I’m nearly useless at growing food, but, still, I’m very interested in edible gardening. I’m extremely envious of those who so easily end up with way too much zucchini or plant tomatoes and have enough for canning. The best I can do is grow some herbs, try to keep my bay laurel tree alive, and keep watering my lemon trees in hopes of getting one or two lemons each year. I appreciated the enthusiasm for plant science and growing all sorts of vegetables in Veg-Table by Nik Sharma of which I received a review copy. He’s clearly a capable gardener. With his academic background in microbiology, biochemistry, molecular genetics, and public health policy, he has focused that education on food both scientifically and culinarily. This new book groups vegetables into families and offers information about their origins, uses, storage tips, and how to cook with them. The flavors are diverse, and the dishes cover all seasons. Although it is obviously very vegetable-forward, it’s not an entirely plant-based cookbook. And, for any less-familiar vegetables, there are handy cook’s notes with each recipe that tell you what to look for and why as you prepare them. I started cooking from this book back when golden beets and bok choy were in season, but I’m still cooking from it lately with summer okra. In the intro to the chapter where you’ll find the bok choy recipe, the mustard family of plants is described. There’s an interesting explanation about the enzyme myrosinase which is released when brassicas are chopped. It produces a sulfurous smell and bitter flavor, and that effect can be reduced by soaking the chopped vegetables in cold water. I love learning the science behind food like this. For the Bok Choy with Crispy Tofu, the bok choy was steamed and then briefly stir-fried. The tofu was crisped with a coating of panko and black and white sesame seeds, and the dish was garnished with green onion and chile crisp. The Okra, Feta, and Barley Salad with Pumpkin Seed Sauce was a fun mix of flavors and textures. I added shrimp on top, and the sauce was fantastic with the salad and the shrimp.
The Beets, Toasted Barley, and Burrata Salad was another terrific combination. Now that the season for beets has passed, I’m thinking this would also be great with tomatoes and cucumbers in their place. For the version shown here, the beets were boiled and peeled before being added to a mix of rice vinegar, maple syrup, poppy seeds, red pepper flakes, and salt. That mixture was brought to a boil and then simmered, and then the beets were stored in the vinegar in the refrigerator before the salad was assembled. The barley was toasted in a dry skillet and crushed with a mortar and pestle. To plate the salad, arugula was spread on a platter, burrata was placed on top, the pickled beets were added with the ground toasted barley, and olive oil was drizzled to finish.
This book has a lot to offer with all the plant science information and insights about how to use a variety of vegetables. And, the range of flavors in these recipes will bring new tastes to the table. While I’m struggling to keep my basil alive in the heat and use it while it’s growing, I never would have thought to add some to a roasted tomato miso sauce. I have to try that and lots more from this book.
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