Most for your money cookbook

Squash. There are so many kinds, winter, summer, green, yellow, round and flat, that all we can suggest is they should be hefty for their size. We get the biggest kick out of three kinds, all of them fairly new in the markets but growing fast in popularity, and we'd even be willing to pay the price of popularity if these now-cheap nutmeg, cocozelli and spaghetti squashes went up, for we figure that anything which gives such keen enjoyment helps us get the most for our squash dollar. Tomatoes. Now bred to convenient size to suit the shipper, not the consumer. The big old-fashioned ''beefsteak" tomato is best in flavor — but try and get it! As for the commercial kind, the heavier and healthier in color, the better; although underripe ones will get red on the window-sill, they won't be as full of flavor. Overripe ones are only good for kids to throw at cops when they're being shagged. Turnips. As with beets, the early ones come with tops attached and these crisp leaves make a swell dish of greens, especially when cooked in the broth of salt pork. Smooth, firm turnips are a better buy than old ones that have stayed in the ground until they've become as pithy as punk radishes. Rutabagas, called Swedes, from the popularity of this giant turnip among the Swedes who brought it to this country, were formerly thought fit only for cattle, but now they prove to be about the best buy in the whole turnip family. In any case, they offer most for your turnip money. Watercress. This luscious cress, when crisp and fresh, is one of the best buys we know. It's fine dunked in mayonnaise a spray at a time, also for pepping up a salad or garnishing a meat dish. It's chockful of vitamins and body-building minerals and those people who munch it like rabbits are all the better off. Eat Your Spinach ARTICHOKE SPROUTS 2 POUNDS JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES I BOX BRUSSELS SPROUTS MASHED POTATOES 1 OUNCES BUTTER 4-5 ONIONS, SLICED CREAM SAUCE PEPPER, FRESHLY GROUND Peel artichokes, then wash them well, because they have a very earthy taste. Cook in 2 quarts water with sliced onions, salt and butter. Separately, make mashed potatoes, cream sauce, and boil the Brussels sprouts. When artichokes and sprouts are tender spread a thick circle of mashed potatoes around the outside of a big dinner plate or round platter and stick the artichokes in, leaving spaces between. Cover with cream sauce or melted butter and then stick a Brussels sprout between each pair of artichokes and heap the rest in the middle, to make a dish "exceedingly inviting, simple and pretty." The last words are those of the internationally famous chef Soyer, who invented this dish to please royal patrons in Queen Victoria's reign. Soyer's dishes were a great gift to the gouty and many of them, like the above, are cheap and satisfying to those who like to make a whole meal out of one hearty vegetable dish, especially in summer time. This dish takes a bit of doing, as the English say, but it's well worth it, for the contrasting flavors are pleasing to both eye and tummy. In season, both artichokes and Brussels sprouts are cheap. EAT YOUR spinach! 1 53