Customer Reviews

Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am not a vegetarian, but after the phenomenal success I enjoyed with "The Pressured Cook", I picked up this cookbook. Lorna Sass includes the standards but also tantalizes with new combinations. Every experiment I have tried has been enough to wow my "meat-and-potatoes" husband and co-workers alike. The Vegetarian Paella with artichokes was a big hit at an office pot-luck.

I just bought my pressure cooker a week or so ago and have been using it in conjunction with this cookbook. Man is it great! The recipes are varied, interesting, tasty and right on target for use with one of these kitchen tools. The author provides all sorts of tips, "lessons learned" and ideas for making up recipes and menus of your own. She is clearly well versed in how to use the pressure cooker. She even gives tips on freezing food if you make a big batch. So far allof the recipes have turned out great which I really appreciate since I had never used a pressure cooker before.

Lorna Sass knows what she's doing. This book gives the reader a good working understanding of modern pressure cookers and a lot of information about good vegetarian cooking as well. Each of the recipes that I have tried worked perfectly, the food was all very good, and about half the dishes were "best stuff I ever made" quality. A favorite of mine is a soup of tomatoes and roasted red peppers requiring only a few minutes prep time and three minutes cooking under pressure. The risotto recipes are notable: no stirring needed

Since my last review in July, I have used this book so much and have been so happy with the recipes that I felt like I needed to upgrade my rating of this book to five stars. In order to take advantage of some of the recipes, I finally broke down and bought (1)a corningware 1 quart casserole dish and (2)a small bundtform dish and have to say that, along with the pressure cooker, these were some of the best kitchen purchases I have made. With my new equipment I now make beautifully delicious brown rice (yes, by using that foil contraption idea which was actually very easy to do!)as well as wonderful steamed pudding-cakes (love the banana one) that are the best dessert solution for vegans (or anyone who is trying to eat healthy) that I have found! I adore this book and can't sing its praises enough.

As for the electric stove issue, more power to those of you who can use one burner, but this has not worked in my kitchen. If I had to choose just one cookbook to have, then this would be it.

This book has it all! The cooking times charts are invaluable. The recipes use a wide variety of grains and beans; perfect for new (and not-so-new) vegetarians. I appreciate the inclusion of sea vegetables in several recipes. If you like your food on the milder side, you may wish to use a tad less spices in some recipes. Every single recipe we I have tried has been successful and delicious. Each recipe includes suggested menu choices to accompany. One of my very few favorite cookbooks! We have replaced our old standby 'what to give as a wedding gift' with a new choice: a second generation pressure cooker and a copy of this book!

I tried my pressure cooker for the first time last night, making "Garlic Lover's Lentil Soup" from this cookbook. Wow. You can read about making lentil soup in 7 minutes, but until you actually try it, you don't realize how amazing it is. No more soaking anything overnight! I can't believe I made a restaurant-quality soup so fast. I can hardly wait to try the other recipes. I'm going to buy her newest book so I can go beyond vegetarian. In fact, I may just buy all of her books...

This cookbook is not only vegetarian, but also essentially vegan (no eggs, milk, or cheese, except for an occasional optional cheese garnish). The recipe for Thai Chickpeas alone is reason enough to buy the book (and a pressure cooker, if you don't already have one).

For the pressure cooker novice, this is a very good book with lots of tips to help you feel right at home with the pressure cooker. I have been quite pleased with all the recipes I have tried. The New Mexican Pinto Bean Soup has the taste of all day simmering - in less than 15 minutes!. One word of caution; Some of the recipes are on the spicy (hot) side. For those with a sensitive palate, I suggest that the hot spices be reduced/omitted as the pressure cooker tend to intensify the heat of the spice.

I am not a vegetarian, but I like to make vegetarian dishes for health and economical reasons. I also find the pressure cooker to be a wonderful time-saver. I already owned two of Sass' PC cookbooks when I bought this one, and this is the best one yet! Sass opened my eyes to easy, quick and creative vegetarian cooking. Except for a handful of exotic dishes, the recipes use regular every-day fresh ingredients, and in interesting (and delicious!) combinations. If you think meatless cooking is just tofu and seaweed, buy this book!!
Just a couple of caveats:
A common technique of Sass' is to garnish a dish with a fresh ingredient (such as chopped parsley or cilantro, or green onion). Don't skip this step, it is very important for improving color and flavor of pressure-cooked food. I found these details were what took a dish from good to great.
Another common technique is to "perk up" flavors at the end of cooking with an acidic ingredient, usually wine vinegar. I personally found the dishes tastier without this addition, and I would suggest tasting first before adding (or add a bit to just a small portion) to see what your own preference is.
My only complaint is that the brown rice recipes do not save any time -- between 25 min cooking and then 20 min natural pressure release, you can just make the recipe in a regular pot. (If you soak brown rice for a few hours first, this cuts cooking time down to 25 min total, using a regular pot -- I haven't tried in a pressure cooker so I don't know how it affects times there.)
Bottom line -- whether you are a vegetarian looking for new recipes or a sworn meat-eater interested in great side dishes, BUY THIS BOOK!

...becuase of its sheer practicality. Great one-pot meals you can prepare in record time. Lorna Sass's fantastic recipes have quickly become a staple in our household (particularly the curried thai chickpeas - wow!)