I must admit I had a hard time limiting the number of cookbooks to include in my annual cookbook review. Those I finally chose fit one of three categories: they offer unique and creative approaches to holiday and everyday cooking; they are books from which I learned some new cooking techniques; or they are simply delightfully entertaining. 

As cooks, we often find ourselves preparing the same old dishes over and over. I love when I happen upon an inspiring cookbook that challenges me to step out of my comfort zone. All of the cookbooks below do just that.

 “Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking” by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015; $35.

Michael Solomonov was born in Israel. His family moved to Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh when he was 2 and then back to Israel during his late teens. His first job in an Israeli bakery provided all the inspiration he needed to pursue a career in the culinary arts. After earning his degree, he honed his craft at some of Philadelphia’s finest restaurants. Then, in 2008, along with business partner Steven Cook, he opened Zahav, a restaurant that features a modern take on kosher-style Israeli cuisine.

His restaurant has garnered praise from the media nationwide and has earned Solomonov a coveted James Beard Award and recognition by Bon Appetit as the “reigning food king of Philly.” Solmonov and Cook have since opened several other restaurants in Philadelphia, including Federal Donuts, which features coffee, donuts and fried chicken; Abe Fisher, classic Jewish food with a twist; and Dizengoff, with a menu that revolves around hummus. 

“Zahav,” the cookbook, shares many of the recipes on the menu at their flagship restaurant. The food, as eclectic and diverse as Israel’s population, borrows from the traditions of Bulgarian, Moroccan, Romanian and Yemini cuisines, along with other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences. It includes recipes for wood-fired breads, sweet and savory borekas, traditional Israeli barbecue with all things skewered, exotic rice and couscous dishes, tahini-based sauces and, of course, Solomonov’s renowned silky-smooth hummus.

While this is not a kosher cookbook, none of the recipes mix meat with milk, nor do they include pork or shellfish. An exciting collection with tantalizing photographs and personal stories, “Zahav” is a perfect a gift for avid cooks and non-cooks.

“Jewish Slow Cooker Recipes: 120 Holiday and Everyday Dishes Made Easy” by Laura Frankel. Agate Surrey, originally published in 2009, paperback edition released in 2015; $18.95.

Laura Frankel, executive chef and head of food services at Wolfgang Puck Kosher Catering and author of “Jewish Cooking for All Seasons,” has recently released the paperback edition of her delightful collection of kosher recipes designed for the slow cooker. Reading through her cookbook persuaded me to dust off the orange Rival Crock Pot I received as a wedding gift more than 40 years ago.

The 120 recipes are divided into categories much like a standard restaurant menu, with additional chapters devoted to sauces, basic recipes, kosher dishes and holiday menus. Many recipes include serving suggestions, accompaniments, variations and garnishes, and each recipe is designated pareve, dairy or meat.

Frankel had used a slow cooker for years to prepare her family’s Shabbat day meals. Over the years, she came to realize that her slow cooker could be put to use at other times as well. It “acts like another pair of hands – a friend stirring the pot while you attend to other things,” she says. 

And if you don’t already own a slow cooker, you will benefit from Frankel’s introduction, where she shares her test results of various brands and sizes.

Many of the recipes, such as those for chick pea and lentil soup, braciole and curried chicken, require you to briefly sauté ingredients before adding them to the slow cooker. Others, such as peperonata with crostini, duck confit and wild rice pudding, can be made in their entirety in the slow cooker. 

Frankel’s notes and tips make the recipes easy enough to follow. Just think: You can get a delicious dinner started early in the day and forget about it until dinnertime. What’s not to like about that!

 “Cookie Love” by Mindy Segal with Kate Leahy. Ten Speed Press, 2015; $24.99.

Mindy Segal knows cookies like no one else. The James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of the Chicago restaurant Hot Chocolate began her cookie patchkying at the age of 13, when her parents gave her a KitchenAid mixer for Hanukkah. She practiced her baking techniques the way her little brother practiced his piano. Both perfected their crafts.

Segal’s cookies incorporate such unusual ingredients as wine, beer, corn nuts, beer nuts, passion fruit and malted milk balls, making them as original as they are delicious. Her recipes for rugelach venture far beyond your basic cinnamon variety and include strawberry rhubarb with oatmeal streusel, cinnamon brickle, raspberry rose and cocoa nib hot fudge. 

And one is better than the next. There are recipes for pistachio shortbread with cranberry preserves, chocolate pretzel shortbread with milk chocolate caramel, chocolate toffee biscotti and even her friend’s mandelbrodt, which include a sheet of chocolate that is swirled through the cookies before baking. What a great idea.

For any passionate baker willing to elevate the art of baking cookies to the sublime, this is a great gift.  With additional recipes for sauces, candies and jams, Segal’s “Cookie Love” is fun and inspiring. 

 “The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen” by Amelia Saltsman. Sterling Publishing Co., 2015; $29.95.

This is Amelia Saltsman’s second cookbook, and she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the recipes included in this collection. 

The daughter of a Romanian mother and an Iraqi father who met in Israel and immigrated to America after their military service, Salesman reflects her family’s diversity in her recipes. Many are influenced by Middle Eastern, North African, Italian, Spanish, Eastern European and California culinary traditions, and exemplify respect for sustainability and the farm-to-table movement.

Saltsman identifies “Six Seasons of Jewish Cooking” and links them to the Jewish holidays. For example, for the high holidays and Sukkot, she includes a recipe for lamb, butternut squash and quince tagine, and a recipe for European plum meringue torte. For Tu B’Shvat, she includes schmaltz-roasted potatoes and curried roasted cauliflower. For Purim, savory Persian herb and cheese hamantaschen and simple farro soup with chickpeas and escarole. For Passover, kieglach with long-cooked leeks and a lovely spring greens sauté. Each recipe uses seasonal ingredients.

Many recipes are creative takes on more traditional foods. Her summer borscht is made with gold beets, fresh ginger, honey and buttermilk, and her butter cookies incorporate tahini as well as butter. And while this is not actually a kosher cookbook, each recipe is designated dairy, meat, pareve, vegan, meat or fish. 

If you are in need of an update to your traditional holiday dishes or, for that matter, your everyday meals, Saltsman provides plenty of delicious options for you to consider in this melting-pot approach to conscientious Jewish cooking.

 “Eating Delancey: A Celebration of Jewish Food” by Aaron Rezny and Jordan Schaps. powerhouse Books, November, 2014; $35.

Once you open this book and start reading, you can’t stop. Rezny and Schaps take you on the most enjoyable, entertaining adventure you can imagine down the Lower East Side’s Delancey Street. 

The book features great quotes from the likes of Milton Berle, Mel Brooks, Robert Klein and Don Rickles; an introduction by the late Joan Rivers; interviews about Yonah Schimmel’s famous knishes and Economy Candy; and amazing photographs of people and food.

As if this were not enough, the authors include fantastic recipes for many classic New York Jewish dishes, including 2nd Ave Deli Mushroom Barley Soup; Sammy’s Roumanian Chopped Liver; Ratner’s Rice Pudding; cholent; and Janice Hopkins Tanne’s Cheesecake. 

I see one major problem for those of us who enjoy cooking: You will need to wrestle this book away from the non-cooks in your family to get to the recipes. You won’t want to be without a copy of “Eating Delancey,” nor will anyone else in your family, young or old.

 Margi Lenga Kahn is the mother of five and grandmother of five. A cooking instructor at the Kitchen Conservatory, she is working on a project to preserve the stories and recipes of heritage cooks. She welcomes your comments and suggestions at [email protected].