Friday, June 13, 2014

Brassicas: a cookbook review

I recently read and tried recipes from Brassicas by Laura B. Russell. I was so excited to review this book, because as much as I love many of these often misunderstood vegetables, I had no clue what to do with part of them.
First of all, what is a brassica? Brassicas include, but are not limited to Kale, Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Broccoli, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Arugula, Bok Choy, Mizuna, Raddishes, Turnips, and Kohlrabi.

This book's photography is beautiful. David commented on the beautiful cover as I pulled the book out of the package.
When I did my initial flip through, I was a little disappointed by the lack of recipe pictures. Each section has three recipe pictures, which I suppose is sufficient, but I prefer to decide what I'm making based upon a browse through the pictures.
Lack of pictures aside, it is a really good book. The organization is logical and the recipes are easy to follow. I was actually able to learn about the vegetables; the author goes over how to pick out, prep, and cook each of them. There is also a special diet/allergy section in the back of the book that gives a quick reference to allergens and suggestions for modifying the recipes.

One thing I always look for when evaluating a cookbook is how many recipes are my family likely to eat without any hassle. The answer for this book is not very many. However, I am very interested in the majority of the recipes, and most of them are side dishes anyway, so I'll still be trying them.

For this review, David and I picked two recipes that were somewhat kid-friendly: Broccoli and Pepper Jack Frittata and White Pizza with Arugula and Prosciutto.


Both recipes were good, nothing to write home about, but good. My boys eventually ate both, but Quinn (3) cried and refused to eat. Zeke (5) liked the frittata, but after one bite of the pizza said it wasn't good for him. Wyatt (1) kept spitting out his bites of the frittata, but happily munched on the pizza.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. All opinions and words are my own.

If you'd like to buy this book through my amazon affiliate link, check it out here:
 

What is your favorite brassica?

13 comments:

  1. It includes everything i like.. I just got into brussel sprouts..

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    1. I know, we love brussels too! The book has an entire section devoted to brussel sprouts and cabbage.

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  2. Yeah a lack of pictures in a cookbook is not good. Also not too many family friendly meals too is not good either. Such a pity! Thanks for your honest review!

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  3. This sounds like a fantastic book and I really think I could learn a lot from it.

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    1. I have really learned a lot from this book and I'm excited to try more of the recipes

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  4. I never would have associated brassicas with allergies - that's cool that the book has a section from that. That sucks there aren't a lot of pictures, that's one of the things that really motivates me to make a recipe.

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    1. I guess I should have been clearer; the book makes note of which recipes have common allergens like gluten or dairy and how to substitute those ingredients out.

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  5. It's odd, I just got into "Brassicas" (didn't know this had a name) as an adult. Sounds like an interesting book.

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  6. It's sad that it wasn't too attractive, because pictures really make a cookbook, but it is really impressive that you found so much value and you are teaching others already... I am learning from you!

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  7. Sounds interesting! We just joined a CSA and are going to be getting lots of veggies, including these, so I like the idea of new ways to cook them.

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  8. I didn't know what brassica was until now. I do like a good number of brassica though. :) Thank you for sharing this, what a cool cookbook!

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  9. I love the word brassica...and love all of them. Always looking for new ways to eat them, I'll have to check this book out!

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  10. I need a new cookbook and then I need to actually use it to cook instead of just for decoration in my kitchen.

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