The Victory Garden Cookbook

by Marian Morash

There’s never been a cookbook like it. An incomparable variety of enticing recipes (more than eight hundred) . . . Basic gardening information . . . Shopping tips for nongardeners . . . Cooking inspirations for whatever you’ve plucked from the garden today or found fresh in the market . . . Vegetables as accompaniments . . . Vegetables as main courses (including recipes that use meat, fish, and poultry) . . . Vegetable soups, appetizers, salads, relishes . . . Even vegetable breads, pies, cakes, cookies . . . And more, as demonstrated over the years on The Victory Garden public television series.

A whole world of vegetable delight.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Gardening, Reference, History

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the second cookbook I ever used in my life (Joy being the first) and from age 10 I have been making these recipes and it is still my favorite cookbook. Let me tell you why... first, there is a tiny bit of nostalgia which comes from watching the Victory Garden tv show on PBS as a child, where Marian Morash always did a little cooking segment. I loved it.
Second, and why this is still a super useful book, is that it is organized by vegetable. I have a CSA share year-round, which means every week there is a big bag of veggies that I have to figure out what to do with. Kohlrabi? Just turn to that chapter and Marian will describe how to grow it, store it, prepare it, and list 20-30 recipes how to cook it. And not only fancy stuff but really simple classic recipes for straight up veggies sauteed in butter, or cream sauce. Maybe they are no-brainer but sometimes it takes reading it in a book to remind me to just keep it simple. And sometimes it's just good to have a reference on how long it takes to cook squash-- she describes all the possible methods- steaming, boiling, baking, broiling, etc etc with times and tips for each. And since the focus is vegetables most recipes are vegetarian although there are certainly meat and fish ones scattered throughout. A classic reference for every gardener and cook.

[Cyndi L. Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cookbook every gardener and cook should own. (May be out of print, so look to a 2nd hand bookstore or Powell Books.) This is the inspiration with the recipes listed by vegetable. It begins with Asparagus and ends with Rutabagas. These are the recipes from the original Victory Garden TV show on PBS and they are wonderful. Some show the era they were created in, but easy to adapt to your needs today. Great stories too. Side note: Marian Morash worked for Julia Child on one of her TV shows as a contributing chef.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most people are aware of the PBS TV show “Victory Garden”, named after the vegetable gardens people were encouraged to plant during WW 2 to help with the food shortage. Originally a gardening show, it added cooking as viewers wrote in, asking how to cook the vegetables they had grown. Arranged with the vegetables in alphabetical order, from asparagus to turnips (zucchini are dealt with under “Squash (Summer)”), it’s easy to find what you want. The author tells us how to pick them from the garden, what the preferred methods of cooking them are, some simple methods, the yields, how to store and preserve, and hints; and then we get the recipes, both simple and more complex. Note that this book *does* use heavy cream, cheeses, sour cream, and butter; this is not a diet book but more like a farm cookbook. But it isn’t that hard to substitute lower fat ingredients for those. This cookbook may have just pushed my old vegetable cookbook favorite, the Farm Journal one, into number two status.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite cookbook of all time

[Littleton Community Farm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the photo's and recipes! All are solid!

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on the PBS series of the same name. If you are a gardener, this is a great cookbook! I always struggle to use up vegetables, and this book has a lot of options!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ideal for people who have a vegetable garden, but some great ideas if you're trying to insert more interesting vegie recipes into your meals. Definitely an oldie, but goodie.

[Trace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this cookbook - I think I'm going to look for a used copy.

[Suzette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic cook/ gardening book. Excellent recipes with very good information on what to do with the food you can grow in your garden. Suggestions for different ways to prepare foods, the best times to harvest etc. The book is set up alphabetically for easy reference. Growing methods are included with each vegetable. A pleasure to read and easy to understand.

[Barb Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many great recipes in this book. It is organized by vegetable, so it's really easy to find what you're looking for. I love the Zucchini Tomato Pie recipe, and the onion rolls recipe is to die for!

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family joined a local CSA so we were looking for ways to prepare the massive amounts of fresh produce we'd bring home every week this past season. This book, though fairly old, has held up pretty well and has some creative and healthy recipes for all kinds of garden vegetables.

[HeatherB · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good basic cookbook needed for everyone's shelf. Organized by vegetable, Marian provides tips on how to select when shopping/gardening, the best ways to cook, and the best ways to freeze/preserve. That is in addition to a chapter's worth of her recipe's featuring that vegetable. Without equal.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tons of good info about every veggie...lots of great ideas for cooking/baking/preserving/growing!

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is one of those indispensable cookbooks for when you don't know what to do with all of that stuff coming out of your garden.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this cookbook. I bought it.. It helps me with all the different varieties of veggies out there and how to cook them. There are basic cooking methods for any vegetable you can imagine.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My sister loaned me this book and now I'm thinking of buying my own copy. This is like an encyclopedia for vegetable growing and cooking.

[Harold · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only cookbook you need when it comes to vegetables.

[Jobiska (Cindy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gift, and I haven't used it much, but the photos etc. are gorgeous, so I should resolve to do more with it!

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tonie gave this to us and it is gorgeously photographed and one of her favorite cookbooks

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Notes:
gardening notes as well as food prep
so helpful with our csa box of veggies

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The one cookbook I wouldn't want to be without. Mrs. Morash tells you how to plant, harvest and cook just about every vegetable grown in the U.S.A.. And she doesn't skimp on the garlic, either.

[Barbara (The Bibliophage) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not always the healthiest recipes, but it's my go-to book for those classic flavors!