Add Some Greens to Your Plate with These 6 Cookbooks

Kale: The Complete Guide to the World’s Most Powerful Superfood, by Stephanie Pedersen
In recent years, kale has gone from nonentity to food-world superstar to dinnertime staple, and Pedersen’s book will tell you why you should believe the hype. More than 75 recipes teach you how to maximize the tasty green, from salads, smoothies, and stews, to snacks like addictively delicious kale chips. It’s the perfect resource for the kale beginner or the kale pro looking to expand his kitchen repertoire.

Best Green Eats Ever, by Katrine Van Wyk
The magic of greens is just how much nutritional value they pack in, inch for leafy inch. For people looking to up their intake, Van Wyk moves beyond smoothies and juices, presenting 75 greens-forward recipes that will suit you whether you’re a vegetarian, a raw foodist, paleo, or a “will eat anything so long as it tastes good”-ist. Gorgeous color photography will pull you in, and dishes like Shredded Chicken and Napa Cabbage Salad and Green Slaw with Soba Noodles will keep you coming back.

Salads: Fresh, Delicious Dishes for All Occasions, by Pamela Clark
Alongside stews and sandwiches, salads are among the most diverse dishes, with the added benefit of being even more customizable to suit dietary needs. A salad can be a starter or a main course, a light meal or a stick-to-your-ribs option that’ll keep you satisfied. Clark’s book includes loads of delicious recipes ranging from classics like Caprese to new favorites like Curried Couscous and Chickpea Salad, as well as primers on lettuces, herbs, and dressings to back you up when you go off book.

The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook, by Brent Ridge, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, and Sandy Gluck
Ridge and Kilmer-Purcell realized so many city dwellers’ dreams when they left their urban lives behind to try out life on the historic Beekman 1802 farm in upstate New York. With the help of local farmers, the two started small, making soaps and cheese from goat’s milk. Since then, the Beekman 1802 brand has expanded to include an online shop, television show, memoir, and this cookbook, stuffed full of recipes that call for the most enticing of ingredients, from Shrimp with Garlic Scapes to Artichoke, Fava Bean, and Asparagus Stew.

The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook, by Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman
Looking for new ideas to help you burn through that zucchini bumper crop? Thinking of planting a four-season garden but aren’t sure what to choose? Damrosch and Coleman have literally written the book(s) on organic gardening, and now they’re back to teach you how to coax your plantings from garden bed to plate. They cover everything from essential herbs to crop instructions, but the spotlight is on delicious, garden-forward recipes, so you’ll be eating out of your garden from summer (rice salad with summer vegetables) through spring (salad with new potatoes, smoked salmon, and peas).

Fifty Shades of Kale, by Drew, M.D. Ramsey, Jennifer Iserloh
Kale can be delicious, but can it be sexy? According to Ramsey and Iserloh, the answer is yes…so long as you pair it with delicious pan-mates like black beans, cheddar, or mussels. This collection of fifty luscious recipes puts the superstar green through its paces, in appetizers, main courses, drinks, and even desserts (chocolate chip kale cookies, anyone?). With section titles like “Submit to Her Charms” and “Naughty and Nice,” Fifty Shades goes beyond juicing, steaming, and sautéing with recipes like Huevos Rancheros and Kale Kiwi Gazpacho.
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