Customer Reviews

Plenty: A Collection of Sarah McLachlan's Favorite Recipes

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Regardless of what you think of her music, it's easy to imagine that among rock stars, Sarah McLachlan probably has very good taste when it comes to food. Something about her persona -- laid-back yet utterly professional, driven and yet hedonistic -- suggests that you'd get a better meal at her house than at, say, Courtney Love's, and this book of recipes certainly supports that notion.

Overall, the recipes in this collection strike a nice balance between healthy eating and indulgence, with an emphasis on simplicity and elegant presentation. It's filled with photographs of the food as well as of Sarah M., and functions as well on the coffee table as it does in the kitchen. An excellent gift for music and/or food lovers.

This is an excellent cookbook! Sarah's chef is definitely on the road to "celebrity chefdom." The recipes are creative and interesting, and most of them are quite simple. I can understand why Sarah takes a chef on the road with her. Can you imagine having sumptuous meals prepared for you three times a day? Paradise.

We held a potluck dinner party on the weekend and asked everyone to prepare a dish from Sarah's cookbook. It was an absolute blast. The chili is absolutley delicious.The Thai curry was fabulous, although we spiced it up to make it really hot.The risotto was wonderful, although we used chicken stock.The Curried Lentil Salad was absolutely delicious. We had several appetizers and desserts as well (the Creme Brulee was so good--I had no idea it was so easy to make). Everything was fabulous.The dishes we all chose to make were relatively easy to prepare. I should mention that it was a costume party, and one of my friends dressed up a Rex--Sarah's dog. It was good fun and this is a really good cookbook. Congratulations Sarah!

This book combines Sarah McLachlan's wonderful sense of theaesthetic with Jamie Laurita's passion for food. The result is acookbook that's pleasing to read from cover to cover. The recipes are very eclectic, ranging from simple to quite difficult. I tried the Steamed Black Mussels and they were classic and delicious. The Caprese Salad was really easy and very satisfying. The Fritattas were really good as well. There are some great fall recipes that I haven't tried yet: Mushroom and Sherry Soup, Gingered Squash Soup, and a Vegetarian Chile that looks amazing. This book is great if you're a Sarah fan (just to get a sense of what Sarah's like in real life) but I have to say the book really holds its own as a cookbook that's worth owning.

I purchased this cookbook because I cook and because there is a major Sarah McLachlan fan in my house. Okay, I like her, too. Anyway, the cook here is very happy with this book which relies on easy to prepare Mediterranean style recipes. The recipes are courtesy of the chef who catered Sarah's band on the Lilith Fair tour out of a tiny mobile kitchen. If he can do it, so can those of us with real kitchens. Many recipes are vegetarian with the occasional dairy or fish ingredient. Many are also low-fat. All are gorgeous, satisfying and should suit most tastes. I am envious of the fact that Sarah was backstage eating this great food while I was in the audience, restricted from 3 p.m. until midnight to eating what was sold "in the venue." Note to future festival organizers: some of us don't do fries, nachos with orange cheese, hotdogs and funnel cakes (I attended Lilith in central Pennsylvania). Some of us like vegetables, just like Sarah.

My quest in life is to find the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. I have to say that the chocolate chip cookies in Sarah's cookbook are to die for. The writer's block cookies are presently my favorite oatmeal cookie. The book is worth the price of admission for these two recipes alone!

Sarah: I attended your Vancouver book launch this evening and you were just as charming as I remember. I thought it was very cute of you to post a personal note on Amazon. I'm a Vancouver restaurant critic; here's an excerpt of my review on mybc.com/food: <B>Plenty</B> is beautifully designed and executed. The photos (by Kharen Hill) are lush, exciting and original. Some of the recipes are named for McLachlan's songs; others speak for themselves: Smoky Pablano Pasta; Grandma's Upside-Down Apple Tart; Steamed Black Mussels; and Tiger Prawns with Soba Noodles (the photo for this recipe is both phallic and organic -- brilliant!).

There are tempting vegetarian dishes: Veggie Sushi, Vegetarian Chili, Squash Curry, and many more. McLachlan (a great cook in her own right) consulted with her travelling-roadie chef, Jaime Laurita, who contributed hugely to this volume -- including a number of entries that are clearly among his treasured family recipes. If that weren't enough right there, <B>Plenty</B> offers some candid insights into the behind-the-scenes day-to-day life (on tour and at home) of one of Canada's most celebrated singer-songwriters. Highly recommended for food-lovers and Sarah-lovers everywhere!

After eating a meal prepared by Jaime, Sarah's chef, i knew i HAD to go buy this book! He assured me that even an inexperienced cook such as myself would find it easy to follow~he was right! The food is delicious and the pictures are beautiful. Easy to follow with accessible ingredients and worth the effort of cooking at home. This is the first cookbook i've purchased in 4 years and it is well worth it.

Wow! I love this book! I never thought healthy food could be so good! I love having the taste of some different foods in my mouth. Usually, in Wisconsin, all there is to eat are brats and beer. My favorite recipes are the Fennel-Calarmari Salad, the Thai Salad Rolls, Tiger Prawns with Soba Noodles, and Sweet Surrender Lobster with Candied Ginger and Mango Herb Butter. I also LOVE Ash and Sarah's Chai Tea. I am so glad Sarah put this book out. I love all the pictures in there also. Especially the ones of her singing on stage and the ones with her dog, Rex. Sarah has good taste!!!

I made a batch of Writer's Block Cookies and brought them to work and everybody loved them! The Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is huge--definitely cut it in half. Also I hate nuts so I used raisins instead.The best recipe though is the one for Chocolate Truffles. I took these to a dinner party and everybody thought I was a chef or something. They're really easy (it's a bit of a pain to get them to look perfectly round mind you) and they taste awesome. That's all I've tried so far and I'm happy. Also, Sarah's chef is cute. Irrelevant I guess, but a bonus anyway.