For chef Matt Wilkinson, vegetables come first. Whether he’s cooking in the kitchen of his Melbourne eatery Pope Joan or for his young family at home, Matt plans and builds his dishes around the vegetables in season, when they’ll taste the best, be cheapest and most readily available.

Today too many of us - chefs and home cooks alike - plan our meals around the meat (or protein) and carbohydrate components letting the vegetables play second fiddle. In this book Matt Wilkinson lets his favourite 24 vegetables take centre stage.

This beautifully illustrated book will appeal to vegetarians but it’s not a vegetarian cookbook. Among the more than 90 recipes are plenty of dishes incorporating meat but Mr Wilkinson’s favourite vegetables are the true stars.