The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment

Jill Nussinow
Vegetarian Connection Press (2005)
ISBN 0976708507
Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (9/06)

Jill Nussinow is a registered dietician and culinary educator.  Her peers know her as the Veggie Queen.  She is dedicated to the pursuit of increasing the amount of vegetables consumed by Americans today.  Vegetarian or not, we all need more vegetables, and this cookbook provides the average cook the tools to do just that.

Jill makes a strong case for buying local and organic produce from your area’s farmer’s market.  She arranges “The Veggie Queen” by seasons (spring, summer fall, winter, anytime at all) to make the task of shopping and cooking in season an easy one.  Along with the over 100 recipes, there are also short essays about various topics.  These relevant and often humorous essays add bits of information that enhance the book and make it an enjoyable read.  Jill’s passion for the art of cooking comes through and raises the book to more than just a cookbook.

This may sound strange, but my favorite part about this cookbook is the index.  So many times I find myself with leftover or abundant ingredients in the pantry, such as tomato paste or a bunch of fresh sage from a friend.  Most cookbooks only index the ingredients found in the title.  But to my delight, “The Veggie Queen” indexes even the small ingredients within the recipe.  I can quickly reference tomato paste or sage and find that I can make “Fasoulia” or “Three Sisters Stew”.  If only all cookbooks were this thorough!

Even stranger, another one of my favorite parts of the book is the cover.  I find myself staring at its subtle beauty.  The royal title and sketch of a queen adorned in eggplant, radishes, and asparagus are laid out on a palette of gold and purple.

But between the cover and the index is where the real glory is held, in the recipes.  The book is not too thick and not too thin, a welcome change from the sea of fat cookbooks that are squeezed onto my cookbook shelf with only a few useful recipes inside.  With the Veggie Queen’s support, I am eager to visit the farmer’s market and fill my plate with five to nine servings of vegetables a day!

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