Customer Reviews

Vegetarian Planet: 350 Big-Flavor Recipes for Out-Of-This-World Food Every Day (Non)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Hi! I've just gotta say Vegetarian Planet is one of my all time favorite cookbooks. I have a vegetarian restuarant in Bethel, Maine and this book has become our "Bible".The recipes rock. I particularly like the informational side bars. The stories heading into each dish are fun to read. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to break out of the ho-hum beige and boring old style vegetarian cooking. This book will send your tastebuds soaring across the planet!!

This is the first vegetarian cookbook that I have tried, and I must say that it has become one of my favorites. I am not a vegetarian, but do always try to cook and eat healthy foods, which is one of the reasons why I purchased this book. I have a wide variety of cookbooks in my collection, but I find myself pulling this one off of the shelf all of the time. Everything that I have tried has turned out wonderfully! Ms. Emmons writes little stories about the recipes that make it fun to read. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for some fun,easy, and healthy recipes.

Vegetarian cookbooks sometimes concern me, as their thrust seems actually to be towards NON-vegetarians. Such great volumes of text are spent trying to convince the reader of the sundry benefits of the vegetarian diet that the energy left over for recipes and recipe description is minimal ("This cheesy soy casserole is just so yummy!"). No, thanks.

"Vegetarian Planet," though, seems content to convince on the strength of its recipes. I fell for this book partly because of the fact that it has an entire chapter on dumplings--from gnocchi to pierogis, from quenelles to pot-stickers--but the desserts also interested me, and so did the salads (in addition to these and others, there are also chapters on tortillas, pizza, and burgers and sandwiches).

This is a lovely book, put together by a palate familiar with a wide range of cuisines and flavors, and smart enough to know how to combine them in some swinging recipes. The recipes are terrific--the pasta recipes are especially to be recommended (try the one which uses as the sauce a puree of sweet red peppers and almonds--absolutely divine!).

The book design is horrible (just try to read the page numbers through the "decorative" stripes!), Emmons's introductions to the recipes are often cutesy, and some of the recipes take a LOT of work.

So why award this book five stars? Because these recipes simply can't be beat. The falafel burgers alone are worth buying the book for -- spiked with carrot, lemon, cumin, and tahini, they taste infinitely better than any beef hamburger I've ever tried. Then there's delicate rattatouille with feather-light basil dumplings, the espresso peanut cookies, the Chinese noodle pancakes with asparagus, the bistro salad with chunks of avocado nestled among tender leaves of butter lettuce, the unusual and beguiling pasta with roasted garlic and butternut squash ... page after page of fabulous, fresh, imaginative food. This is a book you can cook out of for a dinner party without road-testing the menu, because you know Emmons's food will be delicious. And it won't duplicate other books in your collection with yet another risotto or miso soup; the recipes are original without being silly or trendy.

Many of the dishes are somewhat challenging, but the payoff is always worth it. Although there are recipes here that work well for weeknights, I think of this largely as a book for times when I want the pleasure of making something special, good enough for company or for indulging myself and my family. I've cooked perhaps 30 things or more from this, and had only one failure, with the over-rich brownies.

The sidebars are often helpful and fun to read, as well. Simply a stellar book.

Finally a good vegetarian cookbook!

I have always cooked somewhat vegetarian, even though I am still a part-time carnivore, and most of the veggie recipes I have come across were from Italian, Thai, Chinese and Indian cookbooks.

However, what I wanted was a collection of recipes that were CREATIVE, DELICIOUS and MODERATELY complex. (I can't count how many "vegetarian" cookbooks I have picked up that have 3-4 item "recipes" for baked and mashed potatoes.)

Enter "Vegetarian Planet", the first thing that struck me was how creative the recipes are, and how Didi creates delicious recipes with very little difficulty. Most of the recipes in this book take about 10-15 (easy to procure) ingredients. I found this book to contain lots of practical recipes that can be completed in 20-30 minutes.

I don't know if Didi intended this to be so 'practical' or 'useful' of a cookbook, but she is very good about pointing out recipes that may take a little extra effort to complete. If you are a veggie, and want to add some truly gourmet dining experiences to your week, pick up this book...you won't be disappointed.

I purchased this cookbook long before embarking on a vegetarian lifestyle and have been cooking recipes from this book for years.

Please note this is a vegetarian book, NOT a vegan book. The author uses a fair amount of dairy in her recipes. There are many recipes in this book that are appropriate for a vegan, just not all of them.

I like the fact that the author does not stick to one type of cuisine, but gets her influences from around the globe. I feel it makes for a much more useful vegetarian cookbook by offering recipes from many cultures. There are recipes that are Italian, Moroccan, Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican and Polish to name a few.

There is a recipe for Pierogies that my husband likes a lot. My favorite from this book is a Fruit and Nut Tabouli with Cucumber and Mint.

If you are looking for ways to get more fruits and vegetables into your family this book makes a very well rounded and versatile addition to any cooking library.

I became a vegetarian about 4 months ago. I bought about 10 vegetarian cookbooks so that I would have plenty of choices. This book has become my favorite. The recipes vary from simple to elaborate. There are also plenty of recipes that aren't intimidating to new vegetarians. Didi includes plenty of sidebar articles about different foods and cooking techniques. What a great cookbook!

UPDATE: I've been a vegetarian for about 8 years now and this is still my favorite vegetarian book (My wife's favorite too!)

I really like this cookbook for several reasons: the vast variety of cultures/tastes; the variety of spices, foods utilized in the recipes; the variety of dishes (soups, salads, main dishes, one-pot suppers, sandwiches, even dumplings and pizza dough!); and the ease with which many of the dishes can be prepared. Easy does not necessarily mean boring, as evidenced by the asparagus with curry butter sauce. I make this dish for almost every family get-together dinner and it always gets raves. I hate to admit how easy it is to make! I would never have thought of mixing asparagus with curry. I really appreciate the foods from various cultures, including Middle Eastern, Southwestern and Mexican. And good old-fashioned American tastes as well. Sample menus in the back of the book are very helpful and are also organized by type of meal(for example, the "I-Just-Lost-My-Job Supper -- Dinner on a Tight Budget").I haven't tried many of the desserts, although they also look good. But I haven't tried one dish I haven't liked yet. Not necessarily for vegans, since many of the dishes include cheese and milk, etc. But it's a great intro to vegetarian cooking. Nicely arranged, easy to read, fun to use.

My wife and I have a lot of vegetarian cookbooks sitting on our shelves. This is the one we've given for a holiday gift to vegetarians and carnivores alike! The recipes are easy to follow, and range from quick and simple to time consuming and rewarding. Most of the recipes in this book are fantastic. Well worth getting for anyone who likes to cook and has good taste in food.

"A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat." - An old Yiddish saying.

Obviously a labor of love, what delightful reading Vegetarian Planet is! The love and respect Didi Emmons feels for vegetarian cooking abounds on every page. And as I started reading, the smile on my face just grew bigger and bigger. The quote found at the beginning of Vegetarian Planet seemed to set the tone for the entire cookbook.

Each and every recipe is prefaced by a personal anecdote like the one about Ms. Emmons' best friend Amy that accompanies the "Homestyle Brown Rice Pilaf" recipe. As I prepared the recipe and subsequently enjoyed it, I thought of Ms. Emmons and Amy eating it together. And just like they both said, it is the "perfect comfort food." Agreeing with them, I smiled again!

I also enjoyed the "Spanish Swiss Chard with Raisins and Hazelnuts" recipe. I took Didi's advice and served it over that wonderful grain, quinoa. I had been looking for an opportunity to use quinoa and this worked perfectly. It was very simple and delicious. I smiled once again.

The book is sprinkled with witty and informative tidbits from "Herbs 101 - When to Add Them" to "Color Coding Bell Peppers" to "Squirrel Away Your Bread." Therein, I believe, lies the magic of this wonderful cookbook. Ms. Emmons demonstrates to the average cook -- longing to cook healthier and with more variety -- that we no longer have to be afraid. We, too, can cook "Poblano and Jack Cheese Pizza," "Penne with Ancho Peppers, Tomatoes, and Corn" or "Stuffed Zucchini."