Steven Satterfield - Vegetable Revelations: Inspiration for Produce-Forward Cooking

This book is dedicated in loving memory of my former assistant and motherly protector Rebecca Harrigan, who stood by my side for many years as my greatest cheerleader and dear friend. Every time we had a photo shoot for this book, we lit a candle in her honor and felt her presence guiding us along.

When I set out to write this book, I had a basic premise: take a vegetable, and decide how to prepare it right now to show off its best attributes. This may sound similar to my first work, Root to Leaf, but time has elapsed, and my style has naturally evolved. I am now cooking through a different lens and outside of my normal repertoire. I have found new inspiration, living in a multicultural city with access to a global pantry, and from my travels abroad, tasting different flavors and considering all the possibilities. These kinds of experiences have changed how I think about food, and they filter through my mind to emerge as the recipes that are now printed in the pages that follow.

But the process of making this book became very different. By the time we moved into production, we were at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were a lot of things in motion that had to come to a complete halt. Suddenly time stopped and everything changed. Before the pandemic struck, I could often take a little time off here and there from running a busy restaurant to work on a collection of recipes or photograph dishes. In this crisis, however, I had to tend to the mothership, Miller Union, first. Without our beloved, well-established restaurant, I would not even be writing a book. Between navigating waves of COVID surges and employee absences, pivoting to take-out meals or outdoor dining, and meetings with the Independent Restaurant Coalition to lobby Congress for financial relief, I found very little free time to develop recipes or even schedule shoots.

This book became somewhat of an experiment. But amid all the turmoil, I had assembled a trusty, masked-up cookbook team to help keep the project moving along. There were times when I had to figure out a dish on set in front of the camera (in photographer Andrew Thomas Lees backyard studio), which was sometimes exciting and sometimes frustrating, but it allowed for free-flowing creativity without a scripted recipe. I remember the prop stylist, Thom Driver, often asking me what a dish was going to look like and I would sometimes say, We are all about to find out for the very first time. There were some failures, and some reshoots, but most were triumphs and delights.

I always started with great ingredients, and I followed my instincts to the end. My methodical culinary assistant, Alex Lampert, watched my hands and took detailed notes as I guided us through a process or technique. Coauthor Andrea Slonecker, who lives 2,600 miles and three time zones away in Portland, Oregon, collaborated virtually and tested every single recipe for the entire project. We were never once in the same room until the final days of finishing the manuscript, when we sequestered ourselves in a remote and beautiful lakeside setting to complete our work.

One silver lining to the pandemic is that home cooking has had a major resurgence, and these recipes reflect that curiosity and the spirit of trying something new or different that you may have not made space for in the past. The influences that shaped these recipes are genuine and authentic, and have opened my eyes to new ways of cooking; in particular, cooking vegetables. There is still so much to learn about the food of other cultures, and I want to emphasize that I am no expert on any one cuisine, except perhaps the foodways of the South, where I was raised. I have a curious mind and an open heart, and Ive witnessed that food can teach us immeasurable lessons. Good food can bridge gaps, unite differences, and make peace if we tune our minds and taste buds to it. My mantra: Eat more vegetables, try new things, and never stop learning.

Culinary revelations come to me in many forms. When I travel and try different cuisines. When Im collaborating with chef friends and taste their dishes. Or even when Im just reading recipes. Theres often a vegetable technique or a notion that draws me in.

Traveling in Oaxaca, I probably tasted over twenty versions of mole. Some were made by street vendors, and others were served in fancy restaurants, but most were in the form of a sauce for meats. I immediately thought, How would this flavor profile taste when applied to vegetables? I took inspiration from these mole flavors and fused them with my own style of cooking by using ground dried chiles, cacao nibs, and pumpkin seeds to make a crunchy topping to coat earthy-sweet roasted parsnips.

In London I tasted an Indian saag that was so delicious I found myself craving it when I returned home. Though I didnt know the exact recipe, I could recall the taste of the sweet, warming spices and the punch of ginger. It reminded me of a dish of braised greens with handfuls of fresh coconut that a friend from Kerala once made me. One day in my kitchen, I decided to marry these two taste memories on the fly, using what was readily available to saut: some spinach and mustard greens with garam masala, ginger, and coconut flakes.

At a little restaurant in Siena, Italy, I was served a savory kale crostini with creamy chicken liver mousse and a sour cherry conserva. My mind was blown by the fascinating emerald-green toasts. In broken Italian, I quizzed the chef about what I was eating. From what I could understand, the bread was dipped in a liquid mixture of whisked egg and pureed cavolo nero, or lacinato kale. Now I borrow this idea to make use of stale bread, slicing it thick and griddling it for a greens-soaked savory French toast.

As a chef whos been a proponent of plant-focused cooking for years, Im more inspired by cooking with plants than with proteins. I find the dynamic nature of their availability intriguing as they come in and out of season. Vegetables are my muse, and the star of my meals, while animal proteins take a supporting role. Though these recipes center around vegetables, this is a cookbook for omnivores and vegetarians alike. I believe we all need to eat meat more responsibly and less frequently, and a big part of that shift is putting more plants on our plates.

I grew up in the South, and my food has always reflected that, but my style is still evolving. Since writing my first book, Root to Leaf, Ive started to venture out of my comfort zone, applying new-to-me flavor profiles and techniques that I wouldnt have before. Lately, Ive turned to other cultures for vegetable inspiration, and its reinvigorated my joy of cooking. I want you to take my lead on this and dive in, venturing outside of your comfort zone too.

As you cook through this book, remember: When produce is at its peak, it simply tastes best. All you need to do is find the vegetables that inspire you, at a farm stand or your local store, and buy what looks fresh and good. Take that inspiration to prepare these produce-forward recipes, or make up your own twists. The goal is to get you excited about cooking in your kitchen and experience your own vegetable revelation.