This is a book about vegetables, some more familiar than others, but all equally satisfying. Dive in and learn more about those you’re familiar with and those that feel new to you. Use them in fun and exciting ways in your kitchen. My intention in this book is to give you techniques, flavours and ideas – with foundations in science and in history – to become an inventive and frequent vegetable home cook. Now, let’s start cooking!

Vegetables come in such a wide variety of colours and textures. Adding unexpected varieties of familiar vegetables – such as purple bell peppers and zebra tomatoes in a fresh salad – brings visual excitement to a meal. An assortment of textures in a dish also prevents palette fatigue – the diner won’t grow weary of tasting the same flavours, smelling the same aromas and eating the same monotonous textures repeatedly in one sitting. Adding crunchy toasted nuts and a sprinkling of microgreens to tender roasted sweet potatoes, or incorporating chunks of squash or beans in a soup, for example, brings interest to a meal and excites the senses.

But when you’re at the produce section, staring at a diverse display and wondering what to buy, why do any of these factors matter? Whether you’re combining vegetables into one dish or soloing with one star element, knowing what to use and how to use it opens up a whole world of different flavours, textures and choices.