Customer Reviews

Three Bowl Cookbook

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

 

 

I know that recipes that actually produce edible food should be standard in cookbooks, but that isn't the case. This book, though, is full of knockouts. I've made about 25 of the dishes, and each one was fantastic. What I really like is that each spread in the book is a complete meal, taking away the need to worry about what would pair well with what. I wish other cookbooks were so well thought out.

This book is a wonder. Essentially, all the menus come in balanced threes, and are also split up by season. Spring brings feta spaghetti, shredded carrot and apple salad, and minted lemonade; Summer and muesli, warm fruit compote, and spicy chai; Fall's penne with sweet onions, beet salad, and garlic lemon rasam, Winter brings polenta, black bean soup and braised endive (and I don't even like endives!)

The recipes are generally short and easy to accomplish with few ingredients, and are balanced well so that you can start one, move on to the next, and finish the last in time for the beginning of a meal. The text is thoughtful and fun, full of anecdotes on monastery life, zen koans, and a upbeat spirituality -- it reminds us to be mindful while cooking, that it's not just something we do to get over with so we can stoke an engine, but that it's a worthwhile activity unto itself -- something people often forget.

The recipes themselves are from all styles and nationalities -- italian polenta, japanese miso, spanish paella, swiss oats, greek tzatziki... 120 recipes in total, 40 menus. Everything here is vegetarian, but I would recommend this book to anyone who is wanting to not only widen their repertoire of international recipes, but also to anyone who wants to slow down, start with some basics, and be reminded of how simple, worthwhile, and truly fulfilling cooking can be.

I'm not a typical cook book buyer (mainly I buy fiction from Amazon) But a vegetarian diet and a desire to cook more led me to purchase this book. recipes are easy, some more complicated. All are healthy, and the photos and the book cover demand to be displayed on the coffee table, not hidden in a kitchen drawer.

This is such a wonderfully useful book and the chapter or section on the philosophy of food in Zen was worth the price of the book. I also appreciated that food choices are seasonal as are the recipes. I also like the section on the role of the cook, which in this fast food society should be obligated reading.

There is also an excellent section on the well stocked Zen kitchen as well as methods and ingredients explanations for those who are unfamiliar with certain terms. The book is alas non meat which is fine, and I personally love finding new fruits, vegetables and grain ideas to add to my constantly evolving kitchen tastes.

There is also a wonderful history of sorts about Zen and food. The illustrations and photographs are crisp and clean, and the text is easy to read and the directions easy to follow.

If you are a serious cook who loves ethnic variety I seriously recommend this book for your collection and use.

I have really enjoyed this cookbook. It does make use of some dairy products, but I just omit or substitute for them. I don't know if this cookbook will help anyone reach enlightenment but it is good food. All the meals complement each other well.
Eat and Enjoy!

As a woman who recently found my passion for cooking, I have recently bought several cookbooks, this being one of the best! I love it, even if you are not a vegetarian, this book will add several wonderful, flavorful recipes to your repitoir (don't know if I spelled that correctly). I can't reccomend this highly enough!

I've been to the monastery where these recipes were created, and believe me, the food is excellent! Can't wait to try them at home. Regarding the earlier review about the betrayal of zen, the "reader" should know that American zen and Japanese zen are a little different. Japanese zen teachers (which are a dying breed) are more stern and austere than their American counterparts (many of whom were trained by the Japanese in the first place!) So to say this book is a betrayal reveals how little the reader understands about contemporary zen--and also that the reader may have been having an extraoridinarily bad day when he or she wrote the review. Hope you're feeling better 2 years later.

This book is the first cookbook I bought although I didn't think the inclusion of dairy products is appropriate. Leaving this aside I think I will get a lot of use from this book.

This book is enlightening; enlightening about Zen Capitalism. You know... the kind of profiteering off of new age spirituality that goes on nowadays...selling the deceptive appearance of simplicity, purification, and discipline, and mystifying the dharma.

In the olden days, Zen Monks ate rice with some wheat, pickles and miso soup. Now, in American "Zen", they drink trendy chai, and eat things whose names have the words "rasam", "feta" and "braised" in them. I imagine the cooks from this monestary going on to start a very trendy and successful restaurant in LA or New York based on this cooking, like Greens restaurant in San Francisco.

This book encourages a kind of cooking that plays to luxurious tastes. Attachment to this sort of food, like attachment to anything else, will not help anyone become enlightened.