Vegetronic: Extreme Vegetable Cooking

What is “vegetronic”? A world where vegetables (and fruits, too) are at the center of delicious meals—where crisp broccoli is the star of a dinner party and where the flavors and textures of bright, just-picked ingredients are a source of inspiration. As much for carnivores as it is for vegetarians, Vegetronic is a playful and provocative examination of the potential of fresh produce. In this debut cookbook, Michelin-starred chef Alexis Gauthier introduces favorite ingredients from his kitchen—from fragrant rose petals to artichokes, from ripe tomatoes to overripe strawberries—and explains how to highlight their flavors in visually arresting, vegetable-intensive (but not always vegetarian) preparations. As arresting in their presentation as they are boldly flavored, these dishes can be as simple as peeling an orange or dicing a cucumber. Gauthier offers suggestions for coaxing something delicious from early- or late-in-season ingredients, like unyieldingly hard peaches or end-of-season fava beans and peas. Gauthier shows you how to harness eggplant’s velvety texture for a sweet-and-sour bruschetta, or how to make a pan-fried head of broccoli dressed with whole-grain mustard into a worthy main course. Even when a dish gets an extra bump from bacon, chicken broth, or lamb jus, Gauthier’s emphasis is always on the essential flavor of the vegetable or fruit that centers the dish as a whole. These 120 diverse recipes focus on the potential of fresh fruits and vegetables—a salad of warm asparagus ribbons set over ricotta gnocchi and crunchy bacon; a scattering of crisp apples over shockingly pink beets; a chilled fava bean soup topped with a silky poached egg; a pumpkin risotto made even creamier with a dash of mascarpone. So whether you’re a committed vegetarian or just an enthusiastic omnivore, Vegetronic will make you rethink the way you shop, cook, and eat all year long.