Cookbook of the Week: Tenderheart by Hetty Liu McKinnon

We’re deep into summer produce season, and if you’re anything like me, you’re trying to figure out new ways to use cucumbers, summer squash, all of the green leafy things, and multicolored heirloom tomatoes. Whether you grow these varied beauties in your garden, acquire them at a farmers’ market, or drop by your local farmstead in search of the summer’s finest (we love to visit the one at Holly Hill Farm), they should be a delight to prepare and serve.

Enter Tenderheart. Organized alphabetically by vegetable, from Asian Greens to Zucchini, the book is spacious, personal, and out-of-the-ordinary. On first glance, I noticed that some of the produce pictured isn’t actually perfect: a bunch of kale sags in a vase, bits of brown just out of focus. Slender, vibrant violet eggplants are nicked in places. Having seen many cookbooks that seem to have been photographed in a magical fairyland in which garden pests are non-existent, and people never leave things in the fridge for too long, I found this refreshing.

I also noticed that the first recipe in the cookbook is for Umami Crisp, which is similar to chili crisp. Reading the recipe, I instantly wanted to make a batch.

Organizing chapters by vegetable is helpful to newer cooks, because it allows them to see the breadth of the ingredient’s possibilities. For instance, mushrooms might be turned into a rich Thai curry soup, or dipped in batter and “Southern Fried.” On the other hand, you could cook them into a tomato ragu and serve them over baked polenta.

However, this cookbook is excellent for more experienced cooks, too. I’ve been eating potatoes all my life, and had never thought to lace them with black sesame seed aioli, nor have I combined frozen shelled peas, fresh sugar snaps and pea shoots into one dish.

If you spy this bright cookbook on a shelf — and you will, because McKinnon wins awards for her work and is a contributor to the New York Times Food Section — make sure to grab it.