Nigel Slater has fallen in love...with his vegetable patch. The TV chef and bestselling author has devoted this entire book to the beauty and versatility of home-grown vegetables and the results are both delicious and inspirational. With over 600 pages which celebrate his small but perfectly formed vegetable garden, Nigel takes the reader by the hand and guides us around each bed and patch providing an incredible range of recipes and helpful hints on how to get the best out of the space we have to grow things. His passion for this undertaking makes this one of the best cookery books I have ever read and as well as being a fantastic chef, Nigel Slater is a wonderful writer who can turn a description of a muddy patch of earth sound like quality poetry. Full of beautiful photography by Jonathan Lovekin and featuring a huge range of brand new dishes that viewers of the BBC's Simple Suppers program will recognize, this is a book to cook from and enjoy all year round.

Nigel Slater has a love affair with cooking, and he writes with the passion of Jane Austen, only this time it is an affair with courgettes and carrots! There is a wonderful description in the book describing an occasion some years ago when he was served up a dish of baby courgettes, complete with the yellow flowers, fried in the lightest batter and accompanied by fresh lemon and rock salt. Mouthwatering!With the recession biting hard, there is a renewed interest in 'growing your own', and I for one have succumbed to the usual non-gardeners attempts at tomatoes, lettuce and herbs, but this book is, quite simply, inspiring, and I shall be moving on to the more exotic plants next year.The photographs are an inspiration in themselves, but it is in his wonderful descriptive flow that you gain a desire to get digging. Most recipe books are read for a list of ingredients and instructions. In this book, the recipes are almost an aside.This book is a must, whether you are a seasoned gardener or a beginner; whether you have never cooked a proper meal in your life, or are looking for fresh ideas. So here's to a healthier and tastier new year. Get digging and may all your courgettes be green, crisp and succulent!Annie Watkinson, Waterstone's Cardholder

There are so many recipes in this Nigel Slater cook book. Each are delicious. I adore Slater, you do not need to read "Toast" to understand his love for food it is just obvious! His passion and respect is evident in his language used and this love is infectious enough to make you start a recipe upon reading!