Talks & Entertainment

Home cook Julia Turshen has always been cooking. As a kid, she skipped the Easy-Bake Oven and went straight to the real thing. Turshen’s approach to food is about so much more than putting dinner on the table—it is about love, community, connection, and nourishment of the body and soul.

In Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food, Turshen offers foolproof recipes for more nutritious takes on the simple, comforting meals for which she’s known. With practical chapters such as weeknight go-tos, make-ahead mains, vegan one-pot meals, chicken recipes, easy baked goods, and more, Simply Julia provides satisfying options comprised of accessible and affordable ingredients. From kale and mushroom pot pie to lemon ricotta cupcakes, it’s the kind of flavorful yet unfussy food you want to make at home.

Readers will also find Turshen’s signature elements—her “Seven Lists” (Seven Ways to Use Leftover Egg Whites or Yolks), menu suggestions, adaptations for dietary needs, mouth-watering food photography, plus personal essays on topics ranging from body image to getting out of your comfort zone.

Turshen is the bestselling author of Now & Again, Feed the Resistance, and Small Victories. She also hosts the podcast “Keep Calm and Cook On.” In conversation with Antoni Porowski, the food and wine expert on “Queer Eye,” Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning series, and New York Times bestselling author of Antoni in the Kitchen.

Thanks to the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco for being our promotional partner.