Little Eater Revisited: Cara Mangini’s New Book Elevates Vegetables to Main-Course Status

Chef Cara Mangini’s new book, “The Vegetable Eater,” is the perfect guide to moving vegetables from side dish billing to the star of a full meal. Mangini is the author of 2016’s  award-winning cookbook “The Vegetable Butcher” and founder of the much-missed restaurant Little Eater, which had locations in the North Market Downtown and Clintonville. She recently relocated to California, but her book is based on conversations she had with Columbus diners. She’ll be back in the city for a luncheon and author talk at Giuseppe’s Ritrovo on March 28. We caught up with Mangini in January. 

Tell us about your book. It was born out of conversations I had with my customers at Little Eater. The question I would get over and over again was, “What do I make for dinner?” This is a guide to turning your vegetables into complete meals.  

What makes this book different from other cookbooks? It’s designed with strategy and lessons to make cooking with vegetables feel easier and doable. I identified the fundamental dishes that you need to know, things that are really familiar, like burgers and pasta and pizza and sheet-pan meals. And then I provide a seasonal variation for each of those categories.  

Are we talking about weeknight dinners? It’s a range. There are recipes for every day and every occasion. Some take 20 to 30 minutes for a weeknight, but others are more involved, for when you’re having friends over. 

Does the book include Little Eater recipes? The beet sandwich and the cucumber pesto and goat cheese sandwich are in there. They were always such a huge hit. And the zucchini cherry scone, a seasonal special. People who know it will be excited to have that recipe.  

You’re in California now. Before the pandemic, I started to put a plan in motion to expand operations in California, where I’m from. I decided to stay here so I could raise my kids closer to my family.  

Are there Midwestern influences in the book? So much was influenced by my decade in Columbus. Being from California, I wasn’t forced to cook in that rhythm before. There’s something special when you don’t have access [to some types of produce year-round], and you get to anticipate a vegetable coming. You don’t have that sort of experience here. 

What’s your favorite Ohio vegetable? You want me to pick one? There’s nothing like coming out of that long dragging winter to this little sign of life that comes in the form of ramps. And then asparagus. Cooking until every single last one was gone was a highlight in my life. 

Tomatoes in Columbus are extraordinary. In the fall, I grew to appreciate rutabaga. It’s so abundant but not as readily available elsewhere.  

The correct answer is sweet corn. I have not had corn like that since leaving. It’s so true. There’s nothing like it. You got me.  

This story is from the March 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly.