The trend to buy local produce, grow home gardens and eat with the seasons is growing throughout America. In the summer this can mean frequenting the farmer’s market, choosing familiar summer vegetables and experimenting with stir-fry recipes.
But what should people who intend to buy local produce or eat in season from their home garden do in the winter when they are faced with an unappealing or unfamiliar array of root vegetables? What can be done with a bumper crop of turnips or kale? Andrea Chesman answers these questions with her collection of recipes in Recipes from the Root Cellar: 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables [Storey Publishing, 2010].
Recipes for Winter Vegetables
Recipes from the Root Cellar is 387 pages with a detailed appendix and index. The book begins with a lengthy and detailed introduction to winter vegetables. It discusses each vegetable’s characteristics, availability and storage. Chesman explains how to store and buy each vegetable, basic preparation and simple cooking ideas. The remaining sections of the book are divided into traditional recipes and include salads, soups, dried-bean dishes, main dishes and desserts. There are no photos of the completed dishes in the cookbook.
Vegetarian Recipes and Winter Recipes
Although the cookbook is not specifically a vegetarian cookbook, vegetarians will find a wide array of recipes to suit their needs. With the exception of the “Main Dishes with Poultry” and “Main Dishes with Meat” sections many of the recipes are marked with the symbol for vegetarian dishes. Where dishes can be made vegetarian with substitutions, these options have been included.
Basic and more advanced recipes can be found throughout all the sections of Chesman’s winter vegetables cookbook. The basic recipes are ideal for people who are new to preparing winter vegetables and empower readers to try new vegetables that they have found locally. Between the introductory section and the basic recipes, Chesman has created a tutorial that will help readers explore new vegetables and new tastes when they buy local produce.
She notes which recipes are better for people who have always hated a particular vegetable (or thought they did) and which are better for those who have become accustomed to eating root vegetables. The more sophisticated recipes offer some exotic flavors, often using Asian flavors and spices. The result is an eclectic collection of recipes for cooking winter vegetables in new and exciting ways.
Review of Recipes From the Root Cellar
Chesman has created another cookbook that will become the go-to standard in many homes. Readers familiar with her other cookbooks, like the Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook [Storey Publishing, 2005] or Serving Up the Harvest [Storey Publishing, 2007] will find the same conversational tone in this one. The anecdotes and information included with the recipes make for a good read while choosing which recipe to try next.
One of the reasons why Chesman’s book is so useful for vegetable gardeners and farmer’s market aficionados is because she uses “market measures” as opposed to strict measurements. The recipes are easily altered for what is on hand (substitutions and mixing vegetables is suggested and even encouraged) and measurements are not precise. “Just use whatever comes to hand – the recipes will work out regardless,” Chesman advises. These recipes are perfect for someone looking for a recipe for specifically what they pulled out of the garden or found at the farmer’s market this weekend.
Eating locally in the winter means relying on cold-weather vegetables like cabbage, kale, winter squash and beets. Andrea Chesman offers an eclectic collection of recipes that tells readers exactly what to do with such vegetables in Recipes from the Root Cellar: 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables. This cookbook will be treasured by home gardeners with a bumper crop and curious farmer’s market fans alike.
Chesman, Andrea. Recipes from the Root Cellar: 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables. Storey Publishing, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-60342-545-2.
Genna Cockerham - Genna Cockerham has been writing online since November 2008. She served as Marriage Feature Writer from December 2008 to February ...
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