The French Market Cookbook By Clotilde Dusoulier

Clotilde Dusoulier taught us how to cook simple but elegant French food on her blog, Chocolate & Zucchini, before French women were telling us how to live every aspect of our lives.

In her third book, The French Market Cookbook ($23), Dusoulier zeros in on the produce stand, with 82 vegetarian recipes that explore "the love affair between French cuisine and vegetables."

Chapters are dedicated to a season and highlight the best ingredients of each, from beets in the fall to green peas in springtime. The recipe notes possess Dusoulier's charming–but not condescending–Parisian tone, making us wish we were baking a tomato-mustard tart or shaving fennel for a salad in a Marais kitchen, like her.

Dusoulier's summery recipe for haricots verts (see the recipe) seemed apropos to try on in our New York City test kitchen. Her unfussy cold salad combines blanched, but still crisp, green beans with red rice, sliced almonds, ample chopped parsley and an apple cider vinaigrette.

Did eating the hearty dish take the place of a trip to Paris? No. But will we be taking it on our next picnic? Absolutely.