Customer Reviews

New Vegetarian Cooking: 120 Fast, Fresh, and Fabulous Recipes

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I've had this cookbook for a while now and have managed to make tons of the recipes, there are always more I want to try.

Some have become favorites, I often get asked for the recipe of a dish from this book that I bring to a potluck, and I have generally had great results with the recipes I've tried.

There have been a few recipes that did not turn out so well. The Thai Bean Cakes turned out being kind of like home made falafel gone wrong. They just fell apart and didn't taste that great. The sauce was time consuming to make and not too delicious.

The downside in general would be that her time estimates are a bit off, sometimes it takes hours to make a dish, others are quick (especially once you get the hang of it).

All in all I totally recommend it. It's my favorite of the 5 or so veg cookbooks I have and it had some unique, delicious, and beautiful dishes. If I'm trying to cook to impress for parties, etc. I almost always turn to this book, though there are some dishes that are easy and quick enough to be regular dinner staples too.

Fav dishes from it include: chickpea flour cakes w/ fresh salsa, niçoise salad, and mushroom & nut pate en croute

These recipes are fantastic and easy. I've made so many of them after work for dinner that night. Especially great are the golden lentil soup and the black bean recipe. Delish!

Rose Elliot has a great photographer. The dishes photographed in this book, and there are lots of great photos, have none of that mushy brownish look of much vegetarian fare. They look and sound really appetizing -- brilliant, as the Brits say -- which is why I bought the book.
A quick glance through the book was promising. Lots of great ideas for combining flavors and ingredients.
BUT Elliot's directions turn out to be somewhat peculiar.
One instance: she consistently directs you to use two and a half cups of water to a cup of rice (or any other grain), where one and a half cups is more than enough. She must like her rice really really mushy.
Another instance: she tends to get, let's say, over-enthusiastic about throwing in lots of ingredients. There's something of the adolescent idea that the more good things you stick in there, the better it will be. As any good cook can tell you, this ain't necessarily so. The results look nothing like the photos, which are paragons of elegant restraint.
So if you use Elliot, be ready to adapt her recipes. I've made five dishes so far, each time noting the changes I'll have to make if I make them again. This is a pity: it would have saved a lot of time and avoided disappointment if someone (the author? the editor?) had test-cooked everything before going to print.