Misunderstood Vegetables: How to Fall in Love with Sunchokes, Rutabaga, Eggplant and More

In this informative and inspiring collection, private chef Selengut (Shroom) invites readers to consider (or reconsider) 25 oft-neglected vegetables, including “the gnarled root, the twisted tuber, [and] the prickly green.” Lovely photos and vivid descriptions accompany three recipes per vegetable, all organized by season. Acknowledging that what’s “unfamiliar” varies by culture and exposure (okra is better known in the South, for example), Selengut offers shopping, prepping, and cooking tips, all of which are crucial for a first encounter with an artichoke, the stick-shaped burdock, or a tomatillo, and shares what to expect in terms of flavor and texture. Nettles are hard to find, but “supremely tasty” in creamy scrambled eggs with nettle pesto. The edible flowers that blossom from squash plants are not only attractive, they allow cooks to make use of the whole vegetable; stuffing one is “fiddly” but, Selengut asserts, worth the resulting “melt-in-your-mouth blossoms.” Recipes include classics and inventive twists: Saag paneer made with mustard greens brings out that vegetable’s “horseradish-like sharpness”; a kohlrabi slaw with apples, herbs, and mustard seed dressing promises to take home chefs outside their “cabbage coleslaw comfort zone”; and jicama elotes play on the flavors of Mexican street corn. For curious cooks looking to branch out, this exploratory introduction will be invaluable. (Feb.)