With farmer's markets really picking up in most parts of the United States this time of year, Local Bounty seems so timely. I know, out in the Pacific Northwest, farmer's markets are a year-round affair. But many parts of the U.S. aren't as fortunate. Luckily for us, this book makes the most of available produce (any time of year!) and offers suggestions and substitutions when possible. It's no surprise that the author is Devra Gartenstein, who lives in Seattle according to the back cover, where markets abound. She is also the author of Accidental Vegan, if her name rings a bell with you.
Here's the really good news about this book: no matter what the season, this book has you covered. It opens with general thoughts and an introduction about why eating local is so important. Next comes "A Brief Tour of the Vegetable Kingdom" with info on the plant families, including my favorite: a section on chiles. Some guidelines about vegetable cooking round out the beginning of the book, along with a handy dandy seasoning chart. Then we get to the recipes, which are sorted by season.
If you've got a fruit or vegetable, Devra's got a way to cook it. She even has a scape recipe! That's big news to me since it's the first scape recipe I've ever seen in print. Her recipe style is simple and direct, combining the peak flavors of a season to create easy but delicious dishes. This book would be a great addition to any vegan's collection.
And now you've got a chance to win it! All you have to do is leave a vegetable comment on this post along with your email address. Or be sure to check back in case I can't get in touch with you. What I want you to tell me is something about a vegetable. Maybe you could say your favorite veg of the minute, or one you thought you'd never like, or one you still can't cosy up with, or a favorite cooking method... you get the idea. Just make sure you mention a specific vegetable. I'll do the random drawing thing and will get a copy of Local Bounty out to one lucky winner, thanks to my friends at the Book Publishing Company.
Just so I don't leave you without some food, here's a quickie stir fry from the other night. It's just snow peas, tofu, mushrooms, red peppers and the very last of our scapes. I'm sad to see the end of them, but I'm looking forward to the garlic right around the corner.
Ready, Set, Comment! And good luck!
Book Review and Contest: Local Bounty
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46 comments:
I love asparagus, in spring when its fresh in the stores I think I live off nothing else! Soup, risotto, barbecued, in salads. If I was brave enough to make asparagus icecream (and if I thought it would taste good) I think I'd do that too!!
Tomatoes want to be roasted. Or even BLACKENED! My favorite salsa involves grilled (or broiled) "blackened" tomatoes. Smokey goodness!
I'm dying for tomato season, but until then...I'm obsessed with roasted garlic scapes! YUM! And scape hummus too.
I could eat asparagus every single day. I come pretty close in the spring. I just never get sick of roasted asparagus.
It's gotta be fiddle heads since they are relatively hard to get fresh here and there is only a small window of time. Stir fry it with some fresh veggies and on top of pasta. Delicious.
Brussel sprouts! How can anyone resist those cute little cabbages? When I first met my husband and learned that he also loved brussel sprouts, I knew this one was special.
if you're open to shipping to England I'd love to enter! We get an organic vegetable box each week (sort of like a CSA thing I guess). At the moment we're getting a lot of cabbage, courgettes and tons of greens, I'm struggling to find things to do with all the chard and spinach that is arriving!
I have this book and I love it. I've got lots of recipes bookmarked.
It is impossible for me to choose a single favorite vegetable, but fresh spinach is one of those that I really love deeply.
An amazingly delicious pizza topping is spinach sauteed in olive oil and salt. That's it. Nothing else. Put this on a spelt dough, and the resulting pizza is absolutely wonderful!
I love veggies that pack a surprise, like purple carrots for example... a lovely hue of purple on the outside, slice a peice off to find vibrant orange inside.
Chiogga beets much the same,lovely magenta outside, slice open to find a pretty design of white rings on the inside.
That book sounds great! Right now I am obsessed with sugar snap peas...they are at every stand/stall at the farmers market, and they are SO sweet and good! I love to snack on them and put them in salads...yummy :o)
Courtney
Carrots. I have always loved them. And I will tell you why. They are versatile.
1)Juice them
2) Eat them raw
3)Roast them
4)Put them in salads (Raw version)
5)Make a casserole (roasting version)
Yummo is all I can say to these lovely creatures.
My favorite cooking method for any veggie is to saute it in olive oil with garlic and crushed red pepper - it makes everything delicious!
There is so much to say about veggies; it's hard to choose just one. I'm going to mention kale, then, because it's amazingly full of nutrients AND it's delicious. Kale is fantastic raw, sauteed or wilted, and it makes a great snack when it's roasted into chips!
My favorite veggie of late is... peas! I know, they're so boring, everyone grew up eating them, yadda yadda. I can't help it, I love peas. I mix them into everything, from mac and cheeze to curry, and serve them on the side with almost any meal. I just feel like peas don't get enough love in the veggie world!
Broccoli Romanesco, sexxee lil veggie,visually stunning- gorgeous color, roasted :simply tossed in olive oil and sea salt
aymveg@gmail.com
wholefoodvegan
Thankfully I've suddenly grown on Zucchini because about 8 flowers have popped up on my plant! I've been researching recipes like crazy, like zucchini crab cakes and zucchini potato bake. I know it's bad of me to do, but I've been BUYING zucchini to make these things when in only a few weeks I'm sure to have a large crop of my own. :)
Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes; all time number one favorite vegetable.
This book looks fantastic! I used to hate avocados, but when I went vegan a year ago I decided I needed to learn to like them, since they were such a good source of healthy fats. Just goes to show you that your taste buds can change - I officially adore avocados!
I absolutely love sweet potatoes. Lately, I can't get enough of them in burritos. Yum!
I harvested my first zucchini, onions and tomatoes last week, pretty soon I'll have way more than I know what to do with!! Can't wait!!
I'm in love with collard greens at the moment. I love to wrap a raw collard green leaf around shredded carrots, zucchini, avocado, and a dollop of sunflower seed butter. yum. :)
This is a tough one because I really love my veggies!
I'd have to say my latest obsession is carrots. In the past I've rarely eaten them but lately I've discovered you can grate and bake them or mash them like mashed pumpkin and I have a whole new love for them now!
Be vegan!! Check out this new website - many members in it, like me, are vegan, and theres groups for it!
you get your own channels!!
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My all around favorite is probably broccolli - but for summertime I have to go with roasted corn on the cob or sugar snap peas (fresh out of my friends garden - she thinks I offer to babysit just because her kid is so cute!)
I have recently discovered ways that I actually enjoy CABBAGE. I was never a fan of the texture-but once it is shredded and topped with a fresh lime-based dressing, it becomes delicious.
Lately I can't stop thinking about bok choy (and I bought it for the first time for one of your recipes!) When braised (preferably in some soy sauce, lemon juice and maybe a little mustard), the stems take on this juicy, soft yet still crunchy quality that I love.
Oh - I really want this one! I love, and I mean love, all vegetables, but the one that I just had a difficult time with is beets. I'm getting better about buying and preparing them, but I just don't buy them instinctively. I know they're so good for me, too...
You can never go wrong with bok choy or tomatoes...or bok choy and tomatos...or tomato and bok choy...
mmmmmmmmm
A vegetable post, hmmmm.
We all love broccoli--this year was my first year of growing it in my garden and I got a little carried away (it all gets ripe at the same time). So we've been having a lot of broccoli lately.
Broccoli soup
Broccoli salad
Steamed broccoli
Stir-fried broccoli
As much as I love broccoli, I can't wait for my brussel sprouts, squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, and everything else is ripe.
Thanks.
potatoes!! 'nuff said.
Asparagus. I just love roasted asparagus w/ some garlic. So good.
zucchini zucchini zucchini....its coming out of my ears right now...three different recipes in the fridge at the moment...i love summer gardens
when ever i make Kasha Varniskas, I Must Make Red Cabbage!
method:
i sautee about 2T of caraway seeds (to 1 med head of shredded red (which is really purple) cabbage,) until fragrant, then add 1 sliced red (which is really purple, too) onion until softened, but not mushy. add the cabbage, about 1c apple cider vinegar and 1/2c sugar. bring to a boil, then lid adjar. lower heat, simmer until the cabbage is cooked, softened, yet still crunchy. stirring occassionaly. tasty enough for 2nds by omni hubbie
whoa cool! Thanks for telling us about this book, I hadn't heard of it. I buy almost all my produce from the farmers markets, and I love books with an emphasis on seasonal eating. How cool. Of course, out here in California, we have lots of year round markets (sorry!), but you still definitely feel the joy when something shows up for the 1st time. Last week I got 1st time bell peppers and fresh corn. Yeah!
if i must only pick one, i must proclaim my love for the avocado. what's funny is that back in my omni days, i thought avocado was gross. the flavor, not for me. a few months after i had stopped eating meat and dairy, i was reintroduced to avocado. it. hit. the. spot. each spring i go through a phase where at every meal the only thing i want is avocado. now, obviously, it's not what i have at every meal. but i sure do crave it. this spring, i discovered avocado enchiladas in a tomatillo sauce. oh-jeez-us, they are heaven. i also recently leaned of toast with black beans and avocado slices, a breakfast avocado. so fab!
Let's see, it's really hard to pick so I'll have to say a newer one I've added into my diet is Kale. I even crave it sometimes! This book sounds fabulous! It's so easy to get stuck eating the same veggies even though the seasons chang.
i don't like raw tomatoes...the slimy texture really freaks me out.
if it is a super yummy tomato i might be able to eat a little piece or two but no more than that.
but cooked tomatoes are a totally different story. I could eat cups and cups of homemade tomato sauce
As a little kid to today, my favorite vegetable might be okra. I'm just finally discovering you can, in fact, have it more ways than fried.
I love leeks and I am from the Caribbean where eating leeks is kinda on the low side. I like the flavour of onion in it and the fact it stands on its own and the smell it releases when I slow cook it with carrots.
Is that enough?:)
I feel so challenged with certain veggies from my farm share. Right now, I am struggled with so much chard. I feel so uninspired with it so often..this book sounds like just the "fix" I need! thanks for doing another awesome giveaway!!
Fresh garlic! It's my favourite thing about summer!
The Russian Red Kale that has been available since early March in the Washington DC area has been amazing. It is lovely to eat raw, steamed or sauteed with a little garlic and ginger!
I'd love to win this book. Thanks for offering it. Looking forward to your new cookbook too!
Broccoli has always been my favorite. I've never understood why are there so many broccoli haters. I love the way the frilly part hold on to sauce. It's great roasted, too.
Hmm...I'm actually looking forward to having loads of summer squash and zucchini, instead of dreading the bumper crops like a lot of people. I just bought a spiralizer and it's in the mail right now and I'm very excited to see what it can do!
I love smoking eggplant for baba ghannouj. Yum.
The only veggie I still can't handle is okra. Too slimy for me.
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