The Best Vegetarian Recipes: From Greens to Grains, from Soups to Salads: 200 Bold Flavored Recipes [Hardcover]

Martha R. Shulman (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 7, 2001

Join award-winning author Martha Rose Shulman as she shares the best of vegetarian cooking today. With her encouragement and her great recipes, you can eat seasonally, healthfully, and most of all, well. Using the rich array of produce now available, The Best Vegetarian Recipes offers an innovative collection of 200 new classics and updated favorites,

From spreads, soups, and salads to main-course stir-fries and stratas, bold flavors combine texture and taste perfectly. New classics like Swiss Chard Frittata and Garlic Soup with Potatoes are sure to become old favorites. Pan-fried tofu, a vegetarian staple, never tasted better than with Martha's soy-ginger marinade. Side dishes are stunning alone or coupled together. Sweet and tart flavors blend in a springtime Baby Turnip and Turnip Greens Ragout.

Entertaining is easy and elegant with reinvented favorites. Need ideas for planning a balanced vegetarian menu? Martha has plenty. Her recipes offer accompanying suggestions to complete the meal. Start with an olive oil-crusted Spinach and Cheese Tart. Serve it alongside a refreshing Orange, Onion, and Olive Salad, or the Shredded Romaine Salad for a lighter pairing.

As Martha is one of America's most highly regarded vegetarian cooking experts, you can be assured that her recipes are foolproof. Never made soup from scratch before? Helpful pointers highlight the winning combination of ingredients and techniques for "Basic" recipes. You'll also learn indispensable tips for making intensely flavored stocks and salad dressings, roasting bell peppers, and much more.

No matter what your eating style, The Best Vegetarian Recipes is simply the best collection of wholesome and healthy recipes around.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The key to successful vegetarian cooking is blending intriguing flavors and interesting textures with balanced nutrition. Don't worry about the absence of meat--you'll never miss it with these flavorful recipes. With over 20 cookbooks to her name, Martha Rose Shulman really does know the best vegetarian recipes. "A good recipe ... is one that both a beginner and a seasoned cook can follow with consistent results," says Shulman. "And those results must be enticing, pleasing to the palate, with familiar but evocative flavors."

An introduction to vegetarian cooking, instructions on how to follow a recipe, and a list for the well-stocked pantry lead into the chapters "Spreads, Dips, and Condiments," "Salads, Soups, Eggs, and Cheese," "Grains and Beans," "Pasta and Pizza," "Vegetable Side Dishes, "Stews, Stir-Fries, and Gratins," "Tofu," and "Desserts." Start with a Spicy Red Pepper Spread on crostini followed by an Arugula, Pear, and Walnut Salad. For the main dish, serve Farfalle with Asparagus or maybe Pizza with Summer Squash, Goat Cheese, and Herbs. Round out the meal with Citrus and Date Gratin or the light Lemon Sorbetto.

The recipes in The Best Vegetarian Recipes are clear and easy to follow, plus Shulman tells you how far in advance you can prepare them and how long they will keep in the fridge. She uses ingredients you probably already have in your pantry but maybe haven't tried together (Mashed Potatoes with Kale). Vegetarian or not, this would be a great addition to any cook's kitchen. --Dana Van Nest

About the Author

Martha Rose Shulman is an award-winning author of nine cookbooks, including Mediterranean Light, Mexican Light, Provencal Light, The Vegetarian Feast, and Entertaining Light. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; 1 edition (August 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688168272
• ISBN-13: 978-0688168278
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Rice & Grains
  • #87 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Vegetables & Vegetarian > Vegetables

More About the Author

For over 30 years I have been writing cookbooks devoted to eating well. A pioneer in vegetarian cooking, I began my career in 1973 at the age of 23. This was long before well-educated people from upper middle class backgrounds fantasized about becoming the next Food Network star or owning a successful restaurant. I was then a student at The University of Texas at Austin. I changed my major every semester, but my passion for cooking and for giving dinner parties was unwavering. I also had an interest in health, and combined the two in my approach to food, drawing upon many of the world's cuisines to create vegetarian dishes that were much better than the standard brown rice fare of the early 1970s. Culturally I was very much a product of my era, but as far as my cooking was concerned, I have always been way ahead of my time.
Once I'd had my epiphany about my calling, I developed a series of vegetarian cooking classes that I taught through the University of Texas Extension, and I opened a private "supper club" in my home. Every Thursday for two years I prepared a sit-down 3-course dinner for 30 people. My cozy "home restaurant" allowed me all the fun and few of the headaches of running a public restaurant, and at the same time gave me a place to experiment and develop a repertoire of dishes to showcase. I also learned to cook for a crowd. Soon I had a vegetarian catering service; I catered everything from breakfasts in bed and dinners for two to wedding receptions and conferences for two hundred.
I had also been, all along, a writer in search of a subject. I knew that I would write a cookbook, and when The Vegetarian Feast came out in 1979, my career had evolved from cook/caterer to food writer and cookbook author. The Vegetarian Feast won a 1979 Tastemaker Award (a precursor of the prestigious James Beard Awards) for Best Book, Health and Special Diets category, and remains in print.
I was never doctrinaire about vegetarian cooking; I just felt that I'd had my quota of meat by the time I reached the age of 21. I admired all good cooks, especially Julia Child, with whom I corresponded. In my first letter to her, a fan letter dated September 2, 1976 in which I described my cooking classes and my supper club, my catering service and the book I was trying to get published, I told her I was "trying to shed a new light on vegetarianism, to present it as an unmysterious, classical, and memorable cuisine. The art of cooking with an emphasis on nutrition as well as flavor is my interest, and because I am a vegetarian my cuisine is a meatless one."
Two years after the publication of The Vegetarian Feast I moved to Paris, where I continued to write cookbooks and articles, revived my Supper Club, and became a much better cook. During the twelve years I lived in France I traveled extensively in the Mediterranean to research its many cuisines. My book Mediterranean Light was published in 1989, just as the benefits of the Mediterranean diet were coming to light in the United States. The region continues to be my richest source of culinary inspiration.
To date, I have 27 cookbooks to my name. My work has been of a piece; not all of my books are vegetarian, but they all have a healthy focus. Several of my books have been nominated for cookbook awards and three have won them. In addition to the 1979 Tastemaker Award for The Vegetarian Feast, I've received the following nominations and prizes for my work:
*2001: International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), The Best Vegetarian Recipes, Nominee, Single Subject category
*1995 James Beard Awards, Great Breads, Nominee, Bread and Pastry category
*1994 Bertolli Olive Oil Award, Provençal Light, First Prize, Health and Special Diets category, Julia Child Awards
*1991 International Association of Culinary Professionals, Entertaining Light, First Prize, Health and Diet category
*1991 James Beard Awards, Entertaining Light, Nominee, Entertaining category
*1989 Tastemaker, Mediterranean Light, Nominee, Health and Special Diets category
*1988 Tastemaker, Supper Club chez Martha Rose, Nominee, Entertaining category

My cooking continues to evolve, as I hone and simplify my recipes to make them accessible to a wide range of cooks. I feel that I have played a role in improving the eating habits of many Americans, particularly since I began writing a daily recipe feature called Recipes for Health for the health section of The New York Times on the Web, in 2008. Its purpose is to empower people to cook healthy meals every day by giving them straightforward, delicious recipes. Each week's column is themed around a fresh ingredient from the market, a pantry item or a type of dish, with a new recipe posted every day. The reader response has been enthusiastic; my recipes regularly appear in the "10 Most Emailed" list on the health page. It has been extremely satisfying to know that I am reaching so many people and having an impact on their cooking.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Basic Vegetarian Cookbook September 14, 2001

By disco75

Format:Hardcover

Shulman has authored a number of cookbooks, and although she is a former vegetarian, she knows food and cooking and she is familiar with the goals and hopes of current day vegetarian cooks. Her latest volume represents a good overview of veg cuisine, apart from the absence of most meat substitutes likes seitan. The book contains a very good soup selection, with a variety of both simple and complex stocks upon which to build soups. There are numerous frittata recipes and good selections for winter and fall dishes, for those who want to eat seasonally. Yellow Squash and Rice Gratin and Potato and Chard Gratin stand out. Shulman presents a number of polentas. Of the vegetable dishes, Leeks in Wine is the most unique. She emphasizes freshness and flavor in each recipe. The book includes cooking tips for beginners and enough of her philosophy with food to make for interesting reading. For someone needing a basic cookbook, this would be a fine selection.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Doable, Reliable, Earthy but High Style October 20, 2004

By C. Ebeling

Format:Hardcover

I own a number of Martha Rose Shulman's cookbooks and when THE BEST VEGETARIAN RECIPES arrived, I thought, uh oh, it's a greatest hits album. It's much better than that. True, earlier versions of several of the recipes appear in her other books but all are invested with a freshness here, with the latest wisdom in method and equipment. Shulman has a Mediterranean sensibility that lends itself to all the cuisines she draws from. The dishes are earthy yet sophisticated. I've made several of the recipes and they always turn out as intended. They are satisfying even for the roast beef eaters who have turned up at my table. This is a book for weeknight dinners and to cook out of when guests are expected.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious recipes--and I'm not even a vegetarian! December 4, 2001

By Ellen Greenblatt

Format:Hardcover

Because I am a fan of Marth Rose Shulman's books, especially her classics Mediteranean Light, Feasts and Fetes, and Light Basics, I decided to try her new book. I have already cooked myself delicious meals and dazzled friends with her inventive recipes.
What is best in Shulman's books, besides the recipes of course, is her ability to describe what she is up to and to add interesting commentary. Her recipes are obviously carefully tested and, as a result, are almost foolproof. She is obviously someone who loves food and wants the rest of us to enjoy her healthy and delicious discoveries.
A real winner.