The Salvage Chef Cookbook

How much food do you throw away every day?

The Salvage Chef Cookbook is far more than a book of 125 scrumptious recipes; it begins by demonstrating to readers how to both increase food shelf life and determine when food is truly spoiled. What then follows is a collection of easy recipes for cooks of all levels.

Families throw away perfectly edible yet overlooked food every day, as they often aren’t savvy enough in the kitchen to stretch their hard-earned dollars and salvage the food they have in their refrigerators and pantries.

How much time do you spend staring at last week’s groceries, wondering if you can make a hearty meal with half a box of rice, wilted spinach, or leftover grilled chicken? Can you incorporate those overripe bananas or week-old strawberries into a breakfast or dessert that will satisfy your family?

According to Chef Michael Love, you can. Instead of running to the store or ordering take-out, you can more often than not make use of what you have on hand. The food in your kitchen can and should be salvaged. Chef Love’s recipes show you how to creatively transform what you currently have into surprising, delectable, and delicious family meals.

Love also provides an accessible and innovative Salvage Index—a comprehensive list of both fresh and leftover items designed to help readers decide what meals they can prepare from the ingredients they have.

The Salvage Chef Cookbook is a culinary must-have featuring old favorites reimagined through the use of salvaged food to create dishes both familiar and exciting.

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Good Books and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of cookbooks, including books on juicing, grilling, baking, frying, home brewing and winemaking, slow cookers, and cast iron cooking. We’ve been successful with books on gluten-free cooking, vegetarian and vegan cooking, paleo, raw foods, and more. Our list includes French cooking, Swedish cooking, Austrian and German cooking, Cajun cooking, as well as books on jerky, canning and preserving, peanut butter, meatballs, oil and vinegar, bone broth, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Michael Love is the off-premise chef for Epicure Gourmet Market & Café’s high-end catering events. He earned the title of “culinary guru” in 2010 from the Miami Herald and launched Epicure with Love, a successful line of cobranded all-natural gourmet food products, in 2011. He resides in Miami, Florida.

“Michael is a special person with a special gift. In this book, he gives you the true scope of his distinctive work and style. This book finally gives me a chance to prepare some of my favorite recipes of his at home, recipes I’ve been enjoying for so long.”
—Michelle Bernstein, James Beard Award–winning chef and restaurateur

“Chef Love’s creative recipes and tips for dealing with the sometimes taboo subject of leftovers will help cut down on food waste—which is something we can all feel good about!”
—Lee Brian Schrager, founder and director of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival

“This is an easy book to use with great results. The recipes are simple and straightforward—this is real Miami food done deliciously.”
—Allen Susser, James Beard Award–winning chef