Garden to Table Cookbook by Kayla Butts

Garden to Table Cookbook

by Kayla Butts

Whether you’re just starting your very first garden, or you’ve been gardening for years, you might as well incorporate what you grow into your daily meals! Part vegetable gardening book and part healthy eating book, this is a practical and accessible guide that will show you how to grow a lush home garden, as well as how to preserve, can, and cook easy, healthy recipes from the vegetables you’ve cultivated all year round! No big gardening space or gardening experience is needed. Featuring expert guidance on the basics of vegetable gardening, as well as how to freeze, can, dehydrate, ferment, and dry many popular fruits and vegetables. The book also includes over 100 recipes that include vegan, vegetarian, heart-healthy, and keto/low-carb options. From canning recipes to appetizers, main dishes, and big salads organized by season for year-round consumption, this complete guide has everything you need to know to cultivate, can, and serve fresh, healthy foods from home.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

4.5 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Garden to Table Cookbook is a well researched, practical, and accessible guide to preserving and using garden harvests sensibly and economically written by Kayla Butts. Released 18th Oct 2023 by Fox Chapel, it's 192 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats. 

This is an attractively made and usable book with recipes. The author is a nutritionist & dietician as well as an experienced gardener and she writes simply and eloquently about the interconnections between food, health, and well-being. The chapters progress logically: the connection between soil and somatic health, general food preservation techniques, and 4 seasonal recipe chapters (utilizing spring, summer, fall, and winter harvests).

Recipes are appealing and simple, allowing the vegetables to shine. There aren't any overprocessed or convenience foods included, it's all from scratch. Each recipe includes an introduction, yields, ingredients listed bullet-style, and followed by step-by-step prep directions. Ingredients are provided with imperial (American) measurements only. Nutritional information is not included in the recipes. Nearly all the recipes are accompanied by one or more photos. The photography is clear, well styled, and attractive throughout. 

Four and a half stars. Nothing absolutely groundbreaking here, and it's not going to replace readers' copies of Ball's Blue Book, but there are numerous good recipes for canned relishes, sauces, and solid home cooked meals. There are lots of vegetarian/vegan friendly recipes, but also meat/seafood recipes as well. They're clearly marked.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Reading updates

  • 16 January, 2024: Started reading
  • 16 January, 2024: Finished reading
  • 16 January, 2024: Reviewed