Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day [Paperback]

Moosewood Collective (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 19, 1994

Winner of the 1995 James Beard Award for Best Vegetarian Cookbook

Although many people think that cooking without meat means spending more time in the kitchen, the cooks at the world-renowned Moosewood Restaurant know this isn't so. Busy balancing home, work, and other commitments, they've been cooking for family and friends every day of the week for over twenty years. Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home is the result of that experience -- over 150 carefully honed and tested recipes calling for the best ingredients, accompanied by time-saving tips and planning suggestions, add up to a delicious whole-foods cuisine that is versatile and healthful and can be prepared with a minimum of effort.

This book contains dishes full of exciting flavors, sure to please every taste, from savory soups to substantial main-dish salads, from hearty stews to palate-teasing "small dishes." Sauces, salsas and dressings, and a collection of almost-instant desserts turn the simplest meal into an occasion.

Chapters on techniques and menu planning, lists of recipes for special needs, including nondairy and vegan fare and kid-pleasing food, as well as an in-depth guide to stocking the meatless pantry (including a list of recommended convenience foods), make Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home the essential companion to everyday cooking.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Moosewood Collective has had big vegetarian cookbook success with other collections. The main aim of this addition to their list is to offer much-needed help to those who need recipes for speedy preparation. Most take less than 30 minutes preparation. Recipes include stir-fries, salads, sandwiches, bean dips, soups, scones, pancakes and desserts. Almost all are vegan, with dairy products offered only as optional extras, though there is a separate section on fish and eggs. Winner of the 1995 James Beard Award for vegetarian cookbooks.

From Publishers Weekly

Moosewood, the vegetarian culinary collective ("Eighteen heads are better than one for some tasks") responsible for the restaurant of the same name in Ithaca, N.Y., offers an excellent third title to follow the popular Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant and New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant . This one, unsurprisingly, concentrates on simple, healthful, easily prepared foods, though they are somewhat lighter in emphasis than were suggestions from the past; most dishes can be readied in half an hour or so, and organically grown ingredients are urged. Flavor is emphatically present, and so is an international bent. An Asian frittata, for instance, incorporates vegetables and adds a sauce including soy, rice wine, sesame oil and other Eastern staples, while baked peaches with Marsala is a dessert with an Italian tint. Broiled tofu may lead some diners to gag. However, the majority of the recipes will please non-purists, as well as the hard-core. An especially strong stew chapter offers entries with African, Caribbean, Hungarian, Greek, East Indian, Spanish, Italian and South American origins; chapters on pastas, salads and grains are similarly broad. Each recipe features menu suggestions and information on nutritional components. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; First Edition edition (April 19, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671679929
• ISBN-13: 978-0671679927
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (96 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Vegetables & Vegetarian > Vegetables
  • #38 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Reference

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

138 of 140 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick, Easy, and Satisfying! January 29, 2001

By M. Allen Greenbaum HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

One of the best of the vegetarian cookbooks, this has delicious recipes (e.g., "Pasta with Greens and Ricotta"), and clear directions for relatively easy vegetarian fare. There's an emphasis on the "fast and easy," and each recipe has an estimated preparation time, often under half an hour. Sometimes these estimates imply a cook with Olympian speed and efficiency, but with experience, preparation time is reduced. For example, "Field Peas with Kale and Sweet Potatoes" requires boiling potatoes, and sauteing onions, kale, and peas. Total time is a reasonable 25 minutes. A nutritional analysis follows each recipe. Field Peas above has 142 calories, 6.9 G protein, 2.3G fat, 24.5 Carbohydrates, 19mg sodium, and 0 mg cholesterol.

There's no particular low-fat emphasis here: Boiled Polenta with Mushrooms and Cheese" has 15.6 g of fat per 8 oz. Serving, Moosewood Fudge Brownie have 9.3 grams per two-inch brownie, but there are several recipes with under 3 grams of fat per serving.

It's a very comprehensive book, with recipes for soups, quick breads, salads, sauces, main dish salads, grains, beans, pastas, fish, desserts, stews, stir-fries, pizza, and more. The book includes a guide to ingredients, and chapters on techniques, herbs, menu planning, and a list of recipes for kids, parties, vegans, and buffets. Finally, there is a chapter called "Quantities," so that you'll know with utter serenity that it takes 2 ½ cups of florets to get one pound of cauliflower.

For an emphasis on low-fat vegetarian cooking, take a look at the Moosewood Low-Fat Cookbook. Otherwise, this is an excellent cookbook for beginner or expert, and ranks with "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" as one of the best vegetarian cookbooks available.

80 of 80 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic! December 22, 1999

By H. King

Format:Paperback

I have had this book since it was first published and my weathered, stained, dog-eared copy can attest to the practical and delicious recipes it contains. A great variety of foods--my favorites are the Red, Gold, Black, and Green Chili, Pasta Tutto Giardino ("the whole garden" pasta with a light cream sauce), Tomatican (a vegetarian adaptation of a Chilean stew with tomatoes, corn, lima beans), and Vegetable Stifado (a Meditarranean-style stew with eggplant, okra, and peppers), and Fish with Tomato-Orange Salsa. All get rave reviews when I cook them for company. Most are not only vegetarian but also lowfat. There are still dishes I haven't tried because I like the ones I have tried too much! My parents have this cookbook and love it, and they aren't even vegetarian. You can't go wrong with any Moosewood cookbook, but this is by far my favorite. Easy to follow, simple and delicious!

111 of 117 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for those quick dinners January 24, 2003

By Debbie Lee Wesselmann TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I own most of the Moosewood cookbooks, but I don't use this one nearly as often as I do the earlier books, mostly because the recipes in this one are more limited. Still, there are some great quick vegetarian dishes here that could quickly become favorites. Families especially will appreciate the quick pizza recipes that allow you to choose your "crust": pre-baked shell, French bread, or pita. The Herbed Chevre and Tomato Pizza and the Mushroom and Smoked-Cheese Pizza are both great, although you really don't need a recipe for either. The same is true for the vegetarian antipasto salad - anyone can figure out how to make a salad out of olives, artichoke hearts, beans, roasted red peppers, and cheese. However, sometimes when I want a quick dinner, I can't think on my own. This is when this cookbook comes through.

Some of the more unusual recipes are Curried Fried Rice, Asian Cabbage Slaw, Pasta with Spicy Cauliflower, Sweet Potato Quesadillas, and Fragrant Rice Noodles with Vegetables. Warning: some of these recipes contain fish. Since Moosewood has such an established reputation for vegetarian cuisine, I don't understand why something like Chesapeake Catfish had to be included. As with all of the Moosewood cookbooks, the desserts are competent but unexceptional.

In the back, the authors divide their recipes into lists: non-dairy and vegan dishes; recipes that will allow you to spend more time with your guests; "kid pleasers"; dishes suitable for buffets; and 30 minute meals. This is probably the most thoughtful aspect of the book, and I appreciate the effort. You'll also find a fairly comprehensive "Guide to Ingredients" which not only describes some of the more unusual items but also where you are likely to find them.

For close to 400 pages of recipes, this cookbook does not seem to have a lot in it. Still, it's worth getting for those recipes that ARE there. Don't make this your only Moosewood cookbook, but certainly include it as part of your collection.