Cook 1.0: A Fresh Approach to the Vegetarian Kitchen [Hardcover]

Heidi Swanson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2004

A guide for beginning-level cooks shares a wealth of vegetarian recipes that can be prepared in a minimum of time and without extensive exotic ingredients, sharing simple instructions for such options as Creamy Mushroom Pot Pie, Apricot Summer Tart with Macadamia Shortbread Crust, and Ice-Cold Blueb

Editorial Reviews

Review

An engaging collection of simple but sophisticated vegetarian recipes....each presented in a sleek, approachable step-by-step chart format. -- Library Journal

Anyone looking for interesting ideas to add variety to everyday meals will find much to consider. -- Seattle Times, November 24, 2004

Heidi Swanson adds sparkle and ease to simple vegetarian cuisine....the photos are luscious enough to get any tummy rumbling. -- The Oakland Tribune, November, 2004

Her approach is at once basic and innovative.....quick, simple meals that can easily be changed from week to week. -- Washington Post, March, 2005

One cookbook, multiple themes, endless recipes!....Cook 1.0 offers a wide variety of crowd-pleasing favorites. -- Vegetarian Times, Nov/December 2004

Swanson stands out in the cookbook world...has come up with one of the most appealing books of the year. -- Denver Post, November 28, 2004

The best of the year's cookbooks just in time for gift giving. -- Santa Cruz Sentinel, December 8, 2004

About the Author

HEIDI SWANSON founded ChickClick.com in 1997. The site became one of the most trafficked female networks on the Internet; as a result, Swanson was profiled in such national publications as USA Today, Fast Company, Entertainment Weekly, and The Wall Street Journal. Swanson is an enthusiastic, self-taught home cook with a fresh, contemporary perspective on how to approach basic vegetarian cooking.

ART SMITH is the personal chef to Oprah Winfrey and author of the best-selling Back to the Table. He contributes frequently to O magazine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang; First edition. edition (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158479335X
• ISBN-13: 978-1584793359
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > English, Scottish & Welsh

More About the Author

San Francisco-based photographer and cookbook author Heidi Swanson is the creator of the culinary blog 101 Cookbooks. She is the author of Super Natural Cooking, a James Beard Award-nominated cookbook focused on natural foods. She has been a contributor to Saveur.com and has also been featured in a wide range of national and international publications including Food & Wine, Fast Company, Glamour, Vegetarian Times, and the Washington Post.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lifesaver for this Omnivorous Mom, December 7, 2006

By 

Sue Treppenhauer (Hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cook 1.0: A Fresh Approach to the Vegetarian Kitchen (Hardcover)

This review is long overdue. I am an omnivore, with a mostly omnivorous family. Imagine my surprise when, two years ago, my teenager announced one evening (after a visit to a lovely farm with adorable baby cows) that she was going to stop eating any land animals. Turns out, there is a word for that:pescatarian. Back then, I didn't know that, and being faced with the prospect of trying to cook healthy vegetarian meals for a developing teenager made me want to pull my hair out. I worried that I would either end up with a malnourished girl, or that the food I cooked would be so unpalatable that she wouldn't eat it. I also didn't want to have to cook one meal for her, and another for the rest of the family. If she would make this journey, then so would we. I tried various vegetarian books, only to find tofu-pushing, bland recipes that I had a hard time tempting my whole family with. Then my sweet sister came to my rescue, telling me that her friend Heidi wrote a little book I might like...and she mailed me Heidi's guide.

I call it a guide because that is what we used it for in the beginning. Heidi takes the time to explain the ingredients, the basics of how to cook them, and advises on the utensils and other things needed. She scatters useful advice throughout - it isn't a book that I just pull out when I need a recipe. I actually sit down and read it for the extra encouragement I need to keep our family on-track. I have two other children, 6 and 8. They loved their hot dogs and hamburgers. I don't know any other children their age who now rave about risotto and mushroom pot pie! My husband is a Food and Beverage Director for a luxury resort. Sometimes, after hearing about the menus he puts together for his hotel, I feel a little intimidated about what I offer him at home. This is a true sign of the success of Heidi's book: my carnivorous, German husband, Mr. Foodie, LOVES these dishes. Yes, he still likes sausages, schnitzel, etc. But he will dig into the corn, coconut, and curry soup like there is no tomorrow...

Now, being more sensitive to the other vegetarians in the world, I always bring a dish from Heidi's book when I attend parties or potlucks. For our first vegetarian Thanksgiving, we were invited to a friend's home. The prospect of dining on Tofurkey didn't seem appetizing, so we made and contributed the mushroom medley fritatta and the roasted sweet potatoes to the Thanksgiving Feast. My kids had to wrestle to get some of the food we brought onto their plates! We ended up bringing home empty food containers, and I noticed there was ALOT of leftover turkey...everybody there just couldn't get enough of our vegetarian dishes.

The best part is the ease with which I can prepare all this food. I enjoy cooking - I actually collect cookbooks. So I can say from experience that Heidi has a great formula with the format of this book. She gives you the basics for the core of the dish, then she offers a chart of various ingredients you can add in order to make different dishes out of that core recipe. It really simplifies things for the reader, and the various ideas for ingredients really make a difference in preventing food-boredom with my children.

Again, thank-you, Heidi, for a well-written, well-planned guide to vegetarian cooking. We are two years into the game now (I thought it would last 6 months) and my well-worn copy of Cook 1.0 doesn't even make it back into my cookbook collection; I keep it out on my counter for quick reference. And my little vegetarian? Her new lifestyle has NOT turned her into the wraith I feared...she is 5'9" now, and a star on her school basketball and volleyball teams.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple yet complex, December 12, 2004

By 

J. Robinson (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cook 1.0: A Fresh Approach to the Vegetarian Kitchen (Hardcover)

As other reviewers have noted, I couldn't wait to try all of the recipes in this cookbook. I enjoy cooking, but lack any sort of invention in the kitchen; I'm awful at trying out new flavor combinations or "winging it" when it comes to expanding on a recipe. This is where Heidi's book excels: showing you how to build upon basic favorites to create new dishes. My favorite portion of this book is the "Flavor Combinations" page, which lists some tasty couplings that I, on my own, would not have had the foresight to pair (such as apples + fennel or strawberries + black pepper). I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking but wishes they could be a bit more creative about it!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YUMMY!!!!, October 23, 2004

By 

Sean Devereaux "filmsoup" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cook 1.0: A Fresh Approach to the Vegetarian Kitchen (Hardcover)

This is the cook book for everyone. I am by no means a vegetarian, but every recipe I have tried has just danced on my taste buds. I highly recomend the Mushroom Pie. Just plain awesome! Also, the photography is very creative and unlike anything I have seen in a cookbook. LOVE IT!!!