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Vegetables Illustrated: An Inspiring Guide with 700+ Kitchen-Tested Recipes
The only vegetables book you'll ever need reveals hundreds of ways to cook nearly every vegetable under the sun.We're all looking for interesting, achievable ways to enjoy vegetables more often. This must-have addition to your cookbook shelf has more than 700 kitchen-tested recipes that hit that mark. Sure, you'll learn nearly 40 ways to cook potatoes and 30 ways with broccoli, America's favorite veggies. But you'll also learn how to make a salad with roasted radishes and their peppery leaves; how to char avocados in a skillet to use in Crispy Skillet Turkey Burgers; and how to turn sunchokes into a chowder and kale into a Super Slaw for Salmon Tacos. Every chapter, from Artichokes to Zucchini, includes shopping, storage, seasonality, and prep pointers and techniques, including hundreds of step-by-step photographs and illustrations, gorgeous watercolor illustrations, and full-color recipe photography.The inspirational, modern recipes showcase vegetables' versatility in everything from sides to You'll discover how to make the perfect grilled corn--and also how to transform it into a deliciously creamy pasta sauce with ricotta and basil. Onions are grilled, caramelized, glazed, and pickled--and also cooked into the Middle Eastern pilaf Mujaddara. Cauliflower is grilled as steaks, fried Buffalo-style, and pot-roasted whole with a robust tomato sauce. Sweet potatoes are mashed and baked more than a dozen ways, plus turned into a salad, a soup, tacos, and a gratin. All along the way we share loads of invaluable kitchen tips and insights from our test cooks, making it easy--and irresistibly tempting--to eat more veggies every day.
504 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2019
438 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
America's Test Kitchen
252 books599 followersAmerica's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.
Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!
Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.
Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!
Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
April 8, 2019
I thought this cookbook was going to be a little boring. I mean, a whole book of nothing but veggies? But wow, it's really packed with good prep advice and great recipes.
The cookbook has both a table of contents with all the vegetables covered (there are almost 50 of them...) AND a list of all featured recipes categorized by their main vegetable component. So it's easy to find what you're looking for. (Of course there's also a comprehensive index in the back, too.)
Each vegetable section starts out with a quick, one-page tutorial on how to prep and store the veggie, followed by recipes. Some veggies have a lot of recipes, some only a few. Most of the recipes call for meat, fish, or dairy, so don't expect to find a lot of vegan options in here just because it's a vegetable cookbook.
I recognize some of the recipes from other Cook's Illustrated books, but there are plenty that I haven't seen before. Mostly, I love how I'm learning how to properly prep and cook these veggies. I appreciate the advice at the beginning of each section, but I also like the little how-to vignettes peppered throughout.
Ultimately, I have really enjoyed looking through this cookbook! I've learned WAY more than I expected to about vegetables, and I keep finding new things to try each time. Love, love, yum, yum.
Thank you to Cook's Illustrated and Amazon Vine for the ARC!
The cookbook has both a table of contents with all the vegetables covered (there are almost 50 of them...) AND a list of all featured recipes categorized by their main vegetable component. So it's easy to find what you're looking for. (Of course there's also a comprehensive index in the back, too.)
Each vegetable section starts out with a quick, one-page tutorial on how to prep and store the veggie, followed by recipes. Some veggies have a lot of recipes, some only a few. Most of the recipes call for meat, fish, or dairy, so don't expect to find a lot of vegan options in here just because it's a vegetable cookbook.
I recognize some of the recipes from other Cook's Illustrated books, but there are plenty that I haven't seen before. Mostly, I love how I'm learning how to properly prep and cook these veggies. I appreciate the advice at the beginning of each section, but I also like the little how-to vignettes peppered throughout.
Ultimately, I have really enjoyed looking through this cookbook! I've learned WAY more than I expected to about vegetables, and I keep finding new things to try each time. Love, love, yum, yum.
Thank you to Cook's Illustrated and Amazon Vine for the ARC!
April 10, 2019
Disclaimer: I am usually not a huge fan of Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen cookbooks. I tend to be suspicious of folks who over-analyze food science, and I don't find that ATK recipes correspond with my own palate much. However, this is definitely one of their best books to date. The recipes feel fresher and more modern than theirs sometimes do, and the information about the vegetables themselves is thorough. For me, most of these recipes are too similar to dishes I already make for this to be a must-have cookbook, but that is no fault of the cookbook.
In addition, I removed one star because I am so angry that ATK continues to perpetuate the dangerous myth that the easiest/safest way to pit an avocado is to thwack your knife blade into the pit. This leads to thousands of injuries every year, no joke. The easiest and safest way to pit an avocado is to quarter it--you can gently pull the pit off of one of the quarters with your fingers and no trouble at all.
In addition, I removed one star because I am so angry that ATK continues to perpetuate the dangerous myth that the easiest/safest way to pit an avocado is to thwack your knife blade into the pit. This leads to thousands of injuries every year, no joke. The easiest and safest way to pit an avocado is to quarter it--you can gently pull the pit off of one of the quarters with your fingers and no trouble at all.
May 27, 2019
Got this cookbook for this month's library cookbook club & was surprised that this is the first cookbook in ages that I've read that I am actually considering buying. Sure, we eat vegetables every day in our house, but it never occurred to me to get a cookbook dedicated to their preparation.
There are so many wonderful recipes in this book and so many ideas about what to do with any type of vegetable. This book is particularly helpful to me because we participate in a summer farm share and often get unique vegetables that I've never worked with before. America's Test Kitchen has created a collection of recipes that are easy to follow, with tips on how to clean, cook, and use whatever veggie you can think of. This is not a vegetarian cookbook- there are meat recipes included, but in each the veggie is the star. I particularly liked that it was organized by vegetable rather than by appetizer, entree, etc... truly a 5 star cookbook.
There are so many wonderful recipes in this book and so many ideas about what to do with any type of vegetable. This book is particularly helpful to me because we participate in a summer farm share and often get unique vegetables that I've never worked with before. America's Test Kitchen has created a collection of recipes that are easy to follow, with tips on how to clean, cook, and use whatever veggie you can think of. This is not a vegetarian cookbook- there are meat recipes included, but in each the veggie is the star. I particularly liked that it was organized by vegetable rather than by appetizer, entree, etc... truly a 5 star cookbook.
March 19, 2019
I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK. I was looking for a book that would step up my vegetable making game. This is that and SO MUCH MORE! Each vegetable chapter begins with a brief history of how that vegetable has come to us in its current iteration and talks about when the vegetable is in season, how to identify when it is fresh/ripe, how to store it, and how to prepare it. Then there are several pages with loads of recipes dedicated to highlighting that one vegetable. Some are totally classic while others are wonderfully inventive. The accompanying photos are beautiful too. I’ve just gotten used to the Test Kitchen layout so if you’re new to it be prepared to find many recipes all on one page. Once you get past that this cookbook will be worth your while. Don’t just get this book for your library – buy it. You won’t regret it.
November 3, 2019
Pictures, technique, step by step recipes, who could ask for more? Cook's Illustrated is always a winner.
November 8, 2023
It took me so long to work my way through this giant book that I've already made several of the recipes several times. The Broccoli Cheese Soup and One-Pot Chicken Couscous dinner are already favorites!
I've never made anything from ATK that wasn't great. This book is conveniently-organized, and each chapter has at least one recipe that's unexpected for the category-- stuffed squash blossoms in the Winter Squash chapter, drinks, etc.
The only negative is that this book is so giant that's it's very cumbersome to use just to page through-- it definitely won't fit on any of the book stands I have, and would take up an unrealistic amount of counter space in most kitchens. So lucky it's part of the library, then! Recommended for general library collections, but not for personal gifting unless your recipient is a die-hard home cook committed to all the vegetables all the time.
Edited to include cross-references: Mother Grains: Recipes for the Grain Revolution
I've never made anything from ATK that wasn't great. This book is conveniently-organized, and each chapter has at least one recipe that's unexpected for the category-- stuffed squash blossoms in the Winter Squash chapter, drinks, etc.
The only negative is that this book is so giant that's it's very cumbersome to use just to page through-- it definitely won't fit on any of the book stands I have, and would take up an unrealistic amount of counter space in most kitchens. So lucky it's part of the library, then! Recommended for general library collections, but not for personal gifting unless your recipient is a die-hard home cook committed to all the vegetables all the time.
Edited to include cross-references: Mother Grains: Recipes for the Grain Revolution
April 28, 2019
A huge array of recipes covering not every vegetable but going through about 40 of them in depth. The book is arranged by vegetable so you can easily skip over recipes for veggies you don't care for. I loved the variety of recipes--most veggies had one or two very basic recipes that were more focused on techniques (e.g. roasted asparagus, grilled asparagus) and then some more adventurous but relatively easy to execute additions, including side dishes and mains, plus salads and soups. Not every recipe was illustrated, but each section had one full-page spread of photos to illustrate each step in one of the recipes. Recommended! (Note that this book is NOT vegetarian and does contain some recipes that include meat, eggs, and dairy.)
May 29, 2019
A wonderful cookbook, especially for people who grow their own veggies or like to frequent farmer's markets. All the usual crops are here, like potatoes and carrots, but there are plenty of recipes for less commonly cooked veggies, like radishes, chicory, kohlrabi and rutabaga. There are some involved, fancy dishes but lots of simpler ones, too. I'm having a lot of fun working my way through various recipes as different plants mature in my garden this summer.
November 29, 2020
I find this book really helpful when I get my box of CSA veggies every week and I’m trying to figure out what to do with them. Especially helpful with veggies I didn’t grow up eating like turnips and okra. Has tips for prep and storage in addition to recipes. Recipes are a mix of omni, vegetarian, and vegan-friendly. As a vegan, I haven’t tried too many of the recipes but the ones I have tried have been good (try the ratatouille!)
December 29, 2020
I'm always looking for ways to sneak more vegetables into my diet, and I would say that I've been able to successfully do that over the past few months simply by limiting the amount of meat I buy and cook and filling in the gap with vegetables (eg: using half the meat I normally would in a bolognese sauce and adding bell peppers and zucchini). Going into the new year I want to try to increase the ratio even more and decrease the amount of dairy I eat, not to mention that I usually go full vegetarian during lent.
By now we're all familiar with Michael Pollan's guide: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Shop only the edges of the grocery store. If you want junk food, you have to make it completely from scratch. But in 2021 I'm going to challenge myself to something new: eat 20 different fruits and vegetables per week. Here's what I've got in my fridge this week: iceberg lettuce, radicchio, radishes, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber, okra, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, yellow onions, red onions, Thai chiles, limes, bananas, oranges, mangos, pineapple, beets, broccoli, carrots, red cabbage, celery, sweet potatoes, and new potatoes.
This book is a real help in that regard. It has recipes arranged by the main vegetable in the dish instead of by meat, carb, or course. Usually I meal plan before making a grocery store run, but this week I went to the grocery store and just bought vegetables, intending to find a recipe later. There are at least 8 different recipes for each vegetable, so I was confident I could find some way to use the vegetables I bought.
And being an America's Test Kitchen book, there are endless notes about how they tested different methods of vegetable prep and what the resulting flavors and textures were like. If you are a curious home chef like myself, these sorts of tips are fascinating.
Edit: I should add that many of these recipes are *not* vegetarian though you could probably sub tofu or tempeh. Most are side dishes but there are more than a handful of main courses that include meat.
By now we're all familiar with Michael Pollan's guide: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Shop only the edges of the grocery store. If you want junk food, you have to make it completely from scratch. But in 2021 I'm going to challenge myself to something new: eat 20 different fruits and vegetables per week. Here's what I've got in my fridge this week: iceberg lettuce, radicchio, radishes, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber, okra, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, yellow onions, red onions, Thai chiles, limes, bananas, oranges, mangos, pineapple, beets, broccoli, carrots, red cabbage, celery, sweet potatoes, and new potatoes.
This book is a real help in that regard. It has recipes arranged by the main vegetable in the dish instead of by meat, carb, or course. Usually I meal plan before making a grocery store run, but this week I went to the grocery store and just bought vegetables, intending to find a recipe later. There are at least 8 different recipes for each vegetable, so I was confident I could find some way to use the vegetables I bought.
And being an America's Test Kitchen book, there are endless notes about how they tested different methods of vegetable prep and what the resulting flavors and textures were like. If you are a curious home chef like myself, these sorts of tips are fascinating.
Edit: I should add that many of these recipes are *not* vegetarian though you could probably sub tofu or tempeh. Most are side dishes but there are more than a handful of main courses that include meat.
September 15, 2020
Among all the vegetable cookbooks I referenced this year in an effort to find new recipes to deal with my garden's abundance, this was the best if for no other reason than its encyclopedic nature. Compiled in alphabetical order by vegetable it is so easy to use! It includes perhaps the widest array of vegetables of any book I referenced which I greatly appreciated. Each vegetable includes interesting background information and history as well as tips for storage and prep. The recipes for each vegetable are numerous often 3 per page with only a few illustrated. A great addition to any cookbook collection!
February 26, 2019
This cookbook is beautiful and so well organized, which is alphabetical by vegetable type. They do give a variety of recipes and even preparation types for each veggie. In full disclosure, I picked this cookbook up because I've developed an intolerance to raw fruits and vegetables and am devastated. I have been looking for more recipes to extend my background with veggies and this really if the bill. While I can't eat the raw salads, they sure look good, but there are plenty of delicious cooked recipes to make the cookbook more than worthwhile.
August 27, 2020
I've read a lot of cookbooks featuring vegetables lately. This is one of the top examples. A fantastic choice for someone willing to try a variety of different vegetables and follow directions closely.
The text accompanying each recipe explaining why the instructions or ingredients produce the result they do helps readers learn how to produce results.
The first cookbook I was tempted to purchase. Unfortunately, the recipes--why producing excellent results--tend to be more work than I'm willing to put in.
The text accompanying each recipe explaining why the instructions or ingredients produce the result they do helps readers learn how to produce results.
The first cookbook I was tempted to purchase. Unfortunately, the recipes--why producing excellent results--tend to be more work than I'm willing to put in.
March 15, 2021
Big fan of the way the book breaks down by vegetable types as opposed to course or meal - because sometimes you just need some inspiration on a different way to cook a beet.
The only downside is the constant use of canned ingredients in recipes (e.g., beans, tomatoes) where recipes could have easily incorporated cheaper, better, more authentic or fresher ingredient alternatives. The over reliance on processed items is a down side - like jarred baby food in a veggie burger recipe.
The only downside is the constant use of canned ingredients in recipes (e.g., beans, tomatoes) where recipes could have easily incorporated cheaper, better, more authentic or fresher ingredient alternatives. The over reliance on processed items is a down side - like jarred baby food in a veggie burger recipe.
June 28, 2023
A comprehensive book on cooking any vegetable you may run across in a grocery store, market garden or specialty shop. Lots of great recipes but most were very labour intensive. I feel these recipes would be more useful for special dinner parties rather than a regular family dinner although I am sure they would be very tasty. The introduction and background info on each vegetable was quite interesting.
September 3, 2019
Little brief history of the vegetable and how to care for it was helpful. It's been delicious. Family favorite are Spanish Tortilla with Aioli and Asparagus Goat Cheese Tart. So Good!!! Oh and For the Asparagus Goat Cheese Tart, I used frozen croissant (left over from San Francisco cooking school night class) instead of the "Sheet Puff Pastry".
October 1, 2019
This is a great book for anyone who wants to eat more vegetables and get more variety into their menus. I've made some recipes (heartily recommend Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes) and will make more. There are recipes for pretty much every vegetable or foodstuff used as a vegetable (mushrooms, tomatoes, seaweed!) that you could imagine. Highly recommended.
June 17, 2020
Loved it so much I bought it! With a vegetarian in the house and the others wanting to significantly reduce the amount of meat they eat, this is a must. What a great book. Excellent pictures and great instructions. My favorite part is the reason behind why the recipe works and why they chose the methods used in the making of it. Highly recommend it!
October 14, 2020
For a novice
The recipes were abundant and some called for using the microwave which is sad. There could be a better effort to show recipes from multiple cultures and to have tried to think outside the box. Overall, it has some value if you’re looking for something to do with those veggies from the farmers market.
The recipes were abundant and some called for using the microwave which is sad. There could be a better effort to show recipes from multiple cultures and to have tried to think outside the box. Overall, it has some value if you’re looking for something to do with those veggies from the farmers market.
May 16, 2019
Vegetables Illustrated is a comprehensive book with an absolute plethora of recipes. However, it did seem intent on debunking myths and shattering beliefs. But old habits die hard. So I'll continue to keep my tomatoes at room temperature and my mushrooms in a paper bag, not a plastic one.
October 12, 2019
Lots of interesting recipes, vegetables mentioned I don't usually see in cookbooks like kohlrabi.
Better for those who habitually cook for 4+ servings or like foodie stuff.... Just for me alone I'm not apt to bother.
Better for those who habitually cook for 4+ servings or like foodie stuff.... Just for me alone I'm not apt to bother.
April 24, 2023
As any Americas Test Kitchen Book is, it is very detailed and full of so many recipes! I always enjoy the "why it works." If you're looking for a new book to look through or get ideas on incorporating more veggies in your meals, start here!
June 3, 2023
I've already made a few recipes from this book to great success. An awesome companion if you are getting bored with the usual ways to cook your veggies or are part of one of those farm co-ops where you get whatever was ripe that week.
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May 15, 2024Read for Belmont Cookbook club. It was ok, I liked the Eggplant Involitini. A lot of the recipes bland or had too many steps. Also made Spinach Lasagna, will not make again. I have Garlic Knot recipe to make.
April 1, 2019
I want to make everything in this cookbook. It all sounds incredible. It’s not a vegetarian cookbook, it’s grouped by vegetables from artichokes to zucchini and each dish makes its veggie the star.
May 6, 2019
Excellent, wide variety of recipes. Plenty to experiment with!
May 30, 2019
Found a couple dozen recipes I'll be trying. Already made the marinaded mushrooms, braised carrots with apples & cauliflower cakes. Looking forward to the Mexican grilled corn this weekend.
May 8, 2019
I love a good veg cookbook and this bad boy was HUGE! Loved it!
May 26, 2019
Tons of vegetable recipes, although not all vegetarian. But it really, really needs more pictures!!
June 9, 2019
Tagged dozens of recipes
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews