The Sunset Edible Garden Cookbook


sunset edible garden cookbook
A month ago when I visited San Francisco, Sunset Publishing invited me (and a number of other garden writers) over to breakfast. Never one to turn down either free food or a garden tour, I accepted with glee, and ate as much of their fresh, delicious food as I could fit in.

(The plate shown at top, I hasten to add, was not my own. Mine contained a heaping slice of zucchini chocolate walnut cake with rum sauce which dwarfed all of the non-cake items on my plate. Hey, it had zucchini and walnuts in it! And rum! All healthy breakfast foods in my book.)

While my caffeine hadn’t yet sunk in to the point where I can remember all the details, one of the highlights of the breakfast was how much of it was fresh from the garden. (Did you know Sunset even keeps chickens in their test garden?) The flavors were delicious – nothing like fresh herbs and greens to amp up the star power of a meal – and what really struck me were some of the techniques they used.

For example, their roasted potatoes had that perfect balance of crunchy outside and creamy inside which is hard to reach (mine usually end up burnt and desiccated before they get crunchy), and they explained their top-secret trick: by soaking the potatoes overnight in a bowl of water, you get both more crispness and more moisture in the middle. Score!

That trick is totally in the book, and they explain everything in a goof-proof fashion that’s easy enough for kitchen klutzes like me, yet they have enough tricks in here that experienced chefs will find a lot of ideas. This truly is a cookbook for gardeners wondering what to do with their bounty, and they’ve arranged it so that you navigate the recipes by what produce you have fresh, either from the farmer’s market or your own garden.

And they definitely understand gardeners. You can tell because they have multiple zucchini-hiding recipes. I don’t know about you but a productive zucchini plant starts to challenge my love of vegetable gardening. After about four weeks of zucchini at every meal, I start wondering if perhaps the lawnmower might not have something to say to my zucchini plant. But Sunset graciously anticipated both my thrifty nature and my love of dessert and included some recipes so I can use the zucchinis up without having to look at them or even feel like I’m being healthy. Phew! Zucchini problem solved.

Anyway, I’m sorry the internet won’t allow me to share any food samples (and zucchini), because you’re probably getting hungry right about now. But I’ve got the next best thing – Sunset has offered up FIVE copies of this cookbook to you lovely people. All you have to do is comment for your chance to win one. And since Mother’s Day is coming up and this would make such a great gift for moms, I’ll pull the winners on Mother’s Day morning, so if you’ve won, you’ll have a bit of extra good cheer to spread around. US only. Good luck! Congrats to Linda, Kate, Coco, Kristin and Geri! I’ve emailed you all.


36 responses to “The Sunset Edible Garden Cookbook”

  1. Hope there are lots of zucchini and/or tomatoe recipes I plan to have plenty this year.

  2. Roses are red,
    Violets are blue,
    Veggies from the garden are yummy,
    Should we eat the blossoms too?

  3. Any new zucchini recipe is exciting to me! I can’t help but over plant it – it’s a sure win and I have to take them where I can.

  4. you did make me hungry with what you wrote – and I love the potato tip! Thanks

  5. I like to garden, I like to cook, I like to eat. I like all the give aways you do!

  6. I always need more ways to fix up our summer bounty (Hubby tends to over-plan a wee bit on the garden, but I don’t mind), and I could really use this book! And “goof-proof” sounds like just what I need!

  7. It would be great to try some new recipes with the herb garden that I am planting this year. Thanks!

  8. I planted potatoes for the first time this year (on Good Friday for good measure) and the plants are doing great: Yukon Gold, Purple Viking and Red something. I’m also growing white tomatoes and purple tomatoes.
    I have never been successful with zucchini but am planting seeds today from Renee’s Garden in hopes I win a book. Fingers crossed. Thank you.

  9. It sounds likes great cookbook to share with my kids! They love to pick herbs and add them to as many foods as possible.

  10. I would love to give this to Mom and then she’ll share it with me!! Sounds like a “win-win”!!! 🙂

  11. I love to cook….and love to try new recipes. And I’d love to better utilize my garden…make it my own private vegetable shopping/picking experience.

  12. I was looking at that book in Costco and had to put it back (big tears). What a wonderful chance you and Sunset are offering to get one free!

  13. If you have more zucchini than you can eat, and you just let it grow and grow, it will eventually turn into a baseball bat!
    Love my recipe for Erma’s Zucchini Walnut Bread ~ it’s the best ever!

  14. I’m always looking for delicious ways to enjoy the veg from my garden. I’m particularly looking for recipes for the new oriental vegetables I am trying out for the first time. Any recipes for komatsuna or gailan in there?

  15. I would LOVE a copy of this book! Not only do I have a garden with lots of exciting edibles, I am a totally incurable foodie.

  16. I love everything Sunset, and a gardener’s cookbook would be so helpful for me, for greens and tomatoes. Oddly, I have never had much luck with zucchini, but I would rather have a black thumb for that than for the things I really love.

  17. I love Sunset and need all the help I can get moving from Seattle to a dry hot climate. I’m not sure zucchini will even grow here but I am sure going to try. But, on the bright side, there are alot of things that will grow here and not in the Pacific Northwest. Here’s hoping that one of the 5 copies is mine.

  18. Sunset ROCKS!!! and this year i need this book 🙂 my garden has expanded yet again and covers nearly 1000 sq ft…. I need help preparing all my bounty!

  19. Always need more recipes for the garden veggies. Looks like a great book! Thanks for the giveaway.

  20. I grew up in High Point, NC during the 60’s, and my parents always had a subscription to Sunset Magazine. My dad was a furniture manufacturer and he subscribed to numerous magazines that reflected various parts of the country–but Sunset was in a class of its own. One of my favorite recipes was from a more recent Fall issue of Sunset, about 8 years ago: Buttermilk Brine Grilled Chicken with Arugula, Corn and Radish Salad. I would love to carry on my long appreciation with the Sunset Edible Garden cookbook!

  21. Melvin Nelson is the guest speaker at the Eureka Sequoia Garden Club Meeting on Friday May 18. He will tell us about the latest ways to grow vegetables and this book would be a wonderful door prize for the event.

  22. Please add my name to the hat for the Mother’s Day Cookbook Drawing. I’ve been put on a no (clearing throat, lower) carb diet and I am desperate for a better selection of garden fresh recipes (zucchini or otherwise).
    Thanks! el
    ps/ Hope you enjoy the rubber rake. I have one of the adjustable one’s (the other one in the video) and ‘love’ it!

  23. I am stuck in a cooking rut and I could use some fresh ideas. Plus I just expanded my garden space by 200% so I am hoping for quite a bounty. Best if I know what to do with all the produce.

  24. Back below five thousand feet elevation for the first time in five years. Soooo looking fireweed to my garden this year and would LOVE this book.

    • Sounds like a perfect companion book for my Western Garden Book and EdibleGarden Books! My book shelf is crying out for agree copy.

  25. Thinking backwards, the recipes would help me decide what to plant in my limited gardening space. Nothing tastes better than fresh. I would love to win a copy of this book.