Bri Beaudoin, creator of the popular blog Evergreen Kitchen, has been captivating her fans with delicious and healthy vegetarian recipes for years. While we all know that a home-cooked meal is the best for our budgets and our health, the idea of cooking dinner on weeknights can feel like a chore. With many of us eating more veggie­forward meals, it’s no wonder busy home cooks are craving tasty vegetarian recipes that everyone at the dinner table will love.

Evergreen Kitchen is bursting with beautiful, flavourful recipes that just so happen to be vegetarian. The recipes provide much-needed inspiration for delicious weeknight mains that are sure to make your taste buds sing, and a sprinkling of simple, yet scrumptious, desserts for those who like to end their meal with something sweet. Whether you want to cook a vegetarian meal one night a week or every night, Evergreen Kitchen is packed with over 110 recipes to make it happen with dishes that satisfy the heartiest of appetites like Veggie Skillet Pot Pie and Cheesy Chipotle Quinoa Bake to Spicy Miso Ramen and Sheet-Pan Veggie Fajitas.

Throughout the book, there is something for everyone: salads that eat like a meal, easy one pot and sheet-pan recipes, crowd-pleasing noodles, nostalgic comfort foods, healthy bowls, hearty soups, delicious desserts, and so much more. Many of the recipes feature make-ahead options, easy substitutions, and modifications to make them vegan and/or gluten-free (if they aren’t already). In addition, learn how to stock your pantry with the essentials, the small handful of kitchen tools that are actually worth having, and tips and tricks to make vegetarian meals craveable. Filled with gorgeous photography and plenty of step-by-step images throughout the book to illustrate exactly how to get things done, Evergreen Kitchen brings weeknight vegetarian dinners to life.

Evergreen Kitchen: Weeknight Vegetarian Dinners for Everyone is available at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Indigo.ca.   

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Vegetable Ragu

A deeply flavoured vegetarian ragu might sound like a paradox, but this one is delicious nonetheless. Caramelized tomato paste, fire-roasted tomatoes, and tamari all bring umami magic to this dish. Meaty shiitake mushrooms add subtle texture—without making things too mushroom-forward. The food processor makes quick work of mincing, but chop the vegetables into roughly similar sizes first. This way, the food processor will mince the vegetables more evenly so they easily meld into the luscious sauce.

1 yellow onion, roughly chopped (2 cups)

1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 celery rib, roughly chopped

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

8 oz (227g) shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed

6 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup tomato paste

½ cup dry red wine

1 can(28floz/796ml) crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

2 tablespoons tamari

2 teaspoons dried oregano

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

17.6 oz (500g) dried pappardelle

1.3 oz (37g) finely grated Parmesan cheese (⅓ cup), more for garnish

1. Mince the vegetables and cook: In a food processor, combine the onion, carrot, and celery and pulse until minced. In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Transfer the minced vegetables to the pot. Add the mushrooms to the food processor, pulse until minced, then add them to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Build the rest of the sauce: Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, and tomato paste to the pot and cook, stirring continuously, until the tomato paste darkens slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. (Reduce the heat, if needed, to prevent the garlic from burning.) Pour in the red wine and let boil for 1 minute, stirring to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the tomatoes, tamari, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir to mix. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and simmer for at least 15 minutes for the flavours to meld.

3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente according to the package directions. Scoop out and reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Drain the pasta.
4. Combine: Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Sprinkle in the Parmesan. Toss, adding more reserved pasta water if needed, a little at a time, until the noodles are coated in a silky sauce. Divide the pasta among bowls and garnish with more Parmesan.

Excerpted from Evergreen Kitchen: Weeknight Vegetarian Dinners for Everyone by Bri Beaudoin. Copyright © 2022 Bri Beaudoin. Photography by Anguel Dimov. Published by Penguin Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.