Brassicas: Cooking the World's Healthiest Vegetables: Kale, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts and More

A cookbook showcasing 80 recipes for the most popular of the world's healthiest vegetables — kale, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, leafy greens, and more — tailored to accommodate special diets such as gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan.

For a long time, brassicas had a mixed reputation. While a small group of people staunchly adored them, most Americans were not as fond of the vegetables formerly known as "cruciferous" (who doesn't remember a plate of stinky boiled cabbage or President Bush's condemnation of broccoli?). But in recent years, a transformation has occurred. Kale has taken the world by storm and there's hardly a restaurant left that doesn't have brussels sprouts on the menu. The rising popularity of brassicas is not only due to their extraordinary health benefits and "superfood" status, but also the realization that they can taste delicious when properly prepared. Brassicas shows home cooks how to bring out the flavors of these vegetables without death-by-boiling or burial under a blanket of cheese. When roasted, brassicas reveal an inherent sweetness. In a fresh salad or sauté, they add a delightful peppery punch. Celebrating natural flavors rather than masking them, Brassicas both inspires cooks as well as arms them with appetizing new ways to increase their vegetable consumption.

Eighty inventive, flavorful recipes showcase the most popular of the world's healthiest vegetables--kale, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, leafy greens, and more.

Brassicas plays to each vegetable's strengths, favoring techniques that celebrate their intrinsic flavors instead of masking them by blanketing under layers of cheese or boiling. Think of the inherent sweetness that can be coaxed from perfectly roasted Brussels sprouts, or the bright, peppery punch of a watercress and arugula salad. Straightforward cooking methods like roasting, sauteing, pickling, and wilting transform brassicas into satisfying dishes, such as Cauliflower Hummus, Spicy Kale Fried Rice, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan Crust, and Broccoli and Pepper Jack Frittata. These recipes also maintain the vegetables' stellar nutritional properties. High in vitamins and minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, and glucosinolates, brassicas have been shown to act as antioxidants, anticarcinogenics, anti-inflammatories, and liver detoxifiers, along with many other health benefits.

The beauty of these "superfoods" is on full display in Brassicas; exquisite photographs of varieties in their raw forms--roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and buds--can be found throughout, helping you identify Lacinato kale from curly kale or mustard greens from collard greens at the farmers' market or grocery store.

For those who observe certain dietary restrictions, author Laura B. Russell provides alternatives and tips to accommodate gluten-free, soy-free, vegetarian, and vegan diets. Equipped with selection, storage, washing, and prepping instructions, you can enjoy more of these nutritional powerhouses--from kale to bok choy or mizuna--in your everyday meals.

Laura B. Russell is the author of The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen as well as the blog, Notes from a Gluten-Free Kitchen. Her newspaper column, "Gluten Freedom", appears monthly in the FoodDay section of the Oregonian. Laura frequently contributes articles to many local and national magazines, including Prevention, Living Without, Easy Eats, NW Palate, and Portland's MIX magazine. She is a culinary advisor to The Heart's Kitchen (theheartskitchen.com), an organization collaborating with Oregon Health and Sciences University to improve nutrition of moms-to-be and consequently benefitting the long-term health of their children.

Foreword

Introduction

Brassica Basics

Chapter One 

Kale

Chapter Two  

Cauliflower

Chapter Three  

Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage

Chapter Four  

Broccoli

Chapter Five 

Leafy Brassicas

Collard Greens, Mustard Greens,

Broccoli Rabe, Arugula, and Cress

Chapter Six  

Asian Brassicas

Bok Choy, Chinese Broccoli,

Mizuna, Napa Cabbage, and Tatsoi

Chapter Seven  

Root Brassicas

and Kohlrabi

Radish, Turnip, Rutabaga, Horseradish, Wasabi, and Kohlrabi

Brassicas and Your Health: Special Issues

Special Diets

Acknowledgments

Contributors

Selected Bibliography

Index