Al Roker's New Cookbook is a Family Affair

In ‘Recipes to Live By,’ written with daughter Courtney, he shares beloved dishes — and the joy of welcoming his first grandchild

Jennifer Bradley Franklin,

AARP

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Published October 15, 2024

Al Roker against orange background with cutouts of knives

AARP (Patrick Randak/NBC)

Today show weather anchor and host Al Roker, 70, is known for his quick sense of humor and ready smile. In his 28 years on NBC’s national morning show, he’s publicly shared his health issues, including prostate cancer treatment in 2020 and his more than 100-pound weight loss after gastric bypass surgery in 2002.

Through it all, Roker’s love of food has been a common theme, and now he’s releasing his third cookbook, Recipes to Live By: Easy, Memory-Making Family Dishes for Every Occasion, which he coauthored with his daughter, Courtney Roker Laga, 37, a professional chef. The book shares the Roker family’s time-honored recipes, behind-the-scenes photographs and personal stories about how food shapes their time together. He’s especially proud of his first grandchild, Courtney’s 1-year-old daughter, Sky, who appears in a few of the book’s photos.

As much as Roker loves gathering around the table and working on television, he says he’s not a fan of being the center of attention for events, such as at his recent 70th birthday celebration in August. “Even though I love being on camera, I am a relatively shy person,” he says. Roker shares with AARP how this new book came about, how he balances his love of food with a daily fitness routine, and the one celeb he’d love to have join him in the kitchen.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Congratulations on the new cookbook. What was it like collaborating with your daughter?

It is a great moment of pride for any parent, when they get to the point where they realize that their kid is actually really good at what they do.… I knew [Courtney] knew what she was doing.… She kind of conceived it. We talked about the recipes. We talked about stuff I’ve made and the stuff her grandmother, her mother and [other] family members and friends made. We gathered them and then created the actual recipes. She was doing this all while pregnant. My job was to write the head notes for each recipe. To watch her create all of this was just an immense source of pride as a parent.

Do you think your love of food has encouraged Courtney’s chosen culinary profession?

I don’t know. I do know that, even when she was 6 — we were living in Westchester [N.Y.] — we had a garden and there were edible flowers. On her own, she found those flowers and would decorate the plate. She was very much into the presentation. So I think it was always in her. She was the one who said, “Dad, I think I want to go to culinary school.” She’s worked in fine dining kitchens. She’s worked as a recipe developer. Now she’s working as a private chef. She has multiple skills.

Have you ever taken a cooking class?

No, I haven’t, although I would like to. I would love to take a baking course because I’m not a great baker. When you cook, you can ad-lib a lot. It’s almost like jazz, but when you’re baking, that’s science. That’s more like classical music. You pretty much have to follow the rules if things are going to come out. I’d like to take a knife skills course. I think that’s one of the things that just holds you in good stead, because so much of cooking is prepping, and so much of prepping is cutting things up.

Between you and your wife [journalist Deborah Roberts, 64], who is the primary cook in the house?

I am. Deborah can cook; she just doesn’t really enjoy it. I do most of the cooking.

The book is packed with stories about how food can set the tone for family gatherings. Can you share one of your favorite family food memories?

My mom was not a fancy chef, but she was very good. She really believed in the Sunday dinner; she set a mean table. There wasn’t a lot of shift eating in our house. When it was time to eat dinner, we all ate dinner. And my mom made a lot of different kinds of meals — spaghetti, chicken cacciatore, oxtails and fried chicken. On Sundays, I always remember it was a little more formal. There was always a Del Monte fruit cup in a cocktail glass. Those were the things that kind of set the table, no pun intended, for me when I had a family.

Q: If the Roker family is getting together for a meal, what is likely to be on the menu?

Al Roker's “Recipes to Live By: Easy, Memory-Making Family Dishes for Every Occasion”

Courtesy Grand Central Publishing

Cook with Al

Roker shared three recipes from Recipes to Live By for AARP members to try:

Mediterranean Farro Salad

Each bite of this salad brings a delicious new surprise.

Salmon Rice Bowls

Salmon is always a winner in my book, but this dish is truly a win-win because it encourages us to try out some new flavors.

Shakshuka

This showstopper of a brunch dish is equally delightful to eat.

Oh golly, it really depends on the day. Some days we feel seafood and it’s maybe pan-seared Chilean sea bass or salmon. Some days it’s a rib eye steak. It could be chicken thighs. I love chicken thighs. I don’t understand why anybody eats chicken breast. I just don’t. There’s no reason for it.

How did you carve out this culinary niche in your career? Was that a strategic decision, or were you just sort of following your interest?

If you really knew me, you’d know: I never make strategic decisions. I have survived in spite of myself, not because of myself. I just kind of fell into it. In my previous incarnations, I had a bit of a weight issue, so it was pretty obvious [that] I like to eat. Well, if you like to eat, odds are you like to cook. So that’s kind of how it got started. And I’ve just been very fortunate in that the Today show has allowed me to build on that.

What are a couple of key habits that have allowed you to enjoy the food that you love while also feeling your best?

I think the key is moderation and not denial.… The biggest takeaway is portion control. Do you have to eat the entire cake or the entire pint of ice cream? No, but a spoonful or a couple of forkfuls isn’t going to kill you. Then you offset that with exercise. I think you can have a pretty balanced lifestyle

What is your fitness routine like?

It kind of started organically, but we have this group called Start Today. It’s basically a walking group. After I had prostate surgery, the doctor wanted me to walk the first week back. He wanted me to try, by the end of the week, to walk five miles a day at whatever pace. I actually found I enjoyed it. For the most part, that is what keeps me active. I try to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.

You often get to interview celebrities. Who would be your dream celebrity cooking partner?

I would love to cook with Denzel Washington. He looks like he would enjoy a good meal. I don’t know if he cooks or not, but I would just love to listen to him talk about his meal.

For people who feel stuck in a cooking rut, how do you recommend they add variety to their routine?

I think they ought to find a recipe that they’ve always wanted to do, and just cook it a bunch of times so they don’t even have to think about it. Then you can riff. Once you’ve mastered it, there are little detours you can take to change it around. But I find that’s [it’s good to] master one thing and then move to the next. And the thing I would recommend to anybody: If you can do a good roast chicken, people will love you.

Do you make a great roast chicken? If so, do you do anything special to it?

Yes, it’s a roast chicken that was based on a recipe from the Zuni Café, and it is the greatest roast chicken recipe ever. We have a version of it in the book. If you can do that, then you will forever be a star in your household.

How do you hope that people will feel as they read through this book?

I hope it spurs a conversation where they can gather the recipes from their family before the people who make them are gone … to have a collection of those family heirlooms that you can eat, I think, is priceless.

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Jennifer Bradley Franklin is an Atlanta-based journalist, editor and author who has contributed to the Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, People magazine, USA Today and others. She's an avid traveler, ballroom dancer and is more than a little coffee obsessed. Read more of her work at jenniferbradleyfranklin.com.