Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

I'm a Cornell grad, and one thing I remember with particular pleasure about my time in Ithaca, NY are those occasional forays down the Hill for lunch or (more likely) dinner at Moosewood, for years one of *the* local standout restaurants. Although not a vegetarian, I try not to eat meat every day of the week; and for a tasty, healthy alternative, there just isn't anything better than Moosewood's recipes. No question that I had to get their cookbook - several of them, actually - before I finally left town.

"Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home" begins with two short introductory sections about the use of time and nutritional analysis. The recipes are then grouped into individually introduced sections covering soups, dips, spreads and quick breads, salads and sides, dressings, salsas and sauces, main dish salads, gains, beans, pastas, stews, stir-fries and sautes, fish, sandwiches, filled tortillas, and pizzas, eggs and pancakes, and desserts. The book closes with a pantry list, a guide to ingredients, chapters on preparation and techniques, fresh herbs, menu planning and quantities (including liquid and dry measure and temperature conversion tables - particularly helpful for those of us who live in a "metric system" country); as well as a number of special lists, grouping the featured recipes according to their qualification as nondairy and vegan, kid-pleasers, recipes preparable in 30 minutes or less, and recipes suitable for entertaining, buffets and pot-lucks. What I like most about this book - besides the overall outstanding quality of the recipes and the fact that most of them are very quick and easy to prepare - are the countless little insider tips regarding the shopping for as well as preparation and storage of individual dishes and their combination with other dishes or ingredients, in addition to the background information on the names, provenance and cultural context of the many Non-Western recipes (not to mention that so many of those recipes are included in the first place).

It's hard for me to pick a personal favorite; there are so many ... for soups, I guess I'd pick the Mexican tomato lime soup, for dips the spicy peanut dip, for sides the mushrooms in lemon marinade, for dressings either the creamy pine nut vinaigrette or the lemon sesame dressing, for sauces the hazelnut and red peppers sauce, for main dish salads the sweet potato salad, for grains the herbed lemon pilaf with almonds ... and for salsas, pastas, stews, tortillas, pizzas, eggs, pancakes and desserts, every single one! (Sorry, really can't make up my mind there; it's more a question of mood and, of course, what ingredients I happen to have handy.) But whether you're just cooking for yourself or for family and friends, there should be something for everyone in this book; regardless whether you are vegetarian/vegan or not. Highly recommended!

Also recommended:
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery)
Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the World

For anyone who has toyed with the idea of eating healthier, this book is for you! The recipes are quick, easy, interesting, and most of all, delicious! Many of my skeptical non-vegetarian friends have been very pleasantly surprised by the meal they've been served when they've come for dinner - "We didn't realize that you could eat this WELL without meat!" When they discover how simple the ingredient lists are, they usually go out and buy the cookbook for themselves... it's made many a new believer. (Of course, being from Ithaca myself originally, I also rave about the Moosewood Restaurant - and the amazingly talented folks that make up the collective - but this is a great way to bring the restaurant home into your own kitchen!) My husband and I use it several times each week; it is definitely our "Kitchen-Bible". I can't sing it's praises enough!

I'm a personal Chef. I work part time cooking privately for a Jesuit Community as well as teach Vegetarian Cooking at the New School in NYC. This cookbook, is the wonderful! I literaly have to buy a new copy cause mine is falling apart. The recipes are easy, versatile, well written and varied. The suggestions for menus are helpful. And you dont have to be vegetarian to enjoy this book. The fish recipes are excellent and all the dishes can be used with other meals. I have an extensive library of Vegetarian cookbooks and this one is the one I use. Thanks Moosewood :) Merrick Dean

I have three requirements for recipes to enter my frequent rotation: that they be healthy, yummy, and, above all, fast and easy. (Is that 4 requirements?) Almost all of the recipes in this book meet those.

This is the cookbook that I use the most. The pages are covered with spills, tearing, falling out. That's the mark of a fine cookbook. Maybe it's time for me to buy another copy.

Although I love this book I didn't give it a full five stars because A) there are no pictures and B) I felt that the recipes would probably not appeal to everyone.

It is a personal favorite precisely because it is unusual. My family especially loves the African Pineapple Peanut Stew and Chick Pea and Artichoke Heart Stew, but we've enjoyed all of the dishes I've tried so far. There are some recipes that might be more familiar such as Mushroom and Smoked-Cheese Pizza and Curried Fried Rice.

Most of the recipes would fit a vegan diet, but some do include fish, eggs and dairy products. At the back of the book there is a list of nondiary and vegan recipes as well as lists of special dishes for entertaining, kid-pleasers, dishes that sit well and are suitable for a buffet, and 30-minute dishes.

Most of the recipes are fairly quick and easy to prepare. There are a lot of fresh ingredients used, so that could take more time. Be aware that many of the ingredient lists contain things like finely chopped onion, chopped fresh thyme, fresh grated cheese. Unless you are a very quick chopper you will need to buy prepared ingredients or elicit some help in the kitchen to get dinner on the table in less than 45 minutes.

I bought this book with the intention of including more vegetables, fruits and legumes in my diet. I have accomplished that and becuase the recipes are so flavorful we don't miss the meat at all.

I bought the "Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant" cookbook a number of years ago and was disappointed with it because the recipes were not consistently good and were often time-consuming or complicated. So I came to this cookbook with a good deal of skepticism. Thus far, however, I've been extremely pleased with it. The recipes are genuinely fast and easy, most of the ingredients are readily available, and the resulting food has been delicious. I've gotten quite a few good ideas from this cookbook and use it often at home. With this cookbook I can make tasty, healthy meals for my family on busy weeknights. Highly recommended!

I use this cookbook on a weekly basis - all my other cookbooks languish in a drawer. The recipes are quick, easy and delicious. My favourite recipes are the "eggs" section. Sunday brunch has never been the same since I got this cookbook.