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Local Bounty: Seasonal Vegan Recipes
Local Bounty shows how a vegan diet, already healthful and environmentally sustainable, yields even greater advantages when seasonal foods are used in the recipes. Ripe produce is at the peak of its flavor and nutritional value. Less fossil fuel is needed to bring local fruits and vegetables to your table. Small scale farmers use less pesticides than commercial growers. Foods in season are abundant and more economical to purchase. And, buying locally is an important alternative to the globalization of the food industry. You'll be reintroduced to the world of seasonal produce: leafy greens in the spring, tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash during the summer and fall, and root vegetables and winter squash during the cooler months. The recipes are designed to give you a solid starting place for cooking with fresh, local produce wherever you live, even if you don't have much extra time. And these innovative dishes tap into the abundance of seasonal harvests and make it easy to explore new flavors. Cooking with seasonal produce is a delicious way to be ecologically responsible.
187 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2008
1 person is currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Devra Gartenstein
6 books5 followersDevra Gartenstein is the author of "Cavemen, Monks and Slow Food: A History of Eating Well", as well as two cookbooks: "The Accidental Vegan" and "Local Bounty". She lives in Seattle, where she owns and operates Patty Pan Grill, a popular farmers' market concession.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 22, 2022
This is a terrific vegan cookbook with recipes that are relatively easy to make, even for those who don’t frequently cook. There is a smattering of more complex recipes included, but most are straightforward and easy to make.
These recipes are by season, and when that happens, inevitably I most prefer the autumn and then the winter dishes, over the spring and summer ones. What I like best about this book is that the recipes rely heavily on fresh vegetables and fruit. My main quibbles are too much vinegar, too much wine or wine substitute, too much spearmint (there are a whole bunch of recipes in a row that use this herb, which I like, but I noticed how frequently it made an appearance), too much oil, etc. but I tend to not follow recipes exactly anyway, and leaving out the oil, or putting in much less oil, would work for these recipes, at least it would work for me.
The Contents:
Introduction
A Brief Tour of the Vegetable Kingdom
Useful Techniques for Preparing Vegetables
Seasoning
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Glossary
Index
I appreciated that for each season, early, mid, and late vegetables/fruits that tend to be fresh during those 12 periods are listed and, while not a comprehensive list, it is helpful.
The vegetable kingdom section covers just cabbage, chilis, greens, fresh herbs, the onion family, potatoes, squash, and tomatoes, but the information given for them is interesting.
Braising, roasting and grilling, sautéing, and steaming are covered re cooking methods.
The front and back covers of the book have gorgeous full color photos of various produce. Each recipe page has a color toned top corner photo of the vegetable or fruit highlighted in that recipe. There are no photos of the completed recipes.
The recipes that look most delicious to me and reasonably easy to make are:
Spring: morel mushroom gravy, roasted garlic and herb sauce, West African peanut soup, puréed asparagus and potato soup, chocolate dipped strawberries
Summer: Sicilian pesto, squash blossoms with chiles, okra with tomatoes, morel mushrooms with new potatoes and fresh peas, stuffed eggplant, Israeli couscous with fresh fava beans
Fall: squash hummus, harvest corn and squash soup, twice-roasted potatoes, wild rice pilaf, pumpkin seed stuffing, acorn squash and wild rice patties, pasta with collard greens, squash and noodle casserole, delicata succotash, black bean chili, gingered pears
Winter: lentil-barley soup, vegetable-barley soup, broccoli romana, roasted root vegetables, squash and greens
This is a cookbook that will get a place on my kitchen bookshelf because I can see using it. Delicious and easy to make recipes, and healthy, especially if somewhat adapted.
These recipes are by season, and when that happens, inevitably I most prefer the autumn and then the winter dishes, over the spring and summer ones. What I like best about this book is that the recipes rely heavily on fresh vegetables and fruit. My main quibbles are too much vinegar, too much wine or wine substitute, too much spearmint (there are a whole bunch of recipes in a row that use this herb, which I like, but I noticed how frequently it made an appearance), too much oil, etc. but I tend to not follow recipes exactly anyway, and leaving out the oil, or putting in much less oil, would work for these recipes, at least it would work for me.
The Contents:
Introduction
A Brief Tour of the Vegetable Kingdom
Useful Techniques for Preparing Vegetables
Seasoning
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Glossary
Index
I appreciated that for each season, early, mid, and late vegetables/fruits that tend to be fresh during those 12 periods are listed and, while not a comprehensive list, it is helpful.
The vegetable kingdom section covers just cabbage, chilis, greens, fresh herbs, the onion family, potatoes, squash, and tomatoes, but the information given for them is interesting.
Braising, roasting and grilling, sautéing, and steaming are covered re cooking methods.
The front and back covers of the book have gorgeous full color photos of various produce. Each recipe page has a color toned top corner photo of the vegetable or fruit highlighted in that recipe. There are no photos of the completed recipes.
The recipes that look most delicious to me and reasonably easy to make are:
Spring: morel mushroom gravy, roasted garlic and herb sauce, West African peanut soup, puréed asparagus and potato soup, chocolate dipped strawberries
Summer: Sicilian pesto, squash blossoms with chiles, okra with tomatoes, morel mushrooms with new potatoes and fresh peas, stuffed eggplant, Israeli couscous with fresh fava beans
Fall: squash hummus, harvest corn and squash soup, twice-roasted potatoes, wild rice pilaf, pumpkin seed stuffing, acorn squash and wild rice patties, pasta with collard greens, squash and noodle casserole, delicata succotash, black bean chili, gingered pears
Winter: lentil-barley soup, vegetable-barley soup, broccoli romana, roasted root vegetables, squash and greens
This is a cookbook that will get a place on my kitchen bookshelf because I can see using it. Delicious and easy to make recipes, and healthy, especially if somewhat adapted.
November 10, 2009
The Short of It:
A wonderful collection of vegan recipes that capture the essence of the season.
The Rest of It:
Local Bounty is a tasty collection of recipes. Its main focus is using locally grown produce to produce vegan meals that are both simple and tasty. I’m not a vegan but I am considering a vegan diet as some of my recent health issues seem to respond positively to a plant-based diet. The other plus is that a vegan diet is environmentally sustainable. Buying local mean less fossil fuel is needed to transport produce and the practice of buying local keeps our local farmers in business.
The cookbook itself is divided up by season. Each section begins with a listing of all the seasonal fruits and veggies for that season. Since we are in Fall, I decided to try the recipe for Caribbean Pumpkin-Coconut soup. The soup was deceptively simple. I actually doubted how good it would taste when I prepared it as it seemed almost too simple for it to be good. The end product was a smooth, creamy soup with a hint of spice. I can’t really explain it but the soup had a pure, clean flavor. That’s what is so special about these recipes. There aren’t a lot of ingredients because the produce takes center stage and because of this, you can really taste each ingredient. This soup was so good that I plan to make it as a first course for Thanksgiving.
A wonderful collection of vegan recipes that capture the essence of the season.
The Rest of It:
Local Bounty is a tasty collection of recipes. Its main focus is using locally grown produce to produce vegan meals that are both simple and tasty. I’m not a vegan but I am considering a vegan diet as some of my recent health issues seem to respond positively to a plant-based diet. The other plus is that a vegan diet is environmentally sustainable. Buying local mean less fossil fuel is needed to transport produce and the practice of buying local keeps our local farmers in business.
The cookbook itself is divided up by season. Each section begins with a listing of all the seasonal fruits and veggies for that season. Since we are in Fall, I decided to try the recipe for Caribbean Pumpkin-Coconut soup. The soup was deceptively simple. I actually doubted how good it would taste when I prepared it as it seemed almost too simple for it to be good. The end product was a smooth, creamy soup with a hint of spice. I can’t really explain it but the soup had a pure, clean flavor. That’s what is so special about these recipes. There aren’t a lot of ingredients because the produce takes center stage and because of this, you can really taste each ingredient. This soup was so good that I plan to make it as a first course for Thanksgiving.
June 19, 2009
Would have been 5 stars if there were some photos, but otherwise was exactly what I was looking for: book all about produce with all vegan seasonal recipes... tired of ingredient-heavy concoctions with too much analog meats... she has a takeout business in Seattle and runs a stand at farmers' market
November 26, 2011
O.K. It's a cook book. But it has the most simple and best seasonal, vegan recipes! The soups are especially delicious. Plus, the recipes make it easy to substitute different veggies, grains, or herbs. Love it!
June 17, 2010
One of my all time favorite vegan cook books. If you are in to local/seasonal eating + vegan eating you will love this book!
December 14, 2013
Interesting recipes, though none that I was really a big fan of
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews