Customer Reviews

1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes, 2nd ed.

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I consider this an "advanced" cookbook. If you're a seasoned vegetarian & are looking for new, exciting dishes, then this may be a five-star book for you. If you're just beginning vegetarian cooking, or if you're looking for quick, easy vegetarian recipes, you may find this book somewhat daunting.

For example, though the book provides a brief glossary of foods you'll encounter in the recipes (like tofu, tempeh, fillo pastry, etc.), I would've appreciated some drawings or pictures or perhaps a little more explanation and encouragement regarding these uncommon foods. I'm a pretty experienced cook and yet I was still a little intimidated, charging blindly into soy proteins & foreign foods like this.

In addtion, many of the "simple" stews and casseroles described depend on one of the book's vegetarian stocks that require 4 hours' simmering time. Furthermore, many of the recipes ask for hard-to-find ingredients like "Mesquite-flavored cooking spray," "broccoflower florets," "sprouted wheat berries," "cactus paddles," and "fat-free half-and-half."

Also, I didn't care for the way the book was organized. As with the veggie broths, many recipes ask for ingredients like smoked tofu, potato pizza crust, sun-dried tomato pesto, chorizo, mushroom gravy, tortilla sauce, etc. that require you to flip to another recipe and take additional time to prepare.

Finally, recipes for condiments or accompanyments are tacked onto entre recipes, rather than given their own chapter. Subsequently, it may be hard to locate these recipes weeks or months later, when you want to use a particular sauce or chutney apart from the entre it was recommended for.

Complications aside, this book certainly does provide a wealth of vegetarian recipes that are both interesting and inspiring. I found it useful, though, to first learn about vegetarian cooking from a more basic cookbook, and now I return to 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes when I'm tired of the usual veggie fare.

I suppose, like the reviewer above said, that this isn't a beginning vegetarians cookbook, in the sense that it does not guide you through what it means to be vegetarian etc, etc, BUT, I'd like to point out that nowhere on the book does it say that is what it is (there are books for that). I also will agree that yes, in SOME of the recipies there are strange ingredients: fat-free half and half, cactus paddles, flavored cooking sprays... but there are over 1,000 recipies! Of course they had to get creative!

I think this cookbook is excellent, if you've been a vegetarian for awhile, and you like to cook, then this book is perfect for spicing up your everyday cuisine. The recipies are easy to follow, and so far (I've cooked a lot of dishes from this book) almost everything has been yummy. I'd like to add that if I can't find something I substitute. I use veggie bullion in place of stocks, and skim milk in place of fat free half and half, and I've never had any problems. The book has widened my scope on mixing vegetarian ingredients, enabling me to scan my pantry and whip up combinations I'd never thought of before. There is so much to chose from that you can keep it simple or get a little fancy!

Highly recommended!

1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes is the best vegetarian cookbook we own. We have others that are good, a few that are pretty bland, a few others which require ingredients only found in Zamibia and perhaps in a few other remote locations across the globe. This book is absolutely the BEST. We've had it for only three weeks, so it didn't take long to become our favorite. Most recipes require easy to find ingredients, though that doesn't take away from the recipes' flavor or variety. If you are vegetarian, you won't regret the purchase.

Overall, I've been enjoying this book; the recipes are interesting, and tasty. I've enjoyed having full nutritional information available. I've found a few key problems, though: -Some of the recipes take a lot longer to make than specified. The acorn squash stuffed with custard recipe too twice as long as listed to firm up. -There is a heavy reliance on difficult to find specialty ingredients, including a really bizarre penchant for relying on fat-free half and half for everything. I can't even find fat-free half and half in any store I have been in! - Many of the recipes refer to other recipes (sauces) etc. to complete them. This is awkward. I would recommend this book to the advanced vegetarian cook who can work around some of these drawbacks.

Just so people realize, some of these reviews were written almost 4 years ago. I had no trouble finding fat free half and half in most area grocery stores. And yes, Worchester sauce traditionally contains anchovies, but a vegetarian version is available in natural food stores. Also, ALL yogurt DOES NOT contain gelatin. There are many brands of "natural" yogurt which do not contain such additives. In the northwest, Nancy's is the first which springs to mind and Stonyfield Farms, which is a northeastern company, but available elsewhere.
If anything, I felt that too many of the recipes called for the same set of ingredients (artichoke hearts, bell pepper, etc.). It's lucky my household likes those items, we just wished for a little more variety.

I finally bought this cookbook last year after perusing and perusing the vegetarian cookbook section trying to decide between this and one of the Moosewood cookbooks. I haven't regreted it since. (Although Moosewood is next on my list!)For sheer variety this cookbook wins hands down. That's the reason I bought it, and it hasn't let me down. I couldn't find another book at the time with Eggplant Moussaka, great hummus and veggie burgers made from scratch without textured protein, and let;s not forget the other main dishes, side dishes, soups and desserts, all in one book. This book is especially great if you know how to cook all the basics and don;t really need pictures, and if you're a vegetarian looking for easy ways to re-do familiar meat dishes, or new dishes on their own. It's also great for al the chinese and other Asian dishes included, because anytime, you can add bits of meat if you want. Some of these recipes are: vegetable lo-mein, moo-shu style vegetables,chop suey, Szechuan Vegetable Stir-Fry, Tempeh Steak with Red and Green Stir-Fry, Mandarin Pancakes and more. I can't even find some of these great Asian food recipes in my other cookbooks that are Asian all in one volume. Then there's all the italian and pasta recipes, which are great for fast fixins. The nutrition content labels and easy to read. As to the desserts, the Boston Cream Pie is yummy, and all your other favorites are here like Lemon Meringue Pie, Apple Pie, chocolate and carrot cake and a bunch of gourmet dessert recipes as well. I like the fact that they're not neurotic about sugar in this book. Not all recipes call for dairy, or even eggs, if you're a vegan. And all yogurt does not contain gelatin. Trader Joe's French Village style does not, nor do a few grocery store brands. read the label. When making yogurt at home you don't use gelatin. It's all about the culture. Some recipes use textured protein, which I don't like so I gave it 4 stars. I like the organization of the book, as well. Overall, I say is this is a great resource, with tastey, timely recipes that even company including non-vegetarians will like.

I own about 20 vegetarian cookbooks and this is the best by far. Every recipe has tasted terrific. The instructions are clear and easy to follow and the preparation times given are accurate. All ingredients are readily found in your local supermarket or superstore. Some of the recipes we have tried are: Black Bean Soup with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Cilantro Cream, Roasted Vegetables, Moo Shu Style, Holiday Sweet Potato Loaf with Apple Cranberry Relish, Sante Fe Beans, Grinder with New England Baked Beans & Roasted Potato Salad, Star Pasta with Carrots & Ginger Cream, Vietnamese Curried Coconut Soup, and Fresh Tomato and Basil Pizza.

All have been delicious and low in fat. Also helpful is the Nutritional Information provided for each recipe as well as a marking to let you know if the dish is acceptable for lacto-ovo, vegan, lacto-, or ovo- vegetarians. This is a VERY large cookbook, but it contains enough enjoyable recipes to last a family for years.

Having gone veggie a few years ago, this was my first non-introductory style vegetarian cookbook, and although I commend Spitler and company for the sheer quantity of recipes here, I've found the recipes to be very hit or miss. I think this is partly due to the often non-intuitive combinations of ingredients found in many of the recipes. While sometimes these out-of-place ingredients are genius (i.e. the black -not adzuki- beans in the egg rolls, or the more than liberal use of celery seed in the bleu cheese dressing), sometimes these combinations can turn what seemed like a tasty dinner into something even my dog looks askance at (like the orange juice and zest in the hummus or the cream cheese and cranberries in the savory wontons). The dishes err more on the sweet side of the palate than on the spicy side. That said, all of the dessert type foods I have tried so far have been solidly good, while the majority of the entrees required a healthy dose of crushed red pepper. My suspicion is that these recipes were generated by a crew less than adequately familiar with vegetarianism, as many of the recipes attempt to make use of meat substitutes (i.e. Mexi "meatball" soup, rigatoni with italian "sausage" and fennel pesto, "burgers" provencal, swedish "meatball" and dilled potato cassarole, etc, etc)with less than appetizing results. There are a least two problems here: first, there are plenty of amazing veggie dishes that don't try to imitate the "meat and potato" style meal (there are almost NO Indian entrees in this book), and second, nothing makes one miss the real thing more than a poor substitute. Yes, those tvp crumbles look innocent enough in the grocery aisle and are easy enough to throw into the pasta sauce, but unless you want to spend you're evening sobbing over your half eaten plate of "sausage" lasagna for your momma's home cooking, then PLEASE skip the phoneys and throw in some chopped baby bellas instead. To summarize, this book is like the bargain basement of vegetarian recipes: over-stuffed with so-so items, but amidst the bland and the out-and-out bad, there are a few gems that make this book deserving of a place on your shelf.

As a bonus for those tracking diet information: each recipe is tagged as vegan, lacto-ovo, lacto, or ovo, to make finding appropriate recipes easy, and all recipes come with calorie counts, basic nutrition information, and the exchange listings for the ADA.

PROS: This book is wonderful for those who are planning low-fat meals for dieting purposes. Even before I prepare the meals, I am able to see the total nutritional information for the serving for that meal. It also gives me greater flexibility to omit or half some of the ingredients that are higher in fat grams (for example if a meal says 5g fat per serving I choose to: a)omit the oil or oil based (or high fat) ingredient OR b)half the serving). Knowing the nutritional values in the meal gives me freedom to manipulate it until I'm satisified that I'm getting the lowest fat intake possible. The book is beautifully laid out based on meal categories (eg. Soups & Stews, Sauces, Veggie Express, etc.) So I decide what I want for a meal and then I turn to that page. One note to buyers: I recommend that you browse through the meal ingredients the day before to get an idea of what you need to buy at the store. Each recipe is labelled so that each vegetarian type would know at a glance whether that meal is right for them. WONDERFUL!

CON: Some of the ingredients asked for are too exotic for me to find where I live. (e.g. cactus leaves, achiote oil, adzuki bean). This isn't too much of a CON, since I can skip those meals and choose something else.

This is a wonderfully laid-out book with a wealth of dishes that allow you to be creative with vegetarian meals. I highly recommend it!

This ambitious and prolific book does contain 1,001 recipe, and each comes complete with nutritionals and dietary exchange information. The recipes are divided into 16 different sections, from Appetizers and Snacks to Desserts. In between, you'll find some unique sections on Stews and Casseroles, Roasted and Grilled Dishes, Pizzas Calzones and Dinner Pies, and Sauces and Condiments. Each recipe is clearly marked with a symbol which denotes whether the dish is vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian, or ovo vegetarian. We didn't try all the 1,001 recipes, but we were pleased with the ones we did sample. Among the particularly impressive dishes were: Roasted Galic and Herb Cannellini Dip, Spiced Corn Melange, Tempeh Fajitas, Ginger-Baked Beans, Asparagus with Peanut Sauce, and Spiced Orange Compote. There are many vegan recipes (except in the dessert section, where there were only a handful), and the recipes run the gamut from simple to gourmet. --From Vegetarian Journal, September/October 1997