Ruffage by Abra Berens, Lucy Engelman (Illustrator), E. E. Berger (Photographer), Francis Lam (Foreword); 2019. Hardcover.

Ruffage tackles the questions that home cooks (of any skill level) ask themselves about vegetables: how do I cook this? How do I make this exciting? Do I store this in the fridge? How do I make this into dinner? with new strategies from an exciting new author/chef/farmer in the Midwest. This accessible-but-comprehensive vegetable-focused cookbook picks up where Vegetable Literacy left off, focusing on the simple techniques and information that help any cook prepare a variety of delicious vegetables in a number of ways. Variations, guidance, POV, and smart, unique recipes set Ruffage apart from other vegetable-focused cookbooks: the first-hand guidance from a Chicago and Michigan-based cook and farmer on what to look for in the market, how to store the vegetables, and then the recipes for how to "prepare and accessorise" each vegetable to create a myriad of dishes. The 100 straightforward, informed recipes, each with three or more variations, provides endlessly delicious inspiration. Organised into 20 short chapters by vegetable, including a good balance of vegetables that are best used fresh and in-season (asparagus, peas) and those that store well during those long Midwestern winters (potatoes, celery root), as well as a comprehensive-but-accessible pantry chapter (no Calabrian chili paste here!), this is the vegetable book from the middle of the country that both new and season cooks everywhere can turn to again and again.