The Starving Students' Vegetarian Cookbook [Paperback]

Dede Hall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001

This cookbook serves up simple, can't fail directions, cheap ingredients and quick one-pan recipes for the health conscious student.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Having tackled the college-student diet with The Starving Students' Cookbook, Dede Hall is back with an assortment of vegetarian dishes one can cook on a low budget with little time. Most of the recipes in The Starving Students' Vegetarian Cookbook involve beans and rice, pasta, stir-fry, tofu and squashes; take less than 15 minutes to prepare; and use only one pan. This appropriately affordably priced book should appeal just as much to recent graduates who find themselves on the wrong side of the boom.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Hall's original Starving Students' Cookbook was published in 1983, and college students are still cooking from it, so her vegetarian version is likely to find fans as well. These are recipes for people who really don't know how to cook Bob's English Breakfast, for example, requires heating a can of beans and toasting a few slices of bread and many of them use convenience foods; each recipe includes prep time (many take less than 15 minutes) and drawings of the kitchen equipment needed. Kevin and Nancy Mills's Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen (LJ 4/15/96) and Lora Brody's Kitchen Survival Guide (LJ 5/15/92) both offer more information and more sophisticated recipes, but Hall's very basic approach has a place as well. For collections serving college and graduate students and other larger libraries.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446676756
• ISBN-13: 978-0446676755
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CHEAP AND DELICIOUS!!!, November 14, 2001

By 

Lisa Linnell-Olsen (Fairbanks, AK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Starving Students' Vegetarian Cookbook (Paperback)

With "The Starving Students Vegetarian Cookbook" students can enjoy inexpensive home-cooked fare while dirtying as few dishes as possible.

According to the University of Alaska Fairbanks bookstore, it is a top non-fiction best seller for college bookstores. Dede Halls vegetarian cookbook delivers quick, cheap and delicious meals that anyone can prepare. If your mother never showed you how to make an egg-salad sandwich, there is no need to fret. Not only can you learn how to make an egg-salad sandwich, but you can also try dishes like "Lynn's tofu spinach lasagna" and "onion potato soup."

The cookbook lists the staples one needs to have on hand to prepare these simple vegetarian meals. There is enough variety to avoid boredom. Many of the recipes will be ready in less than 15 minutes. The reduced number of dishes used in cooking is of benefit to college students on a tight budget.

Hall includes cleaning and shopping tips for those who are just now becoming responsible for their own homes. Tips like how to shop for citrus fruits or how to chop onions are scattered throughout the book.
I tried a few recipes out for myself, and was very pleased with the results. The chile rellenos were easy to make, and very tasty. Using only a few ingredients (eggs, cheese, baking mix, milk and green chilis), the dish was easy to prepare and a big hit with my family.
The zucchini enchiladas also made a wonderful meal. Using flour tortillas and canned sauce, they were quick to prepare with excellent results.
There are several other promising recipes I intend to try: Caribbean red beans and rice, banana fritters, and Spanish corn bread are just a few.
My only complaint is that there is no nutritional analysis of the foods. As many vegetarians are health-conscious, this would have been a nice feature. Still, the recipes do seem to be nutritious as well as simple. With the busy schedule and tight budgets of most students, this is a useful book full of culinary ideas that will appeal to vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! what every poor veggie needs!, March 2, 2006

By 

Lisa M. Poole - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Starving Students' Vegetarian Cookbook (Paperback)

My mom got this book for me when I first moved out on my own and it saved my life! I never cooked before, and I almost make at least one thing out of here every day!

Favorites of the boyfriend (a carnivore) and myself include the Gourmet Mushroom Burger, almost all the pastas and the Zuchinni Omlette.

a note to the reviewers "Disappointed" and "Buyer Beware" below. You just have to carefully read labels in the items you buy! You don't have to follow the recipes to a T, I substitute You can't believe it's not butter Light, or use a canola oil spray instead plain butter. Reduced-fat cheese works just as well as regular. And there are brands of worsteshire sauce that don't have anchovies, I live in SoCal and Ralph's brand is veggie friendly! just a head's up.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for starving professionals too!, February 11, 2006

By 

Jansen "Jansen" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Starving Students' Vegetarian Cookbook (Paperback)

When I was in college several years ago, a relative gave me a copy of "The Starving Student's Cookbook". I loved it! I was semi-vegetarian at the time and I was pleased that the book had a chapter of vegetarian recipes.

Since graduating I have become more vegetarian so I was delighted to find that Dede Hall had written a book focusing on vegetarian cooking. The recipes in this book are easy to make and delicious. I have purchased several vegetarian and vegan cookbooks but they all seem to contain exotic ingredients that I can't find in my area, even at organic food stores. Other problems I had were that the recipes were complicated, time-consuming, and sometimes not even palatable when completed. This book changed that for me!

Some of my favorite recipes are Garlic Pull-aparts (great with italian dishes although it's listed in the breakfast chapter), Peanut Butter soup, Easy Stroganoff, Just Right Stew, and Lynne's Tofu Spinach Lasagne. Those are just the stand-outs for me. I go back to this book again and again because the recipes are so tasty and varied.

I would also recommend this book to anyone who is considering going vegetarian. The recipes are so easy to prepare and so good that you won't miss meat-based dishes--a problem I had when starting out.

Another reviewer mentioned the fact that worcestershire sauce is used in one of the recipes and that it contains anchovies. Please, guys, use common sense when buying and read the list of ingredients. There are several brands of vegetarian worcestershire sauce on the market or you can make your own by looking up a recipe online. Also, some vegetarians might classify themselves as vegan, lacto/ovo vegetarian, or "flexitarian" i.e. mostly vegetarian but occasionally eat meat. These recipes can be adjusted to suit your needs.

I would even recommend purchasing Dede Hall's first book and substituting vegetarian "meat" in the recipes, many varieties such as Morningstar Veggie Crumbles and Steak strips are now available in most grocery stores.
I like these books so much that I have bought copies for friends. Enjoy!