Customer Reviews

Recipes for a Small Planet

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A friend gave me this book (the spiral edition) in 1973, and it truly changed my life -- I became a vegetarian immediately. This is where I learned how to cook and eat all kinds of food that I'd never seen before, especially beans. I am not crazy about the "breakfast" recipes, but the breads in this cookbook are great. I have over a hundred cookbooks, and I still make the lasagne with adzuki beans (complicated) and the potato soup (easy). Almost every page in my book is either stained or annotated or both.
The only disadvantage to this cookbook is that many recipes call for dairy products and eggs -- things that I still enjoy after 29 years, but that I am not allowed to eat as often these days!
This is a classic, educational cookbook for vegetarians.

This book, with it's emphasis on tasty recipes and easy to understand information on balancing proteins, is a 'must read/must own' book for anyone considering a vegetarian diet, or even for those who just want to add some variety to a traditional diet. This book is the foundation for a healthier eating, and I recommend it to all.

This is a great cookbook! The reason I only gave it 4 stars is becaus the cookbook is bound in a regular book format so it is very difficult to place on the counter top or in a recipe hook holder when you cook. The original version was spiral bound which was great! All cookbooks should come spiral bound!!! My two primary cookbooks in the kitchen are this one and More With Less (which incidently is actually spiral bound)!

When I had decided to become vegetarian some 33 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing and got very sick within a few days. I did not realize how difficult it was to go from meat and potatoes to having veggies be more than a side dish and garnish. A friend who was an Episcopal Priest, Charles Pedersen, recommended the book. After eating a few of the recipes, especially the quiches, I was healthy again and have been able to be consistently and happily vegetarian since then. Although after 8 years of being lacto ovo vegetarian I shifted to becoming vegan, I still remember the book with fondness and am thankful for the healthy and nutritious recipes. I have passed on more than a few copies to others who are starting their vegetarian journey and found others have enjoyed it as well.

RECIPES FOR A SMALL PLANET
I was disappointed to find that a great deal of the complimentary protein in the recipes relied on dairy products, especially a great deal of powdered milk. If you are able to digest milk products, then this might be a useful book.

Though one reviewer felt the format of this book was a poor choice, I found it to be perfect. I can leave a spare copy with one of my grocery bags so that I can pick out a new recipe or two while at the grocery store. I find that this lets me find the freshest foods available.

What I like most about this book is that with a little preperation and fore thought, you can do much of your cooking for meals in advance, and just combine ingredients and heat when meal time comes. This can be done because many of the recipes call for "cooked rice" or "cooked peas". I find that this also allows you to use leftovers up quickly, in new recipes.

One note, though, is that this book is not Vegan by any means. Many of the recipes call for dairy products and eggs.

Overall, it is a lovely lovely book and a must for those trying to live lightly on the earth.

With lots of milk, eggs, and cheese, many of the recipes are "stick to the ribs" vegetarian. I consider it the "old-fashioned" vegetarian style and sometimes, that's just what I want. A great companion to Diet for a Small Planet.

I bought this cookbook to replace a copy that I had used and loved so much that it was falling apart. The recipes in this book are great and the information on healthful eating is good even 20+ years after its publication. I have lots of newer cookbooks, but this is one of my favorites. Try the banana bread recipe on page 253.

This is a book that I have bought three times now over a period of many years, as a gift and replacement for a copy lent and not returned. Two of the copies have been bought through Amazon, and I have been more than happy with the condition of the product and the delivery time.

I've owned this book for decades and have made a few of the recipes dozens of times.

I have the spiral bound version and, while the binding is fine, the paper is very poor and many of the pages in mine are rotten with age and falling to bits.

I would be happy to pay real money for a new edition printed on thick glossy durable paper and spiral bound. This can be done! Alternatively, a .pdf version that I could print off myself at home would be nice to have.

As mentioned by others, just because a recipe is vegetarian doesn't mean it's low fat or low in empty calories from refined sugar. I'm not a vegan but don't use butter and very seldom use eggs. 15 years ago, I used egg substitute from the bulk food store but I don't bother any more. Some recipes just need real eggs.

Some of the ingredients listed are hard to find. I've never run across "soy grits" anywhere.