Great American Vegetarian: Traditional and Regional Recipes for the Enlightened Cook [Paperback]

Nava Atlas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2002

A classic cookbook and staple for vegetarians everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Great American Vegetarian is the revised edition of Atlas's American Harvest (1987). In the decade since, many more fresh fruits and vegetables and once-exotic ingredients have become available. Atlas has revised her text to reflect the expanding marketplace, and she has also added more than 50 new recipes. With the ever-increasing interest in vegetarian cooking, most libraries could use Atlas's updated collection of regional specialties. Giobbi and Wolff's first edition of Eat Right, Eat Well (1985), something of a groundbreaker at the time, was widely praised. The authors have revised their book to reflect both the fact that although a low-fat diet may be healthful, one in which fat is severely restricted is not particularly beneficial, and that, instead of being harmful, olive oil can actually be good for you (the first time around, they tried to avoid olive oil, rather difficult to do when writing an authentic Italian cookbook). With more than 500 recipes?and Giobbi's charming line drawings as illustrations?this revision is well worth acquiring. [According to the publisher, an introductory note in the original text regarding fat content?"The total fat listed in the nutritional data includes other classes, e.g. phospholipids, and there is usually more than the sum of the saturated and unsaturated fats"?was inadvertently omitted from the new edition; it will be corrected in new printings.?Ed.]
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Nava Atlas

Product Details

• Paperback: 281 pages
• Publisher: M.Evans & Company; 3 edition (April 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871319780
• ISBN-13: 978-0871319784
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,762,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nava Atlas is the author and illustrator of many books on vegetarian cooking, most recently Vegan Express, Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons, The Vegetarian Family Cookbook, and The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet. The Vegan Holiday Kitchen will be published in the fall of 2011, and a book on leafy greens will be on the shelves in the spring of 2012.

In addition to cookbooks, Nava also produces visual books on family themes, humor, and women's issues, including The Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life (2011), exploring first-person narratives on the writing lives of twelve classic women authors, and commenting on the universal relevance of their experiences to all women who love to write. Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife (2009) is a satiric look at contemporary marriage and motherhood through the lens of a faux 1950s cookbook.

Nava is also an active fine artist specializing in limited edition artist's books and text-driven objects. Her work is shown and collected by museums and universities across the U.S. You can see her work at navaatlasart.com. Her home is in the Hudson Valley region of New York State, where she lives with her husband and two sons.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great American Vegetarian: Traditional Regional Recipes for, May 3, 2001

By 

Cassandra Barnes "Cassandra" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great American Vegetarian: Traditional and Regional Recipes for the Enlightened Cook (Hardcover)

Nava Atlas has updated her original American Harvest cookbook and renamed it The Great American Vegetarian: Traditional Regional Recipes for the Enlightened Cook. She has added more than 50 new recipes and expanded the section of suggested menus.

Each recipe includes a complete nutritional analysis.

Atlas says "the criterion for choosing the recipes in this book was that they fit in with today's emphasis on healthy, lighter eating. . .." She has included regional cuisine from New England, the Pennsylvania Dutch, the South, Creole and Cajun, and the Southwest.

Cooks can spend the day with Atlas, starting with her special breakfast muffins and eggs, lunching on breads and soups, and finishing with salads, rice, beans, corn, or vegetable specialties. She didn't forget to include plenty of mouth-watering deserts.

Atlas's humor shows in the charming illustrations gracing nearly every page. She also sprinkled quotations from old books, such as "the cook who can do without onions has yet to be born," throughout her cookbook.

Married, and the mother of two, Atlas has written and illustrated several other cookbooks, and published numerous healthful food articles, as well as writing humor.

The Great American Vegetarian cookbook is not for vegans, as many recipes include dairy and/or eggs. Others will enjoy Nava Atlas's adaptions of their favorite regional recipes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of variety, February 21, 2005

By 

merrymousies (Waterford, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great American Vegetarian: Traditional and Regional Recipes for the Enlightened Cook (Paperback)

A big book of comfort foods. The first thirty pages of recipes in here are different breads and biscuits. I don't really make these so I haven't tried them but I wanted to mention it since there really is a great selection here. I've been enjoying the soups and chowders the most. They're written for the stove top but I love to use the slow cooker and the recipes have been really great for that too. There are lots of creole derived recipes like the red bean and black bean soups and the eggplant soup. I had never tried these before but both were great. The eggplant soup was particularly unique. I'm usually one to increases the spices in recipes or play with amounts but these were quite to my liking. Beyond this chapter I've tried a few of the salads and the guacamole is delicious in that it has a little green pepper and tomatillo added as well which I hadn't done before. I haven't tried the jambalaya yet but it looks great - using brown rice.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Vegetarian Basic!, March 17, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Mary Hunt) (Stow, Mass.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great American Vegetarian: Traditional and Regional Recipes for the Enlightened Cook (Hardcover)

After checking this book out of our local library, I quickly realized that I would use it more than many other vegetarian cookbooks. Her choice of recipes is very interesting - simple, with different combinations of foods from across the country. Did you know that when you're "on the red and white" in New Orleans, you're low on money and eating a tasty kidney bean and rice casserole?