Start with a Vegetable: More Than 100 Easy, Tasty, Plant-Forward Recipes for Everyone

by Jessica Smith

Make vegetables the star of your kitchen with this time-saving, flexitarian approach to healthier home cooking that will satisfy everyone around your table.


Don't know what to make for dinner? Want more plants in your diet? Start with a vegetable! Professional meal planner Jessica Smith shows you how to follow that simple principle with minimal fuss and delicious results. Plan your next meal around favorites, such as carrots, cauliflower, or sweet potatoes, or try your hand at underused asparagus, Brussels sprouts, or kale, turning them into more than just side dishes. Transform corn into Elote Grilled Cheeses, cucumbers into No-Roll Sushi Bowls, tomatoes into Farro Caprese, spinach into Pesto Pasta, and even pack more veggies into pizza any day of the week. Recipes appear by cook and prep times so you can whip up something fast or enjoy more hands-on dishes for every kind of eater, from omnivores to vegans. This must-have cookbook provides all the expert guidance and practical tools that you need to make plant-powered cooking a checklists, tips, variations, meal plans, and flowcharts to help you decide what to make. All you have to do is start with a vegetable.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 28, 2025

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The chapters are set up to feature a specific vegetable and they were for the most part not my kind of veggies.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful cookbook every home cook should have on their shelves, no matter their skill level. What I really liked about this book was that it didn't push vegetarianism or veganism, it simply identified vegetables and how to build a meal around that.

As a somewhat carnivorous eater, I try to include more vegetables in my meals, but I find it very hard to find something to pair well with my meat. It usually boils down to a bag of random frozen veggies that I boil or steam in the microwave. This book's chapters are organized by vegetables. It makes it really easy to buy a vegetable at the store and use it through the week in various recipes. It helps with meal prepping as well so you don't have to have the same meal every day for a week, you can really swap things up! I also appreciate that almost every recipe is very easy to follow as well as has affordable ingredients.

Smith is also very down to earth and forgiving of herself and the reader. Many cookbooks come across as chastising in a way, as if you're a terrible human being for enjoying meat, or not wanting to cook every night, or not zesting fresh lemons. Smith recognizes that we're not all professional cooks and that we're just trying to have a nice, healthy meal, but we also have the weight of making sure we eat something to keep us alive every day for the rest of our lives. That's a daunting task when you actually start to think about it.

I checked this out from my library, but I made sure to purchase my own copy so I can refer to it over and over again.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a vegetarian but I do love vegetables and don't mind a meatless meal now and then. This book isn't pushing a vegetarian agenda - just showcasing how you can use vegetables in different ways. The recipes could be a side dish or a main dish. The author does include a chapter at the beginning about a few plant proteins but most of the dishes just focus on vegetables without pushing a specific diet agenda. I also liked that the recipes are organized by vegetable. There are also a few chapters at the end that were different - pizza night, sauces/dressings/extras, and meal plans using the recipes in the book. The author also gives some great tips at the beginning including a vegetable storage guide (which need to be refrigerated, best storage, etc.). Overall, I thought this was a great cookbook and there are several recipes I'd like to try.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wonder what to do with those carrots that are loosing their crisp in your refridgerator? Jessica will tell you! This is a great cookbook with easy recipes for busy lives. I'm not a cook - I don't even *like* cooking and so many of these recipes will stay in our rotation. You probably need a copy, too.

[Chelsea Rossiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful cookbook to be mostly vegetarian. You can have meat with some of these recipes, but she gives you options to replace meat. I appreciate the plant forward recipes, and everything seems doable for an at-home cook. Lots of different flavor combinations, so you get a little of everything. I can see myself making every single one of these recipes!

[Pcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

+ .5 for the salad dressing recipes

[Lael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of great and unique recipes.