Vegetable side dish inspiration for chicken mains

Ruffage is your functional guide on cooking and dressing up veggies in a variety of methods — from braising and searing to roasting and blistering, or just eating them in their raw form.

Abra Berens, a farmer and co-founder at Bare Knuckle Farm, has also tried her hand as a chef at Zingerman’s Deli and Local Foods in Chicago. She now cooks dinners for private events at Granor Farms. While Ruffage is packed with every vegetable under the sun combined with different textures and flavours, it also features a handful of animal-based dishes like seared duck breast with brown sugar–vinegar cabbage and marinated leek salad with wheat berries, carrots and seared salmon. On the veggie front, some dishes to flip through include blistered cucumbers with cumin yogurt and parsley, as well as shaved cabbage with chili oil, cilantro and charred melon.

Why we like this book
We love reading about the power of plants and wholesome cooking from the viewpoint of a farmer. Berens offers up many homemade ways to dress up your dishes, including mayonnaise, dukkahs, flavoured butters and more. No need to shy away from vegetables or leave them for last-minute salads.