The Farmer's Market Cookbook: Seasonal Dishes Made from Nature's Freshest Ingredients

Great book, especially for anyone who shops at the Greenmarket at Union Square in NYC. I've taken several classes from Chef Richard, who teaches recreational greenmarket cooking classes at ICE, and they're even better than the book.

This is a cookbook that people who really love food in it's purest form must have. Richard Ruben translates his enthusiasm for the farmer's (or ethnic) market into simple recipes with sophisticated flavors that sing. His appoarch to food re-affirms that old adage, simple is better. As you read through his personal collection of recipes, you want to make every one. But must do so season by season to get the best results. In this day and age of hundreds of cookbooks, Ruben distinguishes himself quietly and with authority, reminiscent of the early days of Alice Waters when passion for food and the best ingrendients were the only motivators. If I could only have one cookbook and a market, it would certainly be this one. BUY THIS BOOK FOR THE SUMMER and continue to use it through fall and winter...

This cookbook is magnificent! Fun, wittily written, simple to follow, Richard Ruben focuses on enjoying the fresh goodness the earth offers us in each season. It's about tasting and exploring what's in front of us, presented by the growers themselves. Easy-to-follow recipes, ideas, charts, seasonal suggestions....it's great. I'm not much of a cook and I used this book to wow a dinner party with pheasant, curried brussel sprouts, & individual squashes stuffed with fennel, apples, & carrots. It's a valuable, exciting, DELICIOUS standout in a crowded field.

Richard Ruben is that rare being--a chef who can write well, bringing his passion for the bounty of nature's markets to the page as well as to the table. With prose that is as beautiful as it is informative, chef/teacher/poet/philosopher Ruben takes us on a culinary tour of the seasons via the farmer's market that brings all of nature's best to our tables. With stunning recipes and lyrical prose, Ruben shares his love affair with lavender and verbena in recipes such as Lavender Ricotta Cake and Sweet Potatoes Braised with Lemon Verbena. His extensive knowledge of world cuisine comes into play in the many exotic creations like Green Rice, and Apple Shochu, a Japanese distilled spirit infused with apple. Although the book can be wonderfully playful, Ruben also offers practical knowledge in comprehensive lists of seasonal vegetables, fruits, and herbs; hints for putting up flavored vinegars and oils; and tips on how to understand the color-coded spectrum of each season's offerings, including how to select produce properly. Like the evocative haiku sprinkled throughout this lovely book's pages, Ruben's recipes resonate with an appreciation of nature and its offerings, bringing fresh food from the market to the table in dishes that will delight everyone's palate and spirit. This will be the book I give as a gift to everyone I know who loves to eat and cook. It's a blessing that will grace anyone's table.

Richard Ruben's The Farmer's Market Cookbook is a MUST addition to any chef wannabe's collection.