Veg-table: Recipes, Techniques, and Plant Science for Big-Flavored, Vegetable-Focused Meals

by Nik Sharma

Named a Best Cookbook of the Year by NPR, The Los Angeles Times, Epicurious, Vice, Food Network, Good Housekeeping, and more, and a Best Cookbook of Fall 2023 by Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Eater, The Strategist, and more. From the bestselling author of The Flavor Equation and Season and winner of the 2023 IACP Trailblazer A fascinating exploration of the unique wonders of more than fifty vegetables through captivating research, stunning photography, and technique-focused recipes. "Groundbreaking, inspiring, Nik Sharma’s Veg-Table is everything I’d hoped for and more!”—Nigella Lawson, author of Cook, Eat, Repeat Nik Sharma, blogger at A Brown Table, Serious Eats columnist, and bestselling cookbook author, brings us his most cookable collection of recipes yet in Veg-table. Here is a technique-focused repertoire for weeknight mains for cooks of all skill levels looking to add more delicious and satisfying vegetable dishes to their diet. Combining the scientific underpinnings of The Flavor Equation with the inviting and personal recipes of Season, this book features more than fifty vegetables, revealing their origins, biology, and unique characteristics. Vegetable-focused recipes are organized into chapters by plant family, with storage, buying, and cooking methods for all. The result is a recipe collection of big flavors and techniques that are tried, true, and perfected by rigorous testing and a deep scientific lens.  Included here are Sharma’s first-ever pasta recipes published in a Pasta with Broccoli Miso Sauce, Shallot and Spicy Mushroom Pasta, and more. And vegetable-focused doesn’t mean strictly vegetarian; bring plants and animal protein together with delicious recipes like Chicken Katsu with Poppy Seed Coleslaw and Crispy Salmon with Green Curry Spinach. A wide variety of hot and cold soups, salads, sides, sauces, and rice-, egg-, and bean-based dishes round out this collection. Featuring more than 100 of Sharma’s gorgeous and evocative photographs, as well as instructive illustrations, this cookbook perfectly balances beauty, intellect, and delicious, achievable recipes. FOLLOW-UP TO TWO CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED Season was a finalist for a James Beard Award and an IACP award. It was on the most prominent cookbook best-of lists, including the New York Times Best Cookbooks, NPR’s Favorite Cookbooks, and Bon Appetit’s Best Cookbooks gift guide; it was also an Amazon Book of the Month. The Flavor Equation was named one of the best cookbooks of the year by the New York Times, Eater, Epicurious, Food & Wine, Forbes, Saveur, Serious Eats, Smithsonian magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, CNN Travel, The Kitchn, Chowhound, NPR, The Art of Eating 2021 longlist and many more; plus it garnered international media attention including from the Financial Times, the Globe and Mail, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times (U.K.), Delicious Magazine (U.K.), The Times (Ireland), and Vogue India. It was the winner of the Guild of U.K. Food Writers (General Cookbook). It was a finalist for the 2021 IACP Cookbook Award. AN ESTABLISHED  Sharma is a regular contributor to the popular Serious Eats food platform, where his pieces on the science of flavor reach millions of readers nationwide. UNIQUE YET ACCESSIBLE VEGGIE-FORWARD Not only does Sharma write recipes for every palate, but he writes them for every level of cook, from novices to seasoned chefs. This book melds his science-forward thinking with accessible yet delicious vegetable-based recipes for an engaging and unexpected combination.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks

353 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2023

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Borrowed from the library, thank goodness. Had high hopes, didn’t deliver. Each recipe is written out with the ingredients in bold-my brain is apparently not nimble enough to manage not having a separate ingredient list to prep (especially as these aren’t simple).
Only found 2 recipes I plan to try—peanut muhammara egg sandwich and chaat-style loaded twice-baked potatoes.

[T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Train wreck of a cookbook. The absolute worst formatting I’ve seen in a long, long time. Ingredients are not separated out from the recipe so it’s difficult to figure out what you need. Photos of the recipes are also hit or miss.

Not worth the headache to try and see if any of the recipes actually taste good.

[Lisa Konet · Rating 2 out of 5]

The format was not my favorite and maybe because I was reading this on my large screen kindle BUT the content was great. I have been vegan since February 2023, so this cookbook (and advice) was very much appreciated! I wish it had been an all encompassing vegetable, bean and fruit cookbook. There were recipes for fish and chicken, so that it is why I did not give it a 5 star review. If it had stuck to the vegan and plant-based lifestyles, this would have ranked higher for me. Seriously, the book is called Vegetable!! There are plenty of cookbooks for meat and fish eaters!

When this cookbook kept to the plant-based/vegan lifestyle it was good. Why is there meat, fish, etc with the title of vegetables? SMH. I think the meat eaters will get some ideas for how to incorporate more plants into their lives with the ease of recipes from this book. Overall, enjoyable.

Thanks to Netgalley, Nik Sharma and Chronicle Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not laid out as a regular cookbook more of an informative guide with recipes. The author, a trained molecular biologist details the relationship between vegetables and how to prepare them with a scientifically-informed perspective. I enjoyed this book and many of the unique recipes.

[Deepa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving it a 5 for recipes but who thought this format was a good idea 😭

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

A wonderful collection of veggie-forward recipes with a mix of Mexican and Indian flavors. Some photos of recipes and the how tos make it look great.

[Ady]

4.5 stars, rounded up.

Recipes tried:
Hasselback Pistachio Pesto Parsnips
Roasted Fruit and Arugula Salad
Peanut Muhammara Egg Salad

Recipes were delicious and easy to follow.
We are HUGE fans of vegetables and fruits in my home and this is a cookbook that we will revisit frequently when we want to try something new that will utilize the cooking skills we have without pushing us to do anything TOO complicated or find ingredients that are TOO rare and expensive.

I wish that nutritional information was included. It’s not a NEED because many cookbooks nowadays don’t include it, but it is an instant fave for us when it is included because my husband is a type 1 diabetic and it saves us so much time. We gravitate always towards the recipes that won’t involve looking up the carbs in each ingredient and doing the calculations.