Rooted Kitchen - by Ashley Rodriguez (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Deepen your relationship with the natural world through thoughtful essays and 75 delightfully inventive recipes that feature seasonal ingredients, plus techniques for foraging, preserving, and cooking over an open fire. At a time when we urgently need to connect with the Earth, Rooted Kitchen offers a fresh way to appreciate nature and the treasures it provides. Chef and author Ashley Rodriguez introduces readers to the basics of foraging, why it's important, how easy it can be, and offers tips for harvesting ingredients from mushrooms to nettles to edible flowers, and more. The cookbook is organized seasonally which makes it easy to find recipes for your haul, such as a comforting homemade Nettle Orecchiette with Sausage and Mint in spring (and how to use the leaves to make a nutritious and soothing cup of tea on chilly mornings); Nectarine Salad with Cucumber, Fennel, Feta and Herbs in summer; and Fire-Roasted Pumpkin Fondue with Chanterelles in fall. Ingredients, cooking, and foraging techniques, as well as mindfulness activities (such as a finding a sit-spot outdoors) are spotlighted in each season to encourage readers to make the most of whatever nature is available to them. Sometimes it's as simple as harvesting spruce tips and pairing their distinct pine flavor with salmon, or plucking lilac blossoms from a neighborhood tree and making Rhubarb-Lilac Jam to dollop on a pavlova. From small urban backyards to nearby parks to forests, and beyond, when we become more connected to the outdoors through our food, it also sparks a deeper connection to ourselves"--

Book Synopsis

Deepen your relationship with the natural world through more than 80 delightfully inventive recipes featuring seasonal ingredients, plus thoughtful essays, tips, and basic techniques for foraging, preserving, and cooking over an open fire.

At a time when we urgently need to connect with the earth, Rooted Kitchen offers a fresh way to appreciate nature and the treasures it provides. Organized seasonally, you'll find recipes to make the most of your farmers market or neighborhood foraging haul, such as a comforting Nettle Orecchiette with Sausage and Mint in spring (and how to use nettle leaves to make a nutritious, soothing cup of tea on chilly mornings); Nectarine Salad with Cucumber, Fennel, Feta and Herbs in summer; and Fire-Roasted Pumpkin Fondue with Chanterelles in fall.

You'll also find tips for harvesting ingredients, from mushrooms to nettles to edible flowers, along with preserving, fermenting, beginner foraging techniques, and mindfulness activities. Seasonal ingredients are spotlighted so you can make the most of nearby nature. It can be as simple as pairing salmon with the distinct flavor of spruce tips snipped from a tree or plucking lilac blossoms and making Rhubarb-Lilac Jam to dollop on a pavlova. From small urban backyards to nearby parks to forests and beyond, when we become more connected to the outdoors through our food, it sparks a deeper connection to ourselves.

Review Quotes

"This inventive book will encourage you to delight in each moment and, most importantly, pay close attention to what's growing right around you."--Erin Benzakein, owner of Floret Farm and The New York Times bestselling author of titles including Floret Farm's A Year in Flowers

"Ashley's book is a stunning display of how we can get closer to our food and make beautiful meals from ingredients found right outside, with directions on how to do it, and explained in the most welcoming of ways."--Shelby Stanger, host of REI Co-op Studio's Wild Ideas Worth Living and author of Will to Wild

"Ashley's passion for the natural world shines in this beautiful collection of recipes that will inspire you to cook seasonal ingredients in new and delicious ways."--Danielle Prewett, Founder of Wild & Whole

"Rooted Kitchen is a soulful walk through the seasons where Ashley teaches us about the abundance of ingredients found in nature for us to forage and cook. This is a timely book that speaks to one's soul and appetite!"--Aran Goyoaga, James Beard Award Finalist and creator of Cannelle et Vanille

"Every sumptuous recipe is rooted in love and passion for the natural world, inviting us into a more embodied, reciprocal, and attentive relationship with all the beings that support our lives. This book is a much-needed map to the beautiful connections between nourishment, wonder, joy, and the wild earth. It's a true gift."--Lyanda Haupt, author of Crow Planet, Mozart's Starling, and Rooted

"Rooted Kitchen is more than a cookbook. It's a rich and beautiful journey through the four seasons. Each recipe and story gives us a chance to engage with Mother Earth in a beautifully sustainable way. Get this book and let it lead you toward a new way of cooking."--Kaitlin Curtice, award-winning author of Native and Living Resistance

About the Author

When not writing about food, you can find author Ashley Rodriguez foraging, fly-fishing, and spending as much time outside as possible. A Seattle-based award-winning food writer and photographer, Ashley is the host and cocreator of the James Beard-nominated video series Kitchen Unnecessary and has been featured in Outside, Food & Wine, Saveur, Epicurious, and more. She is a certified nature and forest therapy guide and an integrative wellness and life coach focusing on deepening the ecospiritual connection. She is also the author of two cookbooks, Date Night In and Let's Stay In.