Vegetables First: 120 Vibrant Vegetable–Forward Recipes Cookbook Review

Chef Ricardo Larrivée is a Canadian television host and food writer from Quebec. He built a huge media presence with his television shows, numerous cookbooks, magazine, newspaper columns, retail and online merchandise store and a restaurant with 3 Quebec locations. He was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2014 for advocating the importance of cooking and eating together.

I received a review copy of Ricardo’s newest book Ricardo Vegetables First 120 Vibrant Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Appetite by Penguin Random House which was released on April 23, 2019. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to review this fabulous new book, cook many of the recipes, and review the Cauliflower Satay recipe.

I love how Ricardo comes off as just a regular guy who cooks creatively with approachable recipes and ingredients. Ricardo’s brand represents a contemporary family lifestyle with down-to-earth recipes that bring people and families together. His vibrant personality and simple home-style cooking really shine in this book.

Theme

This beautiful hardcover all-seasons themed cookbook offers 120 vibrant vegetable-forward family-friendly recipes. This is not a vegetarian cookbook, but you’ll see how vegetables get first place while meat, fish, and seafood are the runners up.

Ricardo smartly reinvents the vegetable with bright and colourful vegetable-laden recipes. It’s full of straightforward uncomplicated recipes that will have you thinking about vegetables in a new way. The recipes deliver feel-good delicious food that the whole family will enjoy; expect no less from Ricardo!

Contents

Vegetables First contains the most magnificent photos. The photos are done in natural settings and focus on the detail and colour of the food which will inspire anyone to cook their way through the book.

The book features creative recipes from drinks, sauces, appetizers, soups, brunches, salads, sides and mains making vegetables the heart of each one. The recipes are easy to follow with many requiring only a few ingredients. Ricardo conveniently gives prep and cooking times, freezing recommendations and a photo with each recipe.

The book starts with simple recipes and gradually flows to more detailed recipes, but all are effortless to prepare! There is no table of contents or chapters in the book, but there are two detailed indexes; “Index By Vegetable” and “Index By Type of Recipe”. To facilitate the flow of the book, there are several introduction pages that jive with the recipes and/or themes:

• Back to My Roots
• 120 recipes That Put Vegetables First
• My Daily Veg
• Making the Cut
• Dipping In A New Spin on the Veggie Platter
• Flat-Out Easy in Praise of the Sheet Pan
• Juiced Up Saying Cheers to Vegetables
• Field to Feast
• Salad Toss-Up
• Pesto Power Taking it Beyond Basil
• Thinking Big A Whole Vegetable as a Centrepiece
• Family Matters
• Raising the Bar
• Vegetable Horizons
• Bowled Over An Ode to One-Dish Wonders
• Growing a Legacy
• Waste Not Want Not
• Keeping Things Fresh
• Thanks

Recipes

I love how Ricardo delivers vegetable themed recipes beautifully in this Vegetables First book. There are so many great recipes I could easily list every single one as a favourite! Here I’m introducing you to some that I’ve made and have become family favourites:

Spanish Omelette (find the recipe on page 134 in the book) – This hearty omelette was delicious and reminded me of the ones my husband and I ate in Spain. The chorizo sausage gave the omelette a nice smoky and subtly spicy kick, the potatoes made it very satisfying, and the arugula salad topping balanced it all off. It was quick and easy to prepare and made a perfect light dinner. Leftover omelette kept well in the fridge for quick lunches during the week. This recipe was an opportunity to use my favourite Ricardo Countertop Spiralizer to spiralize the potatoes in the recipe.

Rösti-Style Potato Waffles (find the recipe on page 89 in the book) – We love Sunday brunch in our house and these rösti-style potato waffles made a unique and delicious addition to our usual menu. Who would have thought of cooking potatoes in a waffle iron? Since both sides cook at the same time, they cook to a golden crisp with very little fat. I don’t own a traditional waffle iron; instead I have a Mickey Mouse waffle iron which made super cute potato waffles! I placed the cooked waffles on a rack fitted over a baking sheet and they stayed warm and crispy in the oven until needed. The recommended chive sour cream made the perfect garnish. I also added fresh Rosemary and served the waffles with ham, eggs and asparagus. They were a really big hit!

More favourites from the book

• Leek Soup (page 48) – Full of tender buttered leeks and hot chicken broth ladled into heat-proof bowls. Topped with slices of baguette and shredded Gruyère cheese then baked to toast the baguette and melt the cheese. The soup is similar to a classic French onion soup only made with leeks instead. I especially liked it because often I can’t tolerate an abundance of onions and find leeks milder to digest. We enjoyed this soup on a cold day and I can’t wait to make it again!
• Vegetable Bolognese (page 98) – A hearty Bolognese sauce that made a perfect family dinner for us. To please my vegetarian daughter I omitted the anchovy fillets and used vegetable broth instead; the Bolognese was still so flavourful! It’s full of chopped vegetables, red wine, broth, and tomato puree and is simmered for a long time to concentrate the flavours. We had a feast with this Bolognese which I served over pappardelle noodles with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. The leftovers were so good too the next day too!
• Hasselback Squash (page 85) – My family loves butternut squash and I often use it in recipes (including soups) but not usually as a side dish on its own. For this recipe, the butternut squash is the star. It’s halved lengthwise and sliced hasselback-style (thinly slicing it but not going right through). It’s drizzled with olive oil which drips down into the sliced crevices and bakes until golden. I garnished the butternut squash with freshly chopped sage. The presentation was impressive and for such a simple side dish we all loved it!
• Tofu Tacos with Pico de Gallo (pages 166 & 167) – A creative way to use tofu for a taco dinner. Firm tofu is grated and cooked with onions, garlic, corn, and seasonings and was very tasty as the tofu absorbed all the flavours. At the same time in another skillet, I repeated the recipe with thinly sliced chicken so I could feed a bigger crowd. Everyone filled their own soft tortillas with either tofu or chicken and garnished them with cheese and lettuce. I also made the Pico de Gallo which was so simple with tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice and added tortilla chips. It was a colourful meal that everyone enjoyed.
• Cauliflower Satay (page 142) – see my full recipe review below

 

Recipe Review: Cauliflower Satay (page 142)

One of my daughters is vegetarian, but despite this, our whole family enjoys a good vegetarian meal on a regular basis. These Cauliflower satays really appeal to me because they look so fresh and are full of healthy ingredient options. Cauliflower is a great vegetable that’s available all year round and I’m always looking for unique ways to use it in the main dish.

The peanut Satay Sauce that goes with this recipe comes together quickly in a small pot. It’s creamy and smooth and has a slight kick from the sambal oelek. The Satay Sauce is so good I’ll even be using it as a dip for chicken or beef satay in the future!

The cauliflower is coated with a few ingredients including yogurt and spicy sambal oelek, and then baked until caramelized and golden crisp. While the cauliflower bakes it gives you time to slice up the garnish ingredients, chop the peanuts and set the table. As mentioned earlier, I have the Ricardo Countertop Spiralizer, so to add a fun twist to the meal, I spiralized the garnish ingredients instead of julienning them and they looked so pretty!

The baked cauliflower is piled into fresh Boston lettuce leaves that act as cups and is garnished with a choice of vegetable toppings, peanuts and drizzled with the Satay Sauce. It’s so much fun serving this dinner taco style; this way everyone can grab and fill their lettuce cup as they wish.

These Cauliflower Satays were a big hit in our house and proved to be such an easy recipe to prepare. They look adorable when assembled and pop with such bright colours. I’ll definitely be making them again!

Get this recipe!

Bookshelf recommendation

Ricardo delivers recipes that every hungry family will love. His exciting recipes and cooking tips put vegetables front and centre making it a great tool for opening the door to cutting back on meat. It’s full of stand-out solid recipes that are designed to inspire you and work their way into your weeknight routine. Whether you are a vegetarian or meat eater, I encourage you to check out this superb book and take a family adventure into vegetables!

Disclosure:  I received a review copy of Vegetables First: 120 Vibrant Vegetable-Forward Recipes, by Ricardo Larrivée, but not otherwise compensated. All opinions, as usual, are my own.

Publishing Information:
Title: Vegetables First: 120 Vibrant Vegetable-Forward Recipes
Author: Ricardo Larrivée
Publisher: Appetite by Random House®
ISBN: 978-0-525-61045-8

Acknowledgement: Excerpted from Vegetables First: 120 Vibrant Vegetable-Forward Recipes by Ricardo Larrivée. Copyright © 2019 Ricardo Media. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.