Cookbooks are about so much more than recipes. Good cookbooks offer stories, tips, inspiration, and sometimes lovely photography — great ones wrap up all of the above into a beautiful package that you come back to, over and over. Here at PA Eats, we’re big fans of cookbooks — especially ones by local authors — and we love how each one shines a new light on what’s possible to cook in our home kitchens. One new cookbook that we’re excited about is Pennsylvania Vegetables, a new digital celebration of local produce, from the folks at PA Veggies. This free 125-page cookbook is available for download and is beautifully formatted for a tablet or smartphone screen.
The book opens with an introduction from Russell Redding, PA’s Secretary of Agriculture. He reminds readers that the book is about more than recipes and that it “represents the collaboration, the spirit, that we absolutely need to bring our food community together. We want something that represents our products, our produce, our season, our farms, and our food and tables.”
Pennsylvania Vegetables is divided into four main sections. The first is “Guide to PA Veggies,” a wonderful compendium of info on all the produce you crave. It breaks down which veggies are available across the seasons, and where to best find them, and then provides charts with basic info for all kinds of items, including their season, health benefits, and tips on how to choose and store them.
The second section is “PA Veggies in the Kitchen,” which is chock full of tips and advice for how to clean, store and prep veggies, including a guide on what to refrigerate and what to keep at room temp, and tips for grilling! There’s even a list of ways to get kids involved, provided by Kim Slack, a registered dietitian and owner/operator of On Your Table, a pediatric nutrition company in the Lehigh Valley.
You know those incredible grazing boards you see on Pinterest and Instagram? There’s a guide for how to DIY those boards at home, a how-to on making zoodles and other veggie noodles, and then an impressive array of colorful recipes, all with a focus on fresh PA produce, of course! From slaws and dressings to pesto, to soup, snacks and appetizers (and so much more), there are great ideas in here for every taste and every culinary level. Many of the recipes come from local cooks and farmers, which together adds such a connected, community feel to the book.
Videos are embedded throughout the cookbook for an interactive experience, which is such a cool bonus of having a digital cookbook! Another easy feature is that if you have any specific ingredient you want ideas for, you can use your device’s find feature (such as ctrl + F) to quickly search the entire PDF. For instance, searching for “sweet potato” brings you to a recipe for Curried Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup, and searching for “chard” leads to a recipe for Swiss Chard Sautee. If you’re interested in preserving techniques, there’s an informative section on freezing, dehydrating, canning and pickling.
One of our favorite sections is “Fun With PA Veggies,” which shares produce-related stories and artwork from across the Commonwealth, such as a profile of Riverwards Produce, a neighborhood grocery in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, and a “Meet Your Farmer” video with Tina Forry of Risser Marvel Farm Market in Annville, PA, who gives a demo on how to make 5-minute salsa. You’ll also find a gorgeously illustrated Guide to PA Tomatoes that’s worthy of being framed on your kitchen wall!
A gallery of photos by Suzanne Itzko closes out the book. These stunning images, which are basically vegetable glamour shots, will make you want to run out to the market for a brimming basket of local veggies, guaranteed!
There is no reason not to download this thoughtful, beautiful cookbook, Pennsylvania Vegetables. This free resource is an amazing addition to your cookbook collection, so grab it today and be sure to help spread the word!
