"I grow for the joy it brings," Nigel Slater writes in the introduction to this paean to vegetables. After digging up the terraced lawn of his London house to plant a garden, Slater chronicles his (usually joyful) growing and cooking experiments, illustrating his account with Jonathan Lovekin's beautiful photos.
Twenty-nine vegetables, from asparagus to zucchini, get a turn in the Tender spotlight; Slater keeps cultivation diaries and muses on each vegetable's "reason for being" as he builds a collection of recipes around his beloved produce. Some recipes are simply brief instructions, others are more precise and complex, but all are crafted to showcase each vegetable's natural flavor, texture and essence. Gardeners and foodies alike will enjoy Slater's slow journey through the seasons, from delicate spring greens to hearty fall root vegetables, and his attempts to oust slugs, snails and foxes--who, like Slater himself, enjoy a good vegetable, and are probably there to stay. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams