Customer Reviews

Carb Conscious Vegetarian: 150 Delicious Recipes for a Healthy Lifestyle

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have a very large collection of vegetarian cookbooks and I have to limit myself now to only adding books that offer something truly special. Well, I know that I can always rely on Robin Robertson and I was looking forward to the release of this book. I have had wonderful results with her other vegetarian cookbooks including Vegan Planet, The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker and others. I actually own all of her cookbooks. It is amazing how she never fails to provide delicious, simple to prepare, reliable and flavorful vegetarian recipes and this newest cookbook doesn't disappoint!

I highly recommend Carb Conscious Vegetarian for all vegetarian and vegan households. Actually, anyone who is interested in eating more healthfully can benefit from this collection of recipes. Plus, they are all creative and delicious. This book is different from some other vegetarian cookbooks because it doesn't rely heavily on dairy products or refined carbohydrates to add the bulk of meals. Every recipe is vegan and combines fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, soy, whole grains and spices to achieve great results.

The Ginger Sherry Tofu with Green Beans and Water Chestnuts was so awesome that we made it two nights in a row and devoured it entirely. It is easy to prepare and the fresh taste was awesome. We also tried the Sultry Summer Salsa and that was one of the prettiest and best tasting salsas we have ever had. It is perfectly tangy thanks to the tomatillos (which I had never tried before) and the colors are beautifully vibrant with yellow, green and red. It was perfect and my hubby is a salsa connoisseur. We also tried yummy Spice-Rubbed Vegetable Kebobs, Many-Vegetable Bulgur Pilaf and White Bean Hummus with Green Chiles and Black Olives, again yummy! What impresses me the most about Robin Robertson's cookbooks is how she is able to keep things so simple and still pack a flavor punch. The results are consistently outstanding.

Basically it boils down to a few key aspects for any good cookbook:

Delicious food - Everything we have tried so far has been easy and very tasty.

Reusability - We will make all of the recipes we tried again and are looking forward to making so many more recipes. This is the kind of cookbook that inspires you to get into the kitchen and actually cook and there are 150 recipes to choose from.

Nicely laid out design - Carb Conscious Vegetarian has nice easy on the eyes green colored text with clean font and design.

Must have a good index - This book has two very good indexes, one recipe index and one general index.

Extras - She does a very good job explaining carbohydrates and includes several useful appendixes so that we can understand our carbohydrate consumption. Also every recipe has detailed nutrition information.

To get all of the above from a tried and true vegetarian cookbook author at a low price is even better. I read lots of book reviews and would never want to steer anyone wrong. Do yourself a favor and pick Carb Conscious Vegetarian. My husband and I are very pleased with the results and I am sure that you will be too.

Bottom line - This book makes it a pleasure to eat sensibly and eat well!

When my husband developed acid reflux, it was recommended that he lower his carb intake. As long time lacto vegetarians (no fish, meat or eggs, yes to dairy), this sounded particularly challenging.

I bought 3 different low carb cookbooks from Amazon a month ago: "Low-carb Vegetarian" by Celia Brooks Brown, "Carb Conscious Vegetarian: 150 Delicious Recipes For Healthy Lifestyle" by Robin Robertson and "The New Glucose Revolution Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook: 80 Delicious Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes Made Easy with the Glycemic Index" by Dr. Jennie Brand-Miller

After a month of consistent cooking I have rarely used Brown's "Low-carb Vegetarian" which is laden with ~50% recipes that use eggs. There are some great recipes in there if you eat eggs though.

On the other hand, my copy of "Carb Conscious Vegetarian: 150 Delicious Recipes For Healthy Lifestyle" by Robin Robertson is a bit dog-eared already. Delicious, innovative recipes with new ways to use foods common to the vegetarian and wonderful exploring of unusual but easily available new veggies and protein options.

"The New Glucose Revolution Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook" by Dr. Jennie Brand-Miller was rich with information and great recipes. It taught me a lot.

But by far Robertson's "Carb Conscious Vegetarian" is the best.

I will say that I don't know these authors and am doing this to help a buyer who may be wondering which one to get...

By the way, a low carb/lower acid diet has really eased the acid reflux my husband suffers from. We eat a main meal during the day and a protein drink at night, even if working: switched when consuming. And I am starting to lose weight...

Hope this helps!

My wife and I are vegan. She is always trying new recipes, and Robin
Robertson's new cookbook, Carb Conscious Vegetarian is perfect for us
both. I love a hearty meal, my wife likes a lighter meal. Most of these
recipes can be made with a serving of pasta, rice, or potatoes on the
side, or mixed in, so that both of us can enjoy a healthy, and myself a
bit heartier, meal. For example, the appetizers are great, because my
wife will make several of them at one time, and make a side of roasted
potatoes along with them (for me) and that makes a fun meal. Many of
the salads involve a combination of vegetables, tofu, tempeh, etc. to be
topped on lettuce leaves. Instead of putting the "topping" on lettuce as
my wife does, I put it over brown rice. The soups and stews are really
delicious, but if I need a little more food that night, I will throw in
some pasta or tofu cubes or have some bread on the side. The side dishes
can be served with roasted potatoes, rice, or pasta. The entrees are
satisfying enough on their own, but sometimes I will still make some
garlic bread or pasta on the side, and I'm plenty full. The Breakfast
Bites are fine as they are, filling enough for me in the morning. And the
Divine Desserts are unbelievably satisfying. This cookbook is really
versatile, and works great for that vegetarian or vegan couple or family
who enjoy great food, a healthy diet, and love to eat together, even
though they are on different diet plans.

Carb Conscious Vegetarian is full of fabulous recipes. You won't miss those high-carb foods when you start cooking from Robin Robertson's new cookbook. I have made several of the recipes and they are all delish! The Tempeh-Walnut Salad with Lime and Cilantro is filling and flavorful and makes a lovely lunch or dinner. The Black Bean and Sesame-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms are really unique and fun. The Fennel and Artichoke Gratin with Three-Herb White Bean Pesto is great to serve company, it's so beautiful, and so easy to make. There are also lots of great stir-fry's, one of my personal favorite ways to cook my meals.

And Robin really knows her sauces. Just that chapter alone is full of great recipes. My favorite is the Rich Man's Pesto, no wait, it's the Spicy Peanut Sauce, no wait, it's the Charmoula Sauce, I just can't make up my mind!

Carb Conscious Vegetarian proves that you can eat healthy low-carb vegetarian meals, without sacrificing any flavor. In fact these recipes are so flavorful, you will want to keep cooking from this cookbook even after you lose all that weight! It is a lifestyle cookbook, one you can use every day, for many years to come.

This is an excellent cookbook, first off it is all vegan so no dairy or eggs are used although she does mention that milk could be substituted for some recipies. I appreciate its vegan content since I am one, but I know that vegetarian meals can be heavy on dairy as well as typical low carb meals. I loved the tofu benedict and made three of the soups (amazing!) there are great side dishes and new ways to try different veggies. I think the sauces and condiments section are a real bonus in this book. If you are looking for more vegan low carb, I also recommend "low carb vegetarian" by Margo DeMello, a little less fancy meals, but we use more of them regularly (especially the *chicken* caesar salad).

i also appreciate the thoughtful intro about good and smart carbs, since its pretty much impossible to sustiain healthy balance being vegan and truly low carb.

If you are just looking for ways to make healthier meals for your family this is a winner whether you are a vegetarian or not. The premise of the book is to increase the whole grains, and decrease sweeteners and refined products. These suggestions are good for everyone.

Being a numbers geek I appreciate that the book gives all the relevant nutritional information for each recipe. No matter what numbers you are monitoring the data is here for each dish.

I particularly enjoyed the recipe for Chipotle Mashed Cauliflower. The Creamy Cucumber Dijon Dressing is also a very nice recipe. If you are looking for another way to get flax into your family I suggest the Apple and Oats Flaxjacks.

Overall I got a lot of ideas from this book regarding how to increase the "health factor" in many of my family favorites. If you are interested in better health, this is a nice book to add to the cooking library.

I am not a vegan/vegetarian, but wanted to add more low carb vegan meals to reduce the amount of animal products we eat and to reduce carb intake as we are both pre-diabetic. Well, I am thrilled with this cookbook! I bought 7 vegan cookbooks recently, but I've cooked almost exclusively out of this book alone, and so far, all of the recipes have been GREAT! The 'Portobello Patties with Charmoula Sauce' recipe is out of this world! And the Cashew Creme is decadent. I loved the 'Edamame, snow peas, and bean sprouts with Ginger-lime Vinaigrette' salad. And the 'Victory Garden Stew' was excellent, although I added garlic, since I'm a definite garlic lover. Finally, I've tried every burger/cake recipe in the book with various sauces and have loved them all.

You can't go wrong with this cookbook, although some of the ingredients may be hard to find, such as artichoke hearts - but I haven't given up, there's got to be some gourmet shops out there that carry them!

If you want a cook book that contains a variety of TASTY vegan recipes, then this is the book you should buy!

Sherry

I have tried multiple recipes in this book and I have liked each one thus far. There are ideas for things in here that I hadn't thought to try and recipes that implement things that I like but didn't really have recipes to include them in. I love to experiment with new things and this book really took it home for me. There's no greater pleasure than trying new foods and learning the best way to prepare things, yet still be able to eat healthy. Kudos!

Forget Atkins (aka: Fatkins) and SouthBeach, this is the ultimate low-carb cookbook since it's vegan and unbelievably healthy. I have been a long time vegetarian and recently went vegan. I had been lamenting to a friend that I was wanting to drop but a few pounds and seemed to be doing everything right with regards to diet and exercise. She recommended Robin's "Carb-Conscious Vegetarian" to me as a way of losing those last couple of pounds without deprivation. I immediately purchased the book and have loved every single recipe tried thus far.

Anyone who wants to eat a healthier diet will love this book. It's well organized and Robin has even taken the time to provide the caloric breakdown for each recipe included in the book for those analytic-types out there who want to know precisely the fat grams, etc.

If you're wanting to maintain or transition to a healthier diet and recognize that eating bowls of pasta or rice just isn't getting you there--I'd try this book. You will be satisfied and healthier for it!

I've been a vegetarian since I was 17 (am 24 now) and always found it hard to avoid eating way too much pasta, bread, and other starches. This cookbook has opened up a whole new world for my boyfriend and I, as we are trying to South Beach Diet. He loves this cookbook, and he's not even a vegetarian! I recommend the chili that uses red lentils (there are two chili recipes), and the Paglio e Fieno w/ Cashew Sauce recipe that uses thinly sliced and steamed zucchini and squash instead of pasta. Tonight we are making one of the Portobello Burger recipes. I can't wait!!