reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes From the Award Winning Fresh Restaurants [Paperback]

Ruth Tal (Author), Jennifer Houston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2007

One of Canada’s hottest restaurants puts a Fresh spin on vegetarian cuisine!

Toronto’s Fresh restaurants are consistently rated as among the most popular restaurants in the city. Appealing to vegetarians, vegans and those who enjoy meatfree meals as part of a healthy diet, Fresh has evolved from a humble juice bar into a chain of three dynamic and gorgeous downtown restaurants.

reFresh is a new edition of Ruth Tal’s first book, Juice for Life (Wiley 2000, 978-0-7715-7690-4). Completely revised and updated, reFresh offers the reader a sumptuous selection of the best recipes found on the restaurant’s menu today, all in a gorgeous full colour package that reflects the award-winning style and design of the restaurants themselves.

New in this edition:

• Over 100 of the latest recipes from the three Fresh restaurants
• A fresh new design that calls attention to the health benefits of various menu items
• Information on nutritional supplements that can be incorporated into the recipes for an added boost!
• Up-to-date information on buying and using a juicer at home
• A complete recipe index
• A new foreword by renowned chef Susur Lee

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ruth Tal (Toronto, ON) is the founder of the Fresh chain of restaurants located in Toronto. Jennifer Houston (Toronto, ON) is the co-owner and head chef of Fresh.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470840846
• ISBN-13: 978-0470840849
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Juice

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best vegan cookbooks ever!, July 21, 2007

By 

J. Cutter "FunkyVegan9288" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes From the Award Winning Fresh Restaurants (Paperback)

As a vegan of several years and an avid cook, I feel safe in saying that I own the majority of the vegan cookbooks out there. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found this gem at my local Borders - a cookbook that I had not only never heard of but that also featured beautiful photographs and healthy recipes. I will admit, I was wary when deciding whether or not to purchase it because more than half of the book is full of recipes for different juice concoctions, and I'm not a big juicer.

I am so glad I bought this book.

The recipes are relatively simple and make you feel great - they are jam packed full of fresh veggies, grains, nuts, and seeds. I made the Green Goddess Rice Bowl, expecting it to be your average, run of the mill, boring brown rice topped with steamed greens, but MY GOD! The tahini sauce on the rice played beautifully with the "Simple Sauce", which was drizzled over the steamed bok choy, kale, broccoli, and chard; the sunflower seeds added a hint of crunch, and the pickled ginger gave it just the right amount of sweetness. The Singer's Saving Grace Juice is also amazing, and my best friend - a singer - swears by it. I am so glad that I bought this book, it is easily one of the best I have ever encountered.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful vegan cookbook, May 18, 2007

By 

Grad Student (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes From the Award Winning Fresh Restaurants (Paperback)

This is a great cookbook. If you like glossy cookbooks with lots of tantalizing pictures, this is one for you. Recipes are healthy and relatively simple. Some of them take some time to put together but the steps involved are not complicated. Ingredients are common and easy to find.
YUM!
Also try these books: RAWvolution and Vegan with a Vengeance

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is my favourite cookbook!, March 9, 2008

By 

Novice Cook "Susan" (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes From the Award Winning Fresh Restaurants (Paperback)

I've eaten at Fresh a few times, and was a bit skeptical about this book - thinking it was probably just promo and that I wouldn't be able to recreate their food.

I was wrong, and am so glad I bought this book! This is the best vegetarian cookbook I've ever used. I am a novice cook, so recipes that are easy to follow (no assumptions) and that are actually tested are important. With a few exceptions (for example, what quantity of dried soba noodles makes 8 cups cooked?), I haven't been disappointed.

I started off making the veggie broth - when you have 10 cups of fresh broth, you start looking for things to use it in! My favourites from the soups section are Sweet Potato and Coconut, Tuscan White Bean with Pesto, and the Marrakesh Curried Stew.

I bought some soba noodles recently and decided to try the Khao San Soba noodle recipe - it is easy and fabulous! We've also made the Buddha Rice Bowl, Marinated Tofu Cubes (these keep well in the fridge and can be used in a variety of recipes). The Thai Peanut Sauce makes a lot, but thankfully I found some other recipes on the internet to use it with (Chinese Peanut Salad).

The main drawback is that I loved the first few recipes I made so much that I wanted to keep making them and didn't explore the book further. While not everything I've made is a favourite, I have been diving into the book more, and I'm really enjoying what I'm discovering.

Don't be put off by this book if you aren't vegan - you will not notice or miss the absence of eggs or dairy products in these recipes. If you're a vegetarian wanting to go that extra step towards a vegan diet, this is a great jumpstart!

Fantastic! Thank you, Ruth Tal.