Vegetable Basics: 84 Recipes Illustrated Step by Step (My Cooking Class)
Current nutritional wisdom advocates substantially increasing the quantity of vegetables in one’s daily diet in order to promote sound health. Vassallo has assembled dozens of straightforward and intelligent recipes that will encourage those intimidated by vegetable cookery to overcome their qualms and serve up tasty and reasonably healthy food. Recipes range from simple guacamole to sophisticated butternut-squash ravioli. Crumbled feta cheese enriches zucchini fritters and may make even zucchini-haters look forward to the summer harvest. Vegetarian here doesn’t always mean totally meat-free cooking. A split-pea soup includes a big smoked pork hock. Chinese pot stickers have ground pork for flavor and Napa cabbage for texture. Recipes are easy to follow and include metric measurements as well as those familiar to American cooks. The bright colors of the photography and the careful layout that mark the My Cooking Class series stand out in this volume. --Mark Knoblauch