Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi ($35, Ten Speed) This book is so gorgeous we can hardly stop admiring it long enough to write about it. Yes, Ottolenghi has plenty more to show us: Fried Cauliflower with Mint and Tamarind from the Levant, Curry-Roasted Root Vegetables with Lime Leaves from Southern Asia, and Eggplant Kuku from his beloved Iran. A few ingredients will take some seeking, but most can be found in Portland -- he even allows frozen peas in one or two recipes -- but the methods used seem accessible. Yum and yum and plenty more yum. Ottolenghi's other cookbooks include Plenty, Jerusalem, and Ottolenghi.

Vegan Without Borders by Robin Robertson ($40, Andrews McMeel) is a cookbook that understands our daily routines -- every recipe is in reach for a Portland cook, as far as ingredients, technique, and most important, time. Robertson taught us to make healthful dishes with child appeal, and now she covers the globe with momos, trofie alla pesto, and injera. The farinata with sun-dried tomatoes is our current favorite.

Perhaps the most glorious cookbook of the season is Mexico the Cookbook by Margarita Carrillo Arronte ($50, Phaidon), chef, author, and diplomat. Like all the best cookbooks, there's a little bit of anthropology as well as kitchen technique. Recipes cite their region, so you can recreate treats from a trip. But you will also find dishes not always offered to tourists, such as Quarantine Broth, AntiCholesterol Juice, and Hidalgo-Style Worms. Rest assured, the book ends with lovely desserts, pasteles, and fruit (no creepy-crawlies).

Flavor Flours by Alice Medrich ($35, Artisan) is a collection of all gluten-free cakes, cookies, biscuits, and more from the author who gave us Seriously Bitter Sweet: The Ultimate Dessert Maker's Guide to Chocolate and Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies. In her newest book she explores flour from coconuts, sorghum, white rice, and buckwheat and gives us recipes for goodies such as Chestnut Chocolate Souffle. Definitely written for those who know their way around a kitchen.

The Skinnytaste Cookbook by Gina Homolka ($30, Clarkson Potter) stakes out the "light on calories, big on flavor" territory right from the mouth-watering Kiss-My-Shrimp-and-Grits on the cover . (Warning-almost every recipe has a cute title.) Guiltless Chocolate Chip Pancakes  -- really? She includes nutritional information to support her claim, and overall the book has plenty of good ideas, especially for beginners in either cooking or dieting.

Fans of Gabrielle Hamilton (restauranteur and author of Blood, Bones & Butter) will be delighted with Prune ($45, Random House), the cookbook from the New York City "it" restaurant. The book appears to be a facsimile of the staff's handbook, with tips such as "Remove the butcher's string before slicing, people!" Prune is famous for brunch, and that meal is well represented here, but the most tempting recipes are from Hamilton's mother-in-law. (What a great daughter-in-law!) Most offerings will be accessible to the average cook.

Now you can be vulgarian as well as vegetarian! Is there someone on your list who might like to eat and cook better but fears that cookbooks are for sissies? (Not that sissy is the word used here.) Thug Kitchen Eat Like You Give a F*ck ($24.99, Rodale) is the bleepin' book for you! The recipes are (expletive deleted) creative yet basic, the illustrations are #*&^* drool-inducing. Nothing a freakin' beginner couldn't handle, but plenty that an (insert expletive of your choice here) accomplished cook would want to try, such as Roasted Beer and Lime Cauliflower Tacos.This book is based on the wildly popular Thug Kitchen website, originally created to inspire people to "eat some damn vegetables" and live a healthier life and named Saveur's  Best New Food Blog of 2013.

And Now For Something Completely Different: Fresh Ideas with Leigh Ann, the Fred Meyer Cookbook ($21.95, Carpe Diem Books) by Leigh Ann Hieronymus. If you can get over your foodie self, you'll find an enjoyable cookbook here. The goal of these recipes is to provide meals that can be cooked after work, without an onerous quest for ingredients. (In other words, everything can be bought at Fred's.) Ingredients are fresh but the merely trendy is eschewed -- no salads in a jar. Some more intriguing offerings come from the author's Greek heritage, lightened for current tastes, such as Papoutsakia and Spanakopita. After perusing cookbooks which tout their healthfulness, yet pile on questionable ingredients, it is a relief to see one which makes no claims, but uses a light touch throughout.

Make It Ahead: a Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten ($35, Clarkson Potter) This lovely and practical addition by the Countess of Nice is great both for enthusiastic hosts of parties and dinners and for hectic souls in need of a little help Either way, don't do another holiday feast without this book. Turkey gravy can be made a week early (!) and there is even a way to make whipped cream hours early. Fans of Garten will find these recipes very tasty indeed. (And did you know she used to be a nuclear energy policy wonk in D.C.?)

The Pollen Family Table: The Best Recipes and Kitchen Wisdom for Delicious, Healthy Family Meals by Corky, Lori, Dana and Tracy Pollan ($30, Scribner) Michael Pollan didn't need to learn to cook because all of the women in his family did, and this is their cookbook. They invest heavily in the idea that psychological wellness is found in family dinners, and Spicy Beef Chilaquiles or Fruit-Stuffed Pork may convince you that they're right. Tips (labeled "sage advice") abound for the neophyte. A must for the carnivores on your list!

"He who dies with the biggest pantry wins" is a motto of Sean Brock, restauranteur (Husk, McCrady's) and author of Heritage ($40, Artisan), a Southern farm-to-table cookbook with beautiful, moody photos that look good enough to eat. Brock mixes the high-falutin' (Seed-Crusted Snapper with Roasted Okra and Tomato Dashi) with the down-home (Hillbilly Fudge is made from Velveeta.) You'll also find cheat-sheets on topics such as "How to Cook Grits Like a Southerner." Brock won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southeast, in 2010.