Truly a gorgeous book, but I won't be cooking from it. Some of the recipes are so simple that they're not really recipes. (Cut a perfectly ripe tomato in half, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a high quality olive oil. Eat.)
Nigel Parry's photos are the best part and they'll inspire readers to search out and eat seasonal vegetables. But even if Eric Ripert tells me to eat zucchini noodles, I just don't wanna.

Read it if you want to fall in love with produce, be inspired to eat simply and put vegetables at the front of your meal and page through gorgeous full-page photos.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review. ( )

Vegetable Simple: A Cookbook is what the title implies—a collection of very simple recipes for cooking vegetables. The early recipes felt too simple: things I already knew how to make or could make without instruction. The later recipes grow increasingly interesting without getting intimidatingly complex. If you do a lot of vegetarian cooking already, this book may not teach you much that's new. If you know someone making the switch to vegetarianism—or who simply wants to eat more, delicious vegetables—this book is exactly what's needed.

I received a free electronic review copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. ( )

I should start by admitting how big a fan I am of Chef Eric Ripert, having eaten his food on one memorable occasion and enjoyed his many television appearances over the years with the late Anthony Bourdain. So, I was excited for the chance to read a book that might provide a deeper insight into his personality and culinary process. However, I was also a little wary at the outset because far too frequently I have found that cookbooks by celebrity chefs can be shallow vanity projects not worthy of time they require to digest. Happily, Vegetable Simple rises far beyond that level.

As Ripert himself admits in an introductory essay, a cookbook featuring vegetables might seem like a curious choice for someone who has built his career and reputation around cooking fish. It is not strange at all, as it turns out, given his appreciation for the simplicity and beauty of well-executed plant-based dishes that he developed from cooking with his parents and grandparents as a boy growing up in France. In fact, Ripert makes a passionate case that vegetables deserve to be central ingredients in their own right, a position that he has increasingly adopted in his own cooking. His aim with this project is to showcase the flavors and qualities of those products.

Overall, Vegetable Simple does just that. The book contains more than 100 separate recipes covering the gamut of courses from salads and appetizers to main dishes and desserts. Just as comprehensive is the range of vegetables and fruits he includes, from the well-known (potatoes, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes) to the less common (rutabaga, endive, delicata squash). Before each recipe, he offers a brief description of what makes it special, as well as, in some cases, what his personal connection is to the dish. These charming passages were almost too brief but provided great insight into just how much he loves his craft. Each of the recipes is also beautifully illustrated with a color photograph of the finished dish.

There are some real standouts among this collection, although I suspect that each reader will have their own list of which are the winners. For me, the most appealing recipes tended to include the heartier courses, such as Mushroom Bolognese, Vietnamese Pho, Vegetable Pistou, Green Asparagus Tempura, and Warm Golden Beets, Aged Balsamic. Honestly, though, I am not sure that there is a single recipe in the volume that I would not be happy to try at least once. The only real criticism I have is that some of the preparation and cooking instructions seemed surprisingly involved; I guess “simple” can be a relative concept for an accomplished chef. Nevertheless, this is a cookbook that I will enjoy using for a long time. ( )

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