Customer Reviews

Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have several Moosewood cookbooks, but have sometimes found that the recipes can be complicated and time-consuming, and can involve ingredients that are not always easy to find. This book, however, contains good recipes that are not only healthy, but also relatively easy and quick to make. From soups to salads to entrees, I haven't tried anything that I haven't liked, and I really appreciate the effort that was made to make the dishes low fat. Low fat or not, the recipes included here are for food that is both flavorful and hearty. A must-try for the vegetarian or even the meat eater who wants to try to include some vegetarian meals in his/her diet. I find myself turning to this book when I want to make a meal for friends who are not necessarily vegetarian, and they are always pleasantly surprised and ask for the recipe! These meals would encourage even the hard core carnivores to take a break and eat some veggies!

OK, I admit it. I'm one of those people who buy cookbooks, but rarely get to the making the recipes stage. This is one of the few cookbooks I own, that I actually *use*. Why? Everything that I've made has been easy (no funky ingredients, no bizarre food appliances required), quick, and tasty. Although everything is vegetarian and low-fat--the food just tastes good. You don't feel like you're eating healthfully, you just acknowledge the goodness of the food (if that makes sense). Two of my favorite recipes are the pasta w/tomatoes and chickpeas (sounds bizarre, but very good) and the low-fat chocolate pudding. As somebody who has always bought Jell-O instant pudding, it was a revelation to realize I could make homemade low-fat chocolate pudding that was just as easy as opening up a box of Jell-O and 10x better in taste!

This is an incredible vegetarian cookbook as well as an incredible low-fat cookbook. I have several Moosewood cookbooks that I love but this is now my ultimate favorite. I love the white bean and roasted pepper dip, I make a new batch every week to bring for my lunch with carrots. The pasta and green bean dish with sun dried tomatoes is so easy and delicious. I am going to try all the recipes recommended in the other reviews! The low-fat cooking tips at the beginning of the book are so helpful and having the full nutrient break down for each dish is wonderful too. What a great book. You really don't feel like you are missing anything. I recommend it to all my friends and family.

Moosewood Low Fat Favorites is simply the best cookbook I own. The recipes are vegetarian (not vegan) but you definetly do not have to be a vegetarian to enjoy these wonderful, delicious recipes. I am a mother of four children ranging from ages 16-5 years and I usually look for easy to prepare, visually appealing, great tasting meals and this book delivers on all fronts.
Here are just a few of my families favorites; Spanish Pepper Frittata, Middle Eastern Chickpeas with Spinach, Lighter Lasagna, Stuffed Manicotti Verde and Eggplant Parmesan. We have a garden that overflows with vegetables and last night I made the Cucumbers Vinagrette a simple dish that was completely gone by the end of the meal. Broiled Zucchini with Herbs is a fantastic way to use up this over abundant veggie.
Each recipe is accompanied by the serivng analysis which includes; calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, and fiber as well as others items. The back of the book has a Glossary of Cooking Techniques and Terms which is helpful if you are unfamiliar with preparing some of the items in the recipes such as tofu, tempeh, bulgur etc. A Guide to Ingredients section gives a detailed description of ingredients that may be unfamiliar including; asian fish sauce, berbere, cornichons and fenugreek seeds to name a few.
One of the best details is that each recipe has menu suggestions listed under it, for example, Seasoned Steamed Artichokes menu suggestions include; "Try them drizzled with Yogurt Tahini Dressing before Middle Eastern Chickpeas with Spinach or with Tabouli Salad with greens." It takes the guesswork out of meal planning. This is a great cookbook!

Simply outstanding. This lavish collection of recipes, from nibbles to desserts, is a cornucopia of delicious dinner ideas. Everything I've made has been delicious, from their cassoulet to Chinese orzo pasta salad. Fish may not belong in a vegetarian collection, but it's nice to see it here in various tasty guises--the Thai-style fish cakes are superb. Although this is not billed as a "quick and easy" book the way that Moosewood Cooks at Home is, most of the recipes involve minimal fussing. I find the collective's estimates of cooking time pretty accurate, and the hints for dishes which pair well together often send me hop-scotching through the book considering new meals. Take the serving sizes with a grain of salt--if they say it feeds four, it probably feeds six; if they say it feeds 6-8, invite the neighborhood over to help you finish the leftovers! But for delicious, healthy, imaginative food, I've found few books to equal this one. I expect to happily cooking my way through Moosewood Low-Fat for years to come.

I own a lot of cookbooks, but because my family likes to eat healthy, this is our day-to-day favorite. Though we're not vegetarians, we don't eat a lot of meat. We do, however, like to eat fish. The fish section of this book is outstanding. Not only does it have fantastic recipes (almost all quite easy) for fish, it also gives ideas of what to do with different types of fish - i.e., poaching, broiling, etc. So if you've ever made a mistake by taking a wrong approach with a piece of fish, this overall advice is very helpful.

Though I've owned the original "Moosewood" cookbook for over 20 years, more and more I turn to this low-fat book, because it's a bit more up-to-date in its ingredients and approach. Also, the original book didn't include fish or seafood at all. The original Moosewood book didn't often call for fresh herbs, red peppers, whole wheat pasta, etc. - things that weren't available in the average supermarket in the '70s. This low-fat cookbook, though, strikes a balance between the exotic and the everyday. More often than not the ingredients are things I already have on hand, which is key when whipping up something quickly.

Also, this book is much more realistic about cooking time than the original Moosewood book. For instance, it calls for canned beans instead of soaking dried beans for an entire day.

I own at least 20 cookbooks, and for day-to-day cooking for the weight- and health-conscious, this one's the best.

I have used this cookbook for a few years now and have found many of the recipes to be wonderful and a few not so great. But overall I am pleased to have it. My favorites have been the Asian Noodle soup, Sothwestern corn and potato soup, Black bean chilaquile, Penne with puttanesca sauce, Eggplant parmesan, Baked beets and shallots, Japanese sesame spinach, and my favorite recipe for banana bread-Banana bundt cake. These are all very flavorful and satisfying dishes. I plan to keep trying many more of the recipes in the future. I recommend this book highly but you may not like all the recipes. Some that other reviewers have mentioned they liked I did not care for (Jerk Tofu, macaroni and cheese) and some I thought were pretty bad (almost fat-free cornbread) but it is just a matter of taste. The recipes I do like I make again and again so I am glad I own this book.

I've been a vegetarian for the better part of my lifetime, and in that time I've gone through a lot of vegetarian cookbooks - most of which have been disappointing. I discovered this cookbook about a year ago as I became more concerned about fat intake, and I really love it! Many of the recipes are fantastic and help maintain a low-fat diet without sacrificing texture, flavor, or variety. As with any cookbook, there's a few duds and a few "so-so" recipes, but there's also a large number of fantastic dishes that I've added to my regular "rotation" and have prepared over and over again. And this cookbook isn't just for dieters or people who are looking to eat healthier, nor is it a qualified "good for a diet cookbook" - it's full of delicious recipes to please just about anyone, and I rate this cookbook highly based on recipe quality, simplicity, and variety - the "low-fat" aspect is just an extra plus. Of all of the cookbooks I've amassed, this is the one I use the most, the one I go back to over and over again.

I *highly* recommend Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites; it is everything a cookbook should be. The authors provide down-to-earth instructions and thorough explanations. Nearly all ingredients are easily found at any major grocery store and the recipes result in flavor-packed, satisfying meals. Each well-organized recipe comes with an estimated preparation time, estimated cooking time, complete nutritional profile (including both fiber and fat count), and a recommendation from the authors for what other recipes in the book would complement a given dish. Indexes list the lowest fat recipes in the book, the quickest recipes in the book, etc. Although most of the dishes focus on vegetarian fare, omnivores (such as myself) should not shy away from this fabulous resource. An entire chapter is devoted to fish, and chicken breasts or other low-fat meat can always be incorporated into other recipes. The book is also packed with a wealth of low-fat cooking tips that any chef will find helpful for everyday, healthy, flavorful cooking.

Granted, when you're proud of your roots this isn't such a bad thing, but I sense a definite rut forming here. People's tastes in food are personal and widely varied--and the postings for Moosewood's books indicate a lot of folks like them just fine, but my experience has been much more mixed.
I have three Moosewood cookbooks (New Moosewood by Mollie Katzen/Moosewood Cooks at Home/Moosewood Low-fat). I have chosen to post my review with this title because, while my feelings here apply to all the books, this one in particular I found most lacking. The reason I have three Moosewoods is because two were given to me because the previous owners found they didn't earn their shelf space, the other--my first Moosewood--I bought years ago when collecting vegetarian cookbooks.
To my tastes, the recipes in these books never really paid off. The ones I tried weren't terrible (though a few from the low-fat book were close), but none were memorable and none even came close to making it into my permanent recipe collection. I was surprised at the lack of complex, sophisticated flavors considering the books world-culture approach.
I think Moosewood deserves a lot of credit for introducing new foods and flavors to the American dinner plate years before anyone else I know of was (at least in a mainstream sense), but where Moosewood seems to be very content reexamining the same territory, other cooks have moved the process forward to provide recipes that satisfy our increasingly grown-up tastes and streamlined preparation needs. I have to wonder if it isn't Moosewood's friendly, co-operative philosophy coupled with a general nostalgia that keeps their readers so faithful.