A new take on Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking

Brownie

Linda McCartney’s book “Home Cooking” was the very first cookbook I ever bought ‒ back in 1992. Twenty-seven years later, I have re-discovered this book in my bookshelf. But while most of the recipes are still great today, the pictures in the book and the layout do not do them justice any more. So I decided to cook and photograph as many recipes as possible from this book, and to include gluten-free and vegan versions wherever possible. Read more about my idea to start cooking Linda’s recipes. Have fun browsing Linda’s recipes below, search by tag or have a look at some of my own recipes. You can also browse my photos.

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Favourites Linda's recipes

Spinach Salad

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 77

A lovely colourful salad with lots of different ingredients. You just cannot stop eating! Great for lunch.

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Linda's recipes

Beefless Rice Casserole

From: Linda McCartney´s Home Cooking, p. 86

A Rice Casserole with tomato sauce that is tasty, easy to make and is in the oven for long enough to tidy up the kitchen before lunch is ready 🙂
I think it is an ideal dish for the colder season and tastes great straight from the oven or re-heated. Serve with a crispy green salad.

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Linda's recipes

Sauerkraut and Veggy Dogs

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 67

A complete meal with Sauerkraut, saussages and mashed potatoes.
Using the home-made sauerkraut, I did try the alternative suggestion by baking the sauerkraut in the oven. But instead of covering it with a lid, I covered it with some mashed poatoes, sprinkled with bread crumbs and a few flakes of margarine. A meal all in one dish and perfect for a cold winter´s day.

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Linda's recipes

Vegetable Soup

From: Linda McCartney´s Home Cooking, p. 58

A recipe for a warming winter vegetable soup.

Variations: I wonder why the tinned tomato is added at the end of the cooking time. I would suggest adding it with the vegetables and simmering the soup for 30 minutes (1 hour as suggested in the recipe seems to be too long).

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Linda's recipes

Carrot and Turnip Puree

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 134

This Carrot and Turnip Puree is very smooth and has a lovely buttery note. The carrots give it a nice colour and balance the taste well.
It worked well as a filling for TVP “chicken” wraps with coleslaw, but would be just as good as a side dish with some gravy and vegetables.

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Barbecue Sauce

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 143

A Barbecue Sauce for marinating TVP burgers and sausages before grilling them over the barbecue.
I used this sauce for marinating some TVP “pulled chicken”, which I then fried in a pan- great taste!

The recipe gives you a large quantity of BBQ Sauce and as it is not cooked it will not keep well. Unless you are planning a big party, I would recommend only using one third or half of the ingredients to make a smaller batch.
We also found the sauce great to serve the TVP “chicken”- just drizzle over the TVP before eating.

Variations: As the tomato ketchup is quite sweet already, I only used 30g of sugar but found that this was still too much. Next time, I would add no extra sugar to the recipe. Depending on what you want to marinate, you can also reduce the amount of oil in the recipe to 3 tbsp.
For a smokey flavour, try adding 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika powder and use 1 tbsp of soy sauce instead of salt.

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Coleslaw and Sour Cream

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 144

A classig Coleslaw recipe with carrot, mayo, and sour cream. We had this coleslaw today in a wrap with marinated TVP “pulled chicken” and Carrot and Turnip Puree– a great combination.
When reading the recipe, I had the feeling that there was far too much dressing. So I only made half of the suggested quantity, which was plenty. I also thought that the dressing was too rich. Therefore I only took 3 tsp instead of 6 tbsp mayonnaise (and found that the mayo was still quite dominant in the taste) and substituted the sour cream for 100g of plain (plant-based) yoghurt.

Vegan: I made a vegan version, using vegan mayo and plant-based yoghurt instead of sour cream.

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Turnip, Carrot and Split-Pea Soup

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 58

A great winter soup! It uses only few ingredients but has a balanced taste. The recipe makes 4 big plates of soup- but we thought that there could have been more for the four of us. So I would suggest doubling the quantity when serving the soup as a main course for four hungry people.

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Linda's recipes

Coleslaw

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 73

A great basic Coleslaw recipe using cabbage and carrots.

Variations: I prefer reducing the amount of lemon juice and using some white wine vinegar instead. When making this, I found that half the amount of dressing is still plenty for the Coleslaw.
For an interesting twist, try adding 1 tsp nigella seeds.

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Linda's recipes

Cauliflower Gratin

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 91

A quick, easy and delicious Cauliflower Gratin! Mixing the steamed cauliflower with fried onion and other ingredients and and then putting it under the grill works wonders and makes cauliflower a positive surprise. My daughter loved this and had more cauliflower than she would have if it had just been steamed and served as a side.

Vegan: I tried a vegan version (remember, it is veganuary!), substituting the parmesan for my vegan “parmesan”- delicious.