Veg-table: Recipes, Techniques, and Plant Science for Big-Flavored, Vegetable-Focused Meals

From the bestselling author of The Flavor Equation and Season: A fascinating exploration of the unique wonders of more than fifty vegetables through captivating research, stunning photography, and technique-focused recipes.

"Groundbreaking, inspiring, delicious: Nik Sharma’s Veg-Table is everything I’d hoped for and more!”—Nigella Lawson, author of Cook, Eat, Repeat

Nik Sharma, blogger at A Brown Table, Serious Eats columnist, and bestselling cookbook author, brings us his most cookable collection of recipes yet in Veg-table. Here is a technique-focused repertoire for weeknight mains for cooks of all skill levels looking to add more delicious and satisfying vegetable dishes to their diet.

Combining the scientific underpinnings of The Flavor Equation with the inviting and personal recipes of Season, this book features more than fifty vegetables, revealing their origins, biology, and unique characteristics. Vegetable-focused recipes are organized into chapters by plant family, with storage, buying, and cooking methods for all. The result is a recipe collection of big flavors and techniques that are tried, true, and perfected by rigorous testing and a deep scientific lens. 

Included here are Sharma’s first-ever pasta recipes published in a cookbook: Pasta with Broccoli Miso Sauce, Shallot and Spicy Mushroom Pasta, and more. And vegetable-focused doesn’t mean strictly vegetarian; bring plants and animal protein together with delicious recipes like Chicken Katsu with Poppy Seed Coleslaw and Crispy Salmon with Green Curry Spinach. A wide variety of hot and cold soups, salads, sides, sauces, and rice-, egg-, and bean-based dishes round out this collection.

Featuring more than 100 of Sharma’s gorgeous and evocative photographs, as well as instructive illustrations, this cookbook perfectly balances beauty, intellect, and delicious, achievable recipes.

FOLLOW-UP TO TWO CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BOOKS: Season was a finalist for a James Beard Award and an IACP award. It was on the most prominent cookbook best-of lists, including the New York Times Best Cookbooks, NPR’s Favorite Cookbooks, and Bon Appetit’s Best Cookbooks gift guide; it was also an Amazon Book of the Month. The Flavor Equation was named one of the best cookbooks of the year by the New York Times, Eater, Epicurious, Food & Wine, Forbes, Saveur, Serious Eats, Smithsonian magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, CNN Travel, The Kitchn, Chowhound, NPR, The Art of Eating 2021 longlist and many more; plus it garnered international media attention including from the Financial Times, the Globe and Mail, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times (U.K.), Delicious Magazine (U.K.), The Times (Ireland), and Vogue India. It was the winner of the Guild of U.K. Food Writers (General Cookbook). It was a finalist for the 2021 IACP Cookbook Award.

AN ESTABLISHED AUTHOR: Sharma is a regular contributor to the popular Serious Eats food platform, where his pieces on the science of flavor reach millions of readers nationwide.

UNIQUE YET ACCESSIBLE VEGGIE-FORWARD RECIPES: Not only does Sharma write recipes for every palate, but he writes them for every level of cook, from novices to seasoned chefs. This book melds his science-forward thinking with accessible yet delicious vegetable-based recipes for an engaging and unexpected combination.

Perfect for:Fans of Nik Sharma, Season, and The Flavor EquationVegetarians and flexitarians Those looking to add more plants to their dietHome cooks looking for a new challenge who are interested in learning more about food and flavorBirthday, holiday, housewarming, or graduation gift for food enthusiastsFans of The Food Lab, The Flavor Bible, and Salt, Fat, Acid, HeatReaders who like the diverse, modern approach to ethnic food found in publications like Lucky Peach, Indian-ish, and Koreatown

About the Author

Nik Sharma is the author, photographer, and recipe developer behind Nik Sharma Cooks/A Brown Table and The Flavor Files newsletter. He has appeared on the shows Chefs Secrets: The Science of Cooking (PBS), The Road to Cooking, and the upcoming series, Confluence (PBS). Nik’s work has garnered multiple awards from Saveur, Parade, Better Homes & Gardens, and the American Food Journalism Awards. His first book, Season, was a James Beard– and IACP awards finalist. His second cookbook, The Flavor Equation, was a James Beard Award, IACP Award, and British Guild of Food Writers Award finalist and winner of the silver medal at the German Academy of Gastronomy. He lives in Los Angeles.