Root-to-Stalk Cooking

June 3, 2013
The main draw of this thoughtful, plant-centric (not strictly vegetarian) volume by San Francisco Chronicle contributor Duggan (The Working Cook, The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee) is its collection of creative ideas for preparing a wide variety of vegetables (and fruits). And the fact that many—but not all—recipes offer suggestions for using parts of ingredients that typically wind up in the compost is a great bonus. The author organizes the chapters by type of veggie (“Roots & Tubers,” “Bulbs & Stems,” “Leaves,” and so on), and offers more than 65 straightforward recipes, such as a carrot slaw with Greek yogurt, lemon, and coriander; crispy fried leek greens; and Gialina’s Kale and Farro Salad with Avocado—perfect for anyone trying to cook up the contents of a CSA box. Of course, there are also plenty of dishes that use ingredient parts that are typically thrown away, like carrot-top salsa verde with roasted root vegetables; chard-stalk hummus; and shaved-broccoli-stalk salad with lime and cotija. It’s an eye-opening education for those seeking to embrace the waste-not food-preparation ethos.

July 1, 2013
Any cook preparing vegetables knows well that the sink soon overflows with peelings, roots, skins, and cores that are too dirty, dry, fibrous, tough, or bitter to include in a dish. But Duggan has found some creative ways to incorporate many of these scraps usefully instead of relegating all of them to the garbage bag or compost heap. Carrot tops form the base of a tangy Italian salsa verde to dress roasted root vegetables. Broccoli stalks yield a good pasta sauce. Unshelled fava beans can be grilled so that even their pods turn edible. Apple peelings infuse bourbon with a lovely fruitiness. No one can call this a vegetarian cookbook; nevertheless, when meat appears here, as often it does, it plays a supporting role. One of Duggan's most intriguing ideas combines potato peelings with a modicum of bacon fat and some herbs and spices for a wonderfully crispy appetizer or snack.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)