Almost Vegetarian: A Primer for Cooks Who Are Eating Vegetarian Most of the Time, Chicken & Fish Some of the Time, & Altogether Well All of the Time [Paperback]

Diana Shaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 1994

A spirited, reliable, nondogmatic primer with more than 130 recipes for the ever-growing number of people who are eating and cooking semi-vegetarian fare. Offers everything from Chunky Lentil Soup with Parmesan to Peach Scone Cake--all served with an abundance of practical information and advice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shaw (Vegetarian Entertaining) targets a wide audience with this collection of 170-plus recipes featuring ingredients that are mostly vegetarian and low in fat. Picking up on a major motivation for the population's move away from red meat, the author focuses on dishes that offer flavor without a high fat content, emphasizing salads enlivened by a liberal use of herbs, soups and casseroles whose taste and richness are deepened by long, slow cooking. Nutritional counts per serving are included. While many of the vegetable dishes, which can be main courses or side dishes, highlight produce associated with Mediterranean-style cooking, dishes built around such winter vegetables as hard squashes and potatoes are particularly interesting. A chapter on pastas and risottos and one on desserts merit special mention. Shaw's prose is breezy and personal, occasionally becoming verbose, bordering on arch. The page design, with boxes, tips and other asides, is attractive, though busy and sometimes distracting. Lengthy introductory material includes brief descriptions of cooking methods, a directory of fresh vegetables, legumes, seasonings and flavorings; a bibliography and list of mail-order sources are also provided. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

"Almost vegetarian" is a good description of the way more and more people are not quite giving up meat but no longer eating it every day, and this book should have broad appeal. Shaw, author of Grilling from the Garden (LJ 8/93) and two other strictly vegetarian cookbooks, does not include red meat in her latest book, but there are fish and poultry entrees and other dishes this time around. Most are low-fat and high-fiber. The recipes are an eclectic collection, though not, perhaps, quite as interesting as those in Grilling, with lots of variations and boxes on tips and techniques. A few quibbles aside (e.g., how many cooks will be able to find baby artichokes with 4-inch stems for soup?), this is recommended for most collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1st Edition, 1st Printing edition (October 25, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051788206X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517882061
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VEGGIES AREN'T SO BAD!, July 25, 2000

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Almost Vegetarian: A Primer for Cooks Who Are Eating Vegetarian Most of the Time, Chicken & Fish Some of the Time, & Altogether Well All of the Time (Paperback)

Remember when growing up as a child you abhored vegetables? Moms across the nation have spent vast hours in cajoling their little darlings into eating those "things" that were good for them. Now as an adult we're told that we need to eat more vegetable if we care about our health. Sigh. We reluctantly acquiese but still we hate those green (or not so green) things.

Hate no more as I have done in coming across this delightful cookbook. If you still love meat but need more veggies in your diet please explore this text. Inside you will come across mouth watering recipes that are easy to make. And the vegetable dishes taste fantastic. You don't have to commit to vegetarianism in order to enjoy the varied meals presented which also include chicken and fish.

Almost Vegetarians isn't preachy like Mom in trying to convince you to eat vegetables. It is a sensible guide which offers a variety of ways in which those things can be made delicious for our palets. It also contains advice on purchasing the proper cookware, buying mail order and a great bibliography. If you weren't sold on vegetables before, you will be with this book. Have a great meal!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's some good eatin' in this book!, August 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Almost Vegetarian: A Primer for Cooks Who Are Eating Vegetarian Most of the Time, Chicken & Fish Some of the Time, & Altogether Well All of the Time (Paperback)

I have tried several of the recipes in this book and found all of them to be delicious. Most selections are relatively low fat with lots of flavor. It's perfect for individuals who eat meat occasionally. All recipes that call for poultry or fish also have suggestions for keeping it vegetarian. Sorry, this doesn't have many vegan recipes, although the vegans I know are pretty clever enough to make substitutions

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok, but needs work..., February 27, 2007

By 

M. Grue - See all my reviews

This review is from: Almost Vegetarian: A Primer for Cooks Who Are Eating Vegetarian Most of the Time, Chicken & Fish Some of the Time, & Altogether Well All of the Time (Paperback)

I have now made several of the recipes in this book, and have found many of them to be lacking in some way. Most take WAY more prep time than is quoted. Many of the recipes end up bland tasting. I've taken to having my mother, who is a great cook, review the recipes and give me spicing hints. Also, I'd like to echo the person who said the recipes lack liquid. The Minestrone Soup turned out like a stew; hardly any broth. The Chicken and Lentil Stew had NO liquid. Beware: if you make the Stuffed Grape Leaves, you'll need double the amount of leaves quoted to use all your stuffing.

On the plus side, some of the recipes turned out great and very tasty. The Pumpkin Risotto was excellent and the Chicken and Lentil Stew was tasty even though it wasn't really a stew. I love all the cooking definitions and the vegetable guide. Those were really useful.

Overall, don't make these recipes for the first time to impress someone. The recipes are great bases, but you'll need to make it more than once to figure out what to add and do differently. Don't buy this if you don't know how to adjust recipes. The guides and tips throughout the book were very helpful to a relative newbie in the kitchen like me.