In the cookbook Five Ways to Cook Asparagus (and Other Recipes): The Art and Practice of Making Dinner, the key theme is five. Author Peter Miller suggests five types of foods to keep in stock in the larder (dairy products, greens, liquids like olive oils and vinegars, breads, and fruits). He gives explanations of each, and includes a recipe or two using ingredients in each of his categories.

In Part 2, Miller has an excellent chapter on vegetables, and includes five recipes for each (Asparagus, broccoli, carrots, onions, and cauliflower). These recipes aren’t your everyday – throw-together vegetable dishes; rather, they are innovative and absolutely mouthwatering.

Part 3 of the cookbook includes Legumes, Rice, Pasta, and More, and, you guessed it, gives five recipes for each: rice, quinoa/couscous, spaghetti, lentils, and beans. Once again, these are not run-of-the-mill recipes, and look good enough that you actually want to cook all of them. There’s a chapter on protein (fish, chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) as well as a chapter on basics and how to prepare them.

This is actually an unconventional cookbook; it’s a simple concept (five), and it works. The pictures are beautiful, the chapters are well organized, and the recipes are delectable. The only thing that isn’t particularly great about this cookbook is the cover, which is fairly boring. However, since it will be hidden on the bookshelf next to your other favorite cookbooks, it really won’t matter. The recipes are simple, the instructions are easy to follow, and the finished dishes turn out just like the pictures. The author also includes five (of course) menus, including wine suggestions.

Favorite recipes so far are the gorgeous and delicious Spaghetti Frittata, Cauliflower Baked in Butter and Parmesan, Spaghetti and Dungeness Crab, and Asparagus with Parmesan and Arugula. The list of what I want to try is getting longer every time I pick up this cookbook.

Five Ways to Cook Asparagus (and Other Recipes): The Art and Practice of Making Dinner is a cookbook with good information, hints, and recipes for cooks of all skill levels. It makes an excellent addition to any cookbook collection.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Don't think this book has only five ways to cook asparagus , it has five ways to cook broccoli , cauliflower , beans and so on...... Each recipe are explained very well.

Ironic, nice, brilliant, Five Ways to Cook Asparagus (and other recipes) The art and practice to Making Dinner by Peter Miller a book published by ABRAMS this April 11 plenty of wonderful dinner recipes.

Mr Miller owns a book store in Seattle and in the past published a book: "Lunch at the Shop" where he explained what and how to cook while we are working. I know the feeling, because I experienced it a lot of times.

What it is important to do, says mr Miller is eating well, diversifying food.

Some people think that dinner is "a more difficult chapter if compared to lunch" in terms of preparation.

Miller affirm that the main trick, for someone busy like him and so in the rush is to keep in the house fundamental ingredients. The rest it's up to us and our fantasy.

Of course you can't miss to cook veggies, from asparagus to the rest of all the wonderful green food you can see at the supermarket or in the local farm where you buy them if of course you can't grow them directly.

We will discover the joy of eating great food, passing through good condiments like olive oil and our italian parmigiano Reggiano.

You will meet wonderful recipes of rice, five ways to cook spaghetti, I love them! or also recipes with asparagus, one of the first veggies we meet once winter is over, broccoli, carrots, onion, and so on.
Everytime important tips for cooking and for create wonderful dishes.

In the book a chapter dedicated at the base of our meals focusing the attention on legumes, rice, pasta with yummy recipes.

Of course Miller won't forget meat, fish, desserts and more elaborated meals for the week-end.

It' s a consolation not being alone in this thought: thinking that cooking and baking is a magical art, as also add Miller at the end of his book.

You must "feel" to me the ingredients for having a real eatable dish.You must feel love, joy, desire.

As Miller says at the end of the book: "The most important detail is you for you must believe that it matters, that it is vital, and that you can do it. You must believe that there is even some magic to it, that a meal well cooked is a gift and a protection and an honor - and an integral part of each day."


I thank NetGalley and ABRAMS for this book.


Anna Maria Polidori

Very clever format for a cookbook. It lists a variety of main ingredients (vegetables) and then lists five recipes for each. Useful tool for those looking for expanded ways to eat their veggies.

Peter Miller has a very specific style. My reaction to this book is that it's less cookbook and more art installation about how one thinks about or approaches cooking. It is simple, austere, reminiscent of Nigel Slater in a way... but I can't imagine that I would reach for it often after reading through.

One of my pet peeves is finding a cookbook that starts with the same word or number for every recipe in a cookbook. The Five Ways to Cook Asparagus (and other Recipes): The Art and Practice of Making Dinner by Peter Miller is titled Five Ways and he follows up with recipes using the word "Five". For example you read:

Vegetables: From Side Dish to Main Course then Five Ways to Cook Asparagus, etc. followed by "Five Ways to Cook Asparagus" for example.

I suspect a better way to organize the cookbook would have been to list the chapter type followed by the ingredients. An example could have been:

Vegetables: From Side Dish to Main Course

Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese
Asparagus with Mushrooms
Asparagus Primavera
Asparagus with Sautéed Fish Fillets
Asparagus Sautéed Chicken Cutlets
Stir-Fried Broccoli
Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

Note the above recipe names are made up by me to illustrate a better way to organize the cookbook.

I also question the practicality of his cookbook as most cooks, after working all day, probably don't feel like cooking heavy-duty meals. At least I didn't when I was a working full-time. Some of the recipes found in this cookbook require some detailed cooking due to somewhat extensive recipe ingredients. Most of the cooking techniques are bare bones and doable.

The things I liked about his cookbook include the chapter introductions as his writing is pithy and delightful. I also enjoyed viewing the color photos.

You will find the following chapters in his cookbook:

Preface: Heading Home
Introduction: Making Dinner
Larder: Five Types of Foods to Keep in Stock
Vegetables: From Side Dish to Main Course
The Base of Your Meal: Legumes, Rice, Pasta, and More
Protein: Five Ways to Bring the Beasts, Birds, and Fish to Dinner
Weekend Cooking: Five Preparations That Take a Little Time
Toolbox: Five Essential Skills
Menus: Five Ways to a Meal
A Sweet End to the Meal, a Dessert of Fresh Fruit
Epilogue: Cleaning Up

Review written after downloading a galley from Net Galley.

If you have a busy workweek but are looking to cook more at home, then this is the book for you. They keep it simple with limited ingredients and numerous ways to cook those ingredients. From sides to main courses, this book highlights a vegetable for starts. There is also a section on lentils/rice/beans, meat proteins, and even a section for "weekend cooking" for recipes that aren't as quick as the rest of the book. Each item (from asparagus to rice) is given five different ways to cook it. A great cookbook for those looking to cut down on cook time but not quality.