The editors of Cook’s Illustrated have spent hundreds of hours in the test kitchen to bring you the best methods for preparing fresh garden vegetables—from grilling, sautéing, and blanching, to stir-frying, steaming, and boiling.

In developing this latest release in the How To Cook Master Series, the editors of Cook’s Illustrated tested all the relevant cooking methods, finding which methods are best for a particular vegetable. From there, we developed master recipes that explain our preferred techniques, along with plenty of variations so that you can prepare vegetable side dishes that are interesting and varied.

In the process of testing recipes for this book, we discovered the foolproof methods you can rely on for perfect vegetables. We found that partially cooking broccoli in a steamer basket and then adding it to a fry-pan yielded stir-fried broccoli that was evenly cooked and not soggy. We found that not all greens can be cooked the same way. For best results, tougher greens, including kale, mustard, turnip, and collard greens, need to be shallow-blanched, while the more tender greens (spinach, beet greens, and Swiss chard) turned out best when quickly tossed in hot oil in a covered pan. We discovered that blanching sugar snap peas and snow peas in salt water followed by an immediate plunge into ice water kept the peas from shriveling as they cooled and helped to keep their bright color.

Inside How To Cook Garden Vegetables, you will also find recipes for flavorful sauces and dressings, and step-by instructions on how to peel, core, and chop each vegetable. With over 90 pages of well-tested recipes, hand-drawn illustrations and in-depth techniques, How To Cook Garden Vegetables is certain to become a valuable addition to your cookbook library.