Cook without a Book: Meatless Meals: Recipes and Techniques for Part-Time and Full-Time Vegetarians [Hardcover]

Pam Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 25, 2011

There are a lot of compelling reasons to eat less meat these days, but the shift to a totally or even
partly vegetarian lifestyle is easier said than done for many beef, poultry, and fish lovers. In Cook without a Book: Meatless Meals, best-selling author Pam Anderson encourages readers to eat meat-free a day or two a week and makes it easy to do so with recipes for simple, fun vegetarian and vegan meals that are made from accessible, wholesome ingredients. To help readers prep their kitchens for meatless cooking, she includes tips and techniques for stocking the pantry and refrigerator. Instead of presenting complicated, inflexible recipes, she lays out blueprints with ingredient options for everything from hearty breakfasts and fun salads and sandwiches to satisfying main courses—so readers can craft a rewarding dish exactly to their personal tastes.

 

Colorful, comprehensive, and perfect for parents, caretakers, and singles and couples alike, Cook
without a Book: Meatless Meals will show all aspiring vegetarians that eating a little (or a lot) less meat can be simple, healthy, and totally delicious.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Pam Anderson considers herself Every Cook. A New York Times bestselling author, she has been cooking nearly everyday for over 30 years. With six published books and her seventh out this fall, she brings satisfying recipes and sage advice to both novice and veteran cooks. Whether you're on a quest for the perfect brownie, wanting to get dinner on the table effortlessly, hoping to entertain more simply, attempting to shed pounds permanently, or looking to eat delicious meatless, Pam can help. AARP's official food expert, she is a food columnist for USA Weekend and Runner's World magazines. Pam is former Executive Editor of Cook's Illustrated magazine. Her food articles have appeared in many food magazines. She teaches cooking classes across the country and appears frequently on TV and radio.

See what Pam's up to on her blog: threemanycooks.com

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books (October 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605291765
• ISBN-13: 978-1605291765
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 1.1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pam Anderson considers herself Every Cook. A New York Times bestselling author, she has been cooking nearly everyday for over 30 years. With six published books and her seventh out this fall, she brings satisfying recipes and sage advice to both novice and veteran cooks. Whether you're on a quest for the perfect brownie, wanting to get dinner on the table effortlessly, hoping to entertain more simply, attempting to shed pounds permanently, or looking to eat delicious meatless, Pam can help. AARP's official food expert, she is a food columnist for USA Weekend and Runner's World magazines. Pam is former Executive Editor of Cook's Illustrated magazine. Her food articles have appeared in many food magazines. She teaches cooking classes across the country and appears frequently on TV and radio.

See what Pam's up to on her blog: www.threemanycooks.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Carnivore here! November 11, 2011

By Buck Eye

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a devout carnivore, I ordered this book because I have all six of Pam Anderson's cookbooks including one personally autographed by the author at a cooking class I attended. Seeing many sneak previews of the book via USA Weekend and ThreeManyCooks, I knew the book would be great. I will never be a vegan (having grown up in the dairy industry), but I would like to reduce the amount of meat I eat. This book will make it easy.

There is a multitude of "MASTER" recipes, each followed by a list of variations for one or more of the ingredients. This way, if you like the recipe, but don't like a specific ingredient, there is a list of "alternatives". Also, you may not have to run out and buy a specific item just to make the recipe. As with the author's previous book on how to "cook without a book", you probably will need to refer to the book to refresh your memory when making anything.

The book is divided into two sections (1) Not Strickly for Breakfast, and (2) Fun Food for the Rest of the Day. The "breakfast" section contains wrap-and-runs, breakfast pizza, pancakes, scones, muffins, etc. The "rest of the day" has sections on salads, soups and stews, sandwiches, eggs and potatoes, pies for dinner (including quiche and veggie pizzas), etc. The last section has Italian, Asian and Mexican meals (pasta, risotto, stir-fries, and even a "taco bar").

The recipes are loaded with vegetables and you may be able to convince a vegetable-hater to actually enjoy vegetables for once. Many of the recipes call for vegetable stock and I was surprised that there was not a recipe for a home-made vegetable stock. The author does, however, recommend some brands. (Don't tell anybody, but I bet you could substitute Ch@#%en stock....)

And yes, there are a very few recipes that include tofu, if you might want to try that item, (or skip over to another recipe that doesn't). The recipes lack nutritional data, but this would almost be impossible due to the variations presented for the recipes. Most vegetables (except the starchy ones) are low in calories and the grains and legumes provide protein and essential amino acids. Although some of the recipes are vegan, I would not recommend this book to a vegan since many of the recipes call for dairy products or eggs.

I definately will be making some of these recipes soon. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book! November 21, 2011

By taffymom

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Just received my copy and I LOVE this book! I've been trying to eat more meatless meals and with my carnivore-loving husband that hasn't been easy. This book provides so many great ideas for meatless meals that are easy, use ingredients I usually have in the house and, most importantly, sound do-able and delicious! I have a huge cookbook collection and of course I normally fall back on the same 20 or so standards. I love that this book gives you lots of great ideas, more like blueprints, rather than recipes. I can't wait to get cooking!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Thumbs Up From This Carnivorous Family November 11, 2011

By Dali Mama

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Yes, I bought a book to teach me how to cook without one. I'm a big fan of Pam Anderson and book or not, she is always welcome on my bookshelf. Even though this is a meatless cookbook, the receipes are hearty enough that a family like ours wouldn't miss the meat. Some of my favortie recipes are Creamed Chipped Veggies on Toast, Spinach Meatball Subs, Potato-Feta Gyros, and "Meaty" Asian Stir Fry. I'm very happy with this purchase - thanks!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Happy with this cookbook December 21, 2011

By Rachael A. Warrington

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been following Pam Anderson and her two daughters for about a year now. I admit I am a bit of a groupie. But I have two of her cookbooks," Perfect One Dish Dinners", which I have made several things out of successfully. Now this new cookbook comes out and I have paged through the entire book several times and read most of the book. I have fallen in love with the way she sets up a process more than recipe. My husband and I are talking about going meatless at least once a week. This is a big deal to a man who was raised with beef on the hoof.
The only complaint I have about the book is she does not talk about how to make a complete protein using grains, cereals, dairy and beans. Example, cereal with milk makes a complete protein with all seven amino acids. I wish Ms. Anderson had touched on this a bit more so that those who are trying to move from meat can feel comfortable about getting their protein.
But that aside, a great cookbook, it deals with the process more than just set recipes. Hats off to you Ms. Anderson and company, great job.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new to add to my recipe box. January 27, 2013

By Beverly Capers

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I didn't find anything new or different from my other cookbooks. This book might be interest to a new cook, but for an experienced cook, I didn't find much of interest.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious! April 16, 2013

By NC Mom

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have owned this book since last summer when I was overwhelmed by our CSA box and trying to figure out how we could possibly eat so many produce items. We are not vegetarian but I strive for about half of our meals to be meatless, for our own health and the health of the environment. I love this cookbook! I disagree with the reviewer who said it is "not for the experienced cook." I have been cooking for about 25 years and I found lots of great recipes and ideas. No, it is not fancy frou-frou stuff, but I love the flexibility of being able to swap out this for that and make adaptations based upon what I have on hand. I have not yet made a recipe that we did not like. I also like that there are only a few recipes with tofu/tempeh/etc. My son can't have soy and I don't like it anyway. I found almost all the recipes to be kid-friendly for my 7 and 3 year old.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good basic book November 20, 2012

By Beep82

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book gives you a basic recipe and then suggests ways you can change it by using different ingredients. No need to have five different recipes, when one will do.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hits it out of the park! November 28, 2011

By Amber N. Bracegirdle

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm a long time fan of Pam's original Cook without a Book, so I was very excited to see her get back to this format. It proves that Pam really is a recipe writing genius. What others do with physics and calculus, she does with food.

I've made two recipes just this week out of the book - skillet eggs and potatoes, and the sweet breakfast pizza. Both have been phenomenal, and it's easy to put my own spin on the recipe with Pam's formulas.

What I *really* love is that Pam's formulas sort of point out to me that I was already at this point - eating a lot of meatless meals. I just wasn't taking it to the next level and making it something I would *choose* over a meal that included meat. With her help, we're doing that a lot more.

Thank you, Pam, for another wonderful book.