Vegetables & Starches

It’s not an accident that there are more recipes in this chapter than in any other in the book: Vegetables are my favorite food to cook. They offer such a boundless variety of taste, color, and texture that I’m still discovering new vegetables and learning to appreciate the ones I wrote off when I was younger. There are countless ways to prepare even one vegetable, let alone the whole cornucopia; I could fill a book with string-bean recipes if I wanted to. I love the immediacy and constant interaction of sautéing or simmering vegetables on the stovetop; you get a feel for the way the flavor is developing by watching the changing appearance and smelling the aroma wafting from your pan, seasoning and adjusting as you go.