Customer Reviews

Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I must own 30 vegetarian cookbooks and this is the best one of them all. I often reccomend this cookbook to vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. I find that it is the best resource for everything from meal planning to fast meals to finding a recipe to use up some vegetable or another. I could not reccomend it any more highly. It has more than paid for itself.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who is just starting on a vegetarian way of life, and would not, in fact, recommend it to anyone unless you are an accomplished chef who can fix bad recipes. I have made a few recipes in each section - appetizers, soup, main course, etc. - and found the results to be complete disasters 80% of the time. Usually the food is underspiced, overcooked, or just a terrible mix of ingredients. The few recipes in this book that have worked, like the Couscous stuffed Squash, are marred by typos. A really awful cookbook considering its source and promise. While the introductions and other information are good, the recipes do not deliver.

I've just finished making the third recipe from this book, and once again it turned out yuck. Each has had the wrong amounts( the vegetable samosas had 3 times the ammount of filling for the wrappers), or neglects key instructions (such as don't let the pumpkin ravioli touch or they will stick together horribly). Once you spend alot of time, even if it magically turns out ok, the finished product is only so-so. Stick with the Moosewood books for beginner vegetarian cooking.

This is the first vegetarian cookbook and resource I ever owned, and it is still tops. The recipes are varied and range from easy to interesting (but never difficult) and include complete nutritional information (something more cookbooks should do). A particular favorite with my family is the Mexican Lasagna. I have a shelf-full of vegetarian cookbooks, all good, yet this is the one I turn to most often, and recommend to anyone who wants a good vegetarian primer as well as a great cookbook.

An excellent primer and introduction to vegetarianism and vegetarian cooking. Recipes are all doable, with easily located ingredients (via local health food stores, if necessary). All recipes feature nutritional information and thorough instructions. Our family favorite; saffron risotto timbales on a roasted tomato sauce--very classy.

As long as you don't mistake this book for an introductory cookbook, this cookbook is not so bad as some are making it out to be. It's an introduction to vegetarian cooking, not an introduction to cooking. It's for proficient cooks who want to try vegetarian. A better title for this book might be The Yuppie Vegetarian Kitchen of the Nineties.

One point no one has mentioned yet makes this cookbook distinctive. Except for the one recipe I note below, the food presents very attractively. This is almost never true of other vegetarian cookbooks I have used. If you are a decent cook concerned with presentation (as you might be if you were taking food to a party, or having people to dinner), this may well be the book for you.

I will review each recipe I have tried to give you a feel for the book, so you can decide whether it may be for you.

I have made these recipes from the book, in this order.
- snow peas stuffed with radish creme (dairy)
- cucumbers stuffed with hummus (vegan)
- two rice salad (vegan)
- wild rice and apricot stuffing (vegan)
- raw cabbage dressed with balsamic vinegar (don't remember the title but it may have been something like Low Fat Slaw). (vegan)

I liked the first three of these five recipes, so the book made a good impression on me. Three out of five recipes that work in any cookbook is a decent batting average. Remember, there's no accounting for taste!

The snow peas with radish creme were very tasty: ground radishes in a cream cheese base, stuffed into blanched snow peas. You would have to like radishes, but the cream cheese tones the radishes down a bit. It's meant to be an appetizer or finger food for a party. But, I think the book told you to blanch the snow peas too long; the snow peas were a little limp for stuffing. Also, you have to open each blanched snow pea carefully and insert the stuffing. Snow peas have a backbone like string beans used to have before they became green beans; you have to find that thread and pull it out. You are also supposed to use a 'pastry bag' or some such thing (I don't have the book in front of me) to pipe the radish creme into the snow peas. I don't know about you, but I don't have any such thing in my kitchen. The radish creme thins as it comes to room temperature (as it will during your party) so you are picking up a limp snow pea with runny stuffing. This defeats the point of a party finger food which is to allow your guests to nosh without fear of accident. I took this to a party and it was pronounced tasty but messy. I will make the radish creme (to use as a dip) again. BTW, you have to grind the radishes which I did with an Amish kitchen gadget. I can't recall what the book suggested but they may expect you to have a food processor. The only hard to obtain ingredients are fresh snow peas and radishes, which may be out of season. Opening limp snow peas and stuffing them is fussy, but if you are having a party, you may not mind going to the extra trouble.

The cucumbers stuffed with hummus are very, very attractive to look at. Hummus is well cooked chick peas, ground to the texture of mayonnaise and seasoned with spices. It's usually a dip or a sandwich stuffing. In this recipe, you make hummus such that it has a bit more body than usual; this hummus is unusual also because it includes diced black olives. You cut cucumbers into thick slices and scoop out the seeds with a melon baller, and stuff the hummus where the seeds would be. This too, is meant to be an appetizer for a party. They are an excellent finger food, stand up to an evening on the buffet table well, crunchy and refreshing to eat, too. I took these to a party and they got rave reviews. I thought the hummus was mediocre, myself. It called for canned chick peas --that's a BAD HUMMUS tipoff right there --but the guests did seem to like them well enough. Now to make hummus you need a way to grind chick peas. If you cook them yourself, you could use a potato masher or a fork or a food mill, but canned chick peas are really too firm for that. A blender, meat grinder, or food processor is more the thing. (One thing about this book and other cookbooks annoys me. They call for canned chick peas but don't tell you how many raw chick peas to start with if you prefer to cook them yourself!) You must have a melon baller -- you can't fake it with a knife. You may not have one but it is not as outlandish as the pastry bag with the piping attachment. All the ingredients are easy to obtain at any grocery store. Preparation was very simple. I will definitely make this again (but not with canned chick peas!)

The two rice salad is stunning to look at and very, very good. It is a mixture of brown rice, wild rice, green peas, red pepper, toasted sliced almonds, in a spicy dressing. It seems to me the first time I made this I did not use the whole teaspoon of black pepper as directed and next time I did to see if they knew something I didn't --nah! I took this salad to a party. Not only was it pronounced appealing to look at and good to eat, but I was asked for the recipe. It calls for instant brown rice which is widely available -- even Walmart has a store brand. It calls for 'instant' wild rice -- something I have never seen -- and a tablespoon of ginger juice. Maybe there's such a thing as Ginger Juice just like you can buy carrot juice, but not around here. Between squeezing the ginger root and cooking the wild rice the old fashioned way, the recipe is TIME CONSUMING to make. If'n you had one of those new fangled JUICERS it might not be such a struggle. The salad is a lot of work, but I would not be embarrassed to take this salad anywhere and I bet you no one else will be bringing the same thing. Of course, even regular wild rice can be hard to find and when you do find it, it's not cheap.

The wild rice and apricot stuffing was a disappointment. It wasn't dreadful, but I wasn't impressed. It was very appetizing to look at indeed, but too sweet and the flavors didn't really blend, and the apricots were too chewy for a stuffing. Of course it had cooked wild rice to which you add chopped dried apricots and other things. You bake it in the oven either in a pot or stuffed into a vegetable. I suspect that if you stuffed this into a duck or a cornish hen (which would add moisture, fat, cooking time, and a foil to the sweetness of the apricots) instead of a vegetable it would be quite good. But vegetarians don't do that :-)

The raw cabbage with balsamic vinegar was just that: raw cabbage sitting in balsamic vinegar. Oh sure: you grate the cabbage as for slaw, you add some other vegetables, herbs and such, and let it sit in the fridge as you do with slaw. But after tasting it, why bother? The cabbage never wilted, the other ingredients were overpowered by the balsamic vinegar, and it is frankly shocking to look at slaw in brown dressing (Balsamic vinegar is chocolate brown.) A mediocre recipe I would not serve to guests.

My wife and I wanted to explore vegetarian cooking. We wanted an intro cookbook that would not preach at us, not try to make us vegans, and not get into all sorts of explanations of minerals, vitamin supplements, and additives. Just a cookbook with answers to background questions about going meatless. After some searching, we found this is book and feel grateful to have discovered it.

It starts off by looking at issues like how to get enough protein in your diet, how to make sure you're still getting a balanced meal, and what can happen if you don't eat correctly. It then adds a history of vegetarianism (Who knew vegetarians were called Pythagoreans until the mid-19th century?)

Once these introductory chapters are done, the book launches in to the recipe section with careful and useful explanations about the different areas to explore. It's readable and definitely approachable even for non-cooks. Numerous recipes are highlighted full-color pictures of the dishes. In addition, each recipe shows the calories, protein, and fat composition of the dish.

This is as complete, friendly, and approachable introduction to vegetarianism as I have seen. Recommended.

I purchased this book about 8 months ago and have become fully reliant on it. It's because of the Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook that I've changed my eating habits entirely and lost 30 pounds largely by following a more healthful, satisfying diet. Each recipe I try is better than the last! I find the recipes to be flavorful, creative, fun to make, and full of variety -- from Caribbean black bean cakes with mango salsa (a little work, but worth the effort) to lentil burgers, from falafel wrappers to vegetable dipping sauces. I've always been a junk food junkie and vegetables rarely crossed my table. Now, they're in almost every meal I eat. Many recipes are fast and easy, and others take more preparation time. I set aside a few hours on a Sunday, once a month, to prepare and freeze some favorites as well as some new recipes. I never hesitate to try something new!

This cookbook has recipes for fancy dinners to serve the "boss" and quick 30 minute meals to throw together after work. I got it about two months ago and I am thrilled with it. All of the recipes have been yummy and easy. One 30 minute favorite, "Black Bean Polenta Pizza" is not to be missed! My son asked me to make it when a friend came over for dinner.(The ultimate compliment). The Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook costs a few more bucks, but it's worth it. This cookbook has everything you need to make quick, lowfat vegetarian meals your family (and friends) will love.

Upon purchasing Vegetarian Times four years ago I used it several times a week. Gradually, that tapered off and nowadays I pull it out occasionally. Typically, when I do use it, it is to refer to a recipe I have made before.

Most discouraging about Vegetarian Times is the numerous ingredients required by the recipes, the difficulty in obtaining some of the ingredients, the extensive prep time (even those recipes in the "Under Thirty Minutes" chapter take more time than the recipes suggest), and the all too common mediocre results.

However, I must add, I have encountered a few really good recipes! The Mexican Lasagna (p. 244) is fabulous and a relatively quick and easy meal to make when time is of the essence. The the Mexican Corn Stew (p. 232-233) is one of my favorites, but it is time consuming. Likewise, I often find myself craving the Calzones With Sun Dried Tomatoes and Garlic (p. 218-219), but they take so much time to prepare we reserve these for lazy Sunday afternoons.

Vegetarian Times might best serve someone who already owns a few other vegetarian cookbooks -- someone who is looking for a few good recipes. However, I would not recommend Vegetarian Times to someone just beginning with vegetarian cooking.