Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe (Mollie Katzen's Classic Cooking) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Can there possibly be anyone left in the U.S. who hasn't heard of Mollie Katzen? Or if not Mollie herself, at least her first cookbook, the now classic Moosewood Cookbook? Few writers have reached so broad an audience with a healthy-cooking, pro-vegetarian message. Ms. Katzen's latest effort, Sunlight Café, turns breakfast into a healthy, fulfilling showpiece meal, a morning sanctuary for assembling the day. She explains how to do this, no matter what your time crunch or disinclination might be. And in an introductory essay called "Breakfast for Metabolic Health," she explains why.

There are chapters in Sunlight Café devoted to beverages, fruit, grains, muffins and the like, eggs, potatoes, breakfast vegetables, griddle foods, puddings, etc. Katzen takes the time and space to explain how to scramble eggs, how to enrich scrambled eggs, how to augment scrambled eggs, and how to achieve the world's creamiest scrambled eggs. Does that sound comprehensive? Well, the entire book has been written that way. Nothing has been left out. Not sure how much water goes with a cup of brown rice, or how long to cook the grain? Katzen supplies the all-encompassing chart. It's one of many, and worth the price of the book. Among the 350 recipes you'll find easy, delicious baked goods to make ahead and eat at your desk (Katzen is not out of touch with the working world). You'll also find menus for the relaxed brunch you can lay out on the weekend. Leave it to Mollie Katzen: she has taken breakfast and made it better than ever. --Schuyler Ingle

From Publishers Weekly

Having revolutionized American eating habits with her Moosewood Cookbook back in the 1970s, Katzen is now poised to revolutionize breakfast. Opening with a useful section on equipment and ingredients, the book is divided into twelve chapters that cover the more common cereals and muffins as well as beverages, yogurt and cheese. Some dishes such as the Miso Soup, the piquant Breakfast Gazpacho and the traditional Passover dish Matzoh Brei draw on global influences, but many are new takes on traditional food. The recipes vary from the simple Berries in Buttermilk to the slightly complicated and more time-consuming Babka, but all are within reach of most cooks. Sprinkled throughout the book are panels containing helpful tips, and where relevant she gives full instructions for the basics, as with How to Scramble an Egg and the Grain Cooking Chart, a lifesaver even for experienced cooks. Health has always been one of Katzen's concerns; many of the dishes are low fat and healthy, and some have been provided for those with special needs to wit, the Scrambled Egg Whites, a light, alternative for those with cholesterol concerns. The resulting volume is comprehensive and accessible for breakfast phobes with hectic morning schedules as well as those who love to linger over their first meal of the day.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 edition (September 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786862696
• ISBN-13: 978-0786862696
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #327,094 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A far cry from the earthy homespun look of the Moosewood, January 1, 2003

By A Customer

Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Café, is a beautifully produced book with original art by the author, and interesting mini-articles at the beginning of each section. (Katzen also has nice introductions and incidental notes within the articles that make them fun to read.) Many recipes include variations that make the book full of possible recipes and combinations. I especially liked the two introductory chapters about breakfast: "Make Room in your Life for Breakfast," which includes a short look at breakfast around the world, and "Breakfast for Metabolic Health," which discusses how breakfast contributes to our overall diet. The book contains over 300 recipes with sections on breakfast beverages, "Vegetables for Breakfast" and a delicious-looking chapter on "Potatoes, Beans, Tempeh & Hashes." Katzen states that most of the recipes take less than 30 minutes to prepare, and many take less than fifteen.

Unfortunately, there is no nutritional information with the recipes, and only 3 1/2 pages on menu planning at the back of the book. Sunlight Café is also obviously designed for lacto-ovo vegetarians as it relies heavily on dairy and eggs, and many recipes are not suitable for vegan substitutions, although Katzen says you can always substitute soy milk for cow's milk. While there are vegan recipes in the book, they're not labeled, so vegans get the not unpleasant chore of wandering through the chapters soaking in all the interesting tidbits while picking out what recipes to prepare.
--Reviewed by Amy O'Neill Houck

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful and Nutritious Guide to Good Breakfasts, April 5, 2004

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Mollie Katzen's self-named book `Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Café' is a very welcome addition to the very small number of books available on breakfast. As I have just reviewed a classic, `The Breakfast Book' from the widely recognized author, Marion Cunningham, it seemed only appropriate that I tackle this new breakfast book by an equally honored writer who is best known for her books on vegetarian cooking co-authored with the Moosewood Collective.

Before I loose you in my usually long discourse, let me say that this book can do more good for your eating and health than just about any three other books put together. This opinion is based both on the quality of the book and the special position of it's subject.

Most people give less attention to breakfast than to either lunch or dinner. This means that breakfast is the one meal where the room for improvement is the greatest. It certainly has a higher potential for improvement than lunch, as most people eat lunch outside of the home. Even if they carry lunch from home, the range of foods, which can be made portable without special equipment, is smaller than what can be prepared and eaten in ones own kitchen.

This book is directed not only at a very wide range of good breakfast food, it is also directed at giving you the information you need to eat a nutritious breakfast with few or no `empty calories.

The book starts with a brief essay on how the body deals with carbohydrates, especially upon eating the first meal of the day, or, `breaking fast'. The long and the short of this story is that you are much better eating whole grains with protein and good fats rather than sugars and quickly digested starches. The remainder of the book is dedicated to making this option appealing.

The recipe chapters are:

Beverages: The straight skinny on coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and smoothies.
Fruit, including fruit salads, dried and roasted fruits, and crisp or cobbler.
Grains, Cereals, and Porridges, including an excellent tabular presentation of grain cooking characteristics.
Muffins, Biscuits, Breads, and Buns, including all the classics plus great stuff with bran and whole grains.
Eggs, Tofu, Scrambles, Quiches & Souffles, or Protein Central. Lots of basic methods.
Potatoes, Beans, Tempeh & Hashes. Lots of Potato recipes and unusual hashes.
(Other) Vegetables for Breakfast, especially tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach
Griddle Foods: Pancakes, Waffles, Blintzes, Crepes & French Toast

Yogurt and Cheese: Lactose central with (mostly) ricotta and other soft cheeses.
Puddings and Custards: Sweeten up your egg protein and vegetable goodness.
Condiments, Sauces, Toppings & Spreads with syrups, sauces, salsas Jams, Aioli, Ketchup, etc
Breakfast Bars, Coffee Cakes & Sweet Somethings: Home for lots of nuts, berries, and seeds
Menus, or how to really do a healthy pig out on Sunday morning

The book is laid out with lots of sidebars on tips and techniques which make it very easy to read and to find what you are looking for. Each chapter title page gives a complete table of recipes in the chapter. Almost (but not quite) as good as a complete list of recipes in the front of the book. Be sure to check the index when you are looking for a specific recipe. French toast, for example, appears in Griddle Foods and not Eggs or Breads and Potato Pancakes appears in griddle foods and not under potatoes.

The author wins me over completely when she quotes the line on omelets by Elizabeth David that says that the perfect omelet recipe is the way you make it. Another good quote describes an omelet as nothing more than eggs, butter, and body English. Of course, she goes on to give detailed instructions on how to make a good omelet and says it is not easy. Moral of the story, read and emulate her directions, but don't get too hung up on the result not looking like something done on the Food Network. Just keep practicing until you are happy with the result.

Not nearly enough has been written about the economics of home cooking versus prepared foods. Ms. Katzen's recipe for granola is probably an excellent place to start. A quick look at the health food aisles of my local megamart shows designer brand containers with less than a pound of food for prices that would make a beef fillet blush. Granola is a product that is almost completely foolproof to make from ingredients that individually are very, very cheap. And, I checked out those same health food aisles in the megamart and I found every single ingredient in bulk.

To repeat, Ms. Katzen's book is probably one of the very best places to start in improving what you eat. It is a very nice bonus that the list price of the book is significantly lower than the average cookbook and the artwork done by the author is truly delightful.

Very highly recommended. Easy for people with little cooking knowledge.

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Major inspiration, October 29, 2002

By	Lynn Flink (Santa Cruz, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book, read it cover to cover--which is not something I typically do with cookbooks--and within the first three days of owning it had tried four of the recipes.

My breakfasts have been more varied and I've made a number of the dishes for use at other times of the day. I've also made items over the weekend for consumption during the weekday mornings. I think I've made more dishes based on this book in the short period I've owned it, than I have from most of my other cookbooks.

I've changed my techniques for making eggs and some other basics based on her recommendations too.

I was very inspired by this book and I think all of my recent cooking reflects it. I already had two other books by this author. I've been showing it to all of my friends and encouraging them to buy it too.