Word of Mouth: The New Vegetable Cookbooks

Author:: Rachael Ray Every Day Staff
Updated:: Dec 6, 2016
Original:: Aug 10, 2016

If you rely on the same veg-centric cookbooks each summer, get produce inspo from this bumper crop of recent releases. Then, look out, farmers' market!

If you like... Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison

You'll love... The Vegetable Butcher: How to Select, Prep, Slice, Dice, and Masterfully Cook Vegetables from Artichokes to Zucchini by Cara Mangini

As the chef behind Little Eater in Columbus, OH, Cara Mangini wrangles veggies for a living. The more than 250 step-by-step photos in her book mirror the encyclopedic Vegetable Literacy, while sharing updated essential know-how for everything from cleaning sandy greens for creamed spinach crepes to prepping fresh artichokes for the grill.

If you like... Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen

You'll love... Crossroads: Extraordinary Recipes from the Restaurant That Is Reinventing Vegan Cuisine by Tal Ronnen

Restaurant-quality vegetarian food is easier to make at home than you think. Like Mollie Katzen, Tal Ronnen, the L.A.-based chef of Crossroads, is a pioneer of produce-heavy cuisine. His global vegan dishes, like kale spanakopita with mint oil and hearts of palm "calamari," are crafted without meat, dairy or eggs, but even carnivores will find themselves craving seconds.

If you like... Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey

You'll love... Near & Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel by Heidi Swanson

Take an updated tour around the world with Heidi Swanson, the popular Bar Area all-natural food blogger, as she shares her favorite recipes from home and from her travels to Morocco, France, Italy, India and Japan. Squash and wild rice soup (home) and carrot sake salad (Japan)? Yes, please.

If you like... Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters

You'll love... EatingWell Vegetables: The Essential Reference by the Editors of EatingWell

With a huge array of produce available today, it's handy to have a comprehensive reference. You'll find fresh ideas for eggplant (stuff it with pork and shrimp), chard (make quesadillas) and pretty much everything else in this guide from the sister publication of Rachael Ray Every Day. Bonus: Each recipe includes nutritional info.

If you like... Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

You'll love... Gjelina: Cooking from Venice, California by Travis Lett

Much like Yotam Ottolenghi, California chef Travis Lett will make home cooks see vegetables differently in this book named for his restaurant in Venice, CA. His recipes transform simple ingredients -- think beets with herbed yogurt and horseradish -- into mini-masterpieces by leaving on greens and slipping in savory stock.