Eat Your Vegetables by Joe Yonan

The complete title of this book is Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook.  I wanted to get that in straight up since it pretty much sums up what this book is about: A cookbook that helps single cooks create delicious, bold, vegetarian-style meals with ease and delight. It’s not to be missed, even if you’re not single or strictly vegetarian!

• Who wrote it: Joe Yonan

• Who published it: 10 Speed Press

• Number of recipes: 80

• Recipes for right now: Cold Spicy Ramen Noodles with Tofu and Kimchi; Spicy Kale Salad with Miso-Mushroom Omelet; Tomato, Beet, and Peach Stacks; Ricotta, Zucchini, and Radicchio Sandwich; Fusilli with Corn Sauce; Summer Berry Tart in a Jar

• Other highlights: 
There’s a lot of good basic information here, such as how to make a perfectly creamy hard-cooked egg or a cook up a pot of beans to be dipped into throughout the week.  Joe offers advice and methods for keeping the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry stocked so that preparing a delicious, from-scratch meal at the end of a busy day is not only possible, but enjoyable as well. There are also many fun, innovative recipes, too, such as Chicken-Fried Cauliflower with Miso-Onion Gravy and One-Peach Crisp with Cardamom and Honey, which is a simple, single-serving crisp made with a peach and granola.  

Just as important as the recipes and methods are several essays throughout the book about how to think about, prep, and shop for your meals.  Single cooks often need a little encouragement to overcome the “Why bother?” syndrome and Joe does an excellent job offering support to go beyond the microwave pizza.  Even cooks who aren’t single will benefit greatly from his kitchen wisdom!

The book is divided into seven chapters covering vegetarian lunches and dinners, as well as special sections for sweets, entertaining, and fridge, freezer, and pantry staples. The essays between each chapter are on such diverse topics as, “Forget the Clock, Remember the Food,” “Should We Stop Mocking Mock Meat?”, and “The Politics of Cooking.” Also included are a resource section, bibliography, and index.  Many of the recipes are illustrated with beautiful full color photographs.  The book is hardcover, with a good binding and a smooth, matte, slip-coverless cover.  

• Who would enjoy this book? Single cooks, of course, but couples, too, as the recipes can be easily doubled or combined to make larger meals.  The book is vegetarian, but it’s not exclusively for vegetarians as many people today are like Joe — not necessarily strict vegetarians, but who are eating and preparing less meat in general.

Find the book at your local library, independent bookstore, or Amazon: Eat Your Vegetables by Joe Yonan

• Visit the author’s website: Joe Yonan

Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.

(Images: Dana Velden)