The Produce Bible: Essential Ingredient Information and More Than 200 Recipes for Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs & Nuts

by Leanne Kitchen, Deborah Madison

Anyone who has shopped in a farmer’s market knows the abundant glories of seasonal produce, from the deep, fruity notes of a sun-ripened tomato to the crisp, green snap of a just-harvested bean; from the intoxicating perfection of a ripe strawberry to the juicy sweetness of a hand-picked peach. Like a trip to the market, The Produce Bible brings together the best of nature’s bounty, offering delicious recipes and essential ingredient information for more than 100 varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and nuts.

Celebrating the explosion of interest in locally grown and hand-picked produce, this comprehensive volume features 200 recipes that bring out the special qualities of each ingredient, from tender spring peas to earthy autumnal tubers. In addition, the book is filled with practical advice on how to choose, store, and prepare fresh produce, as well as basic cooking techniques, nutritional information, and suggestions for companion foods. If you want to know the best type of potato for roasting or mashing; the perfect uses for a meyer lemon; or the ideal way to eat an artichoke, then look no further. Bursting with luscious color photographs, The Produce Bible is an invaluable resource for gardeners, cooks, and food lovers alike.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Reference, Nonfiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you know which watermelon in the stack will taste best? This book will tell you - and answer any other questions you've ever had about virtually any type of produce, including nuts. It also gives delicious looking recipes for each type of produce. So if you come across something you've never cooked with you have no excuse not to give it a try.

This is one I intend to add to my kitchen cookbook collection.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the informational sections about each of the ingredients/items of produce in the book. However, i had no interest in making any of the recipes in it. Since new recipe ideas was the reason I got the book in the first place, it fell flat for me. The info about each fruit and veggie: selecting, storing, etc. was fantastic.

[Cris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Each entry contains a brief note on choosing, storing, preparation and culinary uses. And there are a *lot* of entries. The entries also contain one or few recipes.

Overall, the information on preparation is useful but can be found in lots of other places. And the recipes are very limited. Not worth keeping on my shelves.

[Chris Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visually stunning and filled with great information and recipes.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in the food we eat.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2

I'm really torn over this one: I like the idea, I like many of the recipes, & I like much of the ingredients.

I do not like that: it weighs a ton & it is paperback; some produce items have several recipes, some have one, several haven't any; there are very few photographs except of the piece of produce; and it is cumbersome to use....

Not to mention the fact (but I will) there was so much information that it was just overkill.... There just wasn't enough information on any one item. Why even include an item to the book, if you're not going to give a recipe for it?

Contents include: foreword; introduction; fruit; nuts; vegetables; herbs; index; and bibliography & acknowledgements.

Fruit: citrus (grapefruit, kumquat, lemon, lime, mandarin & tangerene, and orange); soft (blackberries, black currants, blueberries, boysenberries, fig, gooseberries, grapes, raspberries, and strawberries); stone (apricot, cherry, date, peach & nectarine, and plum); tropical (banana, coconut, kiwi, mango, papaya, passion fruit, and pineapple); pome (apple, pear and quince); other

Nuts...

Vegetables: roots & tubers; stems, shoots & bulbs; flowers; leaves; fruit vegetables; seeds & pods; and fungi

Herbs

The price was just too much for something that takes too much study.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aside from the absolutely gorgeous photography, this book is extremely well organized and very useful, although I sort of want two copies so I can keep one of them pristine! I just got this book a couple of weeks ago and have already made several recipes from it and they've been absolutely delicious.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book for CSA research.

Each section covers a different fruit, vegetable, or herb, with suggestions on how to shop for them, how to prepare them, how to store them, and their culinary uses (i.e. which ingredients to prepare them with.)

Although extremely light on the recipes (one or two per item), I almost considered buying this one, because it's such a good reference tool.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is heavenly! Great recipes and fun to just look at over and over again. Full of historical factoids too, which really adds to the book for me. I wish there was a bit more information on the health benefits of each fruit/veggie, but it does offer some basic information. With that said, however, I love this book for the recipes, info and just enjoyable perusing.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great field guide to vegetables and fruits. It contains facts and information about each and then a few recipes.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

More comprehensive in terms of produce covered but not as comprehensive in information as others. More recipes

[Bella]

Excellent Christmas present, thank you DV!

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been waiting for a book like this for years!!!!!! If you like to cook this is indispensable!!

[Courtney]

Ahhh summer, you make me welcome produce again!