Customer Reviews

The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have many vegetarian cookbooks but this is the only one that has consistently excellent recipes. Virtually every new recipe I try in this book yields another wonderful dish. The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients are not hard to find. In addition, the book provides nutritional profiles for each of the dishes and has a very complete section about the various ingredients, detailing how to pick and store them.

This book is one of a series of "Essential" books. This like others in the series is well illustrated and explains in simple terms the cooking techniques for each recipe. There is an introduction which gives an explanation of why it is a good idea to incorporate more vegetarian type dishes into your diet.

I am not a vegetarian but my partner is of that persuasion. I thus eat and cook a large amount of vegetarian food. I would like to say that this book has been a revelation. Most other vegetarian cookbooks tend to have dull flavorless recipes with ingredients chosen on ideological grounds rather than on flavor. For some years I actually gave up on using these sorts of books and made vegetarian food from Indian and Middle Eastern cook books. Those cuisines were able to produce food which would look attractive was interesting to eat and was nutritious.

I was given this book as a present and started to go through making a few recipes. Each time I made something it would taste great and was generally not difficult.

If you have a vegetarian friend give them a copy of this book it will save you from having to eat flavorless black bean stews and alfalfa sprouts when you drop in to visit them.

I try to write a date and note next to each recipe the first time I make it, and looking through my book, I see that even some of the "spicier" dishes (a potato curry, for example) were enjoyed by everyone in my family---even my ten-year-old son! There are many interesting and innovative recipes in this cookbook, but I've sometimes gotten the impression that the author didn't make all the recipes herself. A couple of times (sorry I can't find the specific recipes), she seemed to leave out important steps or not mention something significant that one should watch out for. I do remember something that when baked, fell apart because it stuck to the pan. There was no instruction to grease or otherwise prepare the pan to prevent this. Anyway, I would say this is overall a good cookbook, but I am a little leery to make new recipes now, since I'm not sure all the necessary steps will be included.

The term "vegetarian" is usually anathema to most meat-eaters or meat-lovers. It conjures visions of bland, chewey foods, yeasty extracts and soy-based replications of "real" food. As unfair as this may be as a characterization of vegetarian food, the fact remains that it is a loaded term. Well, this cookbook demystifies vegetarian cooking, and most of these recipes will make the tastebuds of omnivores and vegetarians alike happy. I eat a lot of meat, but I eat a fair amount of vegetables too, and this book is a godsend when you finally get tired of steamed green beans, steamed asparagus, steamed broccoli, steamed brussel sprouts, and sauteed spinach. A lot of these recipes make wonderful appetizers or a light lunch, and if you are looking for fairly easy, tasty, artful and interesting side dishes to serve dinner guests alongside that slab of beef you've got sizzling away on the grill, this is a terrific resource. I have several vegetarian cookbooks that I turn to when looking for interesting things to do with vegetables, and I think this one has the highest number of recipes I actually use. The pictures themselves are quite appetizing, and they are helpful in providing ideas for presentation as well as helping you figure out which recipes will be most appealing to you. My only complaint is the lack of dietary information about the dishes- I pay attention to calories, fat and fiber levels, and you have to go it alone with this book, but it's not that big a deal. I am quite a fan of this whole "The Essential..." series. I also have "The Essential Pasta Cookbook" and "The Essential Appetizer Cookbook" and I think highly of those as well. There is also a dessert cookbook in the seies which looks great, but I don't make a whole lot of desserts so I haven't picked it up. I recommend you check them all out. My paperback edition came with a handy plastic dustcover as well, which keeps it in a much nicer condition than a lot of my other paperbacks. I think this is a very good buy.

I really enjoy this book. The recipes are tasty, and ranked by difficulty. (One star is the easiest). The chapters are well organized and there is a photo for almost every recipe. Chapters include headings like "pastas, stews, desserts, appetizers, etc). There is little room in the margins though, for notes. There is a little bit in the front about nutrition and what to look for in a vegetarian diet. Each chapter also has a "feature" layout with some extra recipes that are organized by theme -- either an ingredient or a category like "dips." There is no nutritional info and the recipes are not labelled L, O, L/O or V so you will have to figure that on your own rather than at a glance.

I haven't had any trouble making these, and they yield tasty results. I collect cookbooks, and this is among my top 5 to turn to when I need ideas. It's pretty enough to make a great gift, but practical enough to actually be USED.

I don't think vegetables have ever looked as good as they do in this book. Most of the recipes are simple with fewer than four steps to follow. I purchased it in America, and much of the language sounds British which leads to confusion. However, I consider this cookbook extremely useful, visually appealling, and definitely essential.

If food is your passion, if you sit at work like me and dream about what you're going to have for dinner, then this is your cookbook!

Good balance of quick/easy recipes, and traditional recipes. I would buy this for a novice or seasoned cook. Any vegetarian should own this.

The recipes are delicious and flavorful. I've been vegetarian for ~10 years and I REFUSE to eat bland food. I reach for this cookbook when I want a guaranteed delicious meal. I haven't had a single bad recipe yet, and I've been using it for years.

Favorite recipes: 1)almond & broccoli stir fry (great with cold sesame noodles), and 2)mixed herbed tabouli. These two recipes alone will justify your purchase.

Note: aubergines=eggplant, capsicum=bell pepper, scallions=green onions. That's all you need to know.

P.S. I own both 'Essential Vegetarian' cookbooks: this one, and the one by Diana Shaw. Ms. Shaw's cookbook is wonderful too, but I use it less ONLY because the recipes are a bit more time consuming. It is still on my "top 4" list. Buy both.

Happy Eating!

This cookbook is easy to use and the food is great. I really like that each recipe has a preparation time and a total cooking time so you know what kind of time commitment to expect. The pictures are helpful to get an idea of what the dish is supposed to look like. The other nice aspect of this cookbook is that most ingredients are easy to find and the spices are common enough that you would probably have them in the house.

I have used MANY vegetarian as well as regular cook books and this is one of the best! The Essential Vegetarian not only gives you great easy to follow recipes but also educates you on how to have a balanced meal on a vegetarian diet. I Love this one! A great gift for any one who likes vegetables.

This cookbook is great for those trying to switch to a vegetarian diet, because it is beautiful and mouthwatering so it will really make you want to try all the recipes and explore the different kinds of dishes.

The book had an introduction to vegetarian nutrition (but not very comprehensive, so read different sources too!) and several special insert pages detailing ingredients like soy, tofu, tempeh, and the like, which may be unfamiliar to those of us new to this kind of cooking.

It has lots of recipes, for all kinds of ocassions and meal types. I recommend this book to all cooks, vegetarian or not, who want to get more tasty vegetable dishes on their table!