Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton

10 CommentsFriday • September 17, 2010 • by michelle

Today I’m so pleased to welcome Susie Middleton, author of Fast, Fresh & Green: More than 90 Recipes for Veggie Lovers.

As you all know, I’m a huge fan of starting a garden, supporting local farmers, and/or joining a community garden, so Susie’s book has been a great find for me — I actually stumbled upon Susie’s blog, Six Burner Sue, because she had mentioned baby goats. How fortuitous!

Susie sent me a copy of her book, and I fell in love immediately. More than just recipes, Fast, Fresh & Green really breaks down the basics of how you can handle all different kinds of vegetables, including ones you may have been scared to use in the past. There is so much great information and many wonderful recipes, but the photos alone in this book would be worth the price of admission. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Trust me, you *need* this handy reference book for veggies on your shelf.

I also love where Susie is coming from with her info; she’s not a vegetarian or a “nutrition nut” as she puts it, but she does “think it would be better for the planet and our well-being if we ate a little less meat and a few more vegetables.” Exactly!

As for Susie’s background, she was an editor at Fine Cooking magazine for many years and still contributes there. In addition to keeping her own blog, Susie also now writes at the Huffington Post Green Page; Fast, Fresh & Green is her first cookbook, which you can also “like” on Facebook. All photos courtesy of Susie’s website, SixBurnerSue.com.

1. How would you describe your book in just a few sentences?

My book, Fast, Fresh & Green, masquerades as a recipe collection—more than 90 delicious vegetable side dishes—but in reality, it’s a primer on how to cook vegetables, organized by 9 great techniques that will expand your repertoire and let you cook (and eat) an amazing variety of vegetable side dishes.

2. What inspired you to write this book?

When I was editor of Fine Cooking magazine, I discovered that people really wanted to eat and cook with more vegetables—our vegetable side dish features were some of our most popular stories—but that they often only knew one or two ways to cook them, or were worried about making dishes that didn’t appeal to everyone at the table. (Cooks often have adventurous palettes, but just as often, they also have to cook for people who have more conservative tastes, or don’t think they like things like vegetables.)

While there are plenty of vegetarian cookbooks on the market, I knew I wanted my first cookbook to be for everyone—a way to make the dinner plate more exciting for all kinds of eaters and a way for everyone to learn a few more ways to cook vegetables. So I decided to organize my book by technique, and to keep the flavor boosters interesting but not too exotic.

3. As a writer myself, I’m always curious to know about a writer’s process. What is yours like?

I was a writer before I was a cook—though very possibly I was born both, as I’ve always loved words and food. I come from a food- and cooking-obsessed family (I watched 4 of them argue about the best way to grill hot dog buns the other day), so the cooking thing was probably inevitable.

But I still love to write more than just about anything. I had some really good creative writing classes in both high school and college, and I was taught to write like I talk. So that’s what I do. I sit down and have a conversation with myself or an imaginary audience. Then, my years of being an editor (the other side of my brain) kickstart the editing process and I go back and revise.

Actually, I am pretty much constantly revising—especially lead paragraphs. One of the nicest things my publisher, Chronicle Books, let me do in Fast, Fresh & Green, is talk. Because the teacher in me got to speak—to give lots of tips and opinions. And one thing I feel strongly about is giving valuable information to readers. It’s fine to indulge a bit in the writing process, but I always remember to make sure I’m giving away at least one or two good tidbits of helpful information.

4. Did you have a particular readership in mind when you were writing the book? Did that change/expand as you wrote?

As I alluded to above, I didn’t write the book for long-time experienced cooks (although many are enjoying it!) but for the folks who are just getting excited about being in the kitchen and the folks who cook but really want more vegetable dishes in their repertoire, just to eat a few more delicious vegetables every day. (See my HuffPo post on this subject.)

I am really excited that I’m reaching these cooks, and I had a great email the other day from someone who said Fast, Fresh & Green had changed her eating habits and her dinner plate—that she thinks about the vegetables on the plate first now, instead of the meat.

5. What’s up next for you regarding work projects? And more specifically, are there goats in your future?

Next up: Two new book proposals are in the works, but I’m afraid I can’t reveal details about them just yet. I want to keep strengthening my blog, SixBurnerSue.com, which is new this year. And I want to continue working out how growing vegetables will be a part of my cooking/writing/growing equation. My first market garden is thriving this summer, but the time/money equation is a tough one. If I decide not to grow to sell in the future, I will at least be committed to growing a much bigger percentage of my own food than I have in the past.

I still write regularly for Fine Cooking and other magazines, and absolutely love my life on Martha’s Vineyard, where I am surrounded by farms and food. Nothing better! No goats just yet…but you never know!

Thanks so much, Susie!

What is your favorite vegetable and/or veggie dish?

What veggie would you like to prepare but haven’t yet?

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