After having spent the last 20 years in Paris, France, it’s safe to say that Carrie Solomon, an American chef based in Paris, knows a thing or two about French gastronomy. (So much so, she was one of the few chefs chosen by the Official Hospitality Paris 2024 Olympics to craft some of the exclusive menus served during the games this year.)

With a deep appreciation for French cuisine and a fruitful career as a food and travel writer, Solomon has spent the last few years pouring her creativity into her latest cookbook, Bohème Cooking: French Vegetarian Recipes. The vibrant, elegant, and fully vegetarian cookbook features dozens of Parisian-style recipes infused with Solomon’s unique global perspective on food.

We had a chance to catch up with Solomon, who shared how she’s reimagining French classics and the inspiration behind her new cookbook. Plus, she shares a delicious, five-minute ramps oil recipe from the book that speaks to the herb oil trend you’ve likely seen all over your TikTok as of late.

Bohème Cooking: French Vegetarian Recipes — $28.00

An American cooking la vie bohème

After moving to Paris post-college, Solomon fine-tuned her French cooking skills over the course of 20 years, from working as a food stylist, to shadowing French chefs in the field, to contributing recipes for ELLE France. “Each year I would explore French food from a different angle,” Solomon says, which ultimately culminated with the development of her new cookbook, Bohème Cooking. 

When asked about Solomon’s cooking style, she says, “I’m not somebody who follows a lot of rules,” which may be surprising considering most folks consider French cooking quite structured. “I think many people have this idea that French cooking is really technical…but I have a bit of a go-with-the-flow way of cooking,” she adds. “If something’s not available, I’ll sub it out, which I ended up realizing is a very French way of cooking,” Solomon says.

The main thing she wants folks to understand is that French cooking shouldn’t always be perceived as something fussy, in fact, she says it can be quite the opposite. This especially rings true throughout her cookbook, which features delicious recipes starring fresh, vibrant vegetables. You might be surprised, considering that many staples of French cooking—like steak frites and boeuf Bourguinon—are heavy on the meat. “Vegetables have always figured prominently in French cooking,” Solomon argues. “Even if there was animal protein on the table in a family meal that I had when I first arrived here, next to that was three or four offerings of vegetables,” she says.

Solomon believes French vegetable-based cooking is extremely approachable and can be adapted in so many ways to make weeknight cooking even easier and fuss-free. Case in point: Solomon’s tasty green herb oil made with ramps (or the anti-inflammatory leafy herb of your choice) that takes no more than five minutes to prepare and pairs perfectly drizzled over ricotta or fresh goat cheese or to brighten up any vegetable or vinaigrette.

Ramp leaf oil (or green herb oil) recipe

Makes 1 1/2 cups (297 g)

Ingredients
1 cup (30 g) ramps or wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped (you can also substitute dill, parsley, basil, or spring onion)1 1/3 cups (267 ml) olive or grapeseed oilA pinch of sea salt

1. Rinse and dry the ramp leaves completely with a towel in order to avoid adding water to your oil. Add the ramps, oil, and salt to a blender or a handheld mixer and blend for 1 minute.

2. Pour the mixture into cheesecloth and filter completely into an airtight container or glass jar. Keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Chef’s note: Once you strain the oil, you can keep the remaining cream and use it as you would a pesto, adding in a little shaved Parmesan and ground pine nuts.

Excerpted from Bohème Cooking: French Vegetarian Recipes © 2024 by Carrie Solomon, reprinted by permission of Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Co., Inc. All rights reserved.