Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch by Nigel Slater is one of my favorite cookbooks.

It is different from other cookbooks. It is not a vegetarian cookbook, even if many recipes are. It is not about health or diet. It is a cookbook with recipes that are very tasty where the vegetables are the stars.

I also like how he writes, the format of the book and the pictures.

This is the index.

We make the cauliflower gratin for Thanksgiving. The tomato and carrot soup is yummy and can be eaten hot or cold. The asparagus quiche is good for guests.

The second time we lived in France, we were in the the region of Picardie. I subscribed to a vegetable box from local producers and I would get vegetables you don’t usually find in the supermarket, like Jerusalem artichokes. This book has recipes for them. We also got a lot of beetroots, there are a lot of beetroots in Picardie. This book has a few recipes for them too.

I also like that he uses bay leaves in many recipes. I love bay leaves, like my grandmother who has an excellent cook.

This is a picture of the carrot soup.

And this is me making it this morning. With bay leaves, what else.

After you cook it and mix it, it has the same vibrant color as in the picture. There was nothing left.

I haven’t read any other books from Nigel Slater, watched the TV shows or the movie. I just saw that there are some in Amazon Prime video and added them to the list of things to watch.