E-BOOK: “My First Green Bean”

My first cookbook! I had my first green bean on July 26, 2014, on my first day of culinary school, when a chef handed me my own cooked green bean to taste for salt. I looked at him, I looked at the green bean, I looked at him, and I looked at the green bean. & so, that was my first time eating a vegetable. Kind of - my mom says she always fed them to me as a baby, homemade veggies, mashed, and served in a glass container hmm... but, by choice, that was my first. I was a very particular eater growing up. Not picky per se, but I have always had opinions about food. I like what I like. I never really enjoyed a salad before the age of 30, and I know now, that this is due to the lack of flavor I experienced in eating salads and vegetables. Becoming a chef and interning at blue hill truly connected me to food that was coming from the earth, with impactful flavor. Okay, to be fair, a tall, rugged, soft blue-eyed, charming farmer offered me a handful of lettuce to taste. I - a charmer too, obliged. I'm glad he was easy on the eyes because it was heaven on my pallet. Who knew grass could taste so good? 
 
So, here we are, years into being a chef, and I have finally created my first book. 
 
This book is a collection of over 20 nutritious recipes I made on repeat during the lockdowns of 2020 and notes that I have been collecting for over 10 years as a professional chef. I created meals out of very few ingredients, usually 10 or fewer, and I stuck to fresh stuff. Mostly vegetables like onion, carrots, and celery that were so versatile, I could incorporate in different recipes to help me lower the amount of time I needed to go to the grocery and reduce my food waste. You won't find any preservatives or heavy fatty items, because, during the lockdown, I focused on eating as clean as possible since exercise was not always an option. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!