Veg Forward: Super-Delicious Recipes that Put Produce at the Center of Your Plate – (Over 100 Farm-to-Table Recipes for Healthy Seasonal Meals) – The Perfect Cookbook Gift for Foodies and Home Chefs

by Susan Spungen

Stylish, practical meals that put vegetables first, by "an authentic culinary star" ( Boston Globe ) and the founding food editor of Martha Stewart Living . After spending two decades at a leading lifestyle magazine, Susan Spungen is used to the questions cooks ask her in the produce aisle and at the farmers' market. Do you have a great zucchini recipe? What can you do with garlic scapes? What's an easy seasonal meal I can make for friends? In Veg Forward , the veteran cookbook author, columnist, and culinary consultant supplies the delicious answers, with 102 recipes in which vegetables claim a starring role. Big platter salads. Soups for muggy days when all anyone can manage is to run the blender. Warm-weather grain bowls. Freeform fruit tarts and snacking cakes. Each one coaxes a maximum amount of flavor from a minimum number of ingredients; each looks as good as it tastes. Veg Forward is full of extraordinary recipes for ordinary vegetables like tomatoes, corn, and potatoes, and it also offers beguiling choices for less familiar ones like fava beans, kohlrabi, and nettles. Spungen shares scores of tips from her years as a caterer and the efficient vegetable prep technique professionals use, a genius tactic for cutting into hard squash, the single finishing touch that transforms a homey fruit dessert into something spectacular. Everything in this book makes cooking with vegetables easier, better, and more satisfying. Susan Spungen was the editorial director for food at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. A New York Times contributor who also writes Susanality , a Substack newsletter, she was the culinary consultant and food stylist for the hit movies Julie & Julia and Eat, Pray, Love . She is the author of Open Kitchen, Recipes, and What’s a Hostess to Do? . She lives in New York City and East Hampton, New York.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Culinary

256 pages, Hardcover

Published May 30, 2023

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Veg Forward Susan Spungen has created recipes to help you eat more vegetables, but is not promoting a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. I really like that the recipes are organized by season and focus on eating seasonally. Spungen also includes in the introduction some recommendations for pantry staples and handy tools for the kitchen. At the end of the book there is a chapter titled "essentials" that gives recipes for several basic components like pizza dough, homemade tomato sauce, salad dressings, stock, etc. While I didn't find tons of recipes I wanted to try, I really liked the premise of this book and that it didn't push a vegetarian diet as "better" and focused on eating seasonally and homemade.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I was looking for more ideas for meal prep rather than the artisanal, house made, hipster feel of this book. The photos are very nice and I did see some interesting recipes for meals that are eaten right away versus meal prep.

[Lia · Rating 3 out of 5]

TLDR: I'm sure the recipes are delicious but they are futzy. From the "rare" ingredients to the steps of the recipes, everything feels complicated and unapproachable. Perhaps a good fit for people who love spending time in the kitchen.

I am continually looking for ways to increase vegetable intake. This book is exactly as advertised and has vegetable forward recipes organized by season (something I find helpful). Very few of the recipes include meat and it could easily be excluded (as the author points out in the beginning of the book). While I really wanted to love this cookbook, I found the recipes to be overly involved. One of the recipes for a very fancy version of potatoes had multiple steps and took upwards of an hour. I do not care to spend that kind of time or effort in the kitchen, especially for just a side dish. If you are a foodie and love spending time in the kitchen, this is a great way to try out new veggies and flavors. I, however, need something simple and quick as well as delicious. I have no doubt that these recipes would be great and I will be sure to try a few but this will not be a go to cookbook for me.

[Jeanette Durkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new way to look at cooking vegetables!

Wow! This book is filled with recipes that contain mostly vegetables. As someone who's always looking for ways to make eating vegetables interesting, this book is a treasure trove! I'll definitely be trying some of the recipes!

[Abbigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just fine. There were a few comments that I thought sounded pretentious. I'm not sure I've seen many people be able to pull off casually bringing up their trip to Paris so much. A few dishes looked good, but overall I wasn't excited as I hoped I would be because I love cookbooks organized by seasonal produce.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very pleasant, straightforward layout with a mouth watering picture generally on the left page, ingredients on the right, a quick story, directions, maybe a suggestion. This cookbook actually got me excited to make some veggie dinners, and I think I'll probably buy this (since I'm using a library book).

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like the creativity in the recipes (along with a picture accompanying each one), but said recipes call for ingredients that would be hard to source for home cooks who don’t have easy, or consistent, access to full grocery stores, let alone the accompanying budget needed.

[Dree]

p 133--Cauliflower-Pepita Tacos with Avocado Crema: even with additional cooking time, the cauliflower did not even begin to carmelize. Followed cauliflower instructions exactly. For rest of recipe, made minor changes. Was fine, but obviously cauliflower should have had a very different taste

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple recipes and absolutely delicious!

[Kimberlyisaddicted2books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes! I love this book.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this— beautiful colors and lots of familiar ingredients. Would love to have a copy on my shelf.

[Kristi Clemow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very colorful and I'd probably try everything in it but only got one recipe that I'd personally make. A little too complicated for me

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful photos. The recipes primarily feature common ingredients.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book...pictures and recipes. Cooking according to season makes sense. Though I admit I'm damn sick of tomatoes right now, as summer ends.