Let me start off by making this clear: I am by no means any form of vegetarian. However, I would love to have more vegetables in my diet and hoped this book may be able to help. Which it didn't quite as much as I'd hoped.

One of my favourite parts of the book were the sections at the beginning of each chapter giving you a list of all the vegetables in season. I've always wondered this!
Also, the recipes are very flexible, with options also for meat eaters and vegans.

My main issue with this is the absolute lack of pictures. I would say maybe 1 in 4 recipes at best had a photo. If you're gonna attempt to make me eat vegetables, they need to look bloomin appetising. If I can't see them, then there's no way you're going to get me anywhere near something involving "sweetcorn polenta" 😬
You've also got the opposite problem, in that some of the pictures that were included did not make the food look particularly appealing. I'm still scarred by the photo of "beetroot spaghetti" - surely it should be banned for pasta to be such an alarming colour! 😟

Another problem with this book is that unless you live in the city (or in a particular country), you may well struggle to get a fair amount of ingredients. So this isn't a cookbook necessarily for your average Joe.

Finally, where are the desserts?! 😭

Sorry that this one just wasn't for me, because I really did want to like it.

Not a book that will jump off the shelves with its rather unappealing cover. More importantly though if the book is meant to tempt meat eaters to have a go a vegetarian cuisine there really needs to be pictures for most of the recipes. I found it quite bizarre that there were colourful carefully staged pages (for example at the beginning of each section) yet only some of the recipes had pictures. For me I would have rather had smaller less staged pictures and maybe a couple of recipes sharing a picture page just so I could see what it is supposed to look like and if it would tempt me. Some recipes were over fussy too, but this is probably going to appeal to a large section of foodies. Overall the good thing was the amount of information provided and the instructions for flexibility. The different measurement scales were also very useful, and I appreciate that a lot of work has gone into finding recipes that work very well with or without meat. So if the author manages to tempt some meat eaters into at least part time vegetarianism then she will have done a good job. It may also encourage people to look at other recipes they have and think about adapting them either way

Some of the recipes sound very interesting but require ingredients that I just don't have at home. Still, I like how the book is divided in four parts according to the seasons.

We don't often see a cookbook written that are for both vegetarians and flextarians. The authors is all about choosing meal ingredients by what is in season, then choosing what to do with it. This book offers a wide variety of dishes including many international influences, comfort foods (dishes with cheese!), dishes to serve with drinks or as appetizers, etc. I love that all recipes are given with multiple audiences in mind with measurements given in both grams and ounces and appliance settings for different types of stove/oven settings. Most recipes are vegetarian but a good number offer alternative options for those wishing to add meat, and sometimes a few vegan options. I bookmarked a number of recipes to tweak to make vegan because I liked the combination of core ingredients, spices and treatment.

No matter what your cooking comfort level is (expert, adventurous, novice, casual), you will like at least a third of the recipes if you like fresh produce. If you have a garden, you'll definitely love some of these more atypical choices. Some of the recipes do have a great number of steps (multiple pans, pots, and blender) but at least half are simple enough to be attainable after a long work day; others are the kind you'd prefer to save for the weekend or a gathering. Either way you choose to cook, if you prefer to eat by choosing your ingredients by freshness and being in-season versus strict meal planning, this book is for you.