Customer Reviews

Fresh Food Fast: Delicious, Seasonal Vegetarian Meals in Under an Hour

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I received this book as a gift and immediately put it to use for father's day. I made the cold avocado w/ lime and jalapeño soup to start and seared tofu w/ black beans & mango salsa as the main dish. They were really both fantastic, and even my extremely carnivorous father was pleased! The meals are very quick and yet are slick and sophisticated. The book itself is gorgeous, and Peter Berley did a very interesting thing with the organization, where it is organized seasonally into menus. Whats so nice about this is that it makes making an entire meal even easier because you are given the ingredient list for everything (in addition to individual recipes), and a "game plan" for what to do and in what order. Fabulous book!

I love this cookbook! I'm a pretty good cook who likes to make good food...but does NOT have hours to do it. Berley explains that although he is a professional chef, when he cooks at home, he takes the express route--and that's what these recipes are.

As mentioned in other reviews, the cookbook is organized by seasons. Within each season are 12 menus of two dishes that can be made within an hour. (Desserts are included at the end of each section.) Plus each menu includes a shopping list and a "game plan" with a suggested order of cooking. I have most of the ingredients (eg onions, oil, basic spices) in my kitchen already, and it doesn't take too long to make a brief stop at the market and pick up the 5-8 ingredients I don't have. Plus cooking the menu itself doesn't take longer than an hour. Since these menus are for 4 and I'm cooking for 2, these recipes usually provide at least one more meal.

The other thing I like about this cookbook is that, because I "trust" the recipes and have found a number of them to be very good, it has encouraged me to try ingredients I don't use too often--such as delicata squash, masa harina, or quinoa.

Important note: it would be easier to use this cookbook if you have access to a grocery store with a variety of items, such as the ones I mentioned above. If you don't have these ingredients nearby, you may have to get creative about getting them, or make substitutions.

Wow. This is the greatest cookbook I've purchased in a long time. The book is beautiful to start, gorgeous photos, pleasant layout and high quality paper and binding.

The book is designed in four sections, one for each season. Each season has 12 "menus", each menu containing 2-3 recipes for dishes that go well together. Each season also has it's very own dessert section as well.

A great feature of the book is that every menu starts with a shopping list (divided by food category) and a game plan. The game plan helps you organize what order you cook the 2-3 recipes in so that everything is ready at the same time.

As if that isn't enough, the recipes are varied and interesting. They are also relatively simple. So far I've made the Balsamic Roasted Seitan with Cipollini Onions with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips and a crunchy cabbage salad (winter menu #4), Tomato and Goat Cheese Strata with Broccoli Rabe with balsamic brown butter (winter menu #10) and Caramelized bananas with blood orange and pistachio (winter dessert #3). They were ALL delicious and fairly served 4 people as they stated.

It's worth pointing out that even though this is a vegetarian cookbook I am not a vegetarian. I was just looking for interesting ways to cook vegetables that are in season. The meat substitutes were delicious and some of my other carnivore friends also commented that they were suprised.

I'm delighted with this book and would highly recommend it to anyone.

First, I will echo the positive reviews on this site. The recipes in this book are truly fast and dependable. Everything has been good, and some have been amazing. Berley avoids the pitfalls of vegetarian cookbooks, offering tasty, well seasoned food with truly fresh ingredients without reliance on pasta or bland hippie mush. A non-vegetarian would enjoy these meals.

What surprised me about this book is that the seasonal and menu organization works, and works well. I am not normally a fan of books that are organized this way. I especially find myself avoiding cookbooks that are arranged by menu, as they usually list an overwhelming number of dishes more suited to a dinner party than a weeknight dinner. In this book, both organizational schemes work. I bought this book in summer, and opened to the twelve summer menus. I started with the first three menus. Each recipe used ingredients that are local, abundant, and inexpensive this time of year. This made the shopping painless, and meant I could use produce I might naturally have on hand this time of year (sweet corn, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes). Each menu includes a dish that could stand alone and a simple complementary side dish. The side dishes tend to take about five minutes: put the ingredients in the blender until it is soup, or toss the cucumbers in a dressing. They are also easily left out if you still have leftovers from last night or you're having a smaller meal. The main dishes are quick, use fresh ingredients, and are restaurant quality.

In short, this is the first book I've ever had that could, by itself, form the basis of my weeknight cooking. The 12 summer menus can easily form two weeks of healthy weeknight meals; repeating the pattern all summer is an actual possibility. At the very least, these 12 menus can form a basic meal plan when I'm stuck for ideas. Having twelve realistic weeknight menus that match the season is enough to keep me in ideas all year.

This book has changed my life- seriously! My kids and husband are now convinced that I am a good cook, and we can all sit down to a delicious vegetarian dinner every night of the week! The recipes are easy to prepare, and once you start using them, you will have most of what you need on hand to create almost anything in the book for that season! Its really terrific; I can't recommend it highly enough!!

Peter Berley - you have managed to do it again! I am not even considered near - Vegetarian, yet I found Berley's recipes to be delightfully scrumptous. A beautifully written and easy to follow book, I highly recommend it.

This is an amazing cookbook. Filled with delicious, fool-proof recipes and wholesome ingredients, "Fresh Food Fast" has become a regular part of our work-week routine. Though we try to do most of our cooking over the weekend (reheating meals during the week), there are invariably nights when we prefer to cook something fresh after a long day at work. This book gives us a wide array of options arranged by season, from black bean & zucchini quesadillas to bruschetta with goat cheese, olive, tomatoes and thyme. This past Friday we made Berley's 'Thai-Style Tofu & Vegetables in Spicy Coconut Broth with Jasmine Rice' - it was divine. We felt like we'd been transported to a gourmet, five star Thai restaurant, only we had the pleasure of enjoying such a satisfying meal in our comfy clothes. :) The only downside to this book is that most dishes require a hefty amount of produce, which, admittedly, can get expensive. Nevertheless dishes in this book are so delicious that careful planning can work around this, using leftover produce in other meals and reheating uneaten portions later in the week. Overall I <u>love</u> this book - how could I not appreciate the feat of satisfying, perfectly flavored meals that can be made in under an hour? (And yes, they really can be finished in under 1 hour, many in under 40 minutes.)

This is the cookbook I used most the past year. The dishes take me about an hour to prepare, and most are yummy. A few recipes I found bland, but none have been horrible, and sometimes a meal was so good I felt high knowing that I made it. Overall, this is a great cookbook for quick vegetarian meals.

Serving sizes are huge, too. Most recipes are said to yield 4 servings, but I find I get 6 or more. Since I cook for one, I've taken to freezing food and halving recipes.

Finally, I like the seasonal breakdown. I don't limit myself to the calendar season, but his recipes coincide with what is available at the farmers' market.

After reading the The China Study last summer, I decided to become 95% vegetarian and the hardest part was figuring out what "dinner" looked like for me and my formerly meat-eating family. This book (and his The Flexitarian Table) saved me. I have now cooked about 1/3 of the recipes in this book and I love them all -- my more finicky husband has about a 90% rate. I also love that the recipes are divided into seasonal sections and that they come with full menus. I had a hard time figuring out what a 100% vegetarian menu looked like, and Peter's books helped me understand how to pair a vegetarian "main" and "side" (or two "sides"). Just beware that many of the recipes call for a pressure cooker (and need one to be "fast"). I've made them all without one, but they will take a bit longer to cook.

I have truly enjoyed this cookbook! Since my husband decided to go vegan I was at a loss at to what to make for dinner every night; I mean, you can only eat so much pasta before you start packing on the pounds. The objective was to get healthy, not add more weight. So I went in search of a cookbook that could help me with protein supplements, variety, and more veggies. I made the best purchase in this cookbook.
Yes, many of the products used in the recipes are not things you find in all grocery stores but with access to a health food store you will be okay. And the dishes will be worth the extra trip.
I love the menu style in which this cookbook is written. Everything is laid out for you; it could not be easier. I find the recipe I want to make, photocopy the page and take it to the grocery store with me.
The book is also divided into the four seasons; spring, summer, fall and winter. This way you are more apt to find the fruits and veggie within the recipe most plentiful and at their peck of flavor.
Make the purchase, you won't regret it. Excellent photos as well!