A Globe and Mail Top 100 Books of 2021

In this follow-up cookbook to her Taste Canada Gold Winner All the Sweet Things, Renée Kohlman turns her attention to vegetables . . . and her love for a handsome vegetable farmer.

On Renée Kohlman’s very first date with her partner Dixon, he presented her with a bundle of asparagus. She knew immediately it was love and that her next cookbook would be all about vegetables.

In 23 chapters organized by vegetable, from that auspicious Asparagus to the reliable Zucchini, Vegetables: A Love Story includes 92 delicious and easy-to-follow vegetable-forward (but not exclusively vegetarian) recipes. Soups, salads, sides, tarts, casseroles, pastas, snacks, and more are accompanied by vivid photography that celebrates both raw ingredients and finished dishes.

The book is prefaced with a recommended ingredient list for pantry, fridge, and freezer; the author’s favourite kitchen tools; tips for successful cooking and vegetable storage. It also includes seven essays that tell the story of Ren and Dix’s relationship and the significance of vegetables to the life they’ve built together, all delivered with the signature blend of humour and heart that readers of Renée’s blog and newspaper columns have come to love. With a little cajoling she was even able to get Dixon to contribute some of his own insights to the pages. In Renée’s own words, “it’s a love story about food and a food story about love.”

Renée Kohlman is the author of the Taste Canada award-winning cookbook All the Sweet Things (Touchwood Editions, 2017). She’s a professional cook and baker, freelance food writer, and columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. She also writes a popular food blog, Sweetsugarbean. In the summer you’ll find her in the garden admiring her sweet peas and coaxing her cats down from trees; in the winter she’s curled up with a book and a mug of hot chocolate. Renée lives in Saskatoon.

Renée Kohlman's profile page

"Renée Kohlman shares the story of meeting (at the local farmers market!) and falling in love with her beau, farmer Dixon Simpkins, with 92 heartwarming veg-forward (but not exclusively vegetarian) recipes, separated by type (potatoes, zucchini, Brussels sprouts) and inspired by his harvests." —Globe and Mail

"Seven essays punctuate 92 recipes, which are organized by the hero vegetable, from asparagus to zucchini." —National Post

"This book is a love letter to vegetables that is tender and true." —Simple Bites

“Kohlman has written a love letter to vegetables that is tender and true. Her recipes will help you gain a deeper understanding of seasonal eating and inspire you to make vegetables the star of every meal. This beautiful cookbook is a celebration of the earth’s bounty—and that dirt wizard, Dixon.” —Aimée Wimbush-Bourque, food blogger and author of The Simple Bites Kitchen

"This culinary love story of a Prairie girl and her farm boy, with delicious, approachable recipes starring the vegetable bounty of our Prairies, is a must-have cookbook for your kitchen." —Karlynn Johnston, bestselling author of The Prairie Table and Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky

“Renee had me at the word vegetables. Factor in her own personal love story and I was smitten. With storage tips, how tos, recipes you can’t wait to make, and absolutely gorgeous photos, you too will fall in love with this book.” —Mairlyn Smith, author of the bestselling Peace, Love and Fibre

"[The] jammy upside-down onion tart from Renée Kohlman’s Vegetables: A Love Story . . . It’s deeply savory and stunning to look at, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s deceptively simple to make." —PureWow

"Renée’s love for cooking and eating vegetables is as sincere as her love for the vegetable farmer who won her heart five years ago." —Constantly Cooking