Customer Reviews

Student's Vegetarian Cookbook: Quick, Easy, Cheap, and Tasty Vegetarian Recipes

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this book over a year ago when my husband & I started eating healthier. We avoid dairy now & most of the recipes that call for milk specify that soy milk can be substituted. (Recipes that call for cheese I automatically sub soy or rice cheese.)

All of the recipes are extremely simple. The ingredients lists are usually very short & the entire book is very practical. If you're learning to cook (or if the idea of heading into a kitchen scares you) this is the book for you.

Here are the sections with some examples of recipes:

Breakfast (french toast, vegan pancakes, scrambled tofu, rice pudding)

Dips & Spreads (salsa-excellent! hummus, guacamole, tahini)

Soups & Stews (miso-happy soup, minestrone, split pea, kale & potato, Moroccan stew)

Salads & Dressings (fruit salad, apple raisin couscous, marinated vegetables, avocado & pear salad)

Sandwiches, wraps & pizza (falafel, crostini with a bean & a green, black bean & yam quesadilla, tacos monterey, pita pizza crust, farmhouse vegetable pizza)

Bean meals (chipotle black bean chili, dal, marinated tempeh)

Grain meals (spontaneous couscous, polenta with black beans, Indian rice, Sicilian rice)

Pasta (with zucchini & basil, with green beans & feta, primavera, spaghetti pancake, peanut pasta)

Vegetables, Stir frys & potatoes (artichoke feast, gingered Chinese green stir fry, Pad Thai, colcannon, scalloped potatoes vegan style)

Desserts & quick breads (dark chocolate pudding, baked apples, baked bananas, banana bread)

There's also a section on coffee drinks-like cafe au lait.

This book is a comprehensive book of easy, healthy, and delicious recipes. I am graduating college in a week and I'm sorry that I didn't find this book sooner! I will definitely keep using this book long after my student days are over. What's great about this book is that there are many "classic" vegetarian recipes (such as hummus, miso soup, pasta vegetable salad) that many other vegetarian cookbooks overlook (because they figure that you already know how to make those things). The only disappointment I have had with the book so far is the Mountain High Chocolate Cake (ended up mushy and vinegar-tasting on top), but everything else has been delicious (fruit smoothie, french toast, etc). If one is a vegan, she offers substitutes for milk & eggs (although these items are used infrequently anyway). Also, since I cook for just my husband and me, I appreciate that the recipes are designed for 1-2 people (so I don't end up with leftovers for 5 people!). By the way, we are not exclusively vegetarian, but like to eat healthy at home, and this book allows us to do that. Also check out my other favorites: Jeanne Lemlin's "Quick Vegetarian Pleasures" and Nava Atlas' "Vegetarian Express."

I have tons of vegetarian cookbooks, and this is the one I use most frequently. Most of my other books have lengthly preparation times, ingredients that necessitate trips to two or more stores, or (my personal gripe) recipes that require other recipes in the book!

The Student's Vegetarian Cookbook is no frills and utilitarian. It introduces a few "exotic" ingredients like nori and tofu, but for the most part it emphasizes simple, fresh-tasting food that can be made with ingredients from the local grocery store. One page suggests easy additions to popcorn, while another has simple suggestions for vegetarian sushi. All the recipes have short preparation times and short ingredient lists. The majority of the book focuses on vegetarian renditions of the food that surrounds a student in college: pizza, burritos, and burgers. There are also recipes for bean meals, pasta meals, breakfasts, desserts, snacks, and more.

The food in this book really does shine. One of my favorites is the White Bean and Tomato Salad. I also like the Broiled Tofu and the Bright Lemon Vinaigrette is one of my favorite salad dressings.

Today I made Orange Rice and Black Bean Salad - the combination of cinnamon, orange, and balsamic vinegar made the whole taste exotic. For dinner I had Pete's Harbor Special, a conconction of refried beans and zuchinni flavored with thyme. Even though the recipes are basic, they're far from standard. Many of them are also designed to accept substitutions. Best of all, most of the recipes make from one to two servings, so there are no boring leftovers.

The binding is cracked, the pages are stained, and the entire book is dog-eared - what higher recommendation can I give than that?!

I love this book. I have been a vegetarian for only 2 years so am still exploring the vast variety of food options available (including many new ethnic foods that I have never heard of). This book is wonderful for those just transitioning into the vegetarian diet. the ingredients are simple to use and easy to find. My FAVORITE part of this book is that all of the dishes are for single or double servings. For a student or single person living alone, it is great to be able to only cook for one and not waste food. Additionally, it allows me to try new flavors without cooking a large meal. I would recommend it to anyone who is thinking about becoming a vegetarian, anyone on a tight budget (and who doesn't have access to specialty ethnic grocers), or anyone who is thinking of trying new flavors but is afraid to try it in a "fancy" way. Kudos to the author.

After years in high school living on pasta because I didn't know how to cook anything else, I found this book. The recipies are optimized for the fewest possible ingredients and the least ammount of cooking time, and it tells you how to do everything. This is a wonderful book. All the recepies are appetizing; nothing has a title like "leek-tofu-squash curry." I mailed copies of this book to all my vegetarian friends. If you're short on time, don't like grocery shopping or are intimidated by vegetarian cookery, this book is exactly what you're looking for.

Because I am rarely ever home before 8 p.m., I had been either ordering in or eating out for dinner generally every night. That all changed after I recieved this cookbook as a gift. I've tried other vegetarian cookbooks before, and this one has by far the most uncomplicated, quick, but still absolutely delicious, meals. And most of the recipes use some similar ingredients, so you're usually not stuck with rotting produce. My favorites are the white bean and tomato salad, Greek-style tofu scramble and black bean and yam quesadilla. This book is a must for a busy vegetarian professional.

When i went off to college, i no longer could afford the convienient frozen vegetarian foods (veggie burgers, chik patties, etc.) so i needed something that required little time, ingredients, and was cheap. Then i got this book, i have made about 75% of the recipes and i love them. it requires a small amount of ingrediants and suggests substitutions if the item is not in your kitchen. I love the soups and pasta dishes. The recipes are healthy, but most of all easy for a cheap, broke college student as i am.

I got away from my vegetarian diet about five years ago... major move, lots of stress. I tried to start back up a few times, but all the cookbooks I had or could find had recipes that were too time consuming to pull off and still feed the other non-vegetarian members of the household. This book has delicious recipes that take minimal time to prepare and have relatively few ingredients. A great buy!

This is a great book. It's very approachable, and very refreshing compared to more intimidating cook books. The recipes are easy and fast, the ingredients are simple and inexpensive, and there's a great variety, from soups to enchiladas to deserts. There's also very helpful advise on what foods to keep on hand and what to look for in all different kinds of produce. A useful book for anyone with or without cooking experience, of whatever dietary inclinations (vegan, vegetarian, omnivorous). Makes you realize it is possible to cook tasty meals on a student's budget and schedule.

This book didn't make me a vegetarian, but I fully credit it for me STAYING a vegetarian. I found this book during my rocky first few months when I was somehow subsisting on pasta and ramen noodles. This book opened my eyes to what vegetarian eating really meant.

For a clueless guy like I was, someone who didn't know how to cook or even WHAT to cook, this book was a godsend! Unlike more advanced cookbooks, everything is fully explained - what everything is, where to get it, and how to prepare it. There are entire sections of the book dedicated to cooking techniques and describing foods and vegetables. Some would look at these section and scoff, but to me they were a lifesaver.

The recipes are all fast, easy to follow, and don't use a lot of strange ingredients. Best of all, everything tastes great! I had my roommates convinced I was some sort of chef. But what makes this book amazing are the little additions such as the rice, grain, and bean cooking charts and the little useful tips at the top of each recipe. I also love how all of the portions are measured out in cups. There is very little annoying "half of a semi-large onion" sort of talk.

The book also does well to steer neophyte vegetarians away from two common traps: fake meats and cheese. It's far too easy for new vegetarians to rely on these ingredients for lack of better options, and the book's unspoken focus on whole foods provides an alternate path (cheaper too!). Best of all, most of the recipes included are actually vegan or at least easily convert to vegan, so if you later become a vegan as I did, the book still holds its value.

My only complaint is that my copy of this book is also broken-backed (seems like a common complaint). If they are going to make a cookbook this good, they should give it a better binding because it won't spend its life on a shelf!

Some of my must-try favorites:
Pete's Harbor Special
Chipotle-Black Bean Chile
Hot Lips Fajita
Tomato Ravioli Soup
Pizza Dough