The Vegetable Butcher: How to Select, Prep, Slice, Dice, and Masterfully Cook Vegetables from Artichokes to Zucchini

by Cara Mangini

Winner, IACP Cookbook Awards for Single Subject and People's Choice.

The skills of butchery meet the world of fresh produce in this essential, inspiring guide that demystifies the world of vegetables.

In step-by-step photographs, “vegetable butcher” Cara Mangini shows how to break down a butternut squash, cut a cauliflower into steaks, peel a tomato properly, chiffonade kale, turn carrots into coins and parsnips into matchsticks, and find the meaty heart of an artichoke.

Additionally, more than 150 original, simple recipes put vegetables front and center, from a Kohlrabi Carpaccio to Zucchini, Sweet Corn, and Basil Penne, to a Parsnip-Ginger Layer Cake to sweeten a winter meal. It’s everything you need to know to get the best out of modern, sexy, and extraordinarily delicious vegetables.
 

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference, Food and Drink, Health

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 22, 2016

About the author

CARA MANGINI, who comes from a family of traditional butchers, was one of the first official “vegetable butchers” at Eataly in New York City. She is now the owner and executive chef of Little Eater, a produce-inspired restaurant, and Little Eater Produce and Provisions, an associated local and artisanal foods boutique, in Columbus, Ohio.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5* of five

I voted for this book in the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards. I don't have a kitchen, and I still procured this cookbook for myself because I loved the title. I learned a lot from it, I loved the photos!, and the text was helpful and also slyly amusing.

Vegetab;es have always made up a large percentage of my diet, unrepentant carnivore that I am. I love them, except kale, corn on the cob, and sweet potatoes. Roasted brussels sprouts with tart Granny Smith apples! The yummiest! Cornbread stuffing with carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, Northern Spy apples!! A meal for the goddesses. Cabbage steaks roasted (sensing a theme here?) with olive oil then dressed with brown mustard/balsamic vinegar sauce!!!

*drool break*

And now, for that longed-for day when I have a kitchen, I've got fresh ideas on how to prepare them. Gotta love that.

[❀Aimee❀ Just one more page... · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, as a vegetarian, this title cracked me up. It's not often one associates butchery with vegetables. And yet, vegetable butchery can be just as complicated as typical butchery.


Sure you can wing it.



Or buy the latest overrated infomercial chopper.



However, chances are that this book will save you the headache of trying to figure out how the hell to prepare vegetables like artichokes, leeks, brussels sprouts, etc.

There's a little something here for everyone:
✔ Up to several ways to prepare each vegetable
✔ 53 featured vegetables from the common to the more obscure
✔ A few recipes for each vegetable (all are vegetarian - not vegan)
✔ How to choose the best vegetable, what it best pairs with, how to store them, and varieties
✔ Types of knives and knife care

✔ Why you might want a variety of cutting boards for different applications
✔ Explanations of different cuts
✔ Vibrant and eye-catching photographs

The book may not appeal to everyone since some vegetables and ingredients may be obscure or difficult to find in some areas of the country. When I read some of the recipe titles, they seem more difficult to prepare than they actually are. This might keep some from attempting the recipes.

This book will be a hit for vegetarian foodies that are trying to branch out and find new things to experiment with.


Thank you Netgalley and Workman Publishing Company for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Taryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t made a single recipe from this book. But you shouldn’t buy it for the recipes, even though there are a lot and many of them sound mouth-wateringly delicious. You should buy this book as a reference guide to purchasing, cleaning, storing, and chopping all the veggies you don’t even know you love yet. Turnips! Parsnips! Celeriac! The entire brassica family! If you’ve ever looked at an unfamiliar vegetable in the grocery store and wondered, “What the heck would I do with that?!” Cara Mangini knows, and she’s happy to tell you all about it. A veggie dictionary that takes the mystery out of prepping and cooking vegetables of all colors, shapes, and sizes.

More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com

[PorshaJo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a unique book. I have seen many cookbooks on butchering meat but this is a first on butchering vegetables. The book includes a huge amount of vegetables and shows photos for step by step instructions on how to "butcher" the vegetable. It starts of with artichokes (which I personally did not know how to clean and dice it) and goes all the way in alphabetic order to zucchini. It covers basics of knives, basic cuts to make, julliene, cutting into shapes, cuts based on the veggie, and more. After each vegetable butchering method is discussed and how to buy and store, favorite cooking methods and a few recipes are shown. I think this is a great cookbook for people who are new to cooking and want to learn basic knife skills and those that want to eat more vegetables. There are lots of photos showing how to cut the veggies and a few on the recipes. I learned some stuff from this book but I don't think it would be one I cook from regularly. I find this one more of a reference cookbook.

I got an ARC copy of this from NetGalley.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I eat a lot of vegetables in my diet and am always looking to try new things, so I was pleased to find a recipe book that focuses solely on veggies. This book starts out with a very comprehensive contents list of the vegetables covered. I'm not going to replicate the list here - there's a lot of them! Over 50 vegetable sections! It begins with a very handy information guide that covers things like selecting knives, caring for knives, picking vegetables, organic and GMO labels, cutting boards, how to cut and prepare and a useful guide to what oils and extras to keep in the pantry.

Recipes:

Each recipe is well presented with a small amount of information from the author, followed by a clear and concise list of ingredients, and easy to follow instructions. The ingredients are given in "cups" and "teaspoons", with no precise universal measurements such as grams given. This may annoy some people depending on the country you're in. Whilst I would prefer to be seeing exact weighing scale measurements, I can work with the "cup".

I learned about some vegetables I've never even heard of before, such as "crosnes", and can't wait to actually find them somewhere! Other favourite recipes included Baked Eggplant Fries, Fennel-Apple Salw with Pecans, Raisins and Yogurt Curry Dressing (unusual but so tasty!) and Parisian Leeks Vinaigrette (Leeks are my favourite vegetable and I think vastly unrepresented these days). Next on my list to try is Zucchini Olive Oil Cake - a dessert?! From Zucchini?! I'm intrigued!

Presentation:

This recipe book has stunning presentation. It's bright and colourful, easy to read, with great use of colour and font choices. The layout has really impressed me. There are stunning photographs in abundance, and photographic step-by-step instructions on vegetable essentials. In several photos the author is shown cooking or preparing, and I really appreciate that personal touch that helps to add a "voice" to the book.

Nutritional Information & Allergies:

Sadly, no information is given on nutritional information or allergies. Whilst obviously a vegetable cookbook is generally pretty healthy, many of the recipes do call for additions such as breadcrumbs, cream, cheese, eggs and so on. Personally I believe that a comprehensive, modern recipe book will go to the extra effort of including nutritional information, and ideally, would outline any common allergies as well. This is the reason that this recipe book has scored a 4 instead of 5 from me.

Overall a stunningly presented, well written, original and unique recipe book.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a vegetarian or vegan but I have a tendency to steer myself towards eating like one most of the time. It is therefore extremely refreshing to find a book that not only explains and inspires you on how to select, prepare and cook everyday vegetables, but also challenges you to try the more unusual ones by demystifying them. The stunning photography only serves to enchance the book further. I can see this book fast becoming my vegetable bible and would highly recommend it.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kim Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun (vegetarian) cookbook to read. You can definitely tell the author is passionate about preparing and cooking vegetables. I love the fact that she travels and tries new foods and gets some of those recipes and brings them to her kitchen and tries them, sometimes trying to imitate, sometimes adding her own twist. When reading the recipes, you can almost hear her voice giving sometimes lengthy, but always understandable, and not really complicated, instructions.
Every vegetable imaginable is in these pages. A couple I’ve never even heard of. But with all other basic ingredients you would probably already have at home, or the local grocery store, these recipes don’t seem scary to try at all. I, of course, will never make all these recipes, but I definitely have a couple picked out that I’m going to attempt.
I think, though, that it’s not the recipes I like best here. There is a whole section of knife care, another on basic cuts for specific vegetable shapes, there are notes throughout the book on cleaning, prepping, and storing different vegetables, all very interesting and helpful information.
I’m not a vegetarian, but I do like vegetables and I find this cookbook very useful. I’ll probably keep it close for a while.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

The Vegetable Butcher is a user-friendly, beautifully presented, and thorough reference on vegetables (and some fruit 'vegetables' such as tomatoes). From selection to varieties, preparation and then cooking tips, followed by recipes, this is a nice one-stop shop on a subject rarely covered in such detail. Of note, however, that only 1 in every 5 recipe has an image and most of the recipes have no introduction to tell about presentation, flavor, or even if it is an entree or side dish. The strength of the book is clearly as a reference rather than a recipe book.

The book breaks down as follows: Butchery basics (including care of knives) and pantry support (what else you'll want to have ready). Then an alphabetical presentation of the vegetables, starting with artichokes and arugula and ending with winter squash and zucchini. An index at the end includes recipes by season and type and an index.

Each vegetable has a photographed picture intro page (perhaps more useful as a pretty graphic than necessarily identifying varieties of that item). The intro page includes a short write up, best season info, partner foods, varieties, selection, and storage. Because each vegetable only has 2 large images (1 from one of the recipes and this intro page), the intro pages are easy to find for referencing. Although the intro pages are a bit graphic-designy busy (so you have to search for info in the paragraph block design elements), there is a lot of great information contained within.

After the intro page comes the instructions on preparing (butchering) the vegetables. Nearly all instruction pages have small photographs to accompany the directions and notes about particularities of that vegetable. Following the butchery instructions are cooking methods - typically from sauteing to blanching or baking. Finally, each vegetable has 1-4 recipes using different varieties to best effect.

The book is beautifully presented with, as noted, a strong graphic design element. That makes the book easy to use as a reference and as a cookbook. Frustrating, though, were the recipes. They were all well done, and often included 'sub recipes' including vinaigrettes or sauces as well. But lack of introductions/descriptions/images left me puzzling at several - what they would look like, how they were supposed to taste, and even how they were to be served. I wasn't sure if I was looking at a sauce or a soup, an entree or a side dish.

In all, this has proven to be an excellent resource. I wouldn't say there are a lot of exotic vegetables - I was familiar with all but two or so. A lot of the 'exotic' vegetables would be variations of the more familiar staple for example. But for great tidbits - such as which spinach makes the best salads as opposed to best for cooking, or which herbs infuse best when solid and which should be chopped before using - then this is a great reference. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Dino]

I sometimes get questions from people about what to do with X vegetable, or who just need a bit of inspiration for what to do with a vegetable.

Vegetable Butcher is a book by Cara Mangini, a chef who's worked at Eataly in NYC at the vegetable butcher they have there. What is a vegetable butcher? It sounded ridiculous to me until I was talking with my friend Tasha about vegetables that are a pain to deal with: artichokes, fiddlehead ferns, etc. We both agreed that if we could go to the store, pick out the plumpest, heaviest, most stunning examples of artichokes, then drop it off at a vegetable butcher counter to have someone else trim the poky leaves, and scoop out the choke, and do all the rest of the "labours of Hercules" (according to Jennifer Patterson of Two Fat Ladies fame) involved in cleaning and preparing the artichoke to cook, we'd pay the premium price! Why? Because it'd still be cheaper than buying it at a restaurant!

The reason you buy Vegetable Butcher is for one reason alone: inspiration! And what an inspiring book it is! Stunning photos for each vegetable. Plenty of instructional pictures to tell you how to prepare the vegetable.

Beautiful pictures abound on every page. Practical, straightforward advice for preparing and cooking the vegetable. Just flipping through, looking at the pictures, and reading the compatible flavours sections of each vegetable will get you hungry, and ready to cook on your own.

If you're more of a novice cook, and need more guidance, there are slightly more detailed blurbs about what to do with the vegetable in question. If you need still more inspiration, there are imaginative recipes (many with full colour beautiful images to accompany them) that tell you even more in detail what to do.

This is not vegan, by any stretch of the imagination, but all the recipes can easily be adapted to become vegan. Every recipe I've read has been vegetarian. That's what I love about this book. Yes, there is a bit of cheese, or butter here and there, but that's not the focus, and you could well leave it out or substitute it! It's not like some books where the vegetables take a back seat to meat. Instead, there is no meat. It's all vegetables, with plenty of different kinds of spices and the like.

I love a book that I can flip through on a rainy day, hot cup of tea by my side, and just get inspired from. The best part is that it publishes in the Spring, which means that you'll have plenty of inspiration about what to do with the haul you get from your farmer's market, food co-op, CSA, or even manager's specials at the grocery store (I'm as broke as you are--I won't judge!) throughout the season of plenty. It'll take you right into the summer with all the bountiful produce coming into season then too.

I'm gushing so much about this because I was truly inspired to get out and cook different things. It broke me out of my mental rut. I hope when you get your hands on the Vegetable Butcher, it will do the same for you!

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I respect what Mangini was attempting to do with this cookbook, and it could be a great cookbook for a young adult who is cooking for him or herself for the first time, but basically it's a book about how to cut and prepare vegetables. And when I do come across a piece of produce I don't know how to prep, I can just look up a video on YouTube which is both free and requires no shelf space on my precious and very, very small cookbook shelf.

Verdict: Lovely photos and instructions, not nearly enough actual recipes or cooking techniques.

[Ann L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cool book on how to store, slice, dice, prep, cook, make lots of vegetable meals of all varieties! I like the beginning section on what knives are the most important to use and how we really don't need all the knives out on the market. Just a few is all you need. I like the A-Z vegetable sections on how to "butcher" (kind of a crude word to use for cutting vegetables, but that's what the author calls it), the different ways to cook that one vegetable, and some other side recipes that include that vegetable. I like how she puts several homemade dressings and vinaigrette recipes to use in her book too. There are pictures throughout the book on what each vegetable looks like and she shows how to "butcher" the vegetables through words and pictures. If you don't know how to actually use the different knives, she teaches you how to use them, how to maintain them and which ones to buy.

I bought this book so I could get NEW and other ideas for prepping/cooking/eating vegetables. I was getting bored of always doing the same thing with my vegetables, and I also wanted to learn more about "other" vegetables I never tried before, so that goal was met by buying this book. Now to experiment and play in the kitchen with my veggies!

[Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth checking out for its caramelized broccoli with chile oil and parmesean recipe alone. Worth owning for its helpful guides to selecting, chopping, mincing, and prepping every vegetable you'll find in your grocery store (Plus a few veggies I've never even heard of). I'm trying to go more vegetarian in my diet and after eating at Cara's Little Eater restaurant I just new I had to try out her cookbook. I'm looking forward to trying many more if not ALL of the recipes in this colorful, well-organized cookbook.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

When things are done properly, they get easier. In The Vegetable Butcher, Cara Mangini shares simple recipes that highlight a vegetable's flavor, but more importantly, teaches you the proper...way to slice, dice, and julienne it.
Epicurious

If you love vegetables, this book is a must-have!
Dorie Greenspan

[Jessica Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about picking out, butchering, and storing vegetables. Her recipes seemed more advanced than what I’m ready for right now.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is always a joy to read a book where the author has a passion for the subject.

Tons of interesting recipes and advice.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and useful instructions alongside inventive recipes. Surprisingly, I have found myself returning to the carrot section again and again.

[Critterbee❇ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great compendium featuring many well and lesser known vegetables and how to prepare them all.

Some of the vegetables receive a little more love from the author, and I did want more recipes, but overall the ingredients were treated respectfully and the recipes appealing. Also included were instructions on how to cut each vegetable in several different ways, which I think is quite useful for every cook to know.

This would be a great gift for people who are trying to broaden their cooking skills, or those seeking to increase the amount of vegetables that they prepare and consume.

**eARC netgalley**

[Khulood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say, as a vegan, I appreciate this book. There are some vegetables that I avoid trying simply because I don't know how to prep them or what to pair them with. This book mentions a number of vegetables and their types, ways to prep them, and a couple of recipes. Quite helpful!

The only reason this is not a 5-star book for me, is because I hoped there would be a bigger variety of vegetables.

That being said, it is a great book, and I highly recommend getting it if you are looking to expand your veggie-knowledge.

*This arc was kindly provided by Workman Publishing Company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a unique book in that you don't think of the word "butcher" associated with vegetables. Basically this book goes from A - Z with various vegetables and each one has a page with info about that vegetable (when it's in season, what pairs well with it, how to pick a good one, and how to store). Then there is a page or two about various ways to "butcher" that vegetable, then a few recipes using that vegetable. While there weren't a ton of recipes I wanted to try, I still liked all the info about the various veggies and the best ways to prep them. Overall, a good start if you want to eat more veggies or find new ways to use them.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent veg prep and delicious recipes

[Sher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for a friend who wants to learn more about how to includes more vegetables in their home cooking. Well, it's also great for someone like myself who already uses vegetables a lot in cooking. Covers choosing vegetables, storage, preparing, cutting each type of verge, and cooking methods. Also covers season of vegetables, which i every important in todays world, so you know when vegetable are fresh if you see them in the grocery store. Includes recipes in the back-- the few I have tried - excellent. Lots of illustrations.

[Katharine · Rating 2 out of 5]

**snore** I suspect if you bought this book you would whip through the book in a day and never open it up again. OK - so you have no idea how to cook nettles - really are you going to try them now? If you haven't figured out the basics of chopping up carrots or potatoes I doubt this book will bring any major revelations. Sharpening a knife - not earth shattering. Did I stop at any of the recipes - no. Am I anti-veggie - far from it but nothing here would tempt me to bust it open regularly. Sad but true.

[East Gwillimbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vegetable Butcher tells you everything you need to know about selecting, storing, preparing and cooking vegetables. Colour photos walk you through the steps to properly clean and prepare everything from tomatoes to celery root to fiddleheads. There are even a few recipes for each one. I can't wait to try Zucchini, Sweet Corn and Basil Penne. A fascinating read!

[Tamara]

If you've never cooked fresh vegetables before, this book is for you. Explains the basics of storage, prepping and some recipe ideas. Lots of pictures of how to peel, chop, etc. Great for visual learners. Felt sparse on recipes, but includes 3 or 4 for each vegetable.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful compendium of vegetables, delicious recipes, and pertinent information to help maximize and relish your vegetable intake!

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic cookbook, prep book, and vegetable dictionary with items like mizuna, kohlrabi, and salsify.

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one I need to own.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Om nom nom nom. Reading this book made me so hungry. Definitely recommend if you want to include more veggies in your diet.

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as an advance reader copy from NetGalley.

I must admit that I’m such a geek that I do judge a book by its Table of Contents and its Index (which is hard to do with ARCs because the Index is usually unavailable.) I loved the Vegetable Butcher as soon as I opened it because the Table of Contents was so logically and cleanly organized. Butchery Basics comes first, then a few pages of Pantry Support, then each specific vegetable in alphabetical order. So if I’ve got a craving for sweet potatoes or tomatoes (or even garlic or ginger), I know right where to go just by looking at the Table of Contents. Unfortunately, the Table of Contents makes it obvious that this cookbook is nowhere near encyclopedic – at a lightweight 330-something total pages, each vegetable gets at most ten pages of ink. Just enough to whet the appetite.

The Butchery Basics chapter was chock full of interesting information. Although I would have liked pictures to accompany the description of the “Holding a Knife” section, as the difference between the “pinch grip” and the “handle grip” seemed really subtle. In the “Basic Cuts” section, it was difficult to tell what the photographs were illustrating. Once the captions are cleaned up and references are properly inserted into the text, the photographs will add much more value.

The Pantry Support chapter was a fairly short chapter with a relatively comprehensive list of the additional groceries that are usually necessary to cook vegetables. Additionally, it has fairly reasonable directions on toasting nuts and seeds, making breadcrumbs, and preparing two different types of vegetable stocks. The vegetable stock recipes were very straightforward and unfussy. One called for roasting the vegetables first, the other didn’t. Neither seemed to call for anything more exotic than a parsnip or a fennel bulb.

This is definitely a “techniques and ideas” book rather than a “recipe” book. Each individual vegetable section begins with an overview page that highlights the best season for the vegetable, the best “partners” for the vegetable, the varieties of the vegetable, how to select the vegetable and how to store the vegetable. The section then moves on to the “Butchery Essentials” for the specific vegetable, followed by “Favorite Cooking Methods,” and finally a few specific recipes featuring the vegetable. The captions and photographs for the Butchery Essentials sections were very well done – clear and easy to follow (much more so than in the “Basic Cuts” section). The graphic for the Butchery Essentials section for the Wild Greens is terrific, as it illustrates what each of the different type of greens looks like. (Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to identify any of them except dandelion greens at the market.) The Butcher Notes that often accompanied this section were informative – for example, who knew that chilling an onion before slicing it would reduce the tear factor? The “Favorite Cooking Methods” section is genius, as it basically covers the simplest no-frills preparation of the vegetable, be it sautéing, steaming, boiling, blanching, braising, grilling, roasting, baking, etc. Photographs of the finished recipes featuring the vegetable were sparse. The recipes featuring the vegetable are fairly straightforward: an introduction, an ingredient list, recipe steps, and sometimes variations. Some vegetables did not merit any recipes featuring them – and I was shocked to see that both the ever versatile garlic and the super popular ginger were among those vegetables! But I was happy to see how many different tomato recipes there were. And a recipe for spaghetti squash as well. Although there was no meat or seafood included in any of the recipes (really? roasted brussel sprouts without bacon? pot pie without chicken?), there was eggs, butter, cheese and other dairy products included in some of them.

The person who I can see getting the most use out of this book is the older of my two brothers, who is the father of two toddlers and a very competent cook. I can see him turning to a book like this when one of his girls decides she will only eat broccoli, so he has to come up with how to prepare broccoli seven different ways to Sunday. I can also see him turning to a book like this when one of his girls decides that she will not eat asparagus, so he has to come up with a way of making that tantalizing to a two year old.

Another person who I can see getting a lot of use out of this book is a younger single girlfriend of mine, who is aspiring to learn more about cooking and healthy eating. A book like this will teach her the produce selection skills she didn’t learn by growing up going to the grocery store with a super fussy mom, the knife skills that she needs to know to be confident with that produce, and the flavor pairings and preparation techniques that will keep her diet healthy and interesting.

Finally, the third person I can see getting a lot of use out of this book is a friend who has a highly productive summer garden and a share in a CSA, and who is always wondering what to do with all that produce (aside from making more kale chips). She also is a very competent cook, so I could see her mixing and matching between the best “partners” section on the introductory page and the “Favorite Cooking Methods” section to create her own recipes.

Overall, reading this book was an enjoyable way to spend a snowed in winter afternoon. I look forward to the book’s release in print so that I can give it as a gift to the appropriate people. I also look forward to having the ARC for another month and a half so that I may have the opportunity to try some of the recipes. If I do, I will update this review.

UPDATE: It is the dead of winter, so of course I am craving the sunny flavors of a good gazpacho. I decided I would try out the “Seaside Gazpacho” recipe on page 295, rather than trot out my own recipe, which is a bastardization of something from a 1980s vintage Time-Life Good Cooks series. Right off the bat, the Seaside Gazpacho recipe seemed fussier, as it called for seeding and coring the tomatoes, removing the crusts from the bread, as well as peeling and seeding the cucumbers. My recipe calls for none of that. I was in a lazy mood, so I started by simply washing, coring and chunking the tomatoes. Such begins my comedy of errors. My standard household Black & Decker blender was just barely large enough to hold all six tomatoes, if I packed them in there. So, the tomatoes couldn’t move enough to puree. I thought it would be a good idea to add the half cup of olive oil (out of order) to help loosen things up, and the tomatoes still wouldn’t puree. Finally, I removed a cup or so of tomatoes from the blender and that did the trick. The remaining tomatoes and olive oil pureed to a nice salmon color, and continued to puree when I added the leftover tomatoes and cucumber chunks. I didn’t feel like peeling or seeding the cucumber, so there were flecks of dark green in the pale pink puree, which is fine by me as I was going more for simplicity than for aesthetics. At this point, the blender seemed awfully full, so I poured off about two cups into a pitcher before adding the bread, salt and garlic. Yes, I had forgotten not only to start by pureeing the garlic clove, but I also forgot to buy a head of garlic. So I used one teaspoon of minced garlic from the jar in the fridge, which I later realized was actually the equivalent of two cloves. I was good and let the mixture set for 15 minutes before proceeding. Because my blender was so full, I added the red pepper, then pureed it, added the red onion, then pureed it, and finally added the sherry vinegar and did one last puree. Then I poured the contents of the blender into the pitcher and stirred vigorously to mix the two batches. Although I set the pitcher in the refrigerator for the flavors to blend for the minimum four hours, I immediately served myself a small bowl to see what my hands had wrought. It was very good. Silky and sexy is the best way to describe it. Where my version definitely tastes like garlic and raw vegetables (in a good way), this version tastes like something different altogether (also in a good way). I had another small bowl of the gazpacho two hours later, four hours later, and the next day. Yes, I timed my first two taste tests. I couldn’t tell much difference in the flavors from that first bowl I had immediately upon finishing it. Each bowl was fantastic, which is good news because I still have a pitcher three-quarters full of it.

BOTTOM LINE: The Seaside Gazpacho recipe yielded great results. The prep work was a little too fussy for me (who felt more like eating than like practicing my vegetable butchery skills). There also seemed to be a lack of awareness of the size limitations of standard household blenders.

UPDATE #2: For a recipe in Peace and Parsnips: Vegan Cooking for Everyone, I needed to butcher a butternut squash, which I had never done before. Fortunately, my ARC of the Vegetable Butcher was still valid. The instructions on how to butcher a butternut squash were flawless and easy to follow. I especially appreciated the suggestion that I could use a vegetable peeler instead of a knife to remove the skin, which worked much quicker for me.

[Aprilleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't let the 3-star rating fool you as I genuinely liked this book, but I feel that its usefulness is limited.

I like the idea of a book that explains how to select and prepare a variety of vegetables, which this does, but I expected more complete information. For example, all she tells you about Swiss chard is that the stems are edible but need to be prepped separately because they take twice as long to cook, but there's only one recipe that uses them both, and no recipes that use the leftover stems from the recipes that use just the leaves, which seems wasteful to me.

I also felt that she spent too much time on vegetables that no one outside a specialty market has ever heard of instead of providing more complete information about using the leftover edible parts of vegetables most people know of, even if they've never tried them. It was a choice that made the book more adventurous, but less useful.

I also initially disliked the hardcover format, but the binding was well-chosen and I have to appreciate a book that opens and lies flat as well as this one does without risking damage to the binding.

Overall I think this is an awesome book for someone to read through for ideas and basic instruction, but the limited recipes and large number of vegetables I've never even seen make it an unlikely purchase for my home library. It's just too specialized, although for a vegetarian in a city large enough to have numerous specialty produce markets, this is a bonanza.