Customer Reviews

Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers: Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own all of the Moosewood books, and this one is already a favorite (along with Cooks at Home and Daily Specials). Simple Suppers reads like an updated version of Cooks at Home- the recipes are straightforward and easy to prepare, but original in the combinations of flavors and textures. Green Bean and White Bean Gratin contains green beans, pureed white beans and whole white beans layered with cheese and breadcrumbs for a filling winter meal. Navajo Stew combines roasted sweet potatoes with black beans and a quick blender tomato-chipotle sauce. Tortilla Melts are quick sandwiches of roasted mushrooms with pesto, tomatoes, and cheese. I made all of these in the past week and my husband and I both liked them a lot- good, unfussy food.

My only quibble is that it would be nice if nutritional information had been included. Many of the recipes are decidedly not light as written, but could be lightened fairly easily.

If you're looking for food that's healthy, tasty and easy to prepare, I don't think the Moosewood cookbooks can be beat. While I've only tried a couple of recipes from this new cookbook, they've both been good and simple to put together, and I'm looking forward to trying many more. I love to cook, and I love to try new dishes, but I'm also interested in staying slender and in not spending too much time in the kitchen: Moosewood achieves all of that for me. I especially appreciate their "serving and menu ideas," in which they make suggestions for what you may want to serve with the current recipe to make a whole meal -- very nice for entertaining. If you don't own any Moosewood cookbooks, the "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home" is probably the one to start with. With that one and this one together, however, you'd have a formidable collection of recipes. Enjoy!

I purchased the Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers cookbook for our daughter who is vegetarian, She prepared 5 of the recipes for us during the time she was home from college over winter break and we loved all of them. We were impressed that most of the ingredients were things we typically purchased and not difficult to find items. I am not vegetarian but I am going to order the book for myself for all the delicious healthy recipes,,..food lover in Iowa City

This cookbook is perfect for people like me who eat fish, grains and lots of veggies, but no other "meats".

I love the way they make suggestions for side dishes to go with their recipes. (I'm not too creative, so this helps a LOT!)

Fabulous table of contents, clear cooking instructions and delicious recipes.

My first vegetarian cookbook when i was 15 was a Moosewood cookbook, and at the time i struggled to find the most unusual ingredients in central Maine (this was 1990 and tahini was almost impossible to find!!). I received this cookbook as a gift last Christmas and cannot stop trying new recipes! I have a zillion vegetarian cookbooks, and usually i end up with one or 2 favorites per cookbook before i move onto another new book. Not so with Simple Suppers!! There are so many recipes that I want to try, and every single one has come out delicious! It is rare for me to use a cookbook where i love every recipe i try, and where every recipe tastes different (a problem with early Moosewood- I can still tell when a recipe is from an old school Moosewood cookbook!)

I agree with an earlier reviewer that a lot of these recipes are so simple, it seems like you shouldn't need a recipe... but I figure, if i haven't thought of it and it's that simple, I appreciate someone sharing it with me!

This is also an excellent cookbook for anyone who always wishes they had time to cook healthy, "from scratch" meals every night after a long day at work!

I originally checked this cook book out of the public library and then I re-checked it out again and when they wouldn't let me have it the third time I figured it was time to just buy it. I also bought 3 extras to give for gifts because I liked it so much. As a cook, I want simple, quick, delicious and healthy meals for my family. This cookbook offers all that!

This is a great cookbook for both the seasoned cook and the beginner. The recipes are interesting but very easy and quick to prepare. I also like the suggestion box at the bottom of each recipe that tells you what to serve with the recipe so that you aren't just serving random dishes together. Very user friendly and lot of fun to cook with!

I love all of the Moosewood cookbooks; unfortunately I have to say that this one is my least favorite.

Still, it gets four stars because all of the recipes are exactly as advertised: fresh and simple (mostly) vegetarian meals that you can throw together for a hungry family. They are also all delicious -- again, something you can count on with any Moosewood cookbook -- and provide a lot of variety in flavors, textures, and types of meals included. The authors also make suggestions for menus as well as including tips and ideas for parents, which is a plus.

My complaints with this particular cookbook are mostly little petty things, like the fact that the photos of the Collective members and the hand-made, folksy artwork have been mostly replaced by glossy color photographs. Also, these are not complex, stunning culinary creations -- they are all *very* simple -- which of course is part of the charm of this book. You don't have to spend an hour or two on a meal with this cookbook; it is most definitely a "weeknight" sort of cookbook. While this is most excellent for beginning cooks, if you already are relatively experienced you don't really need a recipe for some of these things. Like the Poached Huevos Rancheros -- delicious, but do you really need a *recipe* for that?

Despite my complaints, I still recommend this book, especially because it rounds out the rest of the Moosewood Restaurant collection by providing a simple, inviting set of recipes for the rushed cook.

I'm a big fan of the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks. As a vegetarian, it can be a bit of a challenge to find cookbooks that contain recipes with short ingredients lists, with simple easy-to-find ingredients, that have interesting and delicious flavor combinations. Moosewood accomplishes all of this in the Simple Suppers cookbook. This is the cookbook I use most often when determining what to make for dinner on a weeknight. The recipes are quick and do not disappoint when it comes to flavor and healthfulness!

The recipes are simple to follow and the food - excellent! If you've never had the chance to eat at the restaurant, this is the next best thing.

I love looking through cookbooks but am regularly frustrated because the delicious recipes detailed and photographed within invariably fails by:

1) Having a list of ingredients that I would never otherwise have in my home;
2) Requiring cooking techniques or instruments that I do not own and can't justify buying;
3) or as I am a vegetarian in a house of meat eaters, not offering enough recipes that I can share with the rest of my family...(My husband has been known to stop eating something once he learns that certain ingredients are in it ...coconut, mushrooms, cauliflour!)

To my everlasting delight - Simple Suppers offers an abundance of easy to make, meals that I don' have to worry about serving to my family - and by this I mean - "I spent THREE hours and $50!! to make that meal, what do you MEAN you won't even TRY it!!!!"

The Contents are as follows with one or two recipes that I will try over the next few weeks:

Pasta - Fettucini with Walnut Pesto, Pasta With Carmelized Onions and Blue Cheese, Pasta with Olives Piquant...
Sautes, Curries, & MOre - Spicy Potatos and SPinach, Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
Beans & Tofu - Sesame Tofu with Spinach,
Egg Dishes - Poached Huevos Rancheros, Savory Bread and Cheese Bake
Main Dish Grains - RarebitRisotto, Spinach Polenta Topped with Tomatoes
Main Dish Salads - Southwestern Black Bean Sald, Warm French Lentil Salad
Soups - Tomato Tortilla Soup, Italian Bread and Cheese Soup
Sandwiches, Wraps, & Rolls - Spinach Cheese Burritos, Broccolini Cheddar Melt
Fish - Po'Boy Sandwich, Asian Braised Fish with Greens
Side Grains- Brilliant Yellow Noodles, Green Rice
Side Dishes - Baked Acorn Squash Crescents, Sesame Broccoli
Side Salads - Broccoli Tomato Salad, Wilted Spinach Salad with Pecans and Asiago
Dressings, Condiments & Seasonings - Pineapple Chutney, Cranberry Chutney, Chipotle Mayonaise
Sauces & Spreads - Blender Tomato Hot Sauce, Red Pepper Butter Sauce
Desserts- Caribbean Sauteed Bananas
The Well Stocked Pantry
Guide to Ingredients, Tools & Techniques

Delicious!