Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference is at once an encyclopedia, a produce market manual, and a treasure trove of recipes. With produce specialist Elizabeth Schneider as your guide, take a seed-to-table voyage with more than 350 vegetables, both exotic and common. Discover lively newcomers to the North American cornucopia and rediscover classic favorites in surprising new guises. In this timely reference, Elizabeth Schneider divulges the secrets of the vegetable kingdom, sharing a lifetime of scholarly sleuthing and culinary experience. In her capable hands, unfamiliar vegetables such as amaranth become as familiar as zucchini -- while zucchini turns out to be more intriguing than you ever imagined. Each encyclopedic entry includes a full-color identification photo, common and botanical names, and an engaging vegetable "biography" that distills the knowledge of hundreds of authorities in dozens of fields -- scientists, growers, produce distributors, and chefs among them. Practical sections describe availability, selection, storage, preparation, and basic general use. Finally, the author's fresh contemporary recipes reveal the essence of each vegetable and a culinary sensibility that food magazine and cookbook readers have trusted for thirty years. Each entry concludes with a special "Pros Propose" section -- spectacularly innovative recipes suggested by professional chefs. Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference is an indispensable resource for home cooks, food professionals, gardeners, information seekers, and anyone who simply enjoys good reading.

Elizabeth Schneider has been demystifying fruits and vegetables for professional and home cooks for three decades. Her encyclopedic cookbook Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables: A Commonsense Guide is considered the primary reference on specialty produce. The "Produce Pro" series, the inspiration for Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini, has appeared since 1989 in Food Arts, a journal for food professionals. Both this and "Vegetable Wise," a column in Eating Well magazine, have won James Beard Awards for best magazine feature series. Hundreds of Schneider's articles have been published in scores of magazines and newspapers, including Gourmet, Food & Wine, the New York Times, and Family Circle. Schneider is the author of three other books in addition to Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables: Better Than Store-Bought (with Helen Witty), Ready When You Are: Made-Ahead Meals for Entertaining, and Dining in Grand Style (with Dieter Hannig). She also has contributed to a dozen collaborative works. Her career achievements have been honored by a James Beard Who's Who of Food & Beverage Award