• Eat Your Books

  2002 James Beard Award Nominee

• sck on July 28, 2010

  Hit and miss. His sauteed chayote was amazing, but his chayote with allspice was left on the table at dinner (not a good sign) and the kale with polenta was bland and a little boring. I'll have to keep trying more recipes to find out what the raves are based upon.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Simplest arugula and tomato salad

  • MollyB on August 19, 2021

    This salad is one my favorite uses for arugula, and it's especially good with ripe summer tomatoes. The mix of vinegars make a great dressing that can stand up the assertive flavors in the salad.

• Roasted asparagus with olive oil and salt

  • twoyolks on May 11, 2021

    Basic recipe for roasted asparagus but it comes out very well.

• Asparagus frittata

  • Partyof7 on December 31, 2025

    Quick easy and tasty. I added an extra egg and next time I’ll add 2 extra. Precooking the asparagus worked well. The frittata cooked quicker than the 8 mins called for. I’ll make this again.

• Avocado, orange and radish salad with lime chile dressing

  • Avocet on July 09, 2011

    Good, even without the radishes.

• Roasted beet salad with walnuts and goat cheese

  • Emily Hope on November 18, 2010

    Great--one of our standard beet salad recipes. The beet greens are a nice touch.

  • MollyB on August 25, 2020

    Great salad, and probably the best beet dish I've made.

• Crisp beet and potato cake

  • MollyB on August 31, 2020

    This was delicious, a great accompaniment to grilled chicken. This is a recipe I would recommend to those who don't love beets if you have some you need to use. I've been getting a lot from my CSA box, and I'm not a big beet fan, but I loved this dish. Make sure to get it crispy - the beets brown faster than the potatoes, but they're good even when really browned.

• Sesame-glazed baby bok choy

  • Nancith on June 18, 2019

    Great way to prepare baby bok choy! The glaze gives it sweet but savory taste with a little bite from the ginger. My son thought more garlic would make it even better.

• Broccolini with garlic and olive oil

  • Nancith on November 16, 2014

    Simple to prepare, very tasty; a nice side dish for a more complex main course.

  • twoyolks on February 25, 2016

    I would've liked a more prominent garlic and olive oil flavor based on the recipe name; both were muted.

  • Blondelectual on March 14, 2021

    Simple, pretty good. Not the most exciting recipe, but a good classic.

• Salted and pressed cabbage with Asian flavors

  • mpo on May 11, 2026

    I looked at this too late to do all the waiting for the cabbage to soak up the dressing but even without that time, very good. I added grated ginger and garlic.

• Stir-fried cauliflower and spinach with red curry sauce

  • MollyB on March 09, 2023

    Very good basic stir-fry that's easy enough for a weeknight. I've tried it with different curry pastes - it's a simple enough recipe that the quality of the paste makes a big difference. So make sure you like the curry paste you use!

• Slow-cooked chard

  • cjross on April 15, 2017

    Pretty easy to make although it takes a bit of time. We thought it was tasty, especially after adding plenty of salt, and will make again.

• Garlicky chard

  • cjross on June 11, 2014

    This recipe was quite good, although I added quite a lot of salt and pepper. I followed the recipe exactly. I have become much more successful at cooking greens since I got this cookbook.

  • twoyolks on December 21, 2014

    This recipe brings out the earthiest and bitterness in the Swiss chard. There wasn't enough garlic in it to make it particularly garlicky.

• Grilled corn, tomato, red onion salad

  • MollyB on August 19, 2021

    Great salad! No matter how much we make, we tend to eat most of it at one sitting. It's very nice alongside grilled steak. Definitely best with fresh corn and good ripe tomatoes.

• Spicy cucumber salad with peanuts

  • twoyolks on September 23, 2021

    Pretty simple but very good. I used a shallot instead of red onion.

• Broiled eggplant slices with parsley, capers, and garlic

  • bellatavia on September 09, 2012

    I suggest pureeing the sauce in a food processor tomake it very smooth--I added some olive oil to make it a little more liquidy.

• Kale with caramelized onions and balsamic vinegar

  • lmhester on January 19, 2017

    We really enjoyed this one. The tiny amount of sugar and the balsamic do a nice job of countering the bitterness of the greens. We would make this one again.

  • vrose on January 22, 2021

    Excellent recipe

• Garlicky kale with white beans

  • bellatavia on February 01, 2012

    This is a very simple recipe but delicious. It is vegetarian as made but I think it would be divine if when I sauteed thegarlic I added sardines. That would really add a nice depth of flavor! Or, skip the sardines and sprinkle parmesan on top once dished out.

• Oven-roasted mushrooms

  • MollyB on November 05, 2019

    Good, basic roasted mushroom recipe. Quick and easy enough to do as a weeknight side dish, and neutral enough that you can use the leftovers in just about anything. The leftovers are very good in scrambled eggs.

• Honey-glazed parsnips with ginger

  • ash_2fquo3 on March 15, 2026

    Even my toddler ate some of these (not a fan of white foods). First time cooking parsnips, approachable and tasty.

• Oven fries

  • twoyolks on February 25, 2017

    Some of the potatoes were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Some were just overly browned and too hard. There's too much margin for error in the size of the potato wedges.

• Creamy potato salad with Southwestern flavors

  • Nancith on August 04, 2016

    If you like the smoky heat of chipotle chiles in adobo, then this is the potato salad for you. Just enough mayo to coat the potatoes & some zingy flavor from limes. I can't take too much heat--this has it, but not so much that it's overwhelming (unless you happen to get a large piece of chipotle!) A great accompaniment to a chili-rubbed pork tenderloin.

• Pan-seared radicchio with balsamic vinegar

  • bellatavia on October 06, 2014

    This is absolutely delicious. The balsamic adds a sweetnexs against the bitter radicchio. This would be delicious with a roast chicken, or with a turkey burger. I ate it with monk fish and it was a little too strong.

  • FlowerGold on February 10, 2025

    Super easy. The sauté mellows some of the bitterness. The balsamic adds a counter balance. Still a bitter dish but a nice option to serve radicchio. Definitely a redo. Might add chopped roasted hazelnuts.

• Roasted radishes with soy and sesame seeds

  • wcassity on June 24, 2019

    Tasty; tasted as you would expect.

• Sweet-and-sour radishes

  • MollyB on July 13, 2020

    Loved these! This is one of my favorite radish preparations. They're so good it's hard to stop eating them (and I generally don't feel that way about radishes).

• Baked sweet potatoes

  • lmhester on January 17, 2017

    We made the Baked Sweet Potatoes with the Lime-Cilantro Butter variation. Oh my!!! Such a fabulous departure from the typical cinnamon topped sweet potatoes! Every now and then I just crave this and do it all over again!

• Maple-braised turnips and carrots

  • MollyB on July 21, 2020

    Very nice side dish, great with pork. It was the perfect way to use the baby carrots and turnips I got from my CSA this week.

• Stir-fried water chestnuts, shrimp, and cashews in spicy orange sauce

  • Nancith on July 16, 2016

    Delicious glaze, and nice textures in this stir-fry. Fresh water chestnuts were not available, so used canned. That definitely made the dish quicker to prepare. Threw in some leftover zucchini as well.

• Butternut squash soup with cider and cardamom

  • Nancith on November 16, 2017

    So, so good! And not even any butter or cream! The ginger & cardamom made for outstanding flavor, and the potato helped make a creamier soup. The toasted walnut garnish was nice, but not necessary. Definitely a keeper.

• Sautéed zucchini with lemon and parsley

  • MollyB on October 26, 2023

    Basic but very good recipe for sauteed zucchini. Salting plus really browning makes a big difference in taste and texture.

• Parmesan-crusted zucchini

  • zengal on June 07, 2024

    Very good and easy recipe. I will make it again.

• Beer-batter fried squash blossoms

  • MollyB on July 13, 2020

    Very tasty recipe, and one of the easiest batters I've made. After I fried the first batch, I tried dredging the blossoms lightly in flour before the batter, and I found that got them a little better coated. (Though the first ones were great, too. :)) I also tried the batter on some young zucchini and it worked really well for the zucchini, too, creating a tempura-like light coating.