Notes about Recipes in this book

• Potatoes with cheese and chile sauce (Papas a la Huancaina)

  • dinnermints on December 05, 2016

    This was just okay. The combination of colors was lovely, but the sauce was a bit mild, and the potatoes would've been better roasted. If I did make this as an appetizer, I'd add some parsley and/or something red to garnish. Maybe roast some red peppers as well.

• Golden beet risotto with crumbled ricotta salata and sautéed beet greens

  • Laura on June 03, 2013

    Pg. 56. I love both golden beets and beet greens so this recipe was tailor-made. It's rare to find beet greens that are still good enough to cook, so when I did, I had to make this. And it was really good! The only change I made was that I did not have ricotta salata so I simply increased the amount of the parmesan to compensate. It was so luscious and creamy and a pretty dish too. I would make this again anytime.

  • Jane on October 16, 2014

    Fantastic! I was looking for a recipe that used both beets and beet greens and this came up in my EYB search. I had red beets not golden but decided to make it anyway as I had all the other ingredients. One of the best risottos I have ever made. Great flavors and really pretty - brightly colored risotto (in my case pink rather than golden) with little jewels of diced beets, then topped with garlicky greens and white crumbled ricotta salata. I will definitely make this again. Maybe next time I'll try it with golden beets.

• Carrot top pesto

  • sheepishjen on April 19, 2017

    This is fantastic stuff. If you ever feel guilty about throwing away the beautiful carrot greens when you buy organic carrots, here's a chance at redemption. This is just as versatile, if not more so, than regular pesto. Use it as a dip, pasta sauce, salad dressing, bruschetta topping - the opportunities are endless!

• Butter-braised baby carrots with dill

  • Alliehipp on June 07, 2026

    Tasty and delish! Used early spring carrots from our CSA share. Served alongside a spicy greens mix salad and rotisserie chicken for an easy weeknight dinner.

• Caramelized spiced carrots with honey and orange

  • Avocet on December 02, 2023

    This works well on the stove top if the oven is occupied.

• Stir-fried carrots and fennel with garlic

  • christineakiyoshi on April 29, 2019

    I am not a fan of cooked carrots but OMG, this was really good!

• Celery root soup with rotisserie chicken, kale, and cremini mushrooms

  • Avocet on December 02, 2023

    We found this very bland.

• Thai galangal chicken soup (Tom kha gai)

  • Laura on April 21, 2013

    Pg. 121. This soup turned out to be really good, despite my reservations. I was unable to find galangal (even at my local Asian market), so I used grated ginger instead. I was initially concerned that the amount of liquid would not be enough for the large amount of mushrooms, but it worked out fine. With the 5 Thai bird chiles, this is a very spicy soup, which we liked. I do have to say that it's not a very attractive soup -- it's very milky in appearance. I recommend using the highest quality coconut milk since it plays such a role in the texture and appearance of the soup.

• Banana leaf-wrapped grilled salmon with a galangal-lemongrass marinade

  • MissKoo on July 23, 2021

    Well worth seeking out banana leaves for this recipe. The salmon marinade has just enough heat and the banana leaves, though admittedly a bit fussy, keep the fish wonderfully moist and make for a lovely presentation. After consulting additional fish recipes, I opted to bake the salmon in a 425 degree oven for 7-8 minutes -- it came out perfectly cooked and exceptionally moist. Beautiful dish for a special occasion.

• Barbara Tropp's lemon-pickled lotus root

  • dinnermints on February 16, 2015

    These pickles are lovely to look at - and delicious. I made two pint jars and added some very thinly sliced beets for some color. They'd make a wonderful host/ess gift (I gave them to my boss for her birthday, which also happens to fall on Valentine's Day). Next time I'd fill 1/3 of the jar or so, then pour some of the pickling liquid, then another third of the lotus root, etc so that the ginger, lemon zest and beet would be more evenly distributed throughout the jars.

• Roasted parsnips and carrots with fresh dill

  • Avocet on December 02, 2023

    It's very good with thyme instead of dill. Also it works better to blanch the carrots and parsnips for 4 minutes before roasting them.

• Gerda's Austrian potato salad

  • sarahkalsbeek on July 04, 2020

    This is absolutely delicious. I made it without bacon and it was wonderful, but would add the bacon for sure next time. Test your seasonings and add more as necessary, as the recipe suggests. Such a wonderful combination of flavors.

• Twice-baked Gruyère potatoes with lots of green onions

  • southerncooker on February 15, 2019

    Made the Twice Baked Gruyere Potatoes with Lots of Green Onions from Roots as part of our Valentines supper. They were very good. I only added almonds to mine since hubby can't eat nuts and son didn't want them in his. I liked the little crunch they gave the potatoes. I did use the suggested Gruyere instead of the other suggestion of Swiss, since I was able to find Gruyere at a reasonable price at our local Aldi.

• Asian pear and daikon salad with yuzu vinaigrette

  • foodgloriousfood on April 01, 2022

    Fresh, light, crisp without much flavor. The daikon and the nashi (Asian pear) don't have a lot of flavor themselves so the dressing needed some punch. I even had fresh yuzu juice for this. Needs herbs!

• Black radish tuna salad sandwiches

  • mjes on May 01, 2018

    Tuna salad is the perfect foil for black radish slices. The tuna salad itself is a solid but not special recipe. Choose your bread carefully. This is a case where I love a barley-rye loaf.

• Panfried trout with roasted radishes and radish green salsa verde

  • Jane on August 12, 2022

    I had some lovely fresh leaves on top of a big bunch of radishes and I didn't want to waste them. This salsa verde was a great use of them. The sauce and the roasted radishes were slightly bitter but I like bitter so it wasn't an issue. I served it with salmon rather than trout - I I think it would work well with any fatty fish.

• Farro salad with roasted rutabaga, goat cheese, and hazelnuts

  • HospitalFarmer on December 07, 2025

    The book also has red wine vinegar and a tiny amount of sugar listed as ingredients for the dressing

• Butter-roasted rutabagas

  • Avocet on April 05, 2020

    I've made this with butter and with olive oil. Both are excellent. It works best if you cover the rutabagas with aluminum foil for the first half of the roasting. Rosemary is an excellent herb with the rutabagas.

• Honey-braised rutabagas

  • Laura on March 24, 2015

    Pg. 270. Wow! This is fabulous! I was concerned that it might be too sweet, but it was perfect. Easy to prep and cook. Great side dish for many different meals. I'd make this again anytime!

  • Hannaha100 on November 22, 2020

    Yes! Both of our fusspots ate this and it's not a veg we have often. The only real work is the preparation of the swede. Nutmeg gave a slightly festive touch (only added to adults' - DH really liked this). In hindsight we only needed half a portion but I'm sure the leftovers will be tasty. Used veg stock and this was fine (didn't need extra salt).

• Aracely's sweet potato waffles

  • hoi_duyk9p on March 16, 2026

    Extremely kid approved!

• Sweet potato biscuits

  • southerncooker on February 17, 2019

    While these were good we didn't like them as much as the ones I make from Martha Stewart which was in the Everyday Food Magazine years ago. Still my go to sweet potato biscuit even though occasionally I try a new to me one.

• Moroccan sweet potato salad

  • urmami on February 25, 2017

    I love this salad for its commendable flavor:effort ratio. To turn it from a side dish to an all-in-one main perfect for packing in work lunches, I'll toss in a can of chickpeas that were crisped up in the oven while the sweet potatoes are roasting. The chermoula-like dressing is lovely on regular potatoes and on fish, too.

• Susie Middleton's sweet potato "mini fries" with limy dipping sauce and spiced salt

  • southerncooker on February 13, 2019

    I loved these fries. The best one's were the crispy ones so next time I'll bake a bit longer to get more crispy ones. I didn't make the optional seasoning salt since I don't like sweet on my sweet potatoes so I used the other option of more kosher salt after they've finished cooking.

  • rachelsmitty on March 23, 2023

    Yowza -- 475F in my oven was too hot! The fries were overdone and some a little burned by 20 minutes; next time I will do 425F. I didn't make the mayo, but did make the seasoning salt without the sugar. It was actually pretty tasty, but as my fries were so dried from the 475, I re-olive oiled them and tossed them with only a 1/2 teaspoon of the seasoned salt. It had a nice roasted coffee flavor with a cinnamon kick. Next time I will also make 1/2 the seasoned salt so as not to waste.

• Grilled sweet potatoes with maple and adobo glaze

  • shoffmann on February 03, 2018

    I didn't bother peeling the sweet potatoes which made this pretty quick and easy. We enjoyed, but I would probably add a bit more heat if I were to make these again. Good texture.

• Sweet potato pie with a gingerbread crust and bourbon whipped cream

  • jumali on November 08, 2012

    I tried this pie this week to see if it would be suitable for our Thanksgiving table. I've never had a sweet potato pie before, but if you're looking for something like pumpkin pie, you may be disappointed in this one. Bourbon was the predominant flavor (which isn't always a bad thing). It had a nice smooth texture, not as custardy as pumpkin pie, but the strings from the sweet potato made it somewhat unappetizing. Preparation was a bit fussy--bake the crust for 12 minutes, then bake the sweet potatoes for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, then bake the pie for 45-55 minutes. It also calls for only 1/2 cup of coconut milk. I couldn't tell it was there, and I ended up wasting the rest of the can. The pie does improve with age, and although the recipe doesn't state so, you can easily make it the day before (and that's a good thing, because it's a pretty big time commitment.). I probably won't make it again.

  • meggan on November 28, 2014

    This was the run away favorite at thanksgiving. I would eat the filling alone like a pudding but the gingersnap crust is great too. We reserved a few cookie crumbs to sprinkle on top.

• Cambodian kroeung paste

  • eliza on March 24, 2023

    I had some fresh turmeric to use so I made this marinade (I had to omit the lemongrass so used some zest instead). I used it on skin on bone in chicken thighs, marinated overnight. Then cooked using my usual oven method, add 1.5 cups chicken broth bake at about 400F. This was a nice change of pace, but I’m probably not going to rush to make it again. The resulting broth was tasty; I look forward to making an Asian style soup with it. As stated in this chapter, fresh turmeric stains everything…spatulas, food processor etc., but fades when exposed to light.

• Okra curry

  • sheepishjen on April 19, 2017

    This is phenomenal! My husband gave it a 9 (out of 10 ), which is unheard of for a vegetable dish, especially since he is also not a curry lover. I usually just pan roast (dry cast iron skillet), or oven roast my okra, but this gives it true star treatment. Once I broiled some boneless, skinless chicken thighs, then sliced them up and added them to the okra curry - perfect meal.

• Turmeric-braised halibut steaks with garlic

  • CarolynG on February 17, 2026

    Simply fabulous! Easy and full of flavor. I served it in shallow bowls with basmati rice and steamed bok choy.

• Creamy turnip soup with greens

  • Laura on March 29, 2015

    Pg. 337. With lovely turnips and leeks from the farmers market, this recipe spoke to me, and oh my, it was good! I followed it exactly except that I had no turnip greens for the garnish. Tried to find mustard greens to replicate the bitter taste of the turnip greens, but no luck. Ended up using some baby chard leaves to make the garnish. I also increased the amount of nutmeg because I really wanted to have that flavor present. Overall, I preferred the soup without the garnish, but that may be because I didn't have the turnip greens. The soup was a perfect thickness and didn't require any additional liquid.

• White balsamic-glazed turnips

  • TrishaCP on June 03, 2016

    Fine but nothing special.

• Kashmiri-style turnips with greens

  • Barb_N on September 17, 2014

    I followed this recipe to the letter, except slightly larger turnips and all the greens. I didn't care for the smell of the black cardamom as it simmered so I scooped those out. Thus, a very mildly flavored straight forward dish- everyone (teen included) ate it up.

  • sheepishjen on April 19, 2017

    This was a tasty way to cook tender baby turnips, though I think the black cardamom was stronger here than I would have liked for the delicate turnips.

• Herb-roasted chicken with turnips and chanterelles

  • Avocet on December 02, 2023

    This was just okay. As much as we love chanterelles, we thought it would be better without the mushrooms.

• Farfalle pasta with turnips and their greens

  • britt on April 03, 2014

    This is a nice weeknight meal. The stems, sadly, really did need to be peeled/trimmed. May just leave them out to save time? Liked with a generous amount of parmesan.

• Shanghai braised beef with turnips

  • sarahawker on May 19, 2021

    Surprisingly simple to make, the house smelled divine. My turnips, even the tiny ones were not done in the amount of time stated. I had made the night before and ended up simmering it for an hour to heat it up, worked out very well. Great way to use turnips if you aren't familiar with them.

• Kitchn

  If you’re still asking WTF is kohlrabi? but also need a new way to cook your sweet potatoes, you’ll find the answer and a handful of delightful recipes...

  Full review

• Seattle Times

  I had no idea what a fool I was to compost carrot tops rather than transform them into pesto, and jettison perfect radish greens instead of puréeing them with carrot, potato, leek and onion for a soup

  Full review

• Denver Post

  ...widespread change in food quality doesn't come from restaurants but from educated, passionate and demanding home cooks. Diane Morgan and her remarkable cookbook are vital instruments of that change

  Full review

• Los Angeles Times by Russ Parsons

  It’s a gorgeous work, loaded with dramatic color photos, that puts root vegetables in a whole new light. Just as pork belly has become a new status symbol, could the same be in store for celery root?

  Full review

• Tasting Table

  The recipes in the engaging and encyclopedic cookbook let the meaty vegetables shine...They prove that butter, cream and cheese are unnecessary accoutrements.

  Full review

• Oregonian by Ashley Gartland

  Each chapter in the encyclopedic work focuses on a single vegetable and educates home cooks on everything from its history and lore to its availability and culinary uses.

  Full review

• Kitchn by Faith Durand

  ...one of my favorite things about this book...Diane shows root vegetables more commonly used in Asian, Indian, and Latin American cooking and teaches through the recipes how good they can taste.

  Full review

• Fine Cooking

  Diane Morgan wrote Roots, The Definitive Compendium because she wanted a "go-to" volume about root vegetables that was both a reference book and a cookbook. Roots delivers both in spades...

  Full review

• Food52 by Bryant Gumbel

  The 2013 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks vs. Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

  Full review

• Food52 by Shauna James Ahern

  The 2013 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks winner vs. Amanda's Cohen's Dirt Candy

  Full review

• Weelicious

  In addition to the drool-worthy images featured throughout, this excellent cookbook contains a plethora of out-of-the-box ideas for using fresh ingredients in unique ways.

  Full review

• Culinary Life

  Diane Morgan has managed to elevate our most taken for granted class of produce to a level of intrigue, and that is no easy feat.

  Full review

• Boston Globe by T. Susan Chang

  Root vegetables don’t call out to everyone’s soul in the way that bacon, say, or chocolate does...But given the book’s generous trove of information...it’s an awfully good value.

  Full review