The Nimble Cook

March 1, 2019

Food waste is a significant global problem, and one way to address this is by utilizing each ingredient to the fullest, including parts usually discarded, such as peels and seeds. This is the goal of a new cookbook by Welsch, owner of the Purple Kale Kitchenworks cooking school in Brooklyn. While the main focus here is on produce, meats and starches are also included. The idea is to create components ahead of time that can be kept on hand and combined in a variety of quick-meal options. This has the unfortunate effect though of causing many recipes to contain additional recipes within them, which can be disheartening for those who have not planned ahead. Also, some of the preparations seem impractical or time intensive, such as pulling off each leaf from a pile of Brussel sprouts or cooking apple cores down into a syrup. Other tips, such as turning potato peelings into oven-baked crisps, are sheer genius, however. Illustrated with black-and-white line drawings, this is somewhat reminiscent of the original Moosewood cookbook but updated with a DIY vibe. VERDICT A good resource for cooks looking for new ways to prepare and preserve foods from root to stem.--Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH

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