Root-to-Stalk Cooking: The Art of Using the Whole Vegetable Book

A cookbook featuring more than 65 recipes that make use of the parts of vegetables that typically get thrown away, including stalks, tops, ribs, fronds, and stems, with creative tips for making the most of seasonal ingredients to stretch the kitchen dollar.

In this era of vegetable obsession, our home vegetable gardens and farmers markets offer forests of leafy greens, emerald stalks, and plump squash. And yet, in the kitchen, most people cut, peel, trim, and throw away half of their produce. Focusing on the overlooked parts—broccoli stalks, fennel fronds, artichoke leaves, and even carrot tops—Root-to-Stalk Cooking reveals a whole new world of flavors while reducing waste and saving money. Watermelon rinds transform into Thai Watermelon Salad, cumin-toasted squash seeds are sprinkled over Roasted Winter Squash Soup, and leek tops that normally would go straight to the compost bin star in Leek Greens Stir Fry with Salty Pork. By thinking differently about the produce we buy and grow, Root-to-Stalk Cooking allows roots, stems, leaves, and seeds to take their rightful place at the table.