Customer Reviews

Low Carb Vegetarian

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was excited to order this being vegan, but I was so disappointed upon receiving it, to discover that almost every recipe called for a processed meat substitute like deli slices, sausages, meat sub crumbles etc, or tofu.
Even when a dish has a solid complete protein in it , like beans, the author still adds tofu. Even the hummus had tofu in it....totally unneccesary.
To use this you will be investing heavily in Morningstar and Boca type products and eating a lot of soy.
I dont want to pretend I'm eating meat with each meal. My omnivore partner doesnt like fake meats either, so theres not much that suited our tastes for natural low carb natural wholesome vegetarian dishes.
There's not even a recipe for homemade seitan which is a wonderful low carb veggie staple.
There's tofu in just about every dessert - bleurgh!
Its a relatively thin book with no pictures besides the front cover which features fake meats predominately - should have looked at the picture on Amazon before I ordered.
I have done vegan low carb for a while and KNOW there's better recipes than this to be made.
I ordered at the same time the wonderful Veganomicon, so I think I'll be subbing out the high carb flours for low carb & getting far more use from that book instead.
Sorry! I really wanted to like this but honestly I wish I'd got a different veggie low carb book.

Buyer beware: Many of the recipes in this book are not what most dieters would consider low carb. About half weigh in with carb counts of 30-60 g. per serving. That's more than many low-carb dieters eat in a whole day!

The author explains that she considers a diet of 130-150 g. of carbs per day "low-carb." This is the type of vegetarian diet that made many of us fat in the first place! There's a reason that most of the popular diet plans call for daily net carb consumption of only 20-50 grams: Clinical experience has shown that higher carb counts simply won't do the job for people who have a substantial amount of weight to lose.

This might be a useful book for people on a maintenance plan, who want to take off 10 lbs., or who just want to cut out "white food" (processed sugar and flour) from their diet. The recipes do look tasty! But it's not going to be very useful for the many people who are looking to lose significant amounts of weight and need to restrict their carbs to lower levels to do so.

Until I acquired the "Low-Carb Vegetarian Cookbook", I had no luck at all with vegetarian cookbooks and Low-Carb diets. The food combinations were often odd, the prep work was time-consuming, and worst of all, the finished products just didn't taste all that good. I'd spend hours kneading and chopping, only to have my husband turn up his nose when dinner was served. But wow, this cookbook is different. The recipes are interesting and appealing like Pasta Puttanesa, Twenty-Minute Chili and my favorite, Dixie's Butternut Squash Soup to name a few. There are some unusual ethnic entries for those with adventurous palates, but plenty of delicious, easy-to-follow recipes for those with more standard American tastes. There's also some helpful info on easing into the vegetarian lifestyle and comparing some of the more popular "Low-Carb" diets rendered in light, witty prose (that's another thing about most other vegetarian cookbooks...they're so deadly dull and serious). Best of all, the results are awesome. I'm rooting for a sequel!

My husband and I just love this book! We are trying to stay on low-carb diet but we always fail, because once we eat toufu and vegetable for months, we just have enough(!!!) of it and then we easily return to our old bad habits... The author's main point is rather than eating hard core low-carb diet it's better to relax diet's requirements a bit and stay on the diet for ever...Hope we can make it this time!

At last, a low-carb diet for the rest of us (those who don't think that 10 ounces of steak is a heavenly dinner, that is). DeMello has produced a treasure trove of recipes here--ones that will appeal to people who a) don't eat meat for philosophical or health reasons; and b) are just trying to reduce the amount of animal products in their diets in general. By providing
yummy, easy-to-prepare recipes, this book takes the work out of trying to lose weight on a vegetarian (or semi-vegetarian) diet! The info on the whys and wherefores of various lo-carb diets is also very helpful.

What I appreciated most about this book was the food suggestions are tasty! I stay away from most 'health food' restaurants because the food is too bland, but all the products (veggie hot dogs, burgers, bacon, chicken and tuna substitutes, etc. made from textured soy) recommended in this book and most of the recipes are really interesting in taste, texture, and variety.

Compiled by culinary expert Margo DeMello, Low-Carb Vegetarian is a collection of "kitchen friendly", meatless and dairy free, nutritious and weight-control enhancing dishes that are as fun to make as they are easy to prepare and scrumptiously delicious to consume. Enhanced with timely information on low-carb diets in general, and their adaptation to the vegetarian palate and life-style, the recipes range from Spicy Black Bean Soup; Thai Cucumber Salad; Saag Tofu with Cauliflower Couscous; and Shish Kabob with South Asian Marinade; to Riceless Sushi; Mock Lunchmeat Rollups; Roasted Garlic, Onion, and Red Pepper Hummus; and Coconut Strawberry Pudding. Low-Carb Vegetarian is a unique and welcome addition to a vegetarian cookbook collection!

The average carb count on each of these recipes is between 20 - 50 carbs, which is more than you are allowed for the entire day on Atkins especially if you are just starting.

However most of the carb seems to come from tofu and other vegan milk & egg substitutes, and if you are the type of vegetarian who eats eggs & milk then replacing these soy products with real eggs, cream/half-n-half, & real mayonnaise, or leaving certain ingredients out altogether will reduce the carb count to 3 - 10. You have to know your counts and substitutions pretty well though.

Overall good ideas and good recipes. I'm a little disappointed because being titled "Low-Carb Vegetarian" I assumed it was a ready-to-go cookbook for Atkins, when it's not without substitutions. Still, there's a great variety of vegetarian versions of Eastern and Middle Eastern recipes that are easily substituted to Atkins-friendly and some real gems in here. For the average vegetarian its a great book. I belive it was intended for the South Beach and Zone diets. For the real vegans out there its an impressive use of vegetable-only products.

I have been a veggie for about 2 years now and was caught up in the same whirlwind as a lot of us with the junk food syndrome. This book gave me a detail way to cut down my carbs while still enjoying delicious food. The author breaks down the what you need ie. food processor, blender.

Also, she gives you delicious recipes and a break down of calories, fat and carbs in each meal. For you veggies who are like me who have some extra pounds and are tired of high carb and caloric foods this is the book for you.

The cook book is a bit of a disappointment - it's completely vegan which is not what I am. Some recipes I've tried, but was looking forward to some new ideas involving eggs, cheese or even milk.