River Cottage Veg: 200 Inspired Vegetable Recipes [A Cookbook] Hardcover – Illustrated, May 14, 2013

I love to cook and have owned many, MANY cookbooks and this is the best cookbook I've ever purchased. I've tried 6 recipes so far and every one has been fantastic. AND they've all been zucchini-based, which is saying something. It's not easy to make a zucchini dish taste amazing.I've been vegetarian for a while and have been eating mostly vegan lately and this book has been an inspiration. A lot of recipes are easily made vegan if they're not already and they look so good from the wonderful photos that I want to make them all. It's obviously a great choice for veggies and vegans, but even if you're just trying to cut down on your meat consumption or want to try a more veg-based lifestyle, this will definitely help you do it deliciously.Also, if you're an avid gardener like me, this book is an absolute MUST. There are so many dishes to showcase your veggies, herbs, and anything you grow in wonderful meals that don't take a lot of effort but look professional and taste delicious. I love that in a lot of the recipes you can use multiple things from your garden in the same dish, such as garlic, kale, and potatoes or zucchini, garlic, and herbs, so it becomes a meal that you produced almost entirely on your own. And obviously the fresh ingredients take anything up a notch, so every recipe turns out amazing.The recipes are the rare combination of simple but stunning...the ones that don't take a lot of work or fancy ingredients but turn out looking and tasting like something you'd get at a great restaurant. I absolutely LOVE LOVE this cookbook. I want to use it all the time, it has restored my inspiration to cook, it's beautiful yet simple, and I can't wait to look for the next recipe I'm going to try. It's that awesome.

Let me start out by saying that this is a fantastic cookbook. I've made about twenty of the 200 (!!) recipes in this thing, and even if 10% is arguably not a large enough sample size to draw conclusions on the full population, I can say that every single recipe that I've tried has been a winner. Ever since I bought this book, I've made at least two or three meals per week from its contents. The recipes range from exceedingly quick and simple preparations to half-day endeavors with a proportional increase in complexity. The instructions are clear, but there isn't much elaboration, so this book's probably not appropriate for an absolute beginner in the kitchen. Scattered here and there are suggestions on variation, and many of the recipes have ample room for improvisation based on season and availability of produce.The other thing I want to point out is that this isn't a dieting cookbook. Nor is it a vegan cookbook, although a good fraction of the recipes could be considered vegan. Whittingstall's manifesto (if it can be called as such) can be summed up as follows: we should all eat more veg. The way to make that happen is to demonstrate that vegetables can be the star of the meal in their own right. There are no cop-out recipes here where meat is simply replaced by tofu or bean product. Every dish is centered on highlighting the veg, not masking it. That being said, there is liberal use of oil, butter, and cheese, so is this a healthy cookbook? I think yes, because ultimately since buying this book, I have seriously increased my veg intake and decreased the amount of meat that I eat. Not because I'm dieting, but because I've changed the way I look at meals. Honestly, most of us probably should eat more vegetables. This book can help.

Even though I highly value the reviews by other consumers on Amazon I have never sat down to write one of my own. I have recently purchased several cookbooks on Amazon...mostly vegetarian. Some hit the mark, some missed the mark, but River Cottage Veg--SURPASSED the mark!This beautiful book is full of tasty, easy, wholesome recipes that come out looking stunning. Hugh is also personable and down-to-earth. His directions are clear and concise. Many of the dishes that are served warm can also be served as cold leftovers---more like a salad--so perfect for picnic planning. I cannot wait for the weather to cool down so that I can try some of Hugh's mouth watering (looking) soups.I have made about 9 dishes so far and all have been delicious! My favorites so far: New Potatoes, Green Beans and Olives (such a simple concept, I was embarrassed that I never thought of it before, but the combination is delightful!), Lettuce, Green Onion and Cheese Tart, Upside-down Onion Tart, Vegegree, and the Lentil and Parsley Salad. The Baby Beet Tarte Tatin will be my next attempt---and I can't wait!I would love to get some more of Hugh's cookbooks, but I don't eat very much meat and I don't bake bread. Hugh, if you write another vegetarian book, I'll pre-order!!!Happy Cooking everyone!

This has become our go-to book. There are a number of recipes in this book that have become weeknight staples for my husband and I (the acid test of any recipe book for me - do I adopt the recipes as my own?). We are experienced cooks, and often get frustrated with recipe books these days. They're often too simple, and not very creative, and most times we could have come up with better ideas on our own. This book is not like that at all. There are genius ideas in here, not all of them easy or quick, but most of them delicious and worth making part of your repertoire.