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134 of 135 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quick, Easy, and Satisfying!, January 29, 2001
This review is from: Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day (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.
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78 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic!, December 22, 1999
This review is from: Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day (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!
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108 of 114 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for those quick dinners, January 24, 2003
This review is from: Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day (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.
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