperatures have dropped and the sweaters have come out, it definitely feels like soup season! To celebrate the best season (imho), I made a batch of Berg’s Lemony Lentil Soup. The base of the soup is bright, herby, and vegetal with lemon, mint, parsley, chopped carrots, onion, and leafy greens. While we like lentil soups, this recipe contains thinly sliced zucchini which I wondered if it would turn slimy in the broth. I worried for nothing because it cooked up well in the soup and really added to the texture. As suggested, I topped the soup with crumbled feta and a dollop of plain yogurt.
The recipes throughout In Mary’s Kitchen show how thoughtful she is and what an excellent job she’s done to anticipate the needs of home cooks. For instance, we need cinnamon rolls now, but they can take hours to make. This is where Berg’s genius comes in – her recipe for Apple Cinnamon Biscuit Buns gives us a delicious, quick alternative. Here, she’s combined a flaky, fluffy biscuit dough with an apple pecan cinnamon filling to create a truly delicious and easier version of the classic cinnamon roll. Instead of topping ours with the cream cheese frosting, I opted to use a vanilla icing sugar glaze.
As I continue to cook through In Mary’s Kitchen, I appreciate her joyful attitude towards cooking and how her recipes so easily fit into my weekly meal repertoire. Looking at the book sitting on my kitchen counter, I still have so many recipes bookmarked to try! Aren’t the best cookbooks the ones that both entice and nourish us? All of her books fit into this category. As with her other books, Berg invites us into her kitchen so that we can learn tips and recipes that offer stress-free meal prep.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Appetite by Random House 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. Any links provided are intended purely for informational purposes.
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