Editorial Review

It has become common knowledge that childhood obesity rates are increasing every year. But the rates continue to rise. And between busy work schedules and the inconvenient truth that kids simply refuse to eat vegetables and other healthy foods, how can average parents ensure their kids are getting the proper nutrition and avoiding bad eating habits?

As a mother of three, Jessica Seinfeld can speak for all parents who struggle to feed their kids right and deal nightly with dinnertime fiascos. As she wages a personal war against sugars, packaged foods, and other nutritional saboteurs, she offers appetizing alternatives for parents who find themselves succumbing to the fastest and easiest (and least healthy) choices available to them. Her modus operandi? Her book is filled with traditional recipes that kids love, except they're stealthily packed with veggies hidden in them so kids don't even know! With the help of a nutritionist and a professional chef, Seinfeld has developed a month's worth of meals for kids of all ages that includes, for example, pureed cauliflower in mac and cheese, and kale in spaghetti and meatballs. She also provides revealing and humorous personal anecdotes, tear–out shopping guides to help parents zoom through the supermarket, and tips on how to deal with the kid that "must have" the latest sugar bomb cereal.

But this book also contains much more than recipes and tips. By solving problems on a practical level for parents, Seinfeld addresses the big picture issues that surround childhood obesity and its long–term (and ruinous) effects on the body. With the help of a prominent nutritionist, her book provides parents with an arsenal of information related to kids' nutrition so parents understand why it's important to throw in a little avocado puree into their quesadillas. She discusses the critical importance of portion size, and the specific elements kids simply must have (as opposed to adults) in order to flourish now and in the future: protein, calcium, vitamins, and Omega 3 and 6 fats.

Jessica Seinfeld's book is practical, easy–to–read, and a godsend for any parent that wants their kids to be healthy for a long time to come.

Reviews

Let's Compare: "Deceptive" Vs. "Sneaky", February 8, 2008
Deceptively Delicious VS.The Sneaky Chef

First of all let me start by saying:
!) I don't have young kids any more BUT
2) I HATE veggies but I know I need to eat more of them, so any system that gets them into me and the grownups in my life: BRAVO!

Yes, I'd recommend BOTH books and here's why. They each have their strong and weak suits.

Pluses:
DECEPTIVELY DELICIOUS has
A) pictures, which is helpful and fun
B) tips and comments by her taste-testers
C) used one type of puree for each recipe
D) is spiral bound so it will lay flat. The whole layout is really nice, just as a cookbook to read!
E) doesn't beat you over the head with the whole nutrition thing

THE SNEAKY CHEF has
A) combination purees, which add a lot of variety and ease into the cooking part
B0 really cute names for the dishes. Makes it easy to remember!
C) isn't afraid to use butter and milk!
D) goes seriously into the nutrition thing. Almost the first half of the book is a prelim and explanation of the whole concept.
E) the recipes seem to taste a bit better!

Minuses:
DD. The recipes are a bit bland. If you're cooking for an adult palate, you need to add more spices. For example her "Chocolate Chip Cupcakes." I suggest substituting milk (even skim) for the water, add an extra T. vanilla and 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon. One of the veggie purees her recipes call for aren't covered in the "how to prepare puree" part.

SC: Very few pictures. It's not spiral bound but a trip to Office Max can take care of that for you. (Best tip I ever got regarding cookbooks by the way and found it here!) It's a bit "textbook" like. I get the whole nutrition thing already.

I wish both books went into greater detail about the pureeing part. They're pretty good but if you're not a veggie person to begin with, you might not know what is the proper consistency.

I understand that Missy (The Sneaky Chef author) is writing a cookbook for adult with hidden veggies and I hope Jessica will do the same!

Hmmmm..I thought this was going to be easier!, October 16, 2007
I also was so excited for this cookbook to arrive. I immediately rushed to the grocery store to get $50.00 worth of vegetables and other baking ingredients.

My first attempt was the brownies, and my victims were all adults. The look on their faces was priceless. Not so good because of the very weird texture to them.

Next, eggs with cauliflower for my 3 year old. Hmmm, he was wondering whey the eggs that have always been yellow, have now turned white. Add a little cheddar, and bam, they are yellow again.

The blueberry cupakces with cream cheese filling, total disaster. They looked horrible, and tasted even worse. I didn't even attempt to try to get anyone in the house to eat them

Hamburgers....you would have thought I was feeding my husband horse meat. They were NASTY! Very slimy with a funky aftertase.

What I learned is that you don't need this cookbook for recipes. Puree some veggies and slip them in the everyday food you make. Don't go overboard, and chances are your kids won't know the difference!

Nice recipes but lots of prep time, October 20, 2007
After seeing this on Oprah, my child and I decided to buy it. My child is one who actually eats and enjoys vegetables but we were both intrigued by the idea of incorporating extra vegetables into our diets.

The book is well-organized, offers detailed information about both the recipes and the benefits of the major ingredients, and I really like that the tone is not a "lecture" on the benefits of vegetables. She doesn't talk down to the reader but offers lots of helpful suggestions.

I do have one suggestion for busy parents - use organic baby food. I don't have a food processor and I don't have a dedicated block of time to clean, cook and prepare all the purees for the week. For about $.65 (or less) per jar, I can have 1/2 cup of organic winter squash etc. that has already been cleaned, cooked and pureed for me. Plus, it will keep on the shelf until I need it so I can buy extra when they go on sale.

Furthermore, I have started adding the purees to the recipes or boxed mixes I already use. I added 1/2 cup of mixed vegetables to a batch of Pamela's gluten-free brownie mix tonight and it was delicious. There was no noticeable change in texture and we could not taste anything but rich chocolate.

Don't be afraid to experiment :)

This book is the BEST!!!, October 13, 2007
Well let me begin by saying that I am not a professional chef, nor I am an uber-fan of the "Seinfeld" show - so I could care less who the author is. I also had a feeling that anything that deals with food and children and not being 100% honest with kids in this "kid-centered" world we live in would push a few buttons. And it did! I am a married mom of two boys and I am also interested in better health for my family. I do believe in eating fruits and vegetables in their natural state but let's be honest: Who among us eats five servings a day? I saw Ms. Seinfeld on Oprah and thought to myself, Well I have beeing doing the puree thing myself so let's see what she has to say. How are thre recipes? Pretty good, as a matter of fact. Here is what I did to try some of the recipes out:
First, I plugged my Bob Seger CD and got the ball rolling. The Beatles work just as well, the decision is yours. Then I washed my hands, put on my "Lutheran Jello Power" apron and said to myself: "It's Go Time!" I own a Vita-Mix blender which double as a food processor. I own a rice cooker which can be used to stream veggies. If you do not own a food processor or a steamer, do not despair. You can bake a lot of the veggies or put a colander in a shallow pan of boiling water to steam them. You can always invest in a steamer and/or food processor if you want, later. The first recipe I tries was:
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: 5 star.They are delicious! The only tweaking I did to the recipe was I pureed the chickpeas before adding them to the batter. I also used brown sugar Splenda rather than regular brown sugar; when done you have a batch of cookies that have 1/2 cup of brown sugar plus protein in them!! There is no white sugar in this recipe and I also used whole wheat flour. Excellent!! I have actually made these twice in a week.
SPAGETTI AND MEATBALLS: 5 stars. My kids are not that into meatballs and they ate them. This was my first attempt at meatballs, ever, and they turned out great. I put the broccoli puree and the sweet potato puree in the spagetti sauce and no one tasted anything different.
CHOCOLATE PUDDING: 5 stars. I put the avocado puree in this and believe it or not my two sons complained that is was "too much chocolate tasting!" The pudding was that good.
MACARONI AND CHEESE: 5 stars. I tried putting the sweet potato puree in with a box mix and there was no taste difference. I mixed the puree withe the milk and you could taste the puree. The kids actually said it tasted better than before!!
FROZEN YOGURT POPS: 5 stars. Very good, very sweet. I do not own popsicle molds so I used those multi-color cups from toddler days (my kids are 8 & 10 yrs old) and although they worked great - I bought popsicle sticks from a craft store - next time I am going to use smaller dixie cups so the portions are smaller.
The recipes are mistake proof as well; I put avocado puree rather than the brocolli puree in pizza sauce to make pizza burgers (Jessica says to label your bags, guess now I know why) but it still tasted good. It actually made them taste a bit sweeter, like I had put banana peppers in the recipe as well.
One error I made was when I was done with the puree was I put all the puree in one large Zip-lock bag. Follow Jessica's advice and use smaller bags so you can pull out just how much you need. I pureed the following veggies the first day: Summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, carrots, avocados, spinach, zucchini and sweet potatoes. I bought a bag of frozen blueberries. I am little type A but I wanted all the puree to be available so I could try as many recipes as possible. If you want to try a recipe or two but don't own all the equipment (especially a food processor, which if you are going to do this long term you will need) try the sweet potato recipes. You can bake a sweet potato and mash it up with a fork and some water. And one sweet potato goes a very long way. I used three and I have enought puree to feed a day care. For a week. The avocado would be another one to try without all the equipment, as it is easily mashed with a fork and some water. The borcolli and caulifower recipes will require a food processor as they are tougher vegetables to mash, even in a steamed state.
There has been much discussion about another book that was published last spring and "competition" with this book. Well I am no expert but there is no way that this book could have been put together and published in six months. Why can't both books be on the market? I am sure both authors want the same thing: Better diets for us all. I have ordered the other cookbook as well, there is room for both on my shelf.
As for the argument that we are lying to our kids: Big whoop-de-doo. I have eaten more sweet potatoes, brocolli, califlower, carrots, etc. in the past week that I have in the past six months. Do I present veggies in their natural state? Yes. Do my kids always eat them? No. But at least they are presented and I know they are still eating them in the puree. Mealtimes should be about talking and sharing, not arguing over food. My younger son likes to help with cooking and baking and he knows the purees are in there and he could care less, as long as can still eat. I highly recommend this cookbook and as soon as I receive the other cookbook I will write a review of that book as well. This book, to me, is a great teaching tool about nutrition. My kids and I have gone through the recipes together and discussed which ones we want to try. Do my kids eat cake and ice cream? Of course, just not every day. We talk about nutrition in a matter of fact way: These are the things to make your body grow. Period. No arguing, no crying, no bribing. I am sort of like Dragnet that way: "Just the facts, ma'am!"
I also want to edit my review to add that I could not help notice that all the one star and rwo star reviews are very critical of the author's personal life. I sincerely hope that folks can see through such attempts at being critical of the author because she is once divorced and is now married to a celebrity. It is sad that such personal attacks are listed in what should be a simple book review.

Deceptively not so good..., November 15, 2007
Quesadillas- The flavor wasn't too bad if you dipped in Salsa otherwise you can taste the squash and it doesn't come out crip it comes out pretty mushy.
Chicken nuggets- The breading doesn't get very crisp, the breading falls off when cooking and if you use brocolli the nuggest have a green look to them.
Chocolate cake with beats was good. Chick pea chocolate chip cookies were good the first 2 days. After that the chickpeas got so hard you couldn't chew them.
Brownies are spongy.
Grilled cheese you can taste the veggies and it is pretty mushy tasting
Egg Puffs were just gross
French toast isn't too bad, but my kids won't eat it
Chicken soup I didn't care for, but my son's did eat it.

Overall the recipes don't taste that bad, but the texture wasn't that good. I have one son who isn't a fussy eater at all and he wouldn't eat these recipes. Normally he eats anything you give him. Actually I think I made a mistake feeding him food from this cookbook because now he is a fussy eater when he never was before. Now my other son who is always fussy and we can't get him to eat much of anything wouldn't eat these either. He was the reason I bought the book, but he won't have anything to do with the food. He even likes cookies, cakes etc, they are his favorite. He didn't like the cookies. He did eat the cake and that was about it. I would say don't buy it. In fact I think I am going to have to sell my book. It was a waste of money for me.

Brownies Taste Deceptively... Green Waste-ish..., January 3, 2008
My wife picked up this book in the hope of fooling our kids into eating more vegetables. She tried the inexplicable chocolate-spinach brownie, but the recipe failed for the following reasons:

1. The brownie texture was wrong. The surface of the brownie forms a shiny, mucousy layer that looks a bit like Freddie Kruger's skin in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series.
2. While I had long been of the opinion that nearly anything can be made to taste good as long as it is smothered with enough chocolate, I am sad to find that I have been wrong in this belief. While the brownie looks like it should taste good, it has a strange metallic flavor. My mom thought it tasted like we had put some kind of fruit in it, while I thought it tasted like a tray of brownies that had been stored alongside some rotting vegetables.

The sad thing is that the overall idea is pretty good. Try replacing the spinach with zucchini, which already has a solid track record as a dessert ingredient.

Meanwhile, I'm off to cleanse my palette.

Recipes may work for those with very young children, however..., November 15, 2007
As a dietitian I am always looking for good resources for my clients. I bought this book hoping to find some tasty recipes for both clients and my own family. While I can see how some of these recipes may work for very young, undeveloped palates, they certainly did not work with my children who are 6 yrs and older, nor did my husband and I find them tasty. I have made several recipes over the past few days and the only ones that we found edible were the macaroni and cheese (edible but not well-liked) and the bolognese sauce. The tofu nugget recipe simply did not work and the coffee cake (marshmallows and butternut squash??) was terrible. While the premise of adding pureed vegetables to recipes is logical (and has been done before many times) in some of the recipes it seems that they are added for no reason. The bolognese sauce already has tomatoes, carrots and onions- is pureed sweet potato really neccessary? Additionally, is it in our child's best interest to "hide" healthy food in foods that are traditionally not "healthy" (cookies, cakes, etc) rather than educate them and introduce them to the whole food as part of a normal diet? Once a child is able to distinguish tastes, it is important for them to understand where they are coming from in their natural state so they have some idea of where their food comes from (spinach is not naturally found in chocolate brownies!) The recipes did not make enough to feed a family with big boys (and I do not mean teenagers- 10 yr old boys can eat quite a bit too.) Clearly this is more of a baby through toddler type book of recipes for those just starting off in the food-introduction process! Not food I would serve to adults!

The reviews, the recipes, the nutrition factor and Oprah., October 16, 2007
A couple of thoughts on this book, its reviews, the recipes, the nutrition factor, & Oprah.

- First, re the reviews that are here - it seems that no one can post a negative review without immediately being shot down - this really makes me believe that the reviews are being monitored by interested parties in the book's success - perhaps, publisher, family & friends? If you note the first few reviews of the book, they were all made by members of Jessica's family, so they're here and active.

Second, re the recipes - I've made a few of them, and some work and some don't. The burgers have *way* too much garlic - maybe to overpower the cauliflower? The mashed potatoes are good and, on my own I put some cauliflower puree into some frozen spinach, and I ended up not needing to add any cream to jazz it up - it just worked. So, as a jumping off point, the purees are inspirational to incorporate into your own existing recipes - these recipes on their own, are a little touch and go, but overall the concept is brilliant - even though Jessica cannot be credited with having the idea first, as seen by the description of The Sneaky Chef, published previously.

Re the nutrition factor - this is becoming a sticky point as people bring up the question of why nutritional content was not included, especially considering that the foreward is written by a nutritionist. I think I can guess why - a 1/2 cup of spinach puree in a batch of brownies or 1/2 cup of cauliflower in a pot of mashed potatoes does not go a long way once you divide that up into individual servings. There is no way anyone is getting a full serving of vegetables from this technique, but I tend to be in the camp that thinks more veggies is better than less, even if the more is negligible. And, it may be even less than negligible considering the additional cooking beyond the steaming that is robbing the veggies of their enzymes.

Finally, re Oprah. I watched yesterday as Jerry came on to promote his new Bee Movie, that Oprah happens to be in. I realized this is why she had Jessica on in the first place and say, not the Sneaky Chef. There's definitely a bit of cronyism going on. And, was telling when Oprah groused about the book being number one on the bestseller list that Jerry thanked everone for contributing to "Seinfeld World Media".

All in all, I have no regrets about buying the book, and I'm sure I'll be doing purees from here on out.

So disappointed by these recipes, December 15, 2007
I was so excited when I heard about this book, I ran out and got it, as did a couple of other fellow moms I know. We are all so incredibly disappointed with the recipes. I made the chocolate cake with beets, and it was so disgusting, it didn't taste like anything, I can't imagine anyone liking it, I had to throw almost the whole thing away because no one would eat it. The textures are all wrong, the scrambled eggs with cauliflower are so watery, the chicken nuggets are not crispy, but mushy, and you can see the green specs in them.
It's a great idea, but it's definitely overhyped, I wish these recipes had worked for us but they were a total disappointment. I'm off to EBay my copy.

If you want to hide the veggies, this is a very good cookbook, October 31, 2007
I checked this out of the library and made several of the recipes over the week. My kids are between 12 and 5 and are like most kids when it comes to likes and dislikes of food. The recipes met with mixed reviews, but not because they knew what the ingredients were; I didn't even tell my husband.
For the time and effort I'll stick with what has worked in the past; presenting lots of fruits and vegetables, in all forms, to see what works and what they like.
I have had great success with recipes by Annabel Karmel who focuses on "fun" healthy food and also with Susan Branch's vegetable recipes because they are so simple.
Despite the time involved I'll stick to making radish flowers and celery brooms, low-fat dips and fun shapes with any vegetable that will submit to a cookie cutter (cucumbers, squash and peppers work best).
While many of the recipes are interesting and are worth making, in the end I want my kids to like a vegetable when they see it, not view it as a subversive enemy.
As for the controversy between the two books....it's just stupid. This idea is not a new one (there was a woman on the Today show a couple of years ago who was suggesting we make brownies with mashed up black beans for more fiber) and there will be more that follow. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The ultimate one-stop vegetarian cookbook-from the author of the classic How to Cook Everything

Hailed as "a more hip Joy of Cooking" by the Washington Post, Mark Bittman's award-winning book How to Cook Everything has become the bible for a new generation of home cooks, and the series has more than 1 million copies in print. Now, with How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian, Bittman has written the definitive guide to meatless meals-a book that will appeal to everyone who wants to cook simple but delicious meatless dishes, from health-conscious omnivores to passionate vegetarians.

How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian includes more than 2,000 recipes and variations-far more than any other vegetarian cookbook. As always, Bittman's recipes are refreshingly straightforward, resolutely unfussy, and unfailingly delicious-producing dishes that home cooks can prepare with ease and serve with confidence. The book covers the whole spectrum of meatless cooking-including salads, soups, eggs and dairy, vegetables and fruit, pasta, grains, legumes, tofu and other meat substitutes, breads, condiments, desserts, and beverages. Special icons identify recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less and in advance, as well as those that are vegan. Illustrated throughout with handsome line illustrations and brimming with Bittman's lucid, opinionated advice on everything from selecting vegetables to preparing pad Thai, How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian truly makes meatless cooking more accessible than ever.

Praise for How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

"Mark Bittman's category lock on definitive, massive food tomes continues with this well-thought-out ode to the garden and beyond. Combining deep research, tasty information, and delicious easy-to-cook recipes is Mark's forte and everything I want to cook is in here, from chickpea fries to cheese soufflés."
—Mario Batali, chef, author, and entrepreneur

"How do you make an avid meat eater (like me) fall in love with vegetarian cooking? Make Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian part of your culinary library."
—Bobby Flay, chef/owner of Mesa Grill and Bar Americain and author of the Mesa Grill Cookbook

"Recipes that taste this good aren't supposed to be so healthy. Mark Bittman makes being a vegetarian fun."
—Dr. Mehmet Oz, Professor of Surgery, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center and coauthor of You: The Owner's Manual ... Read more

Reviews

This is the one I've been looking for!, October 29, 2007
Let me start by saying I'm a busy working mom of two. I grew up eating Hamburger Helper and hot dogs, so I didn't learn to cook until I was an adult. My dad's had triple bypass and my mom's having gastric bypass, so we're trying to learn from their mistakes and eat not entirely vegetarian, but definitely a more plant-based diet. I'm sure all this sounds familiar to a lot of people!

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is exactly the cookbook I've been trying to find for a long time. It has the simple, everyday recipes that I sometimes need, combined with a LOT of wonderful vegetarian dishes from ordinary supermarket ingredients. How about Peanut Soup, Senegalese Style? Or Korean-Style Noodles in Cool Bean Broth (in less than 20 minutes for when the kids are whining for dinner) Mustard Cheese Fondue?

This book is written in Bittman's typical `theme and variations' style, with a basic recipe (like for waffles) and then a sidebar or list following the recipe that gives variations (like a list of things you can add to waffles for flavoring). The great thing about this is that it means you rarely have to reject a recipe because you don't have the exact ingredients, just go with a variant. The only quibble I have with it is, it's sometimes difficult to keep track of what you are supposed to sub out & sub back in when you have a crying toddler on your ankle.

A basic cookbook should also walk you through basic techniques and ingredients. I was a little surprised to see the vegetables chapter was nearly 200 pages. Then I looked through it and realized a lot of that is guidance on how to select and prep the various vegetables. It's also helpful that he includes substitution suggestions - I may be out of broccoli, but if I can make the same recipe with green beans, then I can forgo the trip to the store one more day.

Another nice thing about this cookbook is, unlike most vegetarian cookbooks I have seen, it doesn't rely heavily on unusual ingredients or meat substitutes. It seems like there has to be a happy medium between burgers & fries on one hand and stuff you've never seen before. Surely we can make a healthy diet based on basic veggies, fruit, grains, and legumes, and that's JUST what this book focuses on.

But it doesn't matter how great the book is if the recipes aren't good! So I tried a few. The Spicy Autumn Veggie Burgers (we made less spicy for the kids) were terrific with a dollop of peach chutney, although the kids preferred ketchup. I was pleased at how quickly they came together too. The Glazed Carrot Soup the kids ate without any complaint at all. And oh my the Apple "Fries"!!!!

Because I'm sure people are wondering - yes, he has another cookbook called How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian that came out several years ago. This is NOT just a remake of that slim volume. This is a completely new book. (Why his publishers wanted to do two books with titles the same except for a colon I'll never know.) There's no exact overlap with How to Cook Everything, that I saw - even for recipes like Waldorf Salad, that are essentially the same in both books, there is some slight variation and different text that shows that this was re-written, not just a cut-and-paste job.

In short, I'm very happy with it. I've cooked out of it every day since I got it and I'm sure this will be one of my `go-to' cookbooks for years to come.

It's o.k., but the same problem I always have with Bittman, January 25, 2008
I'm a vegetarian of 15 years (with a meat-eating but open minded fiance) and an avid home cook. I got this book for Christmas and have slowly been exploring it. It's an interesting book and there are a lot of recipes that I'm tempted by, but it's the same problem I have with "How to cook everything": something is always wrong with the recipe. For example, his kosher pickles: the first time I tried making them with his measurements, the pickles were inedibly salty (and I love salt!) I'm now working with about a third less salt than he recommends and it's getting better. And that's what I always find with his recipes: they give you a promising start but require some major tinkering before they are really good, and I don't usually feel up to committing to that sort of trial and error. I am a passionate fan of Debbie Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone." As an example of the difference, this week I had a dinner party and I made her cauliflower salad with green olives and capers even though I'd never tried it before, and it was a hit. Having used her book so much, I trust her recipes to be at least decent right out of the gate. I would never serve a Bittman recipe that I hadn't made before to guests because there are pretty good odds that the initial recipe needs some changes.
That being said, I'm certainly not sorry that I have this book. It has a good section on condiments that I'm sure I'll make use of fairly often, and it's a good cookbook to have on hand if you're tinkering in the kitchen and want some perspective on your technique. It's really more of a reference book than an book of recipes, and in that it is useful. But if you want ideas for delicious, satisfying vegetarian food, get "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone."

Excellent General Cookbook for Liberal Vegetarian. Buy It!, November 20, 2007
`How to Cook Everything Vegetarian' by New York Times culinary columnist, Mark Bittman, is an important entry into the best vegetarian cookbook sweepstakes. Please be clear that this green covered book is far larger and far better than the yellow covered subset of his earlier best-selling `How to Cook Everything'.
Since I gave that yellow subset a bad review, a kind commentator pointed out that what is a person to do if they are vegetarian, and don't need to know how to make veal parmesan, meatballs, or fried chicken! This volume clearly answers that question.
The competition for this book is Deborah Madison's classic `Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone'. An encyclopedic companion to both would be Crescent Dragonwagon's `Passionate Vegetarian'. If space and finances permit, I would suggest you own all three volumes.
The difference between Bittman and Madison may lie primarily in the fact that the former is a culinary journalist and the latter began her career as a professional chef. So, Bittman has a better eye for communicating to a larger audience while Madison is better on some of the basic truths of cooking. Her discussion of soups and stocks is especially brilliant.
Bittman addresses the largest possible `vegetarian' audience, which includes the most liberal, who consume eggs and milk products. But he is quite effective in identifying for the vegans among you which recipes are free of all animal products, both in icons accompanying each recipe and in a master list of recipes at the back of the book. Eggs are so prominent that the index contains a full page, that's four columns of small print, of entries under egg related recipes. Under cheese recipes, there are two pages, eight columns of fine print of recipes. Bittman explains this in the section on vegetarian substitutions when he gives easy replacements for butter, milk, and cream, but says that virtually nothing can replace eggs and most cheeses in traditional recipes. I am puzzled and grateful that Bittman does not suggest using synthetic lecithin in the place of eggs in recipes. Lecithin does not even appear in the index of this book. This substitutions section also has some really great suggestions for omnivores in the realm of less saturated replacements for butter and flavored butters.
This is a full service cookbook. I am especially impressed by the fact that he starts out in the same way as James Peterson in his recent textbook, `Cooking'. Both begin with a description of `The Ten Essential Cooking Techniques'. Being a teaching book, Peterson's sections on each method are longer, running to three large pages compared to Bittman's two to three paragraphs. But, if you are vegetarian, Bittman's book is still more useful, as much of Peterson's space is dedicated to cooking animal protein. Another interesting contrast to Peterson is that while the teacher uses series of photographs to illustrate techniques, Bittman uses black ink drawings. And, amazingly enough, the latter is generally the more successful technique, as nothing is out of focus and there are never any obscuring shadows, and only the essentials of the technique are depicted.
A common technique in many of Bittman's recipes is to amend each recipe with several variations, as when he suggests five fillings for sweet crepes and six fillings for savory crepes. Hard on this section is '10 Other Ideas for Pancakes' and seven `Pancake Variations'. Bittman also spends much time on teaching us the range of ingredient types, and general ways to handle each type. For example, we get `A Lexicon of Salad Greens'. This material is even more important for the vegetarian, as they need to seek the greatest possible variety of tastes and colors in the vegetable world. A vegetarian salad repertoire which knew nothing beyond iceberg lettuce would be dull indeed. Bittman does better in this area than the salad queen, Alice Waters, in her excellent `The Art of Simple Cooking'.
Bittman's mastery of communication is best represented by his many cross-indexing of recipe types, as he does in a sidebar of lettuce cups and wraps, giving the names and page numbers of fourteen recipes scattered throughout the book which use this technique. The centerpiece of this cross-indexing is the `Recipes by Icon' in the back of the book which tick off those which are `Fast', `Make Ahead', and `Vegan'. A similar feature is the list of forty menus for Breakfasts, Brunches, Lunches, Dinners, and Holiday Dinners. For his vegetarian audience, this is far more useful than for omnivores, who have a far greater choice of protein types.
Every trend in the book is magnified in the excellent chapter on pasta, noodles, and dumplings. Every sidebar seemed to offer not ten, but up to 50 variations on all sorts of stuff. I was momentarily disappointed to find no recipe for making fresh pasta in the first 10 pages of the chapter, but there it was, of page 474 and the following 21 pages. Everything you would need to make fresh pasta, gnocchi, dumplings. It even included the German specialty, Spaetzle, bless his heart. While all the standards are well-represented, some peripheral ingredients such as rhubarb and celeriac get good representation in uncommon recipes. I was especially pleased to find four excellent recipes for my favorite Brussels Sprouts. Even chestnuts get a dozen entries in the index. Madison has nothing on chestnuts!
Bittman's `How to Cook Everything' is always my first stop whenever I want to try a classic dish unfamiliar to me, and I have been invariably pleased with the clarity and results of his recipes. This book continues this trend. Every recipe I read is clear, unfussy, and easy to follow. If you are a vegetarian who permits milk and eggs, this book is a must. If you are a tad stricter, Deborah Madison's classic may be more useful for the money.

This book lives up its title., October 26, 2007
As a vegetarian who loves to cook, I have been waiting for a book exactly like this. It is more than a mere collection of recipes. It is a treatise on vegetarian cooking.

Its comprehensiveness is astounding. Consider, for example, the entry on pureed vegetables. Bittman first explains in detail how to prepare a puree. After then identifying the best and worst vegetables to puree, he presents a table with suggestions for pureeing specific vegetables; each entry recommends a binder, fat, seasoning, and garnish that works particularly well for that vegetable. Bittman then gives a recipe for a basic vegetable puree, suggests ways to serve purees, and identifies 17 recipes whose leftovers serve as good bases for purees.

I really cannot give this book enough praise. I plan to read it cover to cover.

thorough but not foolproof, March 30, 2008
I appreciate the huge range of well-organized recipes in the book and the helpful reference section, (he convinced me to soak my own chick peas rather than use canned, and there is a huge difference!). However, as another reviewer on this site said, his recipes are not foolproof. I follow his instructions to the letter, and still must adjust seasonings, cooking times, spices, etc to yield good results. It's like he unconsciously left out steps that are "second nature" to an experienced cook like himself; or else you have to use the exact same pan as he, or the recipe doesn't work. It's like he needs his own personal "epicurious" site, where users of his cookbook can log on and share tips on cooking his recipes. I'm not sorry I bought the book, but my results have not been as tasty as I would have expected.

But the recipes aren't good!, July 16, 2008
I am firmly convinced that Mark Bittman invents all his recipes without actually making them. Not one of them has ever turned out well. Examples:

- "Mashed cauliflower with cheese." More like cauliflower sauce. I had to serve it in bowls and eat it with a spoon.

- "Baked pinto beans and sweet potatoes, enchilada style." Tastes fine, but the potato cubes were still hard after 40 minutes in the oven.

- "Millet mash." Millet does *not* burst after 30 minutes of simmering. It's edible, but it sure isn't mashable.

- "Roasted quinoa with potatoes and cheese." Interesting, but 5 minutes of boiling isn't enough for the quinoa to then finish cooking in the oven. And there's no need to jump-start the potatoes either.

- "Bean and cheese empanadas." The dough is impossible to roll out - it's way too tender and dry. And the texture ends up throat-catchingly grainy after baking.

- "Lentils and potatoes with curry." This was actually disgusting. Too much dry spice. And of course the potatoes disintegrated before the lentils were soft.

I'll go ahead and give the book two stars because there's a *lot* of stuff in it, and some of the recipes might be worth tweaking. But I don't recommend buying it, especially if you get discouraged easily.

Meatless cooking for everyone, November 9, 2007
I've been a ovo-lacto veg for nearly 20 years, and own several shelves of cookbooks (from Mollie Katzen to Frances Moore Lappe, Seppo Ed Farrey to Laurel Robertson, Deborah Madison to Madhur Jaffrey.) When I stopped eating meat, I first picked up Moosewood and Diet for a Small Planet. The differences between their approaches to vegetarianism and vegetarian cooking were stark. Mollie made easy, tasty food that just happened to be meatless, while Frances labored to assemble combinations of amino acids that she called food (oh, Lord, the loaves!) Where Frances wrote a cookbook about politics and economics, Mollie wrote a cookbook about food.

Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" is of the latter camp. This is not a screed against meat, it's not a holier-than-thou polemic about the destruction caused by meat production. It's a book about tasty food that just happens to be meatless.

For a popular food writer and TV host of Bittman's status to have assembled nearly 1,000 pages of recipes and instruction for cooking without meat is a coup for the vegetarian community. By demystifying what it means to eat meatless to a mainstream, primarily non-veg audience, Bittman is providing solace to all those vegetarians who tire of answering questions and defending their diet to others. By including familiar dishes like Tuscan style white beans, risotto, and chili, Bittman leads the reader to ingredients like tofu, seitan, nori, gai lan, and kohlrabi, rendering these ingredients more familiar to a broader audience. Ultimately, the mainstreaming of vegetarian eating and cooking is a win-win for everyone, and for his efforts in this direction I thank Mark Bittman.

Finally a General All Purpose Cook Book for Vegetarians, November 12, 2007
If you don't own the original "How to Cook Everything" this is a great buy and may truly the only book you'll ever need. It covers everything from baking to desserts sans the meat.

Thumbing through it at my local book store I noticed most of the recipes in this book are in the first "How To Cook Everything." To be fair the vegetarian version expands on tofu, beans, grains and pastas. Still for me, this wasn't enough reason to buy it. However, if I hadn't owned the first book I would have bought this without hesitation.

What's a Flexitarian?, January 28, 2008

FLEXITARIANS EXPLAINED:
HOW TO COOK
EVERYTHING VEGETARIAN

By Mark Bittman


Review by Marty Martindale


Julia Child once said of Deborah Madison's cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, "You don't need to be a vegetarian. Simply cook up a piece of meet along side." And this holds true for Bittman's new, 996-page, Vegetarian cookbook. Bittman states, "Increasingly, Americans are becoming `flexitarians,' a recently invented word that describes both vegetarians who aren't that strict and meat-eaters who are striving for a more health-conscious, planet-friendly diet." So, regardless of your eating persuasion, Bittman's book is a great reference book for many variations on his quickly adaptable recipes affording variety for all.

This book also addresses the cooking beginner. For instance, at the start of each section, be it fruit or veggies, wheat, grains, soups or desserts, each category, he carefully lines out cutting, preparation and handling details. Bittman is very much a method man, and he shares liberally. He stints not on: vegetables, tofu, herbs, breads, spices, chiles and sweets. Here's just some of the varieties he offers for recipes in this book:

23 Salads that Make Great Meals
3 varieties of Egg Hash
7 Pancake Variations
6 variations of Cheese Fondue, also 12 great additions to fondue
18 additions to Stir-Fried Vegetables
25 Dipping Sauces for Battered and Fried Vegetables
25 dishes in which to use Grilled Vegetables (includes 5 pages for grilling veggies)
35 ways to make Twice-Baked Potatoes
25 varieties of Vegetable Gratins
18 Stuffed Vegetables
48 Stuffings for Stuffed Vegetables
15 Alternative Toppings for Pasta
13 Sauces, Salsas or Condiments for Fast Pasta Sauces
39 Vegetable and Legume Dishes that can be tossed with Pasta
5 Pasta and Nut Butter Combinations
39 dishes that can be Stir-Fried with Asian Noodles
3 pages of charts for cooking Everyday Grains
15 Legumes Recipes
12 combos for Beans and Greens
15 ideas for Pizza Toppings
14 Cold Sandwiches
13 Hot Sandwiches
9 Wraps
10 Taco and Burrito ideas
8 ideas for Chile Pastes
12 ideas for Flavoring Mayonnaise
11 Yoghurt Sauces
27 Chutneys
15 basic and exotic Ice Cream Flavors
6 pages menu suggestions
17 pages of Recipes coded for : Fast, Make Ahead and/or Vegan.
63 index pages

As a particular, for instance, see page 430 and his Grilled Watermelon Steak. He suggests you serve it with lemon wedges, or Mexican-style, rubbed with his homemade chili powder, page 814. Bittman's take on food is amazing! I think every household can benefit from owning this book.

Visit Marty Martindale's website: Food Site of the Day.

Encylopedic No Matter Your Semantics About "Vegetarian", November 8, 2007
I like Mark Bittman's columns and his TV shows. He writes and cooks in a no-nonsense way that makes me trust his recipes (and they have yet to fail for me). As a thirty year vegetarian and twelve year serious home baker/cook, I have amassed many great cook books and several so-so ones. This one is among the tops for its exhaustive selection of recipes; clear, easy-to-follow directions; insightful notes; and clean layout.

Even though Mr. Bittman admits to enjoying meat throughout the text, clearly a little too often for some readers, I'm glad he didn't shun meatless meals and created this cookbook. Not all the recipes are healthy and I'm okay with that. With this many recipes I'm sure you'll find one or two (or a dozen!) to disagree with.

I recommend this cookbook both as a solid companion for experienced cooks as well as a good choice to those just starting out. I won't say that it's the only cookbook you'll ever need because I don't think there's any such beast but it certainly would do for quite some time. ... Read more

Editorial Review

From the award-winning champion of conscious eating and author of the bestselling Food Matters comes The Food Matters Cookbook, offering the most comprehensive and straightforward ideas yet for cooking easy, delicious foods that are as good for you as they are for the planet. The Food Matters Cookbook is the essential encyclopedia and guidebook to responsible eating, with more than 500 recipes that capture Bittman’s typically relaxed approach to everything in the kitchen. There is no finger-wagging here, just a no-nonsense and highly flexible case for eating more plants while cutting back on animal products, processed food, and of course junk. But for Bittman, flipping the ratio of your diet to something more virtuous and better for your body doesn’t involve avoiding any foods—indeed, there is no sacrifice here. Since his own health prompted him to change his diet, Bittman has perfected cooking tasty, creative, and forward-thinking dishes based on vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Meat and other animal products are often included—but no longer as the centerpiece. In fact the majority of these recipes include fish, poultry, meat, eggs, or dairy, using them for their flavor, texture, and satisfying nature without depending on them for bulk. Roasted Pork Shoulder with Potatoes, Apples, and Onions and Linguine with Cherry Tomatoes and Clams are perfect examples. Many sound downright decadent: Pasta with Asparagus, Bacon, and Egg; Stuffed Pizza with Broccoli, White Beans, and Sausage; or Roasted Butternut Chowder with Apples and Bacon, for example.

There are vegetarian recipes, too, and they have flair without being complicated—recipes like Beet Tartare, Lentil "Caviar" with All the Trimmings, Radish-Walnut Tea Sandwiches, and Succotash Salad. Bittman is a firm believer in snacking, but in the right way. Instead of packaged cookies or greasy chips, Bittman suggests Seasoned Popcorn with Grated Parmesan or Fruit and Cereal Bites. Nor does he skimp on desserts; rather, he focuses on

fruit, good-quality chocolate, nuts, and whole-grain flours, using minimal amounts of eggs, butter, and other fats. That allows for a whole chapter devoted to sweets, including Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies, Apricot Polenta Cake, Brownie Cake, and Coconut Tart with Chocolate Smear.

True to the fuss-free style that has made him famous, Bittman offers plenty of variations and substitutions that let you take advantage of foods that are in season—or those that just happen to be in the fridge. A quick-but-complete rundown on ingredients tells you how to find sustainable and flavorful meat and shop for dairy products, grains, and vegetables without wasting money on fancy organic labels. He indicates which recipes you can make ahead, those that are sure to become pantry staples, and which ones can be put together in a flash. And because Bittman is always comprehensive, he makes sure to include the building-block recipes for the basics of home cooking: from fast stocks, roasted garlic, pizza dough, and granola to pots of cooked rice and beans and whole-grain quick breads.

With a tone that is easygoing and non-doctrinaire, Bittman demonstrates the satisfaction and pleasure in mindful eating. The result is not just better health for you, but for the world we all share. ... Read more

Reviews

So far, fantastic!, September 18, 2010
One day with the book, and I've made 3 recipes already and shopped for groceries to make several more. It's very encouraging and the 3 dishes I've made have blown me (and my picky housemates) away.

Breakfast: I tried the Anadama Waffles (p. 283). The flavor came out very hearty, wheat-y and otherwise ok. The texture was good and the flavor made a great base for what you typically put on a waffle. So I was happy and I'd make them again, although I might try another recipe before coming back.

Dinner: Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder with Chipotle. Amazing. I don't like veggie soup and I don't like corn chowder. My housemates don't like sweet potato or overly spicy foods in their respective peculiarities. However, we all love this dish so much that we had a little politeness war over who would have priority on the leftovers :) It's sweet and spicy and I'd make it again. This all coming from a household that loves pork pozolle!

Desert: I cheated a little. In his other book (the one with narrative and recipes), there's a nice recipe for fruit sorbet. I used chocolate and black cherry as the base and it turned out fantastic.

About the book in general:

I'm excited about the recipes I see and encouraged because I know they were built for healthy and responsible living. We'll just have to wait and see if we all magically lose weight.

The layout of the book is visually what you would expect. Information for prep time and yield is available and interesting descriptions appear above each recipe to tell you the background or whet your appetite and set your expectations.

The pages are white which makes the text much brighter than his big-red-book. Also, the pages properly lay open, even in the front and back of the book, without the need to hold the thing open (which would be cumbersome while cooking - I only mention it because some books are very good at closing themselves).

The recipes were clear and easy enough to follow as I've come to expect of Bittman. So far the taste has been great although I can't speak for the whole book as I haven't been through all of it!

Drawbacks:

1. No calorie counts. I know, he isn't about calorie counts and it'd have taken a lot of time and money to do that for each of 500 dishes, but I still hoped it would be there. Not a deal breaker.

2. There is no single list of the recipes in the book or each section. Many other cookbooks I own have a list of recipes in the front of the book or each section and this one doesn't which is a little annoying for meal planning purposes. There *are*, however, 3 lists in the back of the book for 'Fast Recipes', 'Make-Ahead Recipes', and 'Recipes for Pantry Staples'. So at least I have those.

I'll continue to cook my way through this and let you know what I find in an update, but right now I'm thrilled with my purchase and would recommend this book to anyone.

UPDATE: I'm adding a couple photos of things I've made so far. Just snaps from my kitchen, so don't expect studio quality ;)

UPDATE 2: Within a week or two I'll probably add more details about other recipes I've tried. It's still going great, but I wanted to add a comparison for reference. Yesterday I was making a recipe from a recent weight watchers cookbook. In the past, I've found their recipes to be light and tasty, though sometimes a little weird. However, after spending a while eating this plant-heavy food, I was honestly a bit sickened when cooking one of the weight watchers cookbook's chicken recipes. It's funny, but I just felt like it had way too much meat, sugar and fat. I guess it's a good thing, but now I'm a little concerned I won't enjoy a juicy steak dinner ;)

A nice step forward, October 10, 2010
I am thoroughly enjoying this book. This is not a "health-food" cookbook. It simply looks at food through a slightly different lens, such that the emphasis is placed on fruits and vegetables, not meats and dairy. There is still plenty of meat and dairy for those of us who find meat and dairy quite satisfying.

We've been moving toward this kind of diet for some time now. I've lost 25 pounds over the last year by eating this way and by exercising. My blood pressure is at a record low, and my doctor is thrilled with the changes. However, while I'm a pretty decent home cook, I am not the most imaginative cook in the world; this book has given me plenty of fresh ideas.

We have tried enough recipes with success that I feel comfortable recommending this book to others. It's simple food, and my always-skeptical sweetheart has been cleaning his plate. It doesn't matter how healthy it is if they won't eat it.

I think this is a strong addition to any cookbook collection.

Edited 12/25/10: I just wanted to add that I've been using this cookbook for over two months now, and I still find it immensely useful and use it regularly. We've considered tweaking a recipe here or there, which is normal for us. Even though we had already been moving toward this kind of diet, we've made even bigger strides over the last two months. It was a bit of a surprise when we went grocery shopping for Christmas dinner and ended up with cart almost exclusively full of vegetables with half a turkey breast and nearly no simple carbs or processed foods. It's becoming more and more natural for us to eat this way, even on special occasions.

Bittmanesque healthy recipes, October 9, 2010
Another in Mark Bittman's corpus of work. I have always enjoyed his cookbooks, and I have incorporated a number of his recipes into my cooking "cycle." This book focuses on healthier dishes. Early on, he notes (Page ix): "If you swap the basic proportions in your diet--increasing unprocessed fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains--you'll wind up losing your weight and improving your overall health. . . ."

One thing that he aims to do in this cookbook is to reduce the percentage of calories coming from animal based food or highly processed food. The recipes come in several categories here: appetizers and snacks, soups, salads and dressings, pasta (and noodles and dumplings), rice and grains, beans, vegetables, bread (and pizza and sandwiches and wraps), and desserts and sweet snacks.

While Bittman's recipes cut the amount of meat, he does not present us with a vegetarian/Vegan cookbook. There is a provision of meat or seafood or poultry in a number of the recipes.

Some illustrative recipes: Cucumber-wasabi tea sandwiches; Olives, cucumbers, and tuna, Mediterranean style; Mini potato-parmesan rostis; Provencal soup (a play on ratatouille); Mushroom stew with beef chunks; Smashed potato salad with escarole; Thai beef salad; Pasta with asparagus, bacon, and egg (Odd, but yummy!); Black bean chili mac; Vegetable and shrimp fried rice; Chickpea tagine with chicken and bulgur; Scrambled tomatoes and herbs (easy and tasty); Grilled turkey hash with red wine glaze; Grilled tomato sandwich, with or without cheese.

All in all, an interesting cookbook if you wish to improve the quality of your diet. Recipes are doable. Some seem to me to be fairly bland. But it is a tradeoff--health versus our acquired taste for highly processed food and too much meat.

Really easy healthy recipes, October 15, 2010
I'm really happy with this book, it's had a spot on my kitchen counter ever since I bought it. I'm not a vegetarian, but I was looking to increase the amount of vegetables in my diet but didn't know any good recipes. A lot of other cookbooks have a vegetable section where it's just individual vegetables steamed or cooked some other way as a side dish. I wanted a book that gave me more interesting veggie-heavy main dishes. I don't have that much time to cook dinner and can't be bothered with a huge ingredient list. This book has a variety of good recipes that are tasty and fast. There are still a lot of recipes with meat, especially chicken, but that can be substituted with something else if I don't feel like eating chicken. Highly recommended!

A pathway to healthier eating, November 27, 2010
If you're looking for "health food" this isn't the book. The book features some fried dishes and others that use ingredients such as sausage, not exactly health food. But if you are looking for a tasty way to improve your diet, this cook book is an outstanding starting point. My wife has been moving toward more of a vegetarian diet and I still love my meat (and she hasn't totally abandoned it), so the recipes in this book allow me to have my beloved meat, while she can stay true to her move toward less meat in her diet.

In this book, meat no longer takes the center stage, as has been traditional in the US. Instead meat is used more for flavoring and texture, the way many Asian cuisines use it. We've tried about about 1/4 of the recipes already and have yet to come up with a clunker.

I own roughly two dozen cookbooks. With most I've tried a few recipes, after which they gather dust on my shelf. I only use 3 consistently (The Joy of Cooking, Cooks Illustrated's American Classics and The Barbecue Bible). Since I've purchased this cook book I now have 4 in my regular rotation.

A great cookbook, October 20, 2010
I've been a fan of Mark Bittman for years, and I love the new Food Matters books. This is a great cookbook for anyone looking to have a better diet without dieting. My boyfriend and I cook every night, but recently we had been in a bit of a food rut. We bought this book last week and have tried 4 recipes from it since - each one has been a huge hit, and healthy! We've tried the corn and sweet potato chowder with chipotle (so delicious!), the bok choy, daikon, and tofu stir fry (also great), the steak fajitas (amazing with tequila-lime glaze) and the black bean, corn, and chipotle quinoa. Everything we've tried will we liked enough to make again, and there are dozens more recipes we have marked to try. The little meat/lots of vegetable thing also makes the meals pretty inexpensive to make, which is great for people trying to save money. I would highly recommend it!

Great Book!, November 19, 2010
My wife and I love this cookbook. There are a lot of delicious meals that are easy to cook (less than 30 min). The thing I like most about this book is that it provides a way to eat whole foods in meals that actually taste good. If you are looking for a way to incorporate more grains, beans, tempeh, miso etc into your diet, then I highly recommend this book! We've cooked about 15 of the recopies so far and liked all but one. Three of our favorites were ginger miso chicken, lamb bulgur spinach meatloaf and chicken with chard and steel cut oats. We like this book so much we bought four from Amazon to give as gifts this Christmas to the in-laws and our siblings.

Something For Everyone Whether Vegan, Vegetarian or Omnivore, November 22, 2010
This cookbook contains hundreds of recipes that don't require us to give up anything. He isn't promoting vegetarianism; just suggesting that we use less meat and more plant-based foods in our meals which he says not only helps the enviroment but is also healthier for our waistlines. Bittman also doesn't preach which I appreciate. Instead, he simply offers some great dishes that include updated versions of traditional recipes along with some most of us wouldn't have thought of such as Crisp Noodle Cake with Stir-Fried Greens and Shrimp.

Some of the recipes call for ingredients I'm not sure I will find in my local grocery store but with a little planning I can check at some of the specialty stores in the area. Most seemed to have regular ingredients I recognized. There are some vegetarian recipes in the cookbook along with those that include fish, poultry, and other meats, and of course one can always add meat to a vegetarian recipe or take it out of another if they desire.

I especially liked the soup, bread, and dessert sections of this book which have recipes I think I'm most inclined to try. The Asparagus and White Bean Soup With Parmesan was good and I plan on trying his fruitcake recipe which he promises people will actually like. The Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe includes a choice of substituting vegan/vegetarian ingredients for the regular ones (i.e. soy or almond milk instead of regular milk, etc.)

This is a cookbook for everyone whether vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore; whether one wants to switch to a healthier diet that uses less meat or wants to be more environmentally responsible.

The only downside of this book is that there are no photos, but given the sheer volume of recipes, that can be overlooked.

This cookbook was given to me by the publishers for review. However, my opinion was not solicited and is mine alone. If I didn't like the book I would say so.

The way we want to eat!, November 12, 2010
When I saw that Mark Bittman had a new cookbook out, I hesitated. I already have 5 of his books, did I really need another 500 recipes from him? The answer to that is a resounding yes!

This book is for anyone who is trying to eat healthier. And really, who isn't? I don't know anyone who goes around saying, "I'm going to eat more processed foods and slurp canned soda!" This book is exactly how I would like to eat more often...more grains and beans, less meat, more fruits and veggies.

The book opens up a section on why food matters. If you have already read his Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes, you can skip this part, in fact he tells you that you can skip it, but I read it again, to remind myself of how and why I want to eat better. Then he goes into stocking your pantry and finishes the intro by explaining his icon rating of recipes: fast, make-ahead, and pantry staple. In typical Bittman fashion, he has the recipes in the back also listed by their icon. So, if you were looking to make a fast recipe, there they are all.

The recipe chapters are: Appetizers and Snacks, Soups, Salads and Dressings, Pasta Noodles and Dumplings, Rice and Grains, Beans, Vegetables, Bread Pizza Sandwiches and Wraps, Desserts and Sweet Snacks.

I have been poring over this book, making lists of recipes that I want to try, finally giving up, because there are just too many!

Here are a few, I have marked to try soon:

Raw Butternut Squash Salad with Cranberry Dressing
Roasted Pork Shoulder with Potatoes, Apples and Onions
Baked Pumpkin Orange Custard
Chipotle Glazed Squash Skewers
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Mushroom and Pasta Frittata
Pasta with Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Bacon

As a confirmed carb lover, the pasta section alone is worth the price of the book. Every single recipe sounds great.

I haven't made anything out of the book yet, (I'll be making the Sweet Potato and Bacon Pasta next week), but I don't have to. I've cooked enough, read enough cookbooks and cooked enough Bittman recipes to tell that these are winners. They are easy. They are healthy.

GREAT ADDITION TO CONSCIOUS EATING, December 16, 2010
Bittman has finally awakened to the food nightmare in this country. He employs his usual style in this text: no photos, plain text, no penache, BUT really useful information. He provides the usual reference points, Make Ahead Foods, Fast, Vegetarian, etc. He also has some useful charts and tables, as Bittman fans are accustomed to in his books. The collection of recipes reflects the susbstantial changes he acknowledges making in his own food preparation. Comes across as genuine without being "preachy"--a plus. Admittedly, many of these recipes I will likely NEVER make, BUT there are several great ideas for eating more plant-based meals. I love the way he throws variations out there. Throughout the book, Bittman encourages exploration of your palate and your family's tastes while giving a guiding and informative set of suggestions--the recipes. I was most thrilled to see him get off his high horse and admit that a sustainable, organic, whole-foods approach to the dinner table is the responsible choice for the 21st century cook/chef. Those familiar with Bittman's previous books will recollect his earlier harsh, repeated, and inaccurate statements that organic food was simply "a political stance." It was refreshing to see his attitude changes reflected in both his recipes and his changed philosophy of eating and cooking. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Recipes and Nutrition Info - more than I expected!, November 30, 2010
I've been a fan of Isa's cookbooks for a long time so had this on pre-order, and it arrived yesterday. I was excited to get it, b/c somehow I'm a vegan who has managed to gain weight since going vegan rather than lose weight. I blame VCTOTW, JOVB, and VCIYCJ - all of which I love and all of which sparked my obsession with vegan baking. At any rate, when I heard this book was in the works, I was really excited. When it arrived, I realized it is far more than I expected it to be. It is FULL of nutrition information - as a family raising a vegan toddler, this is very important to me, and Isa's information and tips will prove invaluable, I'm sure! The recipes seem to be quick, with just a few ingredients, and lots of fresh produce. It looks to rely more on legumes and vegetables than anything else, which is awesome! Isa also includes a section on simple bowls (like at those trendy Asian restaurants) and sandwiches/wraps...so easy. And I'm extra happy about chapters dedicated to soups, stews and chili as we approach colder days. I think we'll cook our way straight through this book and hopefully see the health benefits as we go.

The perfect cookbook, December 1, 2010
I love Isa's recipes and make them as much as possible, the problem is that my mister mister is gluten intolerant so a lot of my all time fave recipes are out for him and then we are making 2 separate meals because he is not vegan and I like my vital wheat gluten. I pre-ordered this book the minute that I found out that it could be pre-ordered and I am so glad that I did. I've had the book for 2 days and so far have only made 1 meal out of it but it was a total Isa recipe, FULL of flavor with a decent portion size but here is the best part for us-- not only is it a vegan cookbook but MOST of the recipes are gluten free! This means that we are back to only making one meal per night and eating some of the greatest food that either of us have ever had. The salad recipes aren't boring at all which makes me happy because I do get tired of salad but she has a Pad Thai salad recipe that I just can't wait to make-- lots of intriguing ideas in this book, that's for sure. I am not vegan for weight-loss but I am a little "well fed" and this book could not have come at a better time for me. This is one of those must-have-vegan-cookbook-library books.

Helpful, December 3, 2010
I like "Appetite for Reduction" because the author gives nutrition info for each recipe which is a first and unlike her other books. It is also a more health conscious collection of recipes and is exactly what I've been waiting for. I own all of Isa's & Terry's other books and I guess I would consider myself a fan by now. I usually stick to a healthy and nutritious diet under a certain number of calories per day, and I had to choose carefully which recipes I'm making in their previous books. But looking through "Appetite for Reduction," there really are no questionable recipes for those who wish to eat healthy. Everything is healthy here, and it doesn't skimp on flavor at all. I'm marinating the tofu from one of the new recipes right now...Masala Baked Tofu. Very simple and I can't wait to taste it!

Pretty close to perfect for a busy vegan mom, December 5, 2010
I'm a vegan lady with about 25 lbs to lose and a busy toddler constantly giving me a run for my money. Appetite for Reduction fits pretty perfectly into my lifestyle right now. Healthy and satisfying meals that I can still knock out amidst my hectic schedule? YES! Sign me up!

I adore the nutrition info printed along with every recipe. That's really helpful for me... I don't have to take the author's word that something is healthy or do the math out myself. I can just read through the nutrition info and decide if something fits into my day or not that way.

The cooking/prep times have been spot on for me. 30 minute recipes really take 30 minutes or less. The portion sizes are good. I like that most of the recipes seem to be for smallish batches (actually as much as a small family might eat in a meal) so there's less potential for sabotaging yourself by gorging on leftovers, if you know what I mean.

As always, Moskowitz is an ambassador for the message that vegan food need not be boring, bland, or anything but incredibly delicious. There's a lot of variety and a LOT of flavor in this book. I have yet to run into anything in here that wasn't really delicious.

Some of my favorites so far: Caulipots, Caesar Chavez dressing (and all of the other dressings, but this is the best!), Chickpea Piccata, Masala Tofu, Ye'abesha Gomen.

My hubby doesnt even know he's a vegan ;), December 8, 2010
Other than how beautiful this book looks on my shelf, I also love that the recipes really are hardy & filling. Tonight I made the Eggplant and Chickpea curry...delicious! I usually use recipe books more as a guideline & rarely do I ever follow a recipe exactly. So I may have added a potatoe or two, and used cayenne instead of red pepper flakes...and I had to use canned tomatoes instead of the fresh, but the results were still amazing! My husband is NOT a vegan in any way shape or form, and he basically inhaled his plate of eggplant & chickpea curry. I really like the diversity of this book. I'm not a big fan of tofu, but I like how the author incorporates tempeh & other forms of soy into the recipes. I also love the way it's written, as if Isa and I are friends having a conversation about food in the kitchen or at some hole in the wall pakistani resturaunt in Brooklyn. This book is not just for vegans, but definatly for vegan and nonvegan foodies who love to make diverse recipes.

Cookbook PERFECTION!, December 13, 2010
Let me preface my review with this- I am not a vegan, but I am very interested in vegan cooking and baking. I make vegan stuff whenever I can, and that's becoming more and more frequent thanks to Isa's books. Her creations will please meat-lovers so much that they won't even think to ask "but where's the meat?!"

Here are the reasons why I LOVE LOVE LOVE Appetite for Reduction:

1.) It doesn't use ingredients that are expensive or difficult to find. If you think being vegan is too expensive, you need this book.
2.) Every time I wonder something about a recipe or ingredient, surely enough, I find the answer in a "tip" included for each recipe. It's like she reads my mind!
3.) The serving sizes are realistic! I can pretty much put a buffet out of business, so I was happy to see that I couldn't put away more than 2 servings of anything in this book!
4.) The book itself is the best cookbook I own. I really hate hardcover cookbooks, so I was so happy to see that this one was softcover. It's light and stays open when you press down on it a little (without messing up the spine,) and I don't feel like the pages are going to fall out.
5.) The nutrition facts. I have made about 6 meals from it so far and they have all fit into my diet plan perfectly. I love being able to cook my own food without adding up all of the calories myself... try to do that with fiber and protein too... ugh.

Basically, this book is amazing, and I recommend it to vegans and non-vegans alike!

Life-changing!, December 11, 2010
Disclosures: I'm the author's sister and I'm not always vegan. I started weight watchers this week, and anxiously awaited the arrival of this book. Received it yesterday, and I'm off to a roaring start: butternut squash/apple soup is divine, with a zing of spiciness; eggplant chickpea curry is on the stove and it smells incredible. This is the first time I've posted an amazon review for anything, I'm definitely feeling inspired and thankful for this book which is chockfull of useful dietary information. Just when I thought she couldn't possibly be any more awesome, my sis has raised the bar yet again. Ok, enough kvelling (Yiddish for loading on the praise).

Wonderful, well-rounded cookbook., December 8, 2010
I had the pleasure of testing recipes for Appetite for Reduction; many of the recipes are still in heavy rotation at my house long after testing is over. The layout of the book is easy to follow and attractive, with clear writing in all of the recipes, including many tips and ingredient suggestions. A few of the recipes call for ingredients that may need to be tracked down in an Indian or Asian supermarket, but the vast majority use inexpensive pantry-friendly ingredients including beans and grains. Isa never relies on vegan convenience foods such as mock meats or cheeses, and this book is no exception. Most of the recipes can be made in well under an hour, with many popping into the oven after quick prep.

Some of my favorites are the 5th Ave Vegetable Korma, Baked Falafel w/ Dill Hummus (the best packed lunch!), Chickpea Piccata, Chickpeas with 40 cloves of garlic, Catalan Couscous Salad with Pears, a wonderful, easy to make Romeso salad dressing that has now replaced my old favorite Annie's Roasted Red Pepper dressing, Lasagna w/ roasted cauliflower, Arabian Lentil Soup, Mango BBQ Baked Beans w/ cornbread, and a roasted red pepper soup that had my entire family oohing and aahing. In fact, that soup is going to replace our usual potato leek soup for this year's Christmas Eve dinner.

The added section on creating wrap/sandwiches, and bowl meals is very useful. I am not the most creative at improvising in the kitchen, so these sections give me a lot of ideas.

I enjoy all of Isa's cookbooks, and this one easily stands with Veganomicon for ease of use and versatility. The fact that these recipes are diet friendly (I calculated most to be under 6 WW points for a filling dinner) is a bonus, but really these are great, tasty recipes perfect for weeknight meals and lunches and in no way resemble flavorless or watered down "diet food."

This cookbook is for everyone! Fast, flavourful, and nutritious recipes for busy people who care about what they eat., December 5, 2010
Appetite for Reduction has everything I need as a busy person who loves food and is also concerned about eating healthily: the recipes are not only delicious, but also full of nutrients, low in fat, devoid of processed crap and come together quickly and easily. I have way too many cookbooks, including many that I have barely used because they're too complicated or time-consuming. I've only had this cookbook for a few days and I've tried a number of dishes and loved them all! The Pad Thai Salad, Baked Falafel, Veggie Pot Pie Stew and Red Thai Tofu were all amazing. Can't wait to try the Sushi Roll Salad, Chickpea Piccata and 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma.

I'm vegan myself but I brought the book into work the first day I got it and the meat eaters and vegetarians were just as excited as I was when they looked through it (and they were disappointed that they'll have to wait a bit for their own copies as it's not yet on shelves locally). This is not just a book for vegans - anyone who is interested in cooking their own yummy, healthy meals without taking a lot of time will love it. It's not just for dieters either - while the title of the book references weight loss, the recipes are substantial and satisfying enough for anyone's everyday repertoire.

I'm an experienced cook, but I love how simple these recipes are while still staying interesting. I think that beginner cooks will have no trouble getting great results as well.

Believe the Hype, December 11, 2010
The rave reviews from others are all true. This book instantly soared to the top
of my favorite vegan cookbooks list.

The recipes are quick, easy, and healthy. The recipes specify if they are gluten
free, soy free, can be made under 30 minutes, or if there is some down time
involved (no active cooking). The author also includes a multitude of
'nutritional tips' and cooking/shopping tips. The portion sizes are more than
generous, nutritional information is included for each recipe, and Isa's writing
style is personable and connects with the reader. I read the book cover-to-cover
the night I got it.

So far I've made the Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad (which includes Balsamic
Vinaigrette)- it's truly awesome. The Vinaigrette alone is beyond good; it's all
I could do to not drink it on its own! The Arabian Lentil and Rice Soup is one
of my favorite soups; it calls for basmati rice which adds a depth of flavor and
beautiful aroma. The Yam and Black Bean Soup with Orange and Cilantro is
healthy, interesting, and flavorful. There isn't one recipe in the book that I
don't want to try- they all look so good. This is one cookbook that will never
get dusty on my bookshelf!

... Read more

Editorial Review

Who knew vegetables could taste so good? Moskowitz and Romero's newest delicious collection makes it easier than ever to live vegan. You'll find more than 250 recipes--plus menus and stunning color photos--for dishes that will please every palate. All the recipes in Veganomicon have been thoroughly kitchen-tested to ensure user-friendliness and amazing results. And by popular demand, the Veganomicon includes meals for all occasions and soy-free, gluten-free, and low-fat options, plus quick recipes that make dinner a snap. Recipes include:
•  Autumn Latkes
• Samosa Stuffed Baked Potatoes
• Grilled Yuca Tortillas
• Baby Bok Choy with Crispy Shallots
• Chile-Cornmeal Crusted Tofu Po’ Boy
• Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta
• Jicama-Watercress-Avocado Salad with Spicy Citrus Vinaigrette
• Acorn Squash, Pear and Adzuki Soup
•  Tomato Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans
• Asparagus and Lemongrass Risotto
• Almost All-American Seitan Pot Pie
• Hot Sauce-Glazed Tempeh
• Black Eyed Pea Collard Rolls
• Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti
• Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Streusel

Reviews

Most thorough Vegan Cookbook ever!, October 21, 2007
First off, the food in this book is amazing. Vegan With a Vengeance was super great, but this is the friggin' BOMB!

Aside from the incredible food, the product description doesn't mention that the first part of the book is a great (and funny) read about HOW to cut and prepare different vegetables, how to cook different grains, etc...for someone like me, pretty invaluable stuff. Also cool if you're getting this for your "weird" vegan kid that is just learning to cook.
Also,, the icons are a big help (an icon tells you if you can make the meal under 45 min -or way less, another icon tells you if you can find everything at your regular Vons-type market, if there's soy, etc...)

The other review made a comment about the title, which I think is total genius. Then again, I get the HP Lovecraft/Evil Dead reference. What else could you call the "ultimate vegan cookbook" besides the "Veganomicon"??

Not only does this book have great recipes, but it will totally add ideas to your cooking arsenal. After making the "Black Bean Burgers", I am never buying packaged veggie burgers again!

p.s. do yourself a favor and make the "Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits".

Your Stove is Asking You to Buy It., November 5, 2007
From the moment the book arrives, you'll love it! It's not just because of the beautiful photographs and intriguing recipes - it's because the authors and their style of writing capture you, fascinate you, and make you excited to try each and every recipe that they have created.

I'll admit that I am a fan of both Vegan With a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. But I wanted to review Veganomicon without those two prior books in mind. The fact is, I couldn't. I knew that the recipes would be outstanding; the usual nervousness that comes with serving a guest that new pasta recipe was not present. I have a confidence when making Isa and Terry's recipes, a confidence that sometimes does not exist when trying other recipes out for the first time.

I think that each of these reviews, each Veganomicon recipe photograph on Flickr, on blogs, on the Post Punk Kitchen forums, are a testament that many people, experienced chefs and novices alike, absolutely adore this cookbook. And there's no reason why you wouldn't, either.

My favorites so far have been the Eggplant Rollatini and the Lemon Bars. The Pumpkin Ziti with Sage Bread Crumbs is not far behind; I love the cashew ricotta that is used (there are two ricotta recipes in the book - both delicious!). There is something for everyone here, whether you hate vegetables but love mushrooms, choose seitan over tempeh, want breakfast at all times of day, or want to eat a light lunch of bok choy with shallots.

There are excellent recipes for autumn and fall-time meals. The Thanksgiving spread would be more colorful and delectable if you added in a few of the mix and match sides and appetizers, such as Mashed Spiced Sweet Potatoes, Chestnut-Lentil Pate, and Butternut Squash & Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls.

Thank you for rocking our worlds, Terry and Isa!

Just plain fun!, April 30, 2008
Mine is by no means a vegan household, but how could I resist a book with this title? By the time I had found the authors' explanation, I was in love with the book: "...a big vegan cookbook needed a big vegan name. (But just to be on the safe side, don't read this cookbook backward at the stroke of midnight.)" So I checked it out of the library a month ago Shhh! I KNOW I need to bring it back!

The clever introduction makes the case that "vegan food = normal food." The authors move on to a saucy explanation of prepping and cooking terms and some ingredient-specific advice, endlessly entertaining and informative. Take polenta: "Polenta has been called many things, each more insulting than the last: cornmeal mush, grits, porridge. But it got a new lease on life in the '90s when foodies started referring to it by its proper name and charging twenty dollars a plate for it." They follow with basic polenta-cooking instructions.

I had planned to browse and move on. I don't like to cook fiddly things -- no ravioli-making for me -- and I never seem to have enough of the right ingredients for vegan cooking. But what a surprise this book was! Even with no tempeh or miso on board, a quick pass through the front of the market gave me all I needed for some of these yummy recipes.

We loved the Israeli Couscous with Pistachios and Apricots (confession: I used regular couscous) and the Herb Scalloped Potatoes. I was planning to make Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta Sandwich but we ate the roasted eggplant before I got the olives. My favorite recipe so far: Jalapeno-Onion Skillet Corn Bread.

There are many other recipes I'd like to try: Fresh Rosemary Foccaccia, Roasted Portobellos, Chickpeas Romanesco, Penne Vodka; and every single thing pictured in full color in the middle of the book. Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook ends with menu suggestions: My Own Private India Menu, Greek to Me and You Menu, Smash Your TV Dinner Menu. Just the names make you want to throw a party, don't they?

Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero are vegan veterans, and their knowledge and enthusiasm permeate this practical book. I recommend it as a workbook for healthier eating and just for the fun of it, too.

Linda Bulger, 2008

good recipes, perhaps too rushed into print, December 28, 2007
Now let me say first of all, I am a huge fan of the PPK. Their shows and recipes are what made me finally realize I can eat delicious meals without having to rely on meat, and I've been the happier for it. I also love their other two cookbooks.

For some reason though, I can never get Isa's pancake recipes to work though. I tried making the blueberry corn pancakes while at my in laws, and it was basically a giant nightmare (similar thing happened with the recipe from VwaV). Whatever, it may be something with me, I don't know. And I must say, for the most part, the recipes in this cookbook have been really good.

What I'm more annoyed about, however, is a number of glaring editing errors. There are a lot of spelling errors and misprints in the book. I was really looking forward to making the fudgy wudgy blueberry brownies, but for some reason there's mention of applesauce in the recipe instructions while it's nowhere to be found on the ingredient list. I tried looking it up on the PPK site but it's nowhere to be found, so I'm not sure if it's something they forgot to add to the ingredient list, or something they forgot to subtract from the recipe instructions, not to mention I have no clue how much I'd put in it. There have been other incidences like this throughout the cookbook, and it's starting to make me wonder if I should have waited until it went through another edition or something.

Anyway, the recipes really are tasty, I just think they rushed to print it and the recipes themselves I think suffer.

It's a celebration of food., May 15, 2008
As an experienced cook, but a new vegan (I had never even been a vegetarian before), this cookbook is just what I needed, and I'm so grateful that I found it!

True to its name, this is a behemoth of a cookbook that covers a huge amount of ground. It gives respectful attention to all types of meals, from mains to soups, salads to casseroles, sandwiches to cookies. My favourite is the "Mix & Match" section, which has many recipes for what would usually be called 'sides' - small dishes of vegetables, grains, tofu/tempeh/seitan or legumes - that you can combine however you like to form a solid and diverse meal. There's also a very useful 'basics' section where all sorts of things are explained, from knife techniques to how to cook most major grains and legumes.

The recipes have a diverse range of regional influences, from Mexican to Northern Slavic, from Southeast Asian to French. The authors don't timidly follow the traditions of all the cuisines they borrow from, but neither do they clumsily make one big homogenised mess of them. Instead, they confidently, but respectfully, borrow from all sorts of cuisines to make a diverse range of dishes that, even if they are unorthodox, still make sense.

I've heard complaints from vegans that many vegan cookbooks are too health-food'y, to the point of being boring or unappealing. Not this one. Don't get me wrong, the overwhelming majority of recipes in this book are most definitely very healthy: fresh vegetables, legumes, and various other wholefoods feature prominently and abundantly. But as you peruse the recipes, you get the distinct feeling that this is a book that, more than anything else, celebrates food. When I first decided to go vegan, I was apprehensive about how limited my diet would become - this book, however, has put my mind forever at ease in that regard.

A good tendency of this cookbook is that the dishes all seem to be very 'do-able'. Although the recipes rarely call for processed ingredients or lazy shortcuts that would compromise quality and flavour, neither are they overly laborious. So far, I haven't found a recipe that looked too hard to bother with, and most of them I could happily make on a weeknight.

I really like the way the recipes are presented. Each of them gives an estimate of the preparation time, has directions that are clear and concise but not clinical, and provides a short 'prologue' from the authors (a feature that's sorely lacking from many cookbooks). These prologues often give you a good idea of the character of the dish, what it goes well with, and some potential pitfalls to look out for while making it. And the girls write with such a pleasant style and great sense of humour that they're worth reading just for that.

Of course, no cookbook is perfect, and neither is this one. Firstly, for a non-American, the ye olde measuring system they use - with ounces, 1/4 inches, Fahrenheits and all the rest of it - is distracting. Secondly, and more importantly, the recipes - in my experience - have been a bit hit and miss. But when I say "miss", I don't mean that they didn't work, or that they were dreadful, but simply that they weren't as terrific as I'd hoped. However, I've never met a cookbook that didn't have some misses, and the Veganomicon hit-miss ratio has so far been pretty good. Furthermore, when the dishes have been good, they've often been fabulous.

Since the cookbook has its imperfections, I was going to give it 4 stars. But then I thought about what it is that I ultimately look for in a cookbook. I concluded that I want a cookbook that will make reliably good dishes, several of which will become lasting favourites, forever enriching my repertoire. If the cookbook is really good, then it will also excite me about food; it'll be a book I can depend on to inspire me when I'm feeling low on ideas and motivation to cook. The Veganomicon has not only been a reliable source of good dishes, but it is flooding my repertoire with new favourites, so far rivalling any cookbook before it in this department. I have also found its pages to be full of inspiration. Before I bought it, I was excited about becoming a vegan for ethical reasons. Now I'm also excited about it for culinary reasons. 5 stars.

Flavor + integrity = Veganomicon, December 31, 2007
Vegan with a Vengeance, I think, made a lot of people aware that vegans did not have to sacrifice real and filling food in order to eat ethically. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World made people understand that we didn't have to choose between incredible, mouth-popping flavor and baked goods. With Veganomicon, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and her partner in crime Terry Hope Romero have thrown down the gauntlet to not only other vegans but also other cookbook authors. I don't think I have ever seen any other volume that has so successfully and beautifully combined authentic flavors and innovative- but never fussy- techniques.

I haven't made everything in this cookbook- I think that undertaking would be something along the lines of Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen- but what I have made has blown me away. First and foremost, Pasta Della California. Oh my God- linguine in a lime, wine and garlic sauce with arugula (I use spinach), broccoli and avocado. First of all, it's so chockfull of vegetables reading the recipe makes you feel like you've gotten your daily requirements of fiber, vitamin A and C. Second of all, avocados in a cooked dish- and it works! I am so in love with this dish I can't begin to describe it. The best part of it is that it's so good that my picky three-year-old son even eats it.

While it goes without saying that their tofu ricotta and wheat-free chocolate chip cookies (a recipe flexible enough to withstand the addition of wheat) are incredible, I must mention her Cheezy "Nooch" Sauce. This is just one example of how their use of simple techniques from the realm of traditional cooking (bechamel, anyone?) and a few ultra simple substitions makes for an incredible culinary experience. All vegans who have pined for cheese sauce need to go out and buy this book right now just for this recipe. It is so good and so versatile. I've used it at least five times since I bought the cookbook a month and a half ago with pasta and spinach- and it's delicious. Not only do the picky toddlers like it, but so does the finnicky thirteen-year-old. Enough said.

But possibly my favorite "recipe" of all is the ice cream sandwich and it's nine variations. This included next to their delicious and fool-proof ice cream recipe. (How fool proof? I was able to make this by swapping out the ice cream make for the blender- that's how fool proof.) And of course you can, as she even recommends, go grab any old vegan ice cream and any old (usually overpriced) vegan cookie and make these yourself, but I haven't seen these offerings, combinations or ideas for vegans- or non-vegans- anywhere else.

I've got to admit, it is a let down that this cookbook isn't as beautifully glossy as Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, but the photo spread in the middle is very well-styled and inspirational. I can't wait to get to the rest of these recipes.

Buy it. Read it. Laugh. Cook. Eat. Smile!, July 22, 2008
This is not just a cookbook, it is a fun-to-read, text-book-sized instruction manual on how to use your vegan kitchen and almost everything in it. Not only are these recipes tasty (the ones I've had time to try, listed below), they are thoroughly explained, step-by-step, in a delightfully humorous fashion. My boyfriend was teasing me for "reading" a cookbook, but I just couldn't put it down! I have read it cover to cover since last Friday when I received it, and I am thoroughly impressed.

As a relatively new vegan, I'd been suffering through trying to "veganize" standard recipes with fake meats and fake cheeses with marginal success. This book moves beyond using store-bought fake ground beef, etc and gives you home-made, unique, and delicious alternatives. So far I have made the Almesan (vegan parmesan topping - YUM!), marinara sauce (so delicious and easy that I will never buy sauce in a jar again!), tofu ricotta (wow, it even looks like ricotta!), spinach lasagna (my omni boyfriend LOVED it), and jelly donut cupcakes (big hit at work).

The book starts out with an introduction on the terminology and a description of some of the "unusual" ingredients with which a new-ish vegan may not be familiar. Then there are 3 sections on basic things you need to know to be successful in the kitchen before you try a recipe - "How to cook a bean," "How to cook a grain," and "How to cook a vegetable." If you don't learn something from these sections, then you probably don't need to buy a cookbook to begin with and should just open your own restaurant immediately!

While some of the recipes are decidedly "gourmet," this manual is filled with so many great tips that go along with the plethora of recipes, and tips for vegan kitchen use in general that you should be successful even if you've never boiled water before. However, the style of the writing makes the in-depth descriptions interesting even if you are an advanced cook who doesn't need all the details provided.

My recommendation: Buy it. Read it. Laugh. Cook. Eat. Smile!

Update (8/28/2008): I have since originally writing this review made the Cashew Ricotta (used it in manicotti), Tempeh Shepherdess Pie, and Mac Daddy MacnCheese - I really enjoyed all of them.

I'm not vegan - I'm not even vegetarian - GREAT COOKBOOK!, January 17, 2008
I got this book as a gift - although I had it on my wishlist because my husband and I hate vegetables and I was desperately trying to find a delicious way to reduce our meat intake and begin enjoying vegetables like many other adults do.

Yes, many of the recipes are not "healthy" but many are significantly healthier. I very much appreciated the introductory sections on the "How To" of everything - as someone who doesn't eat too many vegetables in the first place, I had no idea how to cook 1/2 of them. The recipes are clearly written and easy to follow. The writing style is much more like a blog than a complicated book and we're actually eating meat-free meals on a regular basis now.

Highly recommended - even if you aren't vegan (oh and the lemon coconut cake is to die for! I never thought a vegan cake could be any good - I was SO wrong.)

Tasty Vegan Goodness!, December 5, 2007
I was a big fan of Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, so I was counting down the days until Veganomicon was released. I jumped right in and started preparing some of the recipes on a daily basis. Of the 30 or so recipes I've made, I've loved almost every single one of them. WARNING: However, if you are an on-the-go type of cook, this book may be too time intensive for you (most of the recipes take 45 minutes or more, not including prep work like chopping veggies). One of my favorite's is the Chili Cornmeal Crusted Tofu Po'boy. So delicious!! Also, make sure to try the chocolate chocolate chip cookies! Another thing I love about it is that it's hardbound, large, and sturdy for those messy cooks like myself. If you want a huge selection of recipes with not too many hard to find items, this is a great cookbook for yourself and any other food loving person in your life.

Just An Amazing Cookbook. Thanks Isa and Terry!, October 25, 2007
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. As a married mother of three finding Vegan recipes the whole family will love can be a challenge. Not anymore! With choices that range from Almost All American Pot Pie to Penne Vodka, you would be hard pressed to not be able to find things everyone will like. The ingredient instructions and how to sections in the front of the book are perfect for my Vegan teen who is just beginning to branch out from making the random desert (thanks to Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)into cooking "real food". The chatty and suportive tone makes it feel like your best friends have just come over to help you learn to make awesome food. The Icons make it easy to meal plan or find things to accomodate friends with allergies. I really like the mix and match section too for throwing together meals based on a big household's competing favorite ingredients and flavors. Do yourself a favor and buy this book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Featuring 800 Kitchen-Tested Recipes for More Healthful Eating Every Day of the Week PLUS Full Nutritionals for every recipe

Plus Recipe Makeovers of Everyone s Family Favorites, Hundreds of Step-by-Step Photographs, and Opinionated Ingredient and Equipment Ratings



A groundbreaking addition to our best-selling ringbound cookbook series, this all-purpose cookbook delivers 800 foolproof recipes for healthier everyday fare from breakfast dishes and appetizers to pasta, meat, chicken, kid-friendly favorites, desserts, and more. With this comprehensive cookbook in your kitchen, eating well will no longer be a chore. Here we offer up all-American, homestyle recipes that won t leave you hungry from multigrain pancakes, lowfat spaghetti and meatballs, Tex-Mex meatloaf, skillet pizzas, hearty beef and vegetable stew, and creamy lowfat spinach lasagna to rich-tasting scalloped potatoes, fudgy brownies, rustic apple tart, carrot cake, and lots of simple fruit desserts. Here you ll also find naturally lean recipes like our Spa Chicken and Lemony Steamed Spa Fish as well as healthy vegetable and grain classics and an entire chapter of vegetarian main dishes.



Cook from this volume and you ll learn tips and techniques that will forever alter the way you cook. Banish fried foods but still serve crispy chicken fingers, eggplant Parmesan, and oven-fried fish with our simple tricks (we toast the bread crumbs for that fried flavor). And learn to incorporate more vegetables and whole grains into all sorts of everyday dishes with easy recipes such as Hearty Ten Vegetable Stew, Chicken Baked in Foil with Fennel, Carrots, and Orange, Stuffed Acorn Squash with Barley, Multigrain Pizza Dough,Fusilli with Kale and White Beans, and Barley Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash.



And while we kept our eye on the bottom-line nutritionals, we also focused on using healthy ingredients too, so while some recipes might be a little higher in fat and calories, that is because they use nutritionally valuable foods like salmon, avocados, nuts, and seeds (and more). We also relied on many lower-fat ingredients here and we tell you which ones really measure up from ricotta and cream cheese to cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream. Which one you choose and when you use it can make a big difference in your final dish. With this book in hand, home cooks everywhere will be able to make simple changes in how they shop, eat, and cook changes that will deliver a big payoff to their family s health. ... Read more

Reviews

Amazing range and depth, excellent recipes and tips, August 23, 2010

Healthier recipies that taste great, August 27, 2010

Good book, but if you already have the non-health version,, September 15, 2010

"Move over Betty Crocker", August 26, 2010

Great, Overwhelming, Fantastic..., September 22, 2010

Another classic in the making!, August 26, 2010

One of those books you just know you're going to love..., October 10, 2010
I was so excited to start trying recipes from this cookbook. It was very interesting to peruse through it. One of my favorite cookbooks is America's Test Kitchen's Family Cookbook (minus the healthy title). I've had it for three or four years and have a bunch of favorite recipes in it. Basically, that cookbook is an updated, modern version of Betty Crocker or the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. There's more flavor and spice in America's Test Kitchen's recipes than in the two I just mentioned. When I heard the Healthy Family version was coming out, I was very curious. We strive to eat healthy foods, but we have our share of foods that we love that aren't so good for us, too. Overall, though, I think we try to eat healthy foods. I also am always on the look out for good low fat recipes because they inspire me to cook and eat better.

When I first opened this cookbook, I noticed that a few sections are different than the regular family cookbook such as stir-fries and curries and kid pleasing foods. Though I haven't tried any of the stir fry sauce recipes yet, I am looking forward to it!

For the most part, the recipes in this cookbook are different than in the original cookbook, though a few have only minor changes. The great chili and cornbread recipes are here but with minor changes. Still, it is a different cookbook. I was most curious about the baking recipes. I tried the brownie recipe and was wowed by it! Last night, I made the oatmeal raisin cookies and when my neighbor tried them, her eyes widened. She loved them and so did I! I made the Butternut squash soup this week--which was very good though it didn't need the extra vegetable broth added to it. I made several other recipes along the way including the strawberry banana smoothie and all have turned out well. I also made the Chinese chicken salad. I was so surprised at how they made it lowfat! I still added 2 Tbsp of sugar because I do like it just a tad sweet, but that's a far cry from the 1/2 cup sugar in my original recipe that I've been making for 10 years. With one recipe I did skip a couple of their steps because it simply wasn't practical for me and the recipe still did turn out okay. But, in general, you do need to follow the recipe's directions in these two cookbooks. They often add different quirky and unexpected steps in that make the recipes come out better work.

One big difference that I noticed in this cookbook was that the recipes are either designated Fast or they have no time identifier. In the original cookbook, there was a prep time identified which I usually found inaccurate for me (and I am a quick cook). So, I suppose it's probably wiser to omit the prep time estimation altogether.

I liked the philosophy that this cookbook had about food. It was moderate, middle of the road and wasn't extreme. I typically do choose lowfat over nonfat products. When products go the way of nonfat, many artificial ingredients are added in. The other bits of advice scattered throughout this cookbook about cooking equipment and ingredients is all very helpful.

I highly recommend this cookbook. But, I have one last piece of advice. What I did with my original cookbook is get a separate binder and take my favorite recipes and put them inside sheet protectors. I will likely do the same with my recipes from this one. It is a large binder with thin, magazine thickness pages. It is durable enough for looking through once in a while, but if you use it constantly, the pages just won't hold up.

If you're looking for one family cookbook, I'd recommend this one first--simply because the recipes are healthier. But, the original family cookbook is wonderful as well. They compliment each other!

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Boston Common Press.

Some Good Reasons For Another Cookbook, September 13, 2010

More of what we like from ATK, with a healthy spin., September 15, 2010

A Healthy CookBook with Tons of Information and Options!, August 28, 2010

Editorial Review

A full-spectrum nutritional cookbook with a startling message--animal fats and cholesterol are vital factors in the human diet, necessary for reproduction and normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels.Includes information on how to prepare grains, health benefits of bone broths and enzyme-rich lacto-fermented foods. ... Read more

Reviews

Great read even if you don't cook, March 18, 2002
I was seeing references to this book in other books that I found helpful: The Metabolic Typing Diet and Life Without Bread. (I also like Natural Hormonal Enhancement which was not available on Amazon when I purchased it.) But I delayed more than a year before buying Nourishing Traditions. I figured if I knew what to eat, I didn't need a cookbook too.

I was wrong. This is a textbook as much as a cookbook. I liken it to Joy of Cooking. You can learn a lot from it about food and nutrition even if you never use its recipes. I have used recipes from both, though, and can attest to their deliciousness. But I must admit, for me the best thing about reading Nourishing Traditions is learning about nutrition, not learning new recipes.

The authors criticize the "Diet Dictocrats" who propound the "politically correct" low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. I find the epithet of "politically correct" rather grating and would hope they drop it in later editions.

The book's thesis is a Rousseauian one: industrial food production yields a product unsuited to our body's nature. To find out what is suited to our nature, we ought to rely on research of what preindustrial societies consumed. Thus, as another reviewer pointed out, they view themselves as continuators of the program initiated by the Dentist Weston Price.

I can speak from personal experience that the low-fat dogma was a recipe for disaster for me. I also give the authors credit for recognizing a wide spectrum of ideal diets depending on one's genetic makeup. What is more problematic is how one draws the line between natural and unnatural. Is the line to be drawn between industrial and nonindustrial societies, or is it more basic than that. The book NeanderThin, for example sees humanity making a wrong turn with the advent of civilization. Civilization brings cultivation of grain and the domestication of dairy animals. Nourishing Traditions embraces dairy and grain as long as they are prepared in ways consistent with nonindustrial societies.

Despite these controversies, Nourishing Traditions is a treasure trove of valuable information. Just one small tidbit: there is a concern that beef in the USA has an unfavorable fat profile--there is an usatisfactory omega 6/omega 3 fatty acid ration. I just learned from Nourishing Traditions that this problem is not present with lamb in the USA because lamb is virtually all pasture-raised. Since I live in a small apartment and have no place to hang a side of pasture-fed beef, this was very helpful information.

OK, OK, one more tidbit. Everyone by now should know that people who eat nuts live longer. I love the taste of nuts but they always were hard for me to digest. Nourishing Traditions explains why and told me how to eat nuts without the digestive upset. These people know their stuff.

I've seen five stars on a lot of books, that were, frankly, pretty lightweight. This book is a keeper. It's not someone's brilliant marketing concept turned into a book. It's clearly the product of much, much, hard work. It's not the final word. But it's a comprehensive presentation of a coherent worldview on healthy nutrition.

Responding to some objections UPDATED, July 13, 2008
While the front matter in the book is pretty earth-shaking in terms of toppling most dietary shibboleths erected in recent years, the sidebar information as you go through the book is just as eye-opening. But let me deal with some objections I noted when reading Amazon reviews of this book. There are over 200 reviews, which says something about this book: it may not be on airport book racks, but people are reading it.

The NT way of eating is downright dangerous.

This is in the eye of the beholder. Most studies showing a decrease in heart disease deaths due to cholesterol-lowering drugs or diets show an increase in death rates from all causes. Which one are you going to take your chances with? Several well-done studies audited by independent researchers show no correlation between deaths related to heart disease or artheriosclerosis and the consumption of butter, eggs, and red meat. A few studies show that butter and saturated fats appear to have a protective effect.

What happens is that the government, the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association, and others (the Diet Dictocrats), cherry pick the studies they will publicize and which aspects of these studies the public will learn about--which the MSM then dutifully report to John Q. Public. Studies whose results seem to defy the diet-heart hypothesis are silenced, starved of funds, and ultimately shuttered. Hence you have people like my father-in-law who says he's not supposed to eat organ meats because they are high in cholesterol. There is absolutely no relationship between the amount of cholesterol in a food and the likelihood of it contributing to artheriosclerosis. The one exception is a form of oxidized cholesterol (present in powdered milk and powdered eggs, and in liquid lowfat milk), which did produce artheriosclerosis in rats. These are the foods we are supposed to eat to lower our cholesterol, and they actually contribute to heart disease!

Sally Fallon et al. have a thing against vegetarians.
This criticism was the most prevalent among the reviews. The reviewers were very emotional in their comments...but that should not be construed as reflecting an emotionalism (can I say that?) in the book. The book is unemotional. However, vegetarianism is the most deeply established alternate diet we have--many people are invested in it body, heart, and soul. I won't debate here whether vegetarianism is a good diet or not, but I will say that there are several points in the book where it's pointed out that pure vegetarian (vegan) diets are likely to contribute to a deficiency in fat-soluble vitamins (which come from animal products, primarily), some B vitamins and, if the grains/beans/legumes are unsoaked and unfermented, to the loss of minerals. Children in particular are profoundly affected by the lack of animal fat in the diet, and this is very sad to see.

On the other hand, a form of "vegetarianism" is followed in some cultures (more out of necessity than choice) which includes animal products in the form of eggs, raw and cultured dairy products, seafood, shrimp and fish eggs, and insects. These high-vitamin foods are sought-after commodities in these cultures, since they contain the all-important fat-soluble activators necessary for strength, long life, and healthy reproduction. The book notes that these more vegetarian cultures tend to suffer more from dental caries (as noted by Dr. Price) than others, but there are no diatribes.


The book is not well referenced.
I do not get this one at all. There are 63 footnoted pages of text explaining traditional foods, the role of certain substances in the diet (with an emphasis on fats), and the shortcomings of modern food processing and what can be done about it. There are 188 references listed in a separate section; most of these are research periodicals.

Sally Fallon is down on working moms.
"No one in modern America deserves more sympathy than the working parent on a limited budget....While it is not necessary to spend long hours in the kitchen in order to eat properly, it is necessary to spend some time in the kitchen. Simple, wholesome menus require careful planning rather than long hours of preparation...nutritious meals can be prepared very quickly when one lays the groundwork ahead of time. If your present schedule allows no time at all for food preparation, you would be wise to re-examine your priorities." There are two pages of simple hints and advice that anybody could follow.

Sally Fallon is down on moms who don't breastfeed.
"If, in spite of these measures, your milk supply is inadequate, don't feel guilty. Lack of adequate milk supply sometimes does occur, especially as baby grows and his appetite increases. You have done the best you could and your baby can still grow up healthy, strong and smart on a homemade, whole-food baby formula."

Soaked baked goods don't turn out.
There may be some credence to this criticism. I don't know all the recipes (there aren't many bread/baked goods recipes in the book). The one recipe I made produced some very decent sourdough bread. It turned out just as the book said--it was different, and boy was it sour! The good news is, you don't have to be a purist. Although refined flour is bad for the body, you don't have to eat it by the truckload. Making your own bread (even if it breaks the NT rules) is still better than buying stuff from the store; it's fresher, tastes better, and you can buy a bag of top-quality flour for the same price you'll pay for a loaf of the good stuff. If you do that, you will rely less on pre-made bread products for the foundation of your diet--lowering your overall intake of refined carbohydrates. Without all the flour-based products from the store, and with a few home-made loaves and a batch of cornbread or muffins now and then, your protective fats will take care of you.

Sally Fallon and Mary Enig reference their own works.
This is to be expected, after one has written a number of extended/scholarly works (which Mary Enig has done) and is now contributing to a book intended for a general audience.

The recommended foods/supplements are too expensive.
After reading The Maker's Diet, I had the same thought: how is everybody supposed to get a hold of raw milk and grass-fed meat? We don't all live in California and have Silicon Valley-sized incomes, bub. Don't even get me started on the supplements. This is not the case with NT. While it's true that if you want the ultimate cod-liver oil, it can get kinda spendy, the emphasis here is on putting the highest quality of food you can afford on the table. A philosophical shift might be helpful here. You will become convinced, reading this book, that the epidemic in degenerative disease afflicting Americans is due to our long-distance, highly processed mode of food production. A dollar spent today on high-quality food may save thousands in medical bills down the road. It is an investment, and you get to choose where you need to spend and where you can pull back. There are many, many simple ideas and techniques in the book that you can incorporate right now in your kitchen, lots of basic recipes and just a few key ingredients you can stock right away. Like lard.

The recipes/cooking methods take too much time.
This also would seem to be a criticism that sticks. But here again, we need to examine priorities. Do we really need to watch 3 hours of television a night? Do the kids really need to be trucking here and there to a different activity every afternoon/evening? Why can't Mom get some help in the kitchen? Perhaps the family needs to spend more time together, planting a square foot garden. Then everybody can get excited about eating food that tastes good and is good for you. And if all that Pollyannish stuff doesn't work out, Mom can just get sneaky. Pull out the margarine and substitute butter. Put liver in the tacos. Use brown rice pasta and less of it. More rice and potatoes and less bread. No more bottled salad dressing. Soak everything.

Personally, I used to stress about every meal when I first started using this book. Then I realized that if I just took 5 minutes every night to think through the next day's meals, everything went so much more smoothly. I could soak the oatmeal or the beans, get some stock going to simmer through the night, pull out meat from the freezer, or if all else fails, make a shopping list and figure out how I can procure the stuff I need. Sometimes it can be difficult to locate a crucial ingredient. NT has a Sources page that is invaluable, especially if you want to try making something exotic, like kombucha. The Internet, of course, offers a lot of different packaged goods. And then again, different areas of the country have access to different foodstuffs. I could go to Trader Joe's and Wild Oats in Washington but they don't have that here. On the other hand, I can buy meat and milk directly from a farm. And lard from local hogs.

***

This is long, and sometimes I wonder why I stay up to write about such things. Is a review of Nourishing Traditions really that important? I think it is, and I'll tell you why. Because when you read about Dr. Price and what he learned about the impact of nutrition on the body (not just the teeth), you will realize that being in the home, cooking fresh high-quality food for your family, is the most important thing you can do. All the things modernity has brought us, all the activities (for better or for worse) have tempted us away from the table and pushed us toward the TV tray. Fast, flash-frozen, microwaved meals and reheated pizza--no wonder we are all fat and exhausted. Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke--they wait at the end of our lives for us and what can we do to protect ourselves? More immediately, when a child is born and the birth is difficult, or the child has physical problems, it is absolutely searing for the parents. When that child grows up and has allergies, learning disabilities, childhood diseases or cancer, everyone suffers. Poor nutrition in the parents is a death sentence for the next generation.

The health care crisis in this country has a lot of factors involved in it--but one of the most preventable causes, one over which we have the most control, is what we put on our table and what we put in our mouths. We have the power to heal ourselves and it is worth making it a priority.

UPDATE 4/9/09
Still cooking with this book. Lately I've experimented alot more with the soaked flour recipes and have gotten good results. And while my husband tried to tell me politely that he really didn't prefer the sourdough bread, the yeasted buttermilk bread is a hit. And it smells like heaven while baking.

I also bit the bullet and bought the Country Living Grain Mill. This is a hand-powered mill and so might not be for everyone, but I'll vouch for it. If you enjoy baked goods as much as I do, it's worth trying to make them as healthy as you can. All the soaked flour recipes turn out hearty, whole grain products that only involve one extra step (besides grinding, that is)--you take the flour and liquid (usually buttermilk) and mix it up the night before and leave it out. Only the pancakes are really "soaked" in the sense that you get a soupy mixture. The rest of the time it just forms a ball of dough.

The real secret to these recipes is the food processor. You are taking a pretty firm ball of flour and buttermilk (or yogurt or cream cheese) and trying to work a few tablespoons of yeast/salt/water/honey/whatever into it the morning after. The food processor (a powerful one--I use a Kitchenaid) makes this task relatively quick and painless, since inadequate mixing will result in hard dry spots in your finished product. If you want to make these recipes and have to choose between the food processor and the grain mill, get the food processor. (I doubted I'd use one very much, but it sees frequent use in our kitchen.)

Cookies and cakes...the next frontier. The few cookie recipes in the book are very different than what I'm used to, but the ones based around ground nuts are easy to make and absolutely delicious. There aren't many different recipes for muffins and quick breads, although some variations are provided. You can experiment. You can also take an "ordinary" recipe and try to modify it in some way to bring it more in line with NT principles.

Some NT "recipes" are really no-brainers that are obviously favorites in the author's family or meant to jog your brain into thinking more creatively. The Flourless Carob Cake, for instance, is a basic sponge cake that you might find somewhere else and yet not try in favor of the more familiar flour-based ones. It is in fact pretty easy to make, and very sophisticated. Good luck, and happy baking.

Maybe the most vitally important and essential nutrition book to exist, August 22, 2005
It is unfortunate that the Spotlight review, under the heading, "Like the ideas, not the presentation," is the first one readers here see, because the review is written by someone who hasn't a clue as to how vitally important this book is. Such a misinformed review only undermines the astonishing scope of this book; it is evident that this reviewer has not any viable credentials to back up what amounts to a series of laughably feeble reasoning points. Worse, it is evident that the reviewer has not actually read Weston A. Price's "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration," which she dismisses in a naively peremptory way. Anyone who has read this eye-opening, exhaustively researched book on primitive versus modern diets, and see the evidence presented, will see why Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig have spearheaded a virtual campaign on the dangers of modern diets.

Let's face it - our foods have changed. And not for the better. In the long span of history, the last 100 years has wrought some devastating transformations in how food is handled, prepared, and, most insidiously - processed. Our genes are basically used to food that for millenia, was relatively pure, wholesome, unaltered and uncorrupted. So, since the turn of the century, matters began to shift. As manufacturing and processing became more sophisticated, food began to undergo a drastic change. Not having any longer to butcher our own beef, harvest our own vegetables and grains, make our own fats, we could rely on "companies" to start doing it for us. And what did we get in return? Fats (perhaps most disturbingly) are chemically altered and hydrogenated, turning them into dangerous poisons (just READ how margarine is made - it will incite one big colossal "yuck"); animals are mass produced in inhumane warehouses; are fed poor diets and get injected with god knows what; grains and vegetables are grown in sterile, pesticide-laden soils; refined, devitalized sugar and flour is in everything; we're offered and forced everything from hydrogenated fats to high-fructose corn syrup to MSG to plastic sugars. And guess what? This is the sickest, fattest time Americans live in. Heart disease, cancer, obesity, degenerative diseases, are at an all-time high. We have antibiotics, anti-imflammatories to conquer infectious diseases, but in return, we have heart disease, cancer, degenerative and neurological dysfunctions in its place. As this exhaustively researched and documented book illustrates, the culprits for this state of affairs is definitely tied to the devastating changes wrought in our foods. Though the medical establishment has found a way to treat diseases, it has ignored many of the current causes of those diseases in the first place.

This book offers a method, a return, so to speak, to a time when food was consumed in its purest state. Ironically, that's a difficult thing to do; only through specialty stores and farmers can we get naturally raised food. Most of the food - as cheaply and quickly made as possible - offered in supermarkets is nutritionally worthless, being as it is, refined, processed, laden with questionable chemicals and riddled with substances that have no place in our bodies. The sobering fact remains: most food conglomerates simply don't care about consumers' health.

Sally Fallon, along with Mary G. Enig, has done an astonishing, thorough and painstaking job in spelling out all that one needs to know regarding all manner of information about food. The writing is clear, easy to understand, and concise. The passion and near-missionary fervor with which they have pursued their topic is inspiring and infectious. The breadth of their research and work cannot be overestimated. The scope, level of information, expos�s and hardcore truths these women offer is mesmerizing: one is fixated by what they know and the surprising, irrefutable facts that are detailed (by the way, the sidebars in the recipe sections of anecdotes, information and lore are fascinating). It may in fact be the singular most important body of work on food contained in a single volume. In particular, one needs to pay attention to the information regarding the matter of fats. Enig, a PhD in lipid chemistry, plainly details how fats in today's food supply has wrought health havoc, what to avoid (polyunsaturates and hydrogenated fats are a menace), what is good, and how to go about using them correctly.

Many reviewers in this forum have complained of how complicated it is to take the time to properly prepare many of the foods and recipes Fallon offers. That may be so, but the time invested is worth it. As we as consumers are made more aware of how things must be done, it may be that we simply have no choice ~~ if we are to achieve the best of health ~~ to make the proper preparation of food a top priority once again. Some of the suggestions regarding raw foods is controversial, and not everyone will be convinced, but they make a strong case, nevertheless.

This book will not please vegans and vegetarians, who will be doing a virtual "foul" howl at the convincing scientific argument that we need animal fats and animal based foods. I will never consider vegetarianism after reading this book. Fallon makes a most eloquent plea for the bounty of animals we have been offered.

I have been subsisting on the nutrition advice based on this book for a year. I eat pastured beef, chicken, raw butter, raw milk, raw cheese, organic vegetables, lacto-fermented foods, plenty of stock-based sauces, coconut oil, nuts. Fats make up about 50-60% of my diet. Not only do I feel better (no more joint problems, no more dry skin, no more digestive discomforts), and: not only have I maintained the most stable weight I ever have at a stretch, I've actually lost fat, while my fat intake has increased. I look younger, feel stronger and have more vitality. To me it makes common sense to eat food closest to the way nature intended.

It will do well to remember that any food made by Mother Nature is the way to go: any food that's been made in a factory, chemically altered or changed drastically from its original state, beware.

It is so easy to get carried away by the nutritional information, that it may be easy to overlook the marvelous, inventive and tantalizing recipes. Again, the scope, selection and research on these recipes is amazing...they are numerous, varied, and appetizing. Nearly every cultural cuisine is covered in some small or large part, and are clearly detailed. Most of all, if one relishes culinary challenges, there are some intriguing ones as such offered here.

This book may be the most valuable nutritional guide one should own.

Nourishing Traditions is a monument., March 26, 1998
Sally Fallon's book is large in size and in its implications, valiantly sweeping away all the fog and ignorance that is endemic in the field of nutrition today. The book, focussing as it does on traditional (pre-modern) food selection and preparation, is revolutionary in all its common sense, prompting the reader to nod and say, "Yes, that's really true." It seems increasingly baffling to me that, amidst the daily deluge of ideas criss-crossing the landscape of the nutrition frontier, very few people acknowledge the contribution of 50,000 years of human history in the creation and maintenance of health. Well, Sally Fallon does. This book takes the reader to the highest ground yet. I particularly appreciated the excerpts from other books and journals, which are included liberally in sidebars throughout the book. It is a lot like reading several books in one, such is the cumulative scope of Nourishing Traditions. Of course, the recipes, all 700 of them, are fabulous. The book also has an excellent resource section to aid the reader in applying the principles laid out in the text. Finally, one comment on the book's subtitle, "The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats": This book does not tip-toe around the issues. The introduction, besides revealing many frightening (and rarely realized) facts about the state of current nutrition, also issues a call to action for people to release themselves from the collective trance perpetuated through advertising, through the common rationale that "we eat pretty well already," and even through many of the currently popular trends today, including veganism. Prepare to be educated. Prepare to do some weeding. This is a big, bright, shout-from-the-rooftops cookbook that should be required reading for anyone who has the slightest doubt about what they eat. And for those, more likely, who have no doubts.

Building on Dr. Price's Work, August 6, 2007
The 'most helpful' review for this book here at Amazon questions the reliance by this book on Dr. Weston Price's work, simply because he was a dentist. Fair enough, but the smart thing would be to see what he said for yourself. Instead of relying on Sally Fallon's word for why Dr. Price's work was so important, I went and read his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, myself. I actually checked out one printed in the 1940's from a university library, to avoid any reprint changes he may or may not have approved.

His work is fascinating. He first sought to understand why isolated people on traditional, unprocessed diets had such remarkable teeth, dental arches, and resistance to disease, particulary tuberculosis. Instead of focusing on the traditional methods used in medicine that seek to cure medical problems after the fact, he was out to find out a way to prevent the problems in the first place. What a novel idea. What he discovered was that traditional diets of isolated peoples maintained the teeth and health of these people in a dramatic fashion. He also found that within a generation of being exposed to processed food diets, these people began to experience the same health problems we have now. Why rely on his work, which dates some 70 years old? Because this same research can't be done today, there just aren't enough people that are still untouched by civilizaton and processed diets.

Back to this book. I believe much of what Sally Fallon has to say is right on the money. She was wise to heavily rely on what Dr. Price found and then has provided much additional information and some good recipies to go along with it. I agree with some of the other reviews here that state that implementing much of what she suggests into your diet will be a challenge. Our society and the giant food manufacturers have made it so, because that's how they earn a profit. Any way you slice it, eating healthy is a lot more work for you individually because you have to rely on yourself to prepare fresh unprocessed foods. But it's worth doing, and if you take bits and pieces and start to implement them gradually you and your family (and your future offspring) will be much better off because of it.

Scientific Support for Traditional Diets. Wonderful, February 27, 2004
This book by Sally Fallon (with Mary Enig, Ph.D.) is an inspiring polemic against both commercial, prepared food trends and some governmental and research leaders who appear to be making recommendations on nutrition under the influence of commercial interests.

My first impression of the book is that it shows exactly how hard nutritional science actually is. The authors are citing hundreds of technical works from both demographic and controlled experiment studies regarding thousands of different food components in their way to painting a complete picture of good nutrition. Their starting point in painting this picture is the common sense assumption that historical, natural diets are invariably more healthy than those laden with commercially processed foods. This assumption is backed up by demographic research done in the first third of the last century. This is the import of the `traditions' in the title.

It turns out that the potential allies of the authors' approach come from such different quarters as the Atkins diet advocates who endorse eating meat, eggs, and other proteins in preference to (processed) carbohydrates and the `Raw Food' wing of the vegetarian / vegan movement. The latter camp would wholeheartedly endorse the authors' issues with eating foods that retain their original enzymes to aid in digestion. I'm sure the vegans and the Atkins camp will not join forces any time soon, but their appearance in the same metaphorical room on the side of the authors' position is another indication of how multi-sided complex scientific theories can become.

I have no facts to confirm or challenge the authors' claim of corruption on the part of some academics in endorsing a nutritional position to back commercial interests. I will only say that it is irrelevant to the central tenant of the book, which in very simple terms is `Eat the way your great grandparents ate'. Some of the more important details are:

1. Avoid processed fats, starches, sugars, and proteins. They are not of no value. They are unhealthy.
2. Eat animal protein and their accompanying fats.
3. Eat whole grain products.
4. Eat foods prepared in such a way that avoids loosing important nutrients.

Almost all of the authors' statements on individual nutritional facts are backed up by published scientific research. One or two or even ten percent of their references may be flawed, but the overall weight of their evidence is truly impressive. The only problem I find in their characterization of the way things are today is in not giving full credit to medical science in lengthening our lifespans through the suppression of infectious diseases. This is likely to be the reason behind the increase in the frequency of deaths by degenerative diseases like cancer and heart disease, not a catastrophic loss of nutritional value in our diets. That is not to say their claims about the drop in the quality of our diet are not true. Always remember that these gals are making a case, they are not simply publishing scientific results.

While I think the authors have a strong case against processed foods, I find it difficult to fully endorse their next step. Their solution takes us close to the land of food extremists such as both traditional vegetarians and the more radical proponents of `raw' diets. What this means is that they raise up foods which are hard to find or difficult to prepare or are prepared in ways unfamiliar to American kitchens. This may not necessarily be a bad thing. It tends to appeal to my `Whole Earth Catalog' mentality of the home-brew lifestyle. But this lifestyle is simply not practical for the millions who work long, stressful hours followed by time devoted to kids and spouses.

My skepticism regarding their solutions is reinforced by some culinary misstatements such as the suggestion to refrigerate tomatoes after they ripen, to not add garlic to hot fat, and that artisinal breads are not good for sandwiches. The second and third statements are refuted daily by traditional Italian cooking practice. Their condemnation of all aluminum cookware and the microwave also seem more extreme than they need be.

What I take from this work is the very cautious and undramatic conclusion that the safest (and most interesting) culinary path lies in the study and emulation of historical diets. This gives a strong theoretical underpinning to my admiration of educators such as Mario Batali and Paula Wolfert who examine and promote historical cuisines based on the `what grows together, goes together'. This could easily be a subtitle of this book. It also gives support to practitioners such as Rachael Ray who promote fast cooking without resorting to overly processed ingredients.

I love a book that pulls together and validates a wide range of (my) opinions. While this book may not always be right, it is supremely valuable in its provocation to thinking. It is also supremely valuable in it's demonstrating the value of some less common foods such as sauerkraut, cr�me fraiche, and kim chee. This value doubles in that it actually tells you how to make this stuff. Lest it be overlooked, it is important to note that the lions share of the book is a fairly large cookbook of recipes with methods and materials that follow the book's doctrines.

At a list price of $25, the catalogue of vegetables chapter alone is almost worth the price of admission. I'm happy that here, the authors part company with both the advocates of `raw' and the old Adele Davis doctrine of saving veggie cooking water. They reinforce again the conventional wisdom of old school culinary practice which rarely leaves veggies raw. Some raw vegetables contain some bad things and cooking almost always makes the good things more available to digestion.

I recommend this book to everyone as the very next book you need to buy about food.

An Excellent Read & Cookbook, May 18, 2002
This book is much more than a cookbook--it is a nutritional handbook and virtual encyclopedia of food history and food facts. The first 80 pages of the book concern themselves with nutrition basics. The sections on fats, proteins, and carbohydrates are accurate, well-referenced, and needed in today's fat-phobic world. Fallon and Enig (who is a well-known lipid biochemist) dispel the many myths about saturated fats and animal foods.

Recipes for every imaginable dish and drink are given, from appetizers and sauces to fermented fruits/vegetables and beverages. And it was SO nice to see a chapter on preparing wild game and organ meats--nutritious foods that have virtually disappeared from our modern diets (to our decided detriment). The substantial section on vegetables provides detailed nutritional info on each entry, as well as 2-3 tasty recipes.

One caveat: some of the recipes take a lot of work if you want to do them the way Fallon and Enig recommend. For example, they suggest soaking and then drying and grinding your own grains to make flour. Obviously, not everyone has time to do this. I wish there was more emphasis on alternatives for busy people such as myself. Nevertheless, there are still lots of simpler recipes to make and they are tasty and delicious.

The Resources section in the back is excellent and handy for people wanting to get started.

A word to the detractors below:
(1) Indians DO have very high rates of coronary artery disease, even the vegetarian ones, so vegetarianism is NOT a protection against this condition (J Indian Med Assoc 2000 Nov;98(11):694-5, 697-702).
(2) The claims that vegetarians live longer than omnivores (on a healthy diet) are also not supported by available data (R Smith and E Pinckney. Diet, Blood Cholesterol, and Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review of the Literature--vol. 2. (Vector Enterprises; CA)., 1991).
(3) The idea that eating animal protein causes calcium loss has been disproven many times over ((a) J Nutr, 1986, 116:316-319; (b) Amer J Clin Nutr, 1983, 924-929; c) J Nutr, 1988, 118(6):657-60; (d) Amer J Clin Nutr, 1999, 69:1:147-52; (e) J Bone & Min Res, 2000, 15:2504-2512; (f) Calcif Tiss Int, 1996, 58:320-5.
(4) The idea that eating a lot of butter or ghee (or other animal fats) contributes to or causes heart disease is false ( Lancet, 1994, 344:1195; (b) Science 2001 Mar 30 291:5513 2536-45).
(5) The idea that eating meat or animal fats contributes or causes various cancers is a popular idea that is not supported by available evidence (The Lancet, 1999, 353:686-7; (b) Aust J Nutr Diet, 1997, 54(4):S1-S44.

I'm wondering if these acrid reviewers bothered to read the book or check its many references.

Also, a few reviewers commented feeling sick after eating some of the recipes. This is usually indicative of digestive weakness and may call for digestive enzymes or fermented foods before a meal to stimulate digestive juice flow. The book does suggest eating some fermented food either right before or with with a meal to facilitate digestion. Again, I'm wondering if the critics have bothered to read the book in any detail. Nausea shortly after eating can also mean that the meal has too much fat in it. Either the people made the recipe wrong or they cannot tolerate higher amounts of fats at one time and need to cut back.

a valuable textbook as well as cookbook, August 22, 2005
I have to correct some of the spurious information in a couple of the negative reviews that I've seen. First of all, yes, Weston A. Price was a dentist, not a nutritionist. Notwithstanding, he made tremendous contributions to the understanding of human health and nutritional needs. He is remembered for what he shared with the world about the travels he made to remote areas of the world to discover what healthy native peoples were eating. He went out with questions, not preformed conclusions, carefully observed, made measurements, took copious notes and photographs, and drew conclusions only after he had accumulated an abundance of evidence. He did not conclude that there was a single one-size-fits-all diet for all people, but that traditional people ate a tremendous variety of different diets, with certain key elements in common:
* they ate nutrient-dense foods
* they prepared foods in ways that maximized nutrients and digestibility
* they ate at least some animal foods, and particularly valued certain animal foods such as liver and organ meats, raw butter from cows grazing on green grass, etc.
* they discovered the value of lacto-fermentation and ate many foods fermented
* they ate some of their animal foods raw
* they ate properly prepared whole grains and seeds (soaked, sprouted, fermented, etc.) to minimize anti-nutrients and increase digestibility
* they produced their own food and taught the younger generations the value of certain foods, especially for pregnant or nursing women, children, and couples wishing to have children
* they spaced their families so women didn't have children more often than every three years so as to have the strength and nutritient stores needed for gestation and lactation, not to mention chilldrearing.
There are probably other points but this covers the key items I think.

The Weston A. Price foundation was founded by Sally Fallon, in about 1999, I believe, and not by Weston Price. Another group, the Price-Pottenger Foundation, serves as an archive of the works of Price as well as Pottenger (I don't remember his whole name; author of nutrition study called Pottenger's Cats) and publishes "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration," which surely must be the most important book on nutrition ever, despite not being written by a "nutritionist." (I've read most of what is out there.)

The WAPF does not accept money from the dairy or meat industries. I am a member and I know Sally. The foundation is supported by member dues, individual and small-business contributions and book sales. For lots of free articles from past issues of the WAPF journal, Nourishing Traditions, visit www.westonaprice.org. I've read almost every WAPF article ever published and am impressed by the high standard of scientific proof adhered to, with citations in scholarly journals and lucid explanations of complicated subjects.

I do agree that Nourishing Traditions can be intimidating at first. I was fascinated but couldn't see myself making all these things from scratch. But gradually I started learning to make one foundational product (sauerkraut), then another (kefir), and I recently jumped in whole hog, so to speak. And for the first time I went back and read the introductory chapter, which lays out the theoretical and philosophical foundations of the book, based on the work of Weston A. Price. If you're confused by the recipes, go back and read the introduction, and just read the book as a text. Then start small. Yes, preparing nutritious food takes time, but it's a valuable investment in your health. Also, the WAPF has local chapters that can help you find sources of whole foods in your region, and you can learn a lot from other members. Check the Web site.

I actually got started in Nourishing Traditions-style cooking when I happened to attend a demonstration of sauerkraut- and kimchee-making by Sandor Katz, the author of the wonderful book Wild Fermentation (which Sally Fallon wrote the intro to). When I realized how easy it was to make saurkraut and how wonderful the process of lacto-fermentation was, I started experimenting. Now, at any given time, I have at least one crock of saurkraut or pickes or both bubbling away on my counter, and others in the refrigerator, and I make kefir every 2-3 days from raw milk. Yum!

Another good introduction to the work of Weston A. Price is "Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine," by Ronald Schmid, a naturopath. The first half is best, where he recounts Price's travels and findings and reprints many of the startling photographs he took of the effects of traditional diets vs "white man's food" on various populations. I think Schmid wrote the book before he fully understood the import of certain aspects of Price's findings, so the second half of his book is weaker.

Medical doctor looks at Nourishing Traditions, June 4, 2002
I have been a practicing medical doctor for about 20 years. In that time I have pursued my interest in nutrition literally to all corners of the globe. I have read scores of books on nutrition and treated hundreds if not thousands of patients with nutritional advice and natural medicines. Of all the published nutritional information on the shelves today, by far the most informative, reliable, comprehensive, and useful is Ms. Fallon's Nourishing Traditions. When I first came across Nourishing Traditions a few years ago, I was amazed that one person was about to amass virtually the entire wisdom of traditional societies concerning nutrition into one book. I found ancient recipes, cooking techniques, food preparation insights that are simply not to be found anywhere else. I urge all those who wish to truly pursue their knowledge of nutrition and to regain their own health to do one thing. Buy Nourishing Traditions, read it thoroughly, take a deep breath, and embark on a new way of life. Thomas Cowan, M.D.

One of the Best Books Ever Written Period!!, August 28, 2002
After reading just about every diet book in existence, from Atkins to Eat Right 4 Your Type to vegan and vegetarian diet books, finally I have found a book not based on some polar not found in nature extreme theory, but a book based on the reality of what very healthy people have been eating for a very long time. Finally a book based on facts and science, not wild speculation and wishful thinking.

The diet recommended in this book is based on traditional foods used by very healthy people (and very long lived people) all over the world for thousands of years. These people all have one thing in common. They don't used processed, pasteurized, denatured food. Some cultures and lands use unpastuerized milk products as staples, others use raw meat or focus on cooked and raw meat. All peoples consume some form of unprocessed animal product, with fat and enzymes intact. They also use lacto fermented products, from yogurt to fermented fruits, vegetables and meats. The fermentation makes the food very easy to digest, adds friendly intestinla bacteria and preserves the food. The book also explains proper preparation of grains (usually soaking for a period of time) to remove phytates and make the nutrients more available.

The book is based on Weston Price's (others have validated his research and have conducted their own) research on "primitive peoples" diets from around the world. He was a dentist who traveled around the world checking the health of these people and then compared their health with the health of these same peoples when they ate processed food diets as they became available.

This is a very good book with very valuable information. The information on fats is extremely important.

Defintely the best book ever written on diet and nutrition and probably one of the best books ever written period. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The popularity of the low carb/paleo/Primal wayof eating has exploded, as people discover an appealing and sustainable alternative to the restrictive diets and flawed conventional wisdom that lead to burnout and failed weight loss efforts. The dream of eating satisfying meals-even on a budget-controlling weight and feeling great has now become a reality. As you build momentum for Primal eating,you'll find that you won't even miss the bland,boring, low-fat foods that previously were the central focus of your diet. How can you argue with a menu that includes Roasted Leg of Lamb withHerbs and Garlic, Salmon Chowder with CoconutMilk, Tomatoes Stuffed with Ground Bison andEggs, and Baked Chocolate Custard? This isn't acrash course diet. These and the other Primal recipes provide the foundation for a lifetime of delicious, healthy eating, high energy and protection from common health problems that arise from eating SAD (Standard American Diet). ... Read more

Reviews

Excellent tasting recipes...obviously tested, July 8, 2010
All my readings and life experience (previously working for five years in a natural foods co-op) have now finally converged on the Primal diet lifestyle as the common sense approach to nutrition (and, for me, backed up by the well-researched book, Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes).

I've bought a lot of cookbooks on my journey to a more healthy diet. And some of those cookbooks seem to be comprised of recipes that were conceived purely on theory and not at all on taste (cough..Atkins..cough).

I knocked out 5 of the recipes in the Primal Blueprint cookbook in a week and a half, and every single one of them tasted FANTASTIC. Even my wife and two children, whom I'm slowly trying to wean from their highly-refined carbo-centric tendencies, raved about the recipes I cooked (e.g. Moroccan chicken, Transylvanian stockpot, Coconut ice cream, zucchini frittata...) These are not people who like the taste of real vegetables. My wife said, and I quote, "That cookbook is best money we've ever spent. I can't believe how good this tastes."

Clearly, the recipes were tested and refined by an actual person who knows the taste of good food. Thank you, Jennifer Meier.

Also, I have a son who is Type 1 diabetic. We noticed that the meals I cooked from this book had a very low effect on his post-meal blood sugar. No huge post-meal spike and less insulin required at mealtime. That in itself was worth the price of admission. Cookbooks like this show him that he can eat delicious meals that do not adversely affect his blood glucose. He will need this knowledge to cope with his diabetes when he ventures out on his own (he's 10 right now).

To me, a five-star rating indicates a perfect book (or movie, or whatever), so I'm giving it 4 stars, a very high rating to me, for the following reasons:
- It does not have an index referencing the ingredients. I often cook by the "what-have-I-got-in-the-refridgerator" method; designing a week's worth of meals (and our food shopping) around that. With this book, I can't look up all the recipes that have zucchini in them. So put an index in it already.
- I do have the Primal Blueprint book also, but what if I'm someone who doesn't have that and just wants the cookbook? This cookbook doesn't contain a brief overview of the theory behind the recipes it contains; it just jumps right in to the recipes. A Primal Blueprint primer at the beginning of the cookbook would round it out nicely.
- Final (unfair) criticism: not enough recipes! You do get your money's worth, but I want Volume II already! (I'm not one to browse the internet or blogs for recipes; I like cookBOOKs.

Highly recommended cookbook as it contains excellent tasting, easy, nutritious recipes!

A great basic intro to Primal/Paleo variety!, July 3, 2010
Been a fan of Mark's Daily Apple website for a couple of months; I like the reader-shared recipes there, so hoped this cookbook would be more of the same.
Came away with mixed feelings....while there ARE some new things I had never thought to try (new spice uses, flavor combos, etc.), a lot of it echoes common sense for anyone who is familiar with basic cooking techniques and has been eating this way for any amount of time. This is a great intro for anyone afraid to make the leap, for whatever reason, into the Primal world in terms of diet (and I hesitate to use that term, because it's more of a lifestyle than a "diet") and fears that it would consist of bland meat & raw veggies. There are some pretty sophisticated (but not complicated to duplicate) flavor combos here, and you'll do better if you live in a area with at least access to a
metropolitan grocery choice (wheat-free tamari, unsweetened coconut milk, dried seaweed) but much of the ingredients ARE readily available.
I've lost over 70#s by limiting my diet to the choices advocated in this book (didn't realize it was a "diet" at the time), have tons of energy and advocate the primal
lifestyle (mainly diet, but I like the walk a lot, lift heavy objects-low aerobic/interval training- physical mission aspects as well).
Vast improvement over the other "low-carb" cookbook choices out there ( I would rather NOT fill my diet with unpronouncible ingredients, thank you!) but not "OMG-I can't WAIT to try this recipe!" excitement.

Good recipes, but too many pictures, August 28, 2010
I've been following a Primal Diet since 2/2010 and was very excited to get this cookbook. For once, here's a cookbook that fulfills all of my diet choices without me having to adjust the recipes to fit what I eat. What I've tried from this book has been good-I'm a huge fan of the pumpkin nut muffins and LOVE the Enchiladas recipe (FYI-steep learning curve to making the egg-white tortillas, but great once you do!)
Here are my issues:
1. Mark Sisson has been working on this cookbook for a long time and asked people on his blog to contribute recipes. A lot of those recipes that ended up on the blog (and are AMAZING) didn't make it into the cookbook. While this means that there are different recipes in the book, I really wanted to have some of those other recipes more easily on hand.
2. There are a TON of color pictures in this cookbook. While I find pictures of how something should look helpful, giving me a picture of all the ingredients grouped together on a plate is just a waste of space! I didn't pay for pictures, I paid to get great recipes.
3. They need a better editor! The Enchilada recipe that I love so much doesn't give a temp for the oven--they only tell you to cover the dish with foil and bake it for 20 min. I've had to play around to figure out what works to get the dish done in 20min (it isn't 350). You might think I'm being nit-picky, but this isn't the only recipe that's missing information.
The gist of this is, the recipes that I've made are good, I just wish there were more of them and that they had complete cooking information. It's a great place to start if you're new to this diet. Also go to Mark's website: [...] for recipes as well.

The Primal Blupring Cookbook, July 19, 2010
I've been long awaiting a cookbook like this, and it lived up to it's expectations.

I've made the Buffalo Chili, the Peach Chicken Salad, the Jambalaya, the Roast Beef and the Grok Rocks. All of which have been delicious.

The book has some really interesting ways to work around foods you are used to eating. I've been really impressed with some of the ideas such as grated Cauliflower as an alternative to rice. Worked great in my Jambalaya.

On the down side, the book is a little too short, but worth the money in my opinion. Would buy again.

Everyone Should Own This Cookbook, October 6, 2010
A bit over 3 months ago I was diagnosed with diabetes and my doctor recommended The Primal Blueprint Cookbook as well as the Primal Blueprint. I bought both books on Amazon and after 3 months of eating these recipes and following the Primal dietary guides, I am no longer diabetic.
The recipes are delicious and it will be no problem to continue to eat this way because my husband and I both enjoy the food.
I lost 34 pounds in two and a half months and my husband lost 36. We continue to lose now, but at a slower rate.
Just a note -- diabetes is rampant in our country now and like myself, most people know little about it until they get it. Let me tell you, there is pain involved, so for your family and for yourself, please switch to the Primal lifestyle. You will be thinner, stronger, healthier, non-diabetic, and I am sure you will live much longer.

Great way to eat, October 8, 2010
A surgeon friend shared the cookbook with me when I was trying to decide on starting a new way of eating to loose weight. The first recipe I looked at was the grilled steak, that was all it took. I decided I could do it, giving up pasta, bread, grain, rice and legumes was easy. I have loost 22 pounds in 6 weeks, I am not hungry, I have more energy and I am sleeping better. I used to be sleepy shortly after eating and have to take a nap everyday after work, not any more. Eating out is easy also no problems at all. I would recommend this book who wants a healthier way to eat and live better.

Recipes delicious, beautiful pic of every dish, lacks an index otherwise perfect, October 11, 2010
A great cookbook needs tasty, usable recipes with photographs of the dishes, and a practical layout. This cookbook is almost perfect.

Mark Sisson includes three color photograph of each dish: one of the assembled ingredients, one of the finished dish, and one "in progress" pic. Some meals that I would not think of making from the title, I have tried based on how delicious the finished dish looks. The Transylvanian Stockpot dish, for example, is the best stew I've ever had despite the unfortunate name (it was a family name passed down for generations and they perserved that. The Five Spice Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry is another example. I thought 'Oh right another beef and broccoli dish" but the spices used rendered it absolutely amazing.

Each meal category is well-represented. Usually breakfast gets a paltry selection of dishes or they are the same old breakfast dishes we always see - high in carbs and low in nutrition. We made the Tomatoes Stuffed with Ground Bison and Eggs and some of my kids were hesitant to taste it but we found we ought to have doubled the recipe.

So as far as the food and presentation of the dishes goes, this is the best cookbook I've seen.

Two things are lacking: an index and a notation on the recipes themselves indicating how long each dish takes to prepare. Of course I can skim the recipe and get that information but if it were noted at the top of the ingredients list like many recipes have it, it would be an improvement. Also I would lay out the ingredients list with all spices together, then onions and items to chop, etc., so it's easy to see and do the prep work at once. This is minor, but no good editor would allow the book to get to publication without an index and I'm wondering what happened there.

Still it's my default cookbook and never disappoints.

Simple, tasty and very healthy recipes... I love it!, October 8, 2010
There is so much hype and misinformation about what is and isn't healthy these days. Along with the Primal Blueprint this cook book makes it dead simple. No macro/micro nutrient, calorie, whatever else counting necessary... just easy to follow and extremely delicious meals. Keep up the good work Mark!

Great book - highly recommended!, October 6, 2010
I have been a fitness/nutrition enthusiast for years, and I always followed complex bodybuilding diets in the past. After I started reading Mark's Daily Apple (free online blog), I became fascinated with the principles of the Primal Blueprint. I've followed low-carb diets with great success in the past (they are superior), but I've never considered making it a lifestyle. The Primal Blueprint Cookbook opens up an unbelievable amount of tasty recipes that are simple to cook and make eating healthy enjoyable. I cannot recommend the Primal Blueprint and the cookbook highly enough! Do yourself a favor and grab a copy. If you are curious about the Primal Blueprint, check out the blog first. Mark post plenty of free recipes that will leave you wanting more!

Fantastic and healthy cookbook, October 9, 2010
I ordered this cookbook at the recommendation of my Crossfit coaches at Crossfit Central who are all in AMAZING shape. The recipes are delicious and simple to make and help to keep me in line with my Paleo/Primal style eating. My husband who is not technically "Primal" has loved every single recipe I have made from this book. I highly recommend it! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Making it healthy and easy to bake bread!, October 28, 2009
I have been a fan of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (ABFM). The main problem with that book is the bread came out so good, I tended to eat too much of it (but loving every minute of it).

One of the great things about the technique in ABFD is that the recipes are very forgiving and flexible, and I usually made variations, including using more whole grains.

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day will not only alleviate some of the guilt, it has some really wonderful recipes and ideas using a wide range of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, gluten-free breads and pastries and even some healthy variations on some of the more delicious but not necessarily the healthiest breads from ABFD (such as the 100% whole grain butterfat and yolk fee Brioche!).

I tried many of the recipes in ABFD and most were very good to excellent, some outstanding.

I will, sadly, be putting ABFD on the shelf at least for a while. I really look forward to exploring the healthy recipes in this book. Let's see, if I make a different bread every 4 days, it will only take me about a year to go through the entire book.

For those of you who have not tried Artisan Bread, the technique is really as easy as the writers claim, it is virtually foolproof, and you can now have fresh homemade bread at any time with almost no fuss whatsoever. Once you get this book, you will never buy bread from a store again. You can freeze the dough and it tastes just as good thawed. I took some frozen dough on a trip and enjoyed homemade bread far from home.

The title "Five Minutes a Day" is based on preparation time. It takes less than 20 minutes to completely prepare most recipes to make about 4 loaves (you can easily half or double the recipes). Of course, you still have to bake the bread, but that is not active cooking time. You can easily freeze the dough and build a store of different breads in your freezer. Over time, depending on how much bread you eat, you will probably less than 5 minutes a day on average.

Though a good number of recipes use only whole grains and "healthy" ingredients, some recipes use smaller amounts of unbleached white flour, small amounts of sugar. However, the writers encourage you to make substitutes if you like, which is what I did with ABFD.

The only improvement to the book I can think of at the present time is listing somewhere in the book which recipes are vegan (my daughter is vegan and I am vegetarian). Though I can figure that out for myself by flipping through the book, it would be nice to have those recipes listed.

As an added bonus to delicious recipes, according to the book, the cost of a loaf of bread made at home is about $.40 per loaf. That cost probably is more for recipes that use less well-known grains, or more expensive ingredients, but then again those bread would be more expensive to buy in the store in any case. No matter which recipes you choose, you will be saving money.

Should you buy this if you already have the first book? I did, and I am glad that I did. I am impressed with the wide range of recipes and their creative approach to making bread not merely delicious, but healthier.

One more thing: the writers have an incredible website (healthybreadinfive), where they have additional recipes, and a great bread making community sharing tips and experiences. Though I have not posted on the web site, they answer questions and even based some of the recipes in their new book on suggestions from readers.

Add healthy bread to your diet and save money. Zoe and Jeff, thanks for bringing fresh, easy to make, bread back into my life!

This is my first ever review on Amazon, but I felt this book merited a strong endorsement.

P.S.

I've begun to try the recipes

I used the rye as a a sandwich bread, and made a pizza crust (and a regular loaf) from the avocado-guacamole bread. These recipes are about 1/3 whole wheat. The recipes seem a little less forgiving in terms of getting the time right (I undercooked one loaf of rye, and overcooked a loaf of the avocado-guacamole bread). It may have something to do with the whole wheat, but I'm not sure.

The Bran Muffin Bread came out wonderfully, great crust, light inside, slightly sweet and delicious. Also used it for French Toast, which was great!

I combined 2 recipes, 100% Whole Wheat with Olive Oil and 100% Whole Wheat with Flaxseed. Great crust and very good whole wheat taste with the extra nutrition of flaxseed. It is particularly good as a bread for sandwiches. I used the dough for the Algerian Flat Bread (a pan fried bread) which was a real treat.

I just made the 100% whole wheat with brown rice breat. This was a great bread and somewhat unusual. The bread crumb looks lighter than regular whole wheat bread, which might make it more acceptable to fussy eaters (read "kids"). The crust is delicious. When it comes out of the oven it is particularly crunchy with a nice combination of wheat and rice flavors intermixed.

Keep in mind, that while these recipes are "healthier" than regular bread recipes that just use regular flours, most are not pure whole grains, but a combination of unbleached white with other grains. There are some 100% whole wheat recipes as well. However, all the recipes do have a healthier twist and I am very happy with the book. I'm looking forward to trying many other recipes such as: Pistachio Twist, Gluten Free Cheddar and Sesame Bread, Carrot Bread, Lentil Curry Bread.

P.P.S:

A question of time. Does it really only takes five minutes a day? Although there are some recipes which are more complicated (but delicious) many of the basic recipes do take the equivalent of 5 minutes a day. For a fantastic new illustrated step by step walk through of the basic recipe, go to the author's website [...].

In summary, you get a large container, put in the yeast, salt, warm water, and flour, and mix. Most recipes make enough for four loaves (though usually can be doubled or halved). Timing myself, including the time to get the ingredients from various places in my kitchen, to mixing them, to cleaning up, many of the recipes will take between 10 to 15 minutes for the initial batch ( not including waiting time). Then, each time you want to make a loaf, you take a grapefruit size of the flour (which you have refrigerated), let it get to room temperature, put it in the oven and bake. the total amount of time I usually spend to make four loaves of bread is less than 20 minutes. Of course, there are some extremely delicious recipes that require some extra steps, but even most of these only take a few more minutes. I do not have a container big enough for the eight loaves at a time, but if I was really concerned about time, I could do that. Most of the doughs can be frozen. I usually make 2 or 3 of the loaves, freeze the rest, and then began to build a bank of various breads I can thaw and then freshly bake.

Exceeded my expectations, October 29, 2009
I have been a huge fan of the authors' first book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and to say that I was impatiently anticipating this one would be an understatement. I received it the day it came out, 2 days ago, and have already read through it twice. I pulled my first loaf of 100% Whole Grain Maple Oatmeal Bread from the oven this morning, and I wish I could describe to you the smell in my house right now! After letting it cool for a few minutes, I sliced off a piece and it was heavenly. Texture, flavor, everything was spot-on.

My copy is full of tape flags for those that I must-make-right-away: Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread (including making the dough into hamburger or hot dog buns!), Pesto and Pine Nut Bread, Anadama Corn Bread, Quinoa Bread, Brown Rice & Prune Bread, Whole Wheat Mixed Berry Bread, and Honey Graham Bread top the list. There is also a chapter specifically for gluten-free breads and treats, which look wonderful. Honestly, I haven't seen any that I don't want to try, and I'm also looking forward to mixing and matching with some of the ideas from the first book. (The sun-dried tomato and parmesan is one of our favorites from that one, and I'll be making it with one of the whole-grain doughs very soon.)

Be aware that they do call for a few specialty ingredients, but nothing that I wasn't able to find in my local natural foods store - most were even in my regular supermarket. Anyone who is already doing some whole grain baking will have many of the ingredients already on their shelves.

In addition to the wonderful recipes, the authors also impart much knowledge that they've learned since the first book. The material in the introductory/informational chapters in the beginning is great - I'm especially happy that they included info for weighing ingredients.

Thanks, Zoe and Jeff, for another masterpiece! Can't wait for the next one. ;)

Good enough to skip the pie!, November 29, 2009
While I openly admit, I dont eat a lot of bread products day to day, I do enjoy a really good bread. Really good bread to me is a hearty bread loaded with flavor, grains, fruit, vegies.... those are the ones I find hard to resist. What I discovered in this book, Healthy Bread In Five Minutes A Day was a whole book full of recipes as well as tips to make just the kind of bread that I would find hard to resist.

I thought Thanksgiving would be a great time to create one of the mouth watering recipes from this book. On page 145 I found just the recipe, 100% Whole Grain Maple Oatmeal Bread? Sound good? Good didnt even begin to describe it! Using whole wheat flour and old fashioned oats, I followed this recipe step by step to make a delicious tasting and smelling bread that filled the house with a pleaseantness that had my whole family wanting to know - when do we get to eat it?

For a person who doesn't really do anything slow... this was a lesson in good bread making. I need two hours to let the dough rise and collapse. On the bright side of this, the bread dough can be made up to seven days in advance and kept refrigerated until you are ready to bake - so a fresh loaf could be at your fingertips!

The end result was a good looking loaf of bread that I was pleased with and the flavor of maple and cinnamon made for a "skip the pie" worthy treat. This would make a wonderful gift to the baker you know.

Gluten Free Paradise, March 29, 2010
This review applies specifically to the Gluten Free recipes. Please do not mark as "unhelpful" if you do not use these recipes.

You will never go back to those syrupy-tasting, stomach-bomb store-bought loaves!

I've tried the Brioche recipe and the Olive Oil Bread recipe (the two main recipes). The Olive Oil bread is by far the best for sandwiches, rolls etc. It has mild flavor and is more like regular bread than anything I've ever tasted. Tastes great with Thyme sprinkled over the top.

The Brioche is sweet and will probably work well for the cinnamon rolls and the pastries. I attempted the cinnamon rolls, but the dough stuck horribly to the SILPAT and I scooped it off and just baked it as a loaf. I recommend using some flour to dry out the dough a little (don't knead) and brushing melted butter on the SILPAT and on the waxed paper or plastic wrap you lay on top to roll it out. This has worked for me before with other recipes.

The Brioche is flavored with Honey instead of sugar. The Olive Oil bread is flavored with vinegar but does not produce a sour flavor as you might think.

Three CONS to the gluten free recipes are:

1. They all call for tapioca flour, sorghum flour, corn starch etc. All STARCH! If you want a truly healthy gluten free bread I recommend Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Mix which has enough sorghum and tapioca flour to produce the texture needed but is mixed with two kinds of bean flour for protein, vitamins and fiber. I replaced the starches with Bob's Red Mill mix and used brown rice flour as the recipe called for. The result was fantastic! (Even though Bob's Red Mill mix has xantham gum in it, I still used the 2 Tbs. called for in the recipe. If you use Bob's mix know that bean flour comes out darker than starchy flour. So don't use egg wash.)

Also, only one recipe in the book calls for Quinoa, and it's not a gluten free recipe. I don't know how the authors overlooked the healthier flour alternatives, but since they are new to gluten free baking (as they say in the book and got outside help) I won't hold it against them.

2. The wood paddle isn't necessary either. Kind of silly when you realize you just spent $40 on a piece of wood just for the nostalgia. I just wet my hands, take out the amount dough necessary, form it in my hands, and rest it on the SILPAT on the cookie sheet with a cloth over it until baking time. When I get my stone I will just scoop it off with my hands and place it on the stone. There are instructions for baking it halfway with the SILPAT on the stone, then removing it for the rest of the baking.

3. The GF recipes don't tell you to cut across the top before baking for that artisan look. I don't know if this works with GF dough as I haven't tried it. I smooth the surface with water on my fingers and sprinkle herbs on it.

When I tried these recipes my Baking Stone had not come yet, and I just baked it on the SILPAT on my cookie sheet. A tip: When you make the Olive Oil bread and the instructions say to throw a cup of water in the broiler pan (watch the video on their website), make sure you do it the way they do. The first time I placed the water in the pan and then the pan in the oven. The second time I place the pan in the oven, let it warm up with the oven, and then put the water in creating the big burst of steam like in the video. This is important to the rise and texture of the bread, I found. Much better with the big burst of steam, though my pan warped a little. A worthy sacrifice, IMO.

When making the Hot Dog Buns remember that Gluten Free dough does not expand and rise like regular dough. Make them about as big as you want the finished bun to be, they will not get much bigger when baked. I did this with the Brioche recipe, but will do it with the Olive Oil recipe from now on.

I also used the Olive Oil dough to make dumplings on chicken soup, just scooped out small handfuls from the tub in the fridge. They were great.

I made Banana Bread with freeze-dried banana pieces that I reconstituted and just mixed with a loaf's worth of dough and some spices, then formed. Big hit.

Also, if you have trouble making GF dough rise, like I do, set it on top of the stove with the oven heated to 300*F in the plastic tub for its 2-hour rising time. This makes softer bread and yields the said 4 loaves. If the dough does not rise near to the top of the tub you will not get 4 loaves and the bread will be denser, but still not as heavy as the store-bought kind.

I tried the Authentic Foods Dough Enhancer and it wasn't as good. The Dough Enhancer is just lecithin, ascorbic acid, tapioca, and ginger that claims to be a "yeast activator". Don't bother.

Be sure to read through the other, non-gluten free recipes for inspiration. There is Stollen, Challah and doughnuts which can be made with the Brioche dough. At least one other recipe referred to Gluten Free dough as a substitute.

Buy the yeast in bulk--the packets are a rip-off and it takes 3 � pkts to get the 2Tbs required.

It costs me about $1.50 per loaf (you make 4 loaves at a time, so $5 worth of flour, $.25 for 4 eggs and yeast divided by 4 loaves.) Compare that to the $8 store-bought stuff it's worth its weight in gold. In this economy that's saying a lot.

THANK YOU !!!!!!!, January 13, 2010
THANK YOU(!!) for the gluten free recipes that are truly EDIBLE as well as beautiful!
I had been making bread from the first book with great ease ,but truly wondered about gluten free bread ,,,,well,,,if I could show you my very first loaf you wouldn't believe its gluten free,it looks like it came right out of a magazine!
and,,,,to think it did not cost me an arm and a leg to make it!

Now ,I can look forward to pizza, breadsticks and all kinds of gluten free bread items for a member of my family who cannot eat any gluten !!!!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!
I plan on trying all the recipes in this book and am personally looking forward to the stollen!

Most Recipes NOT 100% Whole Grain, September 26, 2010
I was really excited to get my book in the mail. I couldn't wait to try out all the healthy recipes and take my ordinary baking DAY and turn it into baking just minutes each time I needed a loaf of bread. Unfortunately, I thought that "Healthy & Whole Grains" in the title implied that all the recipes would use 100% Whole Grains. This isn't true and I am sadly disappointed. The whole reason I choose to make my bread at home is so that I can avoid all the preservatives, refined grains and high cost of supermarket breads. At home, I can grind my own 100% whole grain organic flour. I can add healthy extras like Flaxseed, sunflower seeds...etc. I can use natural sweeteners like honey or sucanat.

Although there are a few 100% whole grain recipes in the book (which are very good btw), the majority of the recipes use at least 3 cups of all purpose flour. I haven't tried the recipes with the all purpose flour yet, so I can't say if they are good or not. Though they do like like they will be delicious!

So be for-warned... if you are looking for a book filled with 100% whole grain bread recipes, keep looking.

Gluten-free - same dense bread as usual only with a crispy crust, June 1, 2010
This review is to provide more information on the gluten-free chapter in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients for those considering purchasing and wondering about how starchy the recipes are or if they use ingredients allergic to them. This review is not on the glutenous bread.

There are 5 recipes for GF bread that can then be made into various forms, pizza crust, crackers, and baquettes.

GF Crusty Boule - 2c brown rice flour, 1 1/2c sorghum flour, 3c tapioca starch, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, eggs, oil, and honey. Instructions included for making into classic boule, loaf pan for sandwiches, pizza crust, crackers, sesame baguette, or parmesan bread sticks.

GF Cheddar and Sesame Bread - 3c sorghum flour, 1/2c soy flour, 2c tapioca starch, 1/2c cornstarch, sesame seeds, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, eggs, olive oil, honey, and cheddar cheese. Instructions included for making into free-form loaf, crackers, sesame baquettes, or parmesan bread sticks.

GF Not Rye Bread - 2c brown rice flour, 1 1/2c teff flour, 3c tapioca starch, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, caraway seeds, eggs, oil, honey, and molasses. Instructions included for making into free-form loaf or parmesan bread sticks.

GF Olive Oil Bread - 1c brown rice flour, 1/2c soy flour, 1c tapioca starch, 3 1/2c cornstarch, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, eggs, olive oil, and vinegar. Instructions included for making into free-form loaf with a crispy crust, pizza crust, sesame baquette, or parmesan bread sticks.

GF Brioche - 1c brown rice flour, 1c tapioca starch, 3 3/4c cornstarch, yeast, salt, xanthan gum, milk, honey, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Instructions included for making into brioche, sandwich loaf, or cinnamon buns (recipe included)

I spent alot of money buying all the special equipment, tools, and ingredients recommended in this book such as Cambro RFS6PPSW2190 6-Quart Round Food-Storage Container with Lid, Set of 2 and Lodge Pro Logic Cast-Iron 14-Inch Pizza Pan, parchment paper, Authentic Foods Sorghum Flour, oven thermometer, Authentic Foods Brown Rice Flour Superfine, yeast from costco, CounterArt Bamboo Pizza Peel and Wilton Excelle Elite 3-Tier Cooling Rack

My bread turned out as good as the GF breads made commercially at my local bakers and grocers but to me is still basically a dense clump although it has a nice flavor. The way the authors marketed Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients as the GF bread was going to look and taste and feel like the wheat bread they demonstrate in the video! I am sure their recipes and techniques work great with vital gluten, but is probably not the magic solution to get GF bread to taste as good as glutenous bread - NOT! The GF bread does not look at all like the video. The bread does not meet my expectations based on all the author's hype BUT it has a tasty flavor and is definitely fresher than that in the grocery store and I think the texture is as good as the GF bread made by my local bakers. I think the crust is superior but the denseness is same as all other GF breads.

*The* book about bread baking, December 5, 2009
I've got more books on bread baking, some of them more beautiful then 'in five minutes a day'. This one just works, the recipes are simple, take little time or effort, and the results are stunning. The authors show that a bread machine is not adding anything to the real thing: bread shaped by your own hands, flavored by your choice of add-ons (or none at all), and baked in an oven just like yours. I live a mile high, and the bread comes out great. Recommended, for beginners as well as more experienced bakers.

I'm Again Able To Enjoy Bread Baking with a Very Tight Schedule, December 8, 2009
I can only add to what are probably by now thousands of well deserved five star ratings here and elsewhere. I was once very much into yeast baking, but just don't have time for all the yeast proofing, doubling in bulk, punching down, etc. I bought the first book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day and Pre Ordered the sequel here. I decided to stick to the first book for awhile to enlarge on building my skills, experimenting with different brands of flour, packet yeast vs. bulk yeast. I have a very small kitchen and keep the fancy kitchen equipment to a minimum. It isn't needed here: I use the largest food grade Rubbermaid container for mixing and storing dough, and I mix it with a wooden spoon oiled with food grade oil. I have no problems doing that and getting enough of the glutens to come out of the flour to get a good rise. This is so much satisfying fun! The basic boule from the first book makes incredible pizza dough: 40 cents not $4 for store bought! And you can mix it in less time than it takes to go to the store! I just ordered ten grain cereal from Bob's Red Mill to try that bread in the new book. The store bought multigrain breads are horrible and make healthy eating torture. I can't wait to try it!

So satisfying and easy, December 8, 2009
At age 52, I baked my first loaf of yeasted bread, following the basic recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. This last year I have shared the bread and the book with dozens of friends. I PREordered the new book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day and started my third batch of bread this morning. These recipes are easy, healthy and most importantly, delicious. Buy it and enjoy! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Many studies have shown that vegetarians seem to have a lower risk of obesity, coronary heart disease (which causes heart attack), high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and some forms of cancer." --The American Heart Association

* Featuring 150 delicious recipes, Quick-Fix Vegetarian provides both novice and longtime cooks with practical and robust vegetarian dishes that can be prepared in less time than it takes to have a pizza delivered.

* Written by best-selling vegetarian chef Robin Robertson, Quick-Fix Vegetarian is the answer for busy families who are looking for healthy food, fast.

Quick-Fix Vegetarian by Robin Robertson recently was named Best New Cookbook by PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The international organization's Proggy Award (short for "progress") recognizes animal-friendly achievement in 21st century culture and commerce. No longer considered a "hippie fad," the vegan lifestyle is becoming going mainstream. In her latest book vegetarian expert Robin Robertson creates recipes such as Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Quesadillas, Chipotle-Kissed Black Bean Soup, Mediterranean Orzo Salad, Beat-the-Clock Lasagna, Five-Minute Slow-Cooker Chili, and No-Bake Oatmeal Almond Cookies for this growing consumer base. In addition, Quick-Fix Vegetarian shows how to use many of the new commercial vegetarian products and includes recipe variations and tips for speedy, stress-free entertaining without sacrificing flavor or mainstream appeal. ... Read more

Reviews

Ideal Cookbook for New Vegetarians and Vegans, February 21, 2009

Another Robin Robertson Winner!, March 20, 2007
Robin Robertson is my all-time favorite vegan cookbook author. That is why I rushed right out and bought Quick-Fix Vegetarian. I have already read through the whole cookbook and made several recipes.

Robin's meals are always innovative and delicious, but these recipes have another advantage - they are quick and easy to make. If you love to eat wonderful meals, but don't like to spend hours in the kitchen this book is for you. For example, I made the Polenta and Pinto Bean Pie, it literally took 15 minutes to put together. The Udon Noodles and Baby Bok Choy with Creamy Tahini Sauce was awesome, and took all of 20 minutes to put together. And if you like soup and sandwiches for lunch or dinner, most of them are done in a snap, as are the main-dish salads. There's even a chapter on make-ahead meals that assemble quickly and then get popped in the oven when needed.

For the working person, or just for someone who loves to cook and eat fantastic vegan food without all the fuss and muss, Quick-Fix Vegetarian is the cookbook to own.

Little work, lots of flavor, November 22, 2007
Though this book is all over the map (slow-cooker recipes, casseroles, etc.)--are these recipes that are on the table start to finish in 30 minutes, or is hands-on time 30 minutes? There are some in each category. Still, I give this book 5 stars because everything I've made is truly easy and absolutely delicious. The recipes work as stated; no guesswork or tweaking. Robin is friendly, helpful, and informative as an author and cook, and I look forward to making lots more of these tasty and healthy recipes.

Not my favorite, May 15, 2009
If I had been able to check this out at the library, I wouldn't have bought it. Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas is much better (for me) and I've made many more dishes from it. In addition, the Atlas book gives me ideas to take off from hers and experiment since the recipes are simple and make use of some prepared products such as salsa. If you have to buy one or are beginning to explore vegetarian recipes, pick the Atlas book.

Delicious, Healthy and Fast Vegan Food!, August 21, 2007
I'm a full time student as well as a full time worker, and after a long day I just don't feel like cooking. The back of this book reads, "vegetarian dishes that can be prepared in less time than it takes to have a pizza delivered," and it is not a lie. I've already made several recipes out of this book, including one for a Quinoa salad that converted me into a Quinoa lover. From Basic Recipes (mushroom gravy, pie crust, etc) to appetizers, entrees and desserts, Robin Robertson makes it easy to never order take-out again.

I'm too busy to cook so this book is perfect for me!, July 24, 2007
This book is a dream come true for people who want to prepare healthy meals without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. The recipes are easy to use and they taste great too. Best of all, they are designed for the way people really cook, making selective use of high-quality convenience products, such as canned beans and tomato products, to speed things along. I especially appreciate that the recipes are cholesterol-free and not all gunked up with cheese. So glad to finally have a recipe book with great veg food that is quick to fix. I highly recommend it!

VEGAN Cookbook - Not What I Wanted But Not Bad At All, February 27, 2009
WHAT I WANTED: A quick vegetarian cookbook I could use for our "veggie nights" 3-4 times a week and for veggie entrees on nights we have meat as a side dish.

WHAT I GOT: A very good but VEGAN cookbook with lots of recipes calling for mock meat.

PROS: quick-cooking, well-written recipes that come out the way they should.

CONS: Not clearly labeled vegan, most recipes call for mock meat

OVERALL: Not for poser not quite vegetarians like myself. My full-vegetarian heading towards vegan sister is loving the cookbook and even convinced my meat and potatoes parents to eat some of the recipes. Four stars just because it really should be clear this is a vegan cookbook.

Best Cookbook I've ever bought, February 22, 2009
I read the 1 and 2 star reviews for this book and I understand why they did not like the cookbook. First of all, there aren't any pictures. Secondly, it is a book for vegans and not for vegetarians. That being said.... quit complaining about superficial things! These meals are so easy to cook and delicious that I find I don't miss the pictures at all. Also, even though this cookbook is for vegans, some of the recipes call for soy cheese. Just use regular cheese. If you're a vegetarian, you should know how to modify dishes. My fiance is a meat eater and I'm able to modify ALL the dishes for him. This is a great cookbook! And none of the recipes take me more than 30 minutes to make.

My new favorite cookbook, August 21, 2009
I love this cookbook. Everything I have made out of it has been easy and very tasty. I've actually gone out and bought more copies for friends. There's a big variety of recipes, from quick salads to slow cooker recipes. I hadn't used my slow cooker in years, but this book inspired me to start again, with the 5 minute chili recipe, which I could throw together in the morning when I really only had 5 minutes. Most of the recipes are vegan, but I was surprised that I didn't miss the dairy products. Some of the recipes, to make them fast, use premade ingredients, like mushroom gravy, frozen pierogis, or a jar of salsa, so this book is not for purists who want to cook everything from scratch.

Great for Veg or Omnivores on a tight budget alike!, October 8, 2009
I bought this book when I first switched over to vegetarianism in December of 2007. I had done a little research but not much, this book got me through the first month without a problem! I still do eat dairy, however little since I am lactose intolerant, so I find that vegan cookbooks work the best for me. I still go to this cookbook at least once a week to look up little recipes, or even ideas for a different meal I want to make. My pages are torn, covered in food stains and have dog-ears all over the place! Highly recommended for ANYONE, not just vegetarians or vegans. A lot of the meals in this cookbook are good for those who are cooking on a tight budget! I also recommend this to omnivores because it's such a great and easy way to look out of a that "normal" realm of foods that the average person eats. There are bases for meals in here that I grew up having no idea existed! ... Read more

Editorial Review

The tenth anniversary edition of this landmark cookbook, with more than 325,000 copies in print, includes a new introduction from Deborah Madison, America’s leading authority on vegetarian cooking.

What Julia Child is to French cooking, Deborah Madison is to vegetarian cooking—a demystifier and definitive guide to the subject. After her many years as a teacher and writer, she realized that there was no comprehensive primer for vegetarian cooking, no single book that taught vegetarians basic cooking techniques, how to combine ingredients, and how to present vegetarian dishes with style. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone teaches readers how to build flavor into vegetable dishes, how to develop vegetable stocks, and how to choose, care for, and cook the many vegetables available to cooks today. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is in every way Deborah Madison’s magnum opus, featuring 1,400 recipes suitable for committed vegetarians, vegans (in most cases), and everyone else who loves good food. For nonvegetarians, the recipes can be served alongside meat, fish, or fowl and incorporated into a truly contemporary style of eating that emphasizes vegetables and fruits for health and well-being.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is the most comprehensive vegetarian cookbook ever published. The recipes, which range from appetizers to desserts, are colorful and imaginative as well as familiar and comforting. Madison introduces readers to innovative main course salads; warm and cold soups; vegetable braises and cobblers; golden-crusted gratins; Italian favorites like pasta, polenta, pizza, and risotto; savory tarts and galettes; grilled sandwiches and quesadillas; and creative dishes using grains and heirloom beans. At the heart of the book is the A-to-Z vegetable chapter, which describes the unique personalities of readily available vegetables, the sauces and seasonings that best complement them, and the simplest ways to prepare them. “Becoming a Cook” teaches cooking basics, from holding a knife to planning a menu, and “Foundations of Flavor” discusses how to use sauces, herbs, spices, oils, and vinegars to add flavor and character to meatless dishes. In each chapter, the recipes range from those suitable for everyday dining to dishes for special occasions. And through it all, Madison presents a philosophy of cooking that is both practical and inspiring.

Despite its focus on meatless cooking, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is not just for vegetarians—it's for everyone interested in learning how to cook vegetables creatively, healthfully, and passionately. The recipes are remarkably straightforward, using easy-to-find ingredients in inspiring combinations. Some are simple, others more complex, but all are written with an eye toward the seasonality of produce. Madison's joyful and free-spirited approach to cooking will send you into the kitchen with confidence and enthusiasm. Whether you are a kitchen novice or an experienced cook, this wonderful cookbook has something for everyone.

Reviews

The Joy of Cooking, only for vegheads and meat-avoiders, March 30, 2002
I just counted 34 cookbooks in my kitchen, but this is the one I use the most. Only the Joy of Cooking gets an equal workout. This book is the only vegetarian cookbook I've ever seen that:

1) Is comprehensive enough to cover every ingredient you have in your fridge (if you have a head of fennel and a potato, and nothing else, you will probably be able to find a recipe);

2) Is neither too far in the "twigs pebbles and roughage" camp nor the "80 ingredients you never heard of and 3 hours you don't have" camp. Most recipes are reasonable in scope and actually flavorful, although if you want to create a fancy banquet you can.

Even if you are not a committed vegetarian (I'm not), but you just want to eat healthier, or to avoid the "vegetables turning into science experiments in the fridge" thing, this is a tremendous great resource.

My favorite cookbook, July 21, 2000
This has become my favorite cookbook. I have been vegetarian for nearly 20 years and I am an avid cook, and this book has provided nothing but perfect food, without meat, every time I have used it. I love good food. Food that is merely nutritious and not really good, also, is a bane to humanity. This food is not generally low-fat, but it is still whole, nutritious food. The desserts are great, the salads are great, the vegetable dishes are great. You name it, in this book, it's good.

The other thing that I love about this book is that Deborah Madison is not only a great chef she also knows how to translate her cooking talent into recipes that really WORK. I am disappointed by some chefs' cookbooks because it's obvious that they are excellent cooks, but their recipe-writing skills are sub-par. These, on the other hand, are well-tested, well-written recipes.

The food in this book is what I'd call fine food. Some recipes in other cookbooks are for everyday-type food that will get you by, and others are for trendy food that are novel to make once in a while. The recipes in this book direct you to make the kind of food that will have you talking the next day about how good it was, and they're not trendy. Most are also uncomplicated. The flavors are refined and you might call them sophisticated, but that's misleading because there's nothing pretentious about the recipes or the presentation. The sophistication comes from a cleanness to the palate that is presented here.

I have a large collection of cookbooks (200+) and this one definitely stands out. If you have others of Madison's cookbooks, such as the Savory Way or the Greens Cookbook, which are also both excellent, I suspect that you will find this one more accessible. There's a hint of preciousness in those other two books that I find lacking here. Madison seems less concerned about impressing us in this book and more relaxed in her approach. This has improved her style and has improved her food, as well.

The Dominatric of Cooking, January 11, 2000
My husband calls Deborah Madison the Dominatrix of Cooking because of the picture on the cover of the book (she looks like she could get pretty serious with those wooden spoons---why two?), and because of her high-minded attitude about certain standard ingredients (e.g. the Parmesan cheese in the green box and regular table salt). I think she earns the moniker because she is clearly in charge in the kitchen. I love these recipes for their simplicity. Though I have (too) many cookbooks, I use this one more than any other and recommend it to all my friends who are curious about vegetarian cooking.

I have achieved a deep appreciation for chick peas--try chick peas and farfalle. This is easy, but so tasty, I serve it to company. Another elegant company dish: leek and goat cheese galette---sublime and wonderful, and not hard!

Though some have described recipes as too "simplistic," I would say this book allows vegetables to shine in a healthy straightforward way, not drowned with fatty sauces. Many of the recipes are do-able on a day-to-day basis, and since I cook for my family (including four kids, ages 10 to 17), I can't be the French chef every night. I bought a copy for my oldest, who has also fallen in love with it, since she will be going off to college soon.

Great book.....Clarifying some of the negative reviews, May 2, 2008
Since this is a classic you will find all kinds of great reviews. I have no loyalty to Deborah Madison. But I do think this is a wonderful book and some of the negatives are just strange or wrong. If you are considering this purchase, take it out of the library or look at it in a store. This is really worth having on the shelf and for many reasons.
A One star reviewer says that on page 282...Potato Leek Gratin...ends up in a watery mess. The last word in the recipe says...DRAIN. Next..p636 ...Cranberry Nut Bread...uses two different kinds of sugar and doesn't say when to use each type. In defense again...in the directions it breaks things up with the words PUT (that starts the Cranberry Sauce), and then CREAM which uses the next ingredient in line (butter) and then the next type of sugar etc.. I'm no Mr. Chef but this seems straight forward to me.

The bit about Acorn Squash? Not accurate. Very few books that I have seen, have a direct reference to Acorn Squash...(Fanny Farmer, Joy of Cooking, Essential Vegetarian Cookbook etc.)This one does. With most you have to know it is also known as Winter Squash and find it that way. And this book does not just have info and bake at so and so. You can just bake it, there is a side note of good things "partners" that go with it, she gives ideas of what to use this for other than just as is, then another entry a bit more involved with some recipe for a flavored butter, and then, as Fanny Farmer says to put maple syrup and butter with it but then goes on to suggest 5 other kinds of flavors. Fanny Farmer though, says bake at 400 for 40 to 50 minutes, which really kills it. Out of all the cookbooks I have, Madison's book happened to be the most informative!!....and it brings you to a great place in the book that speaks of many other kinds of squash, what they are, and what to do with them....which I never knew about. All these other great well known cookbooks did not have any of this or all in the same place as she does. It is nice to be accurate if you are really going to dig in. Amazing. Really off in the critique there.

Bland recipes? This book is written from the standpoint of a more sensitive palette. This is not snobbery. I love burgers and fries and beer and pizza and all of that. But I simply had to give it up to the occasional. At first most things didn't taste like anything. But in time...a good piece of celery is sweet. Our taste buds are overpowered by the usual stuff we have in this society. Even the so called healthy meals. What I have experienced is that when cooked right, vegetable dishes give hints of this and that flavor or texture and that is the power in them. Our usual is to be knocked over the head. So to get into this kind of book and just cook away can be misleading.
Odd ingredients? Swiss Chard...Quinoa....?...None of what is in here is really that weird. You end up spending less. Animal protein is expensive. Sounds like "elitist artsy-f*rtsy gormand snob set" talk doesn't it? Nope. But some see it this way. I do eat meat. And fish. But not in the portions I was used to. Not necessary. The body needs a balance. In a big way. We create much of our disease from too much acid. This cookbook is a good reference to moving away from this kind of thing. There are cookbooks that are much more "way out" than this one. This seems to aim at many levels.

I had to say something after reading some of the negatives. I just wasn't agreeing or seeing what was said. Many times I find the negative reviews are more helpful than the "can do no wrong types". In this case I think they lead people down the wrong path. See for yourself in person first. Perhaps you will agree.

My new favorite cookbook, December 9, 2002
I've read all 83 (whew!) of the reviews here so far and find it quite interesting that only a handful of them are negative. That so many people clearly love this cookbook only confirms my own impression. I've made dozens of recipes from this book and now trust it so completely that I will make special company dishes without having tested them first - and this is the only cookbook I have that gets that honor. The roasted eggplant lasagna with garlic bechamel is sublime, the carrots braised in honey, butter and fresh thyme is a delicious new twist, the sweets in back will delight your taste buds, and the vegetable section is well organized by ingredient. The recipes range from very simple to more complicated, but no recipe is too intimidating, no matter what your cooking experience.

The food in this book has led me more towards becoming a vegetarian than any of the other vegetarian cookbooks I've ever had. No dish I have made from it has turned out bad. I find Madison's approach to cooking refreshing, really allowing the flavors of the foods to take center stage, instead of relying on long ingredient lists, complicated sauce-ery, or other gimicks to do what the ingredients ought to be able to do alone. Yet none of the dishes sacrifice flavor.

I bought this book in paperback three years ago and have used it so much, the spine is cracking badly. Just go ahead and buy it in hardcover - you won't be sorry. I've recommended it to friends who enjoy cooking and cookbooks as much as I do. None of us are vegetarians. But without fail, all of them have come to love this cookbook, and most of them are pretty sophisticated cooks.

Unless you are a culinary cynic or have rigid opinions about cooking and food, I don't think you can go wrong with Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It's a real winner.

Outstanding vegetarian cook book, fosters innovation!, April 5, 2000
I bought this book when I was tired of making limp salads, dull and boring pasta and overworking my herbs. Used Amazon.coms reviews to help make my purchase. Debbie Madison gives you so much more than just recipes, she provides the knowledge about everything that goes into our food that is key to understanding the way a dish works and why it was put together that way. I have used her recipes both word-for-word and as a guideline and my dishes have improved radically. Whats more, her innovative stocks, soups, pastas and vegetables team wonderfully with good well made basics from Fannie Farmers cookbook - no wonder since it looks like Marion Cunningham and Debbie Madison have a well-established collaboration! I do not own the Joy of cooking, but I feel like I have the best allies in my kitchen when I make American/ Californian food! Coming from the world of Indian cooking which absolutely calls for fresh ingredients for the best food, I really appreciate the effort that has gone into explaining the worth of vegetables, herbs and other ingredients in making food for the mind, body and soul. We need crusaders like these in these days of burgers and pizza.

Delicious, Comprehensive, and Practical!, January 23, 2001
I think I'll start with the "Winter Greens with Fennel and Mushrooms," followed by a small cup of "Potato and Parsley Soup," and then the "Navy Bean and Pasta Gratin with Basil and Ricotta" (or perhaps the "Perciatelli with Roasted Tomatoes, Saffron, and Garlic?"). To top it off, let's have the "Rhubarb Tart with Orange Custard."

Sound like something from the Michelin guide to Paris? It's Deborah Madison's excellent new volume," Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone." This book is more user-friendly than the author's "Greens Cookbook," Dishes are easier to prepare and not as time consuming.

The book includes tips on various cooking methods, equipment, seasoning and sauces (apple pear chutney!), and over 1,300 recipes for delicious salads, sandwiches, soups, casseroles, vegetables, pastas, breads, desserts, and breakfasts. NOTE: This is not a vegan cookbook (i.e., dairy is included), but there is little or nothing on fish. It is also NOT a low-fat cookbook a la the Moosewood Low-Fat book. Unfortunately, there is no nutritional information, but again, this is a not a "Health" cookbook. Still, I think some attention to dietary issues would have strengthened the almost-encyclopedia quality of the book. The two paragraphs on salt, for example, delve only into matters of taste. As another reviewer noted, the few color pictures are good, but not great.

Ms. Madison comments on almost every dish: what to look for in the ingredients, serving suggestions, and some notes on modifications. This is a very comprehensive guide to cooking; for example, she describes 9 kinds of squash and 8 types of cooking oil! There is a very helpful extensive index. If you're a beginning vegetarian, or one with certain dietary needs, you might want to begin with a more focused book. For the seasoned veteran, however, this is a thorough and well-written collection of recipes that taste as delicious as they sound.

extremely informative plus tasty recipes!, January 4, 2000
i recently bought this book after reading the 30 plus reviews about it on this page. i knew that there would be no nutritional info, and the layout would be weird. so, i was fully prepared not to buy it. instead i fell in love with it. i think someone called it the vegetarian joy of cooking and i have to agree. it gives basic information like how to use a knife, etc., then onto appetizers, soups, salads... she also includes recipes for tofu and tempeh and tips on how to use marinades for both. some of the recipes are basic, but many have tantalizing flavor combinations that i find unique and refreshing. what i really like about this cookbook is that the ingredients are easy to find in a good supermarket or natural foods store, or better yet, farmer s market. this cookbook can't be THE cookbook for everyone, but it certainly is for me.

An indispensible resource!!!, January 2, 2003
I love this cookbook. I really, really do. I'd recommend it to anyone. What's so good about it? Well, it's just so BIG. It's got a fabulous number of recipes, as well as really helpful tips about cooking techniques. For example, there's a large section in the book devoted to vegetables--how to store them, how to prepare them, how to handle them, and a few recipes to boot. Nearly all of my cooking questions ("How do I peel this?" "What's a good vegetarian way to cook 'X'?" "What tastes best with this vegetable?") are answered in this one book.

Since the book covers so much territory, you can find just about anything inside. 30-minutes suppers are listed alongside elaborate 3-hour ordeals. High fat, low fat, whatever--you're bound to find something in here you'll like.

My only complaint is that it seems, at times, to be poorly organized. Once you've used it long enough, you know your way around its many chapters, but it can be a little confusing at first. Southern-style black-eyed peas are tucked away at the end of the lentils section. Other recipes are squirrled away in places you might not expect. But this is, honestly, the only fault I've found thus far. I provided the vegan dish at both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, and both were smash hits. I use this cookbook several times a week, and I never tire of it.

THE veggie cookbook, a culinary miracle, May 30, 2002
I was skeptical of this book after finding Madison's *Greens* cookbook strangely fussy and insubstantial: far too much butter and cream; too many recipes for tarts, pizza, salads; ingredients I'd have to go on urban safari to acquire (borage? cockscombs?). This is a different text altogether. The recipes are elegant, simple, and spectacular. Madison's commentary is straightforward, but again and again she demonstrates beautiful taste, and a truly wonderful appreciation for her ingredients. The Quick Peanut Sauce, for example, takes five minutes and is an almost miraculously balanced dish. It's the cilantro, I suppose, but who knew to add that?

Madison is an unusually well-mannered foodie. I loved her comment about not refusing a dish (veggie or not) that someone had taken the trouble to prepare for her. This is particularly gracious since the main impression one gets from the hundreds of insanely enticing recipes in this book is that vegetarian is simply the best way to eat.

Should you read this Ms Madison, thankyouthankyouthankyou for this book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

FRIED CHICKEN, MACARONI AND CHEESE, BROWNIES, AND 147 OTHER FAVORITE RECIPES UNDER 350 CALORIES
 
In this delectable cookbook, award-winning chef Rocco DiSpirito transforms America’s favorite comfort foods into deliciously healthy dishes—all with zero bad carbs, zero bad fats, zero sugar, and maximum flavor. What’s more, Rocco provides time-saving shortcuts, helpful personal advice, and nutritional breakdowns for each recipe from a board-certified nutritionist. So prepare your favorite foods without the guilt. Finally, a world-class chef has made healthy food taste great! ... Read more

Reviews

LOVE the book but lots of artificial sweeteners..., March 14, 2010
I checked this book out from the library and intend on buying it. So far we have tried the Mac & Cheese (w/ Onion & Garlic Puree), Spaghetti Carbonara, Deep Dish Pizza, Nachos, & Brownies...all pretty much exactly as written and all in 3 days. The 1st three were AMAZING!! The Nachos were okay but I couldn't follow the recipe exactly due to our not having the black bean dip (subbed drained and rinsed black beans and green chilies)...if we'd followed it exactly I am certain that it would have been wonderful, as our version was "missing something". I am looking forward to trying the Indian Beef Curry and French Onion Soup soon. I LOVE that he incorporates Greek Yogurt into a lot of his recipes...such a wonderful healthy ingredient with a great texture, especially Fage brand.

I would give this book 4.5 stars if I could, but the scoring would not allow. The reason being is that there is an insane amount of artifical sweeteners in this book. I understand that he is trying to keep the recipes' calories and fat grams under certain amounts but I have a hard time believing that he, as a world-reknowned chef and serious athlete, would use Splenda & sugar-free chocolate syrup, etc as a normal part of his diet. I was really hoping that he would have included more of the "whole food, nothing artificial"-type recipes, like those that he had on the Biggest Loser. For example, the Brownies, which are supposedly the "star of the book" according to an interview that I read, had a "chemical" finish. I really wanted to try the chocolate chip cookies but haven't been able to find the chocolate nips in the recipe, so I opted for the more accessible Brownies. Please note that I have been making whole-food black bean brownies and white bean chocolate cookies (LOVE THESE!) for YEARS, including a bean brownie that is 79 cal/piece (8x8 pan, 16 pieces), so I am quite familiar with and accepting of the flavor and texture differences between these and the "real things". I just wish that the desserts were more "whole food" and less "fake" ingredients. It IS attainable. I do not give my kids artificial sweeteners, so most of these desserts would be off-limits for them.

All that being said, I LOVED the other recipes and look forward to trying more. I LOVE the variety of classic dishes from around the world. Thank you for this book, Rocco.

Now Eat These Yummy Recipes and Permanently Lose Weight, March 12, 2010
I have to be honest and say I am not a cook. I am devoted to my takeout menus. There is a reason I laminate them and keep them in a folder. I have tried losing weight eating. I ate low fat, no taste food and it only left me feeling miserable and desiring meat dishes and sweet desserts.

My doctor suggested that I get healthy (translation: lose some weight or your heart, kidneys and other organs are going to quit on you.) He compared my body to a toxic waste dump and said the only thing that would help me was a return to eating real food I prepared myself. Enter Rocco's cookbook.

Rocco was a guest chef on the Biggest Loser. After that show, he was encouraged and inspired to write a cookbook with real food and recipes that anyone could eat and still lose weight.

This book includes all my favorite comfort foods that I tend to eat over and over again at fast food joints, order for takeout and at local shopping malls and restaurants.

I am adding one new recipe a week to my meal plan. Here are a few of my favorites and how many calories and fat grams Rocco reduced in each recipe:

1. Chicken Alfredo (made with whole wheat linguine) cut out 920 calories and 65 grams of fat.

2. Chicken Cordon Bleu cut out a 1,000 calories and 75 grams of fat.

3. Filet Mignon B�arnaise with Roasted Cauliflower -cut out over 400 calories 33 grams of fat

4. Loaded Baked Potato Skins - cut out 450 calories and 33 grams of fat

These recipes use fresh ingredients, sometimes cooking spray (you could substitute olive or canola oil), and sometimes natural sweeteners like stevia, etc.

The taste is incredible. The portions for some recipes may seem small, but I offer this suggestion. Turn off your TV and computer. Sit and eat at your dining room table without distraction. Savor every bite. Not only will you enjoy your food more, you will actually taste it, and realize when you are full a lot faster.

Bon App�tit!

dashed expectations, March 18, 2010
Purchased at a retail book store for much more than I would have paid on Amazon... boo-hoo for me. Regardless, my initial good impressions have progressively soured... or more to the point, gone bitter.

I've made all my family's dinners this week (and one dessert) out of this book.

I made a good choice by cooking the chicken & dumplings Sunday - it was actually quite good.

Monday was chicken burritos... ok, but if I do it again, I will substitute lowfat sour cream for the greek yogurt.

Tuesday was fettuccine alfredo - the yogurt was the issue again, it overpowered the dish - I think I could come up with a better recipe using lowfat milk and lowfat parm.

Wednesday (last night, St. Patrick's Day 2010) was shepherds pie - YUCK! for only a few more calories, real potatoes instead of cauliflower would have made a world of difference. The extra cal's from potatoes would have been offset by using a fat free gravy instead of the chicken broth based gravy called for in the recipe. Anyone who feels that cauliflower in a food processor is any kind of substitute for mashed potatoes must be completely without tastebuds... did I say YUCK yet?

So to follow up this terrible St. Patty's Day Irish non-treat (shepherds pie is an Irish dish), I made brownies. THE BROWNIES ARE TERRIBLE - JUST PLAIN AWFUL - the picture on the brownie page is no way, no how the brownies from the recipe. They were bitter, the espresso powder overpowers the chocolate and the black beans give it a very strange texture that is not at all pleasing.

Tonight (Thursday) was going to be his Sloppy Joes, but forget it - chalking this book up as a $20 loss and moving on with my life. Do yourself a favor if you think this is a cookbook for you: ask to borrow a friend's, borrow it from the library, or find another way to try out some these recipes for free before you waste your money.

Astonishingly Low Calorie Comfort Food Recipes That Taste Like The Real Deal!, March 22, 2010
Every time I grab a "triple chocolate chip" cookie from Rocco's book, at first I feel that twinge of guilt you feel when you are eating food you know you shouldn't eat, then I remember that they contain no sugar, no flour, their main ingredient is white beans and they are only 40something calories (even less sometimes cause I can get 30 cookies out of a batch instead of the 20 the book recommends) and about 1 gram of fat!! I then sigh with relief and eat 2! They are sooo delicious!!

After trying many of Rocco's superb recipes in Now eat This! I have come to realize that if this book existed 20 years ago America might be in better shape physically. It's long overdue but I'm glad it's finally here.

Other than the triple choco chip cookies some of my personal faves are:
Lobster bisque: tremendous lobster flavor and easier to make than the original
Peach and blueberry cobbler: his use of Bisquick is so smart
Turkey enchiladas: green salsa is so flavorful you don't notice the low fat cheese
Steak au poivre: I never need to eat the 1300-calorie version ever again
Berry pops: not the most original idea but best tasting yogurt pop I ever had
Onion rings: pure magic, I can't believe how crispy they are & with a little Tabasco the Smokey mayo sauce is mind blowing

There are a couple of dishes I liked less but there is so much room for personal preference you can make these your own w/o adding too many calories. For example, I can't eat a brownie that doesn't have chocolate chips and walnuts in them so I sprinkled a few in the batter and they still came out below 100 calories and were truly delicious!

Personally, I'd like Rocco to makeover every dish in America!

Good & Healthy Recipes, March 3, 2010
I just spent about an hour reviewing Now Eat This! 150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories, by celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito. As a former chef and avid cook, my passion is cooking healthy and delicious meals. So, it was with interest that I read this book, as I wanted to see how Rocco brought flavor--not calories--to America's favorite comfort foods.

The trick to cooking flavorful, healthy and low calories meals is using--no surprise--flavorful, health and low calorie ingredients and understanding how to combine them to make a dish that satisfies. Using such ingredients is how Rocco achieves this. He uses aromatic herbs and spices that are packed with flavor, for example. Another great substitute that Rocco uses for butter, sour cream or cream is Greek yogurt--yum! If you haven't tried Greek yogurt, you're in for a treat. I substitute it all the time in dishes and don't miss a thing.

Rocco was inspired to write this book after being a guest cook on The Biggest Loser. He was asked to turn traditional comfort foods--laden with fat and calories--into low calorie, tasty and healthy dishes.

The book itself is eye candy--bright, beautiful colors and lots of sexy photos of the dishes.

To keep the calories at a minimum, Rocco uses cooking spray. Cooking spray is great for faux frying and in some other instances, but I would use a bit of extra virgin olive oil in some of the other recipes. Olive oil is a "good fat" and is good for you. Sure, it adds calories, but it also adds flavor and gives the diner the feeling of satiation and satisfaction. (I can't help but believe that some of these meals are so light in calories that they would lead to hunger an hour or so later later and a possible unhealthy binge! For instance, his macaroni ann cheese recipe calls for 4 ounces of pasta for 4 servings!I do not know any pasta lover who could eat 1 ounce of pasta and be satisfied...)

That said, these are terrific recipes if you are trying to lose weight! Instead of the same old boring diet dishes, this book could keep you on track because of the variety in the dishes.

If you just want healthy and tasty meals, this cookbook is still fine. You can always eat a bigger portion or add some olive oil! :)

Overall, I like this cookbook and have earmarked several recipes to try very soon.

Author, HARMONIOUS ENVIRONMENT & SELL YOUR HOME FAST

Tastes Amazing!!, March 4, 2010
I think everyone can relate to the desire to eat fatty, unhealthy, sugar filled foods! Why? Because they taste sooo good! But, in the long run, these foods will ruin our bodies and prove to be very dangerously unhealthy. That's why I decided to purchase Rocco's new book. If we can eat the same foods we love, get the same great taste, and ingest half the calories, why would we not? So far I have cooked a few recipes from Rocco's 'Now Eat This' and I am so impressed. Fried chicken actually TASTES like fried chicken! But, the best surprise of the book are the brownies. I have always had a sweet tooth, and these brownies taste so good that I might actually pick them over the regular. Knowing I am ingesting only 53 calories per serving, and eating NO sugar and NO flour, makes these brownies unreal. I can eat as many as I want and not feel guilty. I am looking forward to making the other desserts as well as the burger and enchiladas. Thank you, Rocco. This book will keep me looking slim, healthy, and feeling great!

It's not all about the brownies!, April 3, 2010
I'll be the first to admit I was skeptical when I found out about the low-cal focus, even though I am a long time Rocco fan. Beans in brownies don't exactly give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. But the more recipes I try, the more I like it! Essentially, this is about using some alternate ingredients and preparation methods to cut down on the fat but not sacrificing taste.
Favorites so far have been the Faux-Fried Onion Rings (crispy and delicious!), Crispy Mozzarella Sticks, Tuna Burgers, & Fettuccine Alfredo. Turkey Tacos are a family favorite that have become the staple of our Taco Tuesday tradition.
The Macaroni & Cheese is surprisingly savory without being too heavy. The Strawberry Graham Cracker Tarts are easy to make and have a rich, creamy flavor. My two girls really like these,and the Macaroni & Cheese.
I especially appreciate the 'Cook for Yourself' section of p. XIV and the fact that Rocco is encouraging people to cook at home and providing recipes that aren't overwhelming or overindulgent.
I haven't been brave enough to bust out the Brownies yet, but have heard from trusted sources they are not to be feared and are, in fact, quite tasty! I think they may be next to try!

Awesome, March 23, 2010
Just received the book and tried the Mac and Cheese and Fried Chicken recipes. The Fried Chicken was Oh My God good and for under 300 calories???? Can this be real? I usually don't like Mac and Cheese...made it for the wife and I really liked it. I am looking forward to trying all the recipes in here!

In Defense of the Brownie Recipe..., May 24, 2010
It seems the general consensus on this comment board is that the cookbook is great, but avoid the brownie recipe, made with black beans (replacing the flour).

It has gone so far as somebody actually blogging the photographs of the, to them, dismal experience. And, sure enough, with close up pics on their brownies, you can see shreds of the black beans, not the illusion of a cohesive dark brown chocolate we expected from the photo. She also complained about taking longer in the oven than the thirty minutes required.

First things first. It may be that the photo of the brownies in the book was not the resulting brownies being made. Rocco is a chef, not a photographer, and I am willing to accept that, if this were not the brownies he conjured up, that could have been a major screw-up on the publisher's end. This does not diminish the uniqueness of the resulting brownies in any way. Deduct a star, but it's not a dealbreaker.

Secondly, grab yourself a highlighter and underline two easily overlooked passages: (a) the two minutes required to grind the beans with the cocoa, and (b) turning the baking pan halfway through cooking time. It is way too easy to under process the beans--two minutes is a lonnng time for a food processor to work, especially if it looks as if everything has been well-blended after fifteen seconds. But--mark my words--the more you process, the less evident the bean shred will be.

"Bean shred"--sounds gross, I know. Making it less evident is why you have to go the extra mile in this case.

Lastly, if you are too timid to try these brownies as is, go online and search for "black beans recipes" and make adjustments. Rocco didn't invent the black beans substitution--he just took the basic concept and ran with it, substituting as many low-cal/no-cal ingredients as he could while keeping the general gist. For the first time making the brownies, use real sugar, or real chocolate syrup, or reduced fat sour cream, (instead of no-fat). Also, add walnuts. (I liked the suggestion someone said to add a teaspoon of baking powder to the resulting batter).

Then, when you make this again, (and you will--it is delicious), make more lower-cal adjustments each time. The sugar substitute is the biggest challenge, because not all sugar substitutes taste the same. I am not opposed to the Stevia plant (it's actually sweeter than sugar), so I suspect I will even like the next incarnation even better.

I trepidatiously approached this recipe, but I went ahead with it, and now I'm glad I did. The resulting brownie is not a "true" brownie, but it is a very decent counterpart, with a flavor not unlike chocolate mocha, and with a texture not unlike a cross between a brownie and chocolate mousse. Very moist, even overnight.

The star rating is for the brownie recipe only. I've yet to try any other recipe (except for the sweet potato fries--yum!) I'll be making more recipes out of this in the next few weeks, but suffice it to say, if people say the only bad recipe is the brownie recipe, and I was able to salvage it into something quite decadent, then I have no fears about the result of the book's contents.

Culinary Masterpiece!, March 14, 2010
I heard about Rocco's new book at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and was eager to get a copy and test the recipes. Favorite foods redesigned to be healthy and low in calories - this sounded too good to be true. The first thing I tried was the brownies. I couldn't believe the taste! No flour, no sugar, only 53 calories and they tasted amazing. Rocco has created ingenious substitutes for familiar dishes that actually taste like the originals. Aside from the obvious food results, here are some other things I like about Now Eat This!:

Before and after fat/calorie comparison for each recipe
Explanation of healthy cooking techniques
Tips about ingredients and preparation
Lead description of each dish
I also enjoyed Rocco's introductory essay about his personal quest for a healthy lifestyle. This book is going to change a lot of bad habits. I recommend it to anyone who eats. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

So far so good!, October 10, 2010
I've tried three recipes from the book so far, and I've really enjoyed them. I had the coconut/banana french toast, spicy vegetable curry, and curried pumpkin soup. The only one I modified, by adding more spice to, was the curry; I happen to like mine really spicy. The recipes in this book are more "sophisticated" than what was available in the other two books. I did enjoy them, but this book relies a lot less on meat analogs than the previous ones (but there are still a good selection of them). It's more of a whole foods cooking style. Very good chapter on sustainability too. The tone is still sassy, but I never had a problem with that. I'm looking forward to trying the asian macaroni and cheese; it sounds delish! BTW the french toast was incredible.

Bitchtastic!, November 6, 2010
I was browsing through this book in the bookstore yesterday and just had to purchase it. The recipes all look fabulous! This morning for breakfast, I made the Crepes with Raspberry Sauce - so simple to make and so delicious to eat, as well as the Breakfast Scramble, another yummy treat.

I was especially drawn to this cookbook, because, although it's vegan, you don't miss the no-meat recipes at all. There's such a variety - Coconut Banana French Toast, Black Bean and Tomato Soup, Warm Spring Rolls with Spicy Sesame Sauce, Polenta-Crusted Eggplant Parmesan, Jenny and Heather's Mini Lemon Cheesecake Bites with a Strawberry Sauce...I could go on and on. One of the particular draws to this cookbook was the lack of "fake meats" used. They are very rarely utilized in a meal, instead relying on fresh produce, legumes, and whole grains.

Almost all of the ingredients listed are found in regular grocery stores, which is also a big plus. And there's nutritional information included in each recipe, so you can stay your skinny self or make yourself one.

This book is a must buy. I am looking forward to cooking my way through the book and doing "stay-in" meals instead of "take-out", for once!

Must have cookbook!, October 25, 2010
I am usually not a big fan of cookbooks because most of the time the recipes are too complicated or use terms and ingredients I can't even pronounce. This cookbook has wonderful information (shopping list, when to buy organic, etc.).

I laughed out loud several times while reading this cookbook. She is just too funny!

I tried the pancakes which were delicious. Bought ingredients today for the Asian Macaroni and "Cheese."

This book is for everyone - not just Vegans.

Awesome CookBook, October 19, 2010
This is by far the best cookbook I have came accross. I love how it has info in it about making good food choices for your body and the planet. The skinny bitch series has totally changed my life for the better, I am so glad I came across them, and would recomend them to anyone who wants to stop counting calories and start feeling great. :)

Loved it!!!, October 29, 2010
I am very impressed with this book. I was a fan of the other Skinny Bitch books, and this one definitley has the same humor, which I love. The recipes are amazing! They're easy, and there aren't any crazy hard to find ingredients in them.

Great Cookbook!:), October 29, 2010
Love it! Beautifully presented, great recipes, and wonderful information. This looks like it will definitely be one of my favorite vegan cookbooks! I can't wait to try all of the recipes.:)

Perfect, October 27, 2010
SKINNY BITCH changed the way I eat and live and now I can cook it all up. Honestly, this book is both gorgeous and practical. Buy this for every young person you know -- if they don't cook now, they will after they read this. They will also lose weight, be healthier, and be kinder to our planet.

Already one of my favorite cookbooks, October 7, 2010
Even if don't like to get your hands dirty in the kitchen, this cookbook reminds you that it shouldn't be a chore...it should be fun dammit! I laughed my ass off (which is alot to say for a cookbook!) It carries the same style and attitude as the other books in the Skinny Bitch series, but has a nice balance of DELICIOUS recipes with information on how our diets impact the planet. I am ordering copies for all my girls for X-Mas!

Cheers to adding not just another boring cookbook to my collection...

Refreshingly healthy!, November 26, 2010
I won't rehash what has already been said, hopefully. The book is beautiful, with great colors and pictures. The recipes are from very easy to medium. The ingredients in the recipes are fairly easy to find. (The book reminds me of Alicia Silverstone's the Kind Diet, but I think a lot of that is the formatting and colors.) I would recommend this book to others.

Fun to read, and with good recipes to boot, October 28, 2010
An interesting cookbook. A Vegan adventure. There are a lot of interesting features to the book. Part One emphasizes sustainability. She notes a number of ways that the way we eat affects the environment: greenhouse gases water supply and pollution, deforestation, biodiversity, and fish depletion. So, there are some major issues addressed, albeit briefly. On page 24, we read the author's tips for understanding what's in the food (e.g., cholesterol, sodium, good versus bad fats). Suggestions on buying local are provided, as are a listing of the "dirty dozen," fruits and vegetables that can become toxic if not grown organically. Some of the discussion is a bit simplistic, but the lessons are useful. There are many more such "lessons" in the early parts of the book and scattered throughout. A favorite of mine is her herb and spice "chart o' fun," in which she suggests best pairings of food with herbs/spices (e.g., tarragon with French cuisine) and best results (e.g., nutmeg is best when freshly grated).

Then come recipes, divided into the following categories: breakfast, soups, salads, sauces and dressing, sides, dinners, desserts, and drinks. An example for breakfast? Tofu Mexicali scramble, featuring tofu, salsa, grapeseed oil, onion, peppers, salt, cumin, chili powder, refried beans, whole wheat tortillas, pepper, and cilantro. Yum! Soup? Black bean and tomato soup looks appetizing! Salad? Creamy potato salad, with baby red potatoes, vegan mayo, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper, and sliced green onions. Simple to make. . . . Or Greek salad with Tzatziki sauce. A side dish? I like broccolini. She has a recipe featuring this veggie: saut�ed broccolini with garlic-infused soy sauce. An entree that I find intriguing: Match vegan chicken Marsala. I like chicken Marsala with chicken. This is an interesting Vegan counterpoint.

The book is written in a cheeky, breezy fashion. Some may not enjoy that, but most probably will. In the end, I find this a satisfying cookbook.
... Read more

Editorial Review

Alice Waters has been a champion of the sustainable, local cooking movement for decades.  To Alice, good food is a right, not a privilege.  In the Green Kitchen presents her essential cooking techniques to be learned by heart plus more than 50 recipes—for delicious fresh, local, and seasonal meals—from Alice and her friends.  She demystifies the basics including steaming a vegetable, dressing a salad, simmering stock, filleting a fish, roasting a chicken, and making bread. An indispensable cookbook, she gives you everything you need to bring out the truest flavor that the best ingredients of the season have to offer.
 
Contributors: Darina Allen * Dan Barber * Lidia Bastianich * Rick Bayless * Paul Bertolli * David Chang * Traci Des Jardins * Angelo Garro * Joyce Goldstein * Thomas Keller * Niloufer Ichaporia King * Peggy Knickerbocker * Anna Lappé & Bryant Terry * Deborah Madison * Clodagh McKenna * Jean-Pierre Moullé * Joan Nathan * Scott Peacock * Cal Peternell * Gilbert Pilgram * Clair Ptak * Oliver Rowe * Amaryll Schwertner * Fanny Singer * David Tanis * Poppy Tooker * Charlie Trotter * Jerôme Waag * Beth Wells ... Read more

Reviews

Great for Beginners, April 11, 2010
While I agree with the other reviewer that the recipes aren't especially inspired, nor is it as helpful as the Art of Simple Food, it IS great for what I think is its target audience - those who are new to local cooking (and cooking in general), and need a place to start. There are a growing number of 20 and 30 somethings who grew up on boxed, processed meals, and are stepping into the kitchen. We focus on organic, locally sourced products and need to know the simple ways to prepare them. That's where this book comes in handy. As it states in the introduction, if one can commit some of these principles to memory, it will be easy to cook based on what ingredients one has on hand. While some of it may seem pretty basic, I frequent a number of cooking forums and several times a week people ask what the best way to roast a chicken is. And I love how she has tips sprinkled throughout - such as how to make your own baking powder and vinegar. This is the Betty Crocker book for those who wish to focus on clean, green eating. The Art of Simple Food would be the Joy of Cooking, following that analogy.

If you are experienced in the kitchen, you'll probably want to pass. But if you're new to cooking from scratch, it's a great way to get started.

Nothing new here, April 6, 2010
Buying a book called "In the Green Kitchen - Techniques to learn by heart" one would assume that this book is about technique. That it would be full of pictures showing how truss and carve a chicken, with step by step instructions, or that it would explain how to choose a melon by look and smell, or explain how to pick lettuce and cucumbers that aren't bitter. It doesn't. Instead we get a book filled with portraits and details about Alice Water's Slow Food chef buddies from across the country and a manifesto that tells us to eat organic, local and seasonal...options that aren't available to everyone. There are a fair amount of recipes, but that wasn't really what I bought the book for.

I bought the book hoping to learn things my Grandmother and mother knew about choosing food and cooking. I grew up in a household where we ate very good. We always had fresh veggies, lean meats and whole grain breads. My mom knew how to pair foods to make lovely meals. That is a lost art, and as much as I was exposed to it, I don't recall much of how she did it. But if you didn't grow up with that kind of exposure, I think this book probably will frustrate you and leave you feeling that good food is something that only wealthy people with a lot of time on their hands can have. Even the portraits of her friends, in their chef's jackets, give the book a "this is for professionals" type of vibe.

Just last week I got Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and I would say that's a much better book for helping people get back into the kitchen and start cooking healthy food. He doesn't harp on the organic/seasonal/local thing. He just wants people to start cooking from scratch again. He covers the tools you will need and the items to stock your pantry with. We've made one recipe of his and it was quick, easy and delicious. And the book is chock full of photos - some of the people he's targeting to cook better, and many of food being made. I wouldn't describe them as showing step by step, but it's a step in the right direction.

I love Alice Waters and her desire to see people eating better. I have even enjoyed a lovely meal at Chez Panisse. But I much prefer her "Art of Simple Food" to this.

Basic Techniques With Love and Inspiration, August 25, 2010
"At home in their own kitchens, even the most renowned chefs do not consider themselves to be chefs; there, they are simply cooks, preparing the simple, uncomplicated food they like best. Preparing food like that does not have to be hard work," writes acclaimed chef and local-food pioneer Alice Waters in the introduction to In the Green Kitchen. That philosophy--preparing great food does not have to be hard work--is a major theme of this book, which is as much instruction in the art--and heart--of cooking as it is a compilation of recipes and technique, though it is the latter as well.

The inspiration and material for this course in cooking simple, delicious, local and seasonally appropriate food came from Slow Food Nation, a gathering in San Francisco in 2009 of "thousands of cooks and eaters, farmers and ranchers, cheese makers and winemakers, bakers and beekeepers, fisherman and foragers" with a passion for food and for a sustainable future. Waters and the other organizers included a demonstration kitchen as part of the gathering to offer "a set of basic techniques that are universal to all cuisines."

Those techniques, introduced by the chefs who demonstrated them, and elaborated with Waters' own commentary and recipes, comprise this book. "Once learned by heart," Waters writes, "these are the techniques that free cooks from an overdependence on recipes and a fear of improvisation."

This is a simple book in the sense that it can be used by any cook, from the rawest of beginners to those with years of experience and culinary training, and it is written in a straightforward, accessible way. Browsing it is like listening to an articulate and passionate cook teach her craft. It begins with a look at what spices, herbs, oils and other basics Waters considers essential to the "green" pantry--and she's not a snob here, just a friendly and knowledgeable guide. The first technique presented, which might seem obvious until you read the explanation, is washing lettuce. I've been cooking improvisationally and locally for decades, inspired by my mother's California childhood of eating fresh and local food, and by Waters' work at her Berkeley, California, restaurant, Chez Panisse. So I wasn't expecting to learn much. I've washed a lot of lettuce, from markets and my own gardens, and didn't think I had a lot to learn on the topic. Until I read Fanny Singer's take on this most basic of cooking techniques: wrapping lettuce in cloth dish towels, preventing each leaf from getting crushed and preserving its crisp flavor. That hooked me as soon as I tried it!

From there, this approachable course in cooking by heart, with love, progresses logically to how to dress a salad, flavor a sauce, make bread, poach an egg, boil pasta, cook rice, steam vegetables, shuck corn, fillet a fish, and so on, ending with baking fruit, plus a section on seasonings and essential kitchen tools (a very sensible assortment, by the way, which will not break your budget).

Waters is a pioneer: Chez Panisse was probably the first restaurant in America to grow its own kitchen garden (back in the 1970s!) and to work with local farmers to develop sources of local, seasonal food. I've followed her work with schoolyard gardens as well, where she was one of the first to show teachers and parents how gardens can improve kids' learning and their health. (Profits from In the Green Kitchen go to the Chez Panisse Foundation in support of Waters' schoolyard garden initiative, and the book is dedicated to the students at Martin Luther Middle School in Berkeley, where she pioneered the Edible Schoolyard curriculum.) So I'm biased.

But who isn't, after reading passages like this: "Cooking creates a sense of well-being for yourself and the people you love and brings beauty and meaning to everyday life. And all it requires is common sense--the common sense to eat seasonally, to know where your food comes from, to support and buy from local farmers and producers who are good stewards of our natural resources, and to apply the same principles of conservation to your own home kitchen."

The book is lovely to look at, with clean, readable design, great photography, and a wonderfully diverse assemblage of chefs demonstrating the techniques, many well-known, some not yet. The prose invites you in, takes your hand and welcomes you to the kitchen. My only quibble: the binding doesn't open flat. For a book intended to lie open on the kitchen counter while you use it, that's a flaw. But not enough of one to keep me from recommending it to every cook I know, and more.

Thanks, Alice! I'm inspired all over again, and in fact, I'm heading to the garden to pick some fresh lettuce for this evening's salad...

by Susan J. Tweit
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

The Definitive Basics, July 3, 2010
Alice Waters' new book is a collaborative effort to document basic essential green kitchen techniques. The chefs contributing to the book include, of course Alice Waters, Traci Des Jardins, Fanny Singer (her daughter,) Joan Nathan, Gilbert Pilgram, Rick Bayless, Jerome Waag, Darina Allen, Scott Peacock, Clodagh McKenna, Angelo Garro, Beth Wells, Charlie Trotter, Lidia Bastianich, Poppy Tooker, David Tanis, Niloufer Ichaporia King, Oliver Rowe, Dan Barber, David Chang, Cal Peternell, Bryant Terry, Anna Lappe, Deborah Madison, Jean-Pierre Moulle, Thomas Keller, Joyce Goldstein, Paul Bertolli, Peggy Knickerbocker, Claire Ptak and Amarylll Schwertner.

Clearly aimed for either the beginning cook or one wishing to perfect the basics, the contents of the book are centered around the following techniques - washing lettuce, dressing a salad, flavoring a sauce, pounding a sauce, whisking mayonnaise, making bread, toasting bread, poaching an egg, simmering a stock, peeling tomatoes, boiling pasta, cooking rice, simmering beans, wilting greens, blanching greens, steaming vegetables, pickling vegetables, skinning peppers, shucking corn, roasting vegetables, filleting a fish, roasting a chicken, braising, roasting meat, grilling a steak, baking fruit and seasoning for flavor. Also included is a section for cooking equipment and one for stocking an organic pantry.

The proper technique is presented and a few recipes incorporating it follow. For example, the recipes in the simmering a stock section include Chicken Noodle Soup with Dill, Lentil Soup, and Leek o' Potato Soup. In the baking fruit section the recipes are Baked Peaches, Apple Galette and Nectarine o' Berry Cobbler. Simmering Beans includes Fresh Shell Beans, White Beans with Garlic o' Herbs, Shell Bean o' Vegetable Soup, and Fava Bean puree. I prepared the Grand Aioli and the Scalloped Potatoes - both were excellent.

A hardback book but it refuses, when open, to remain open on the counter, so a cookbook holder will be helpful. Other than in the titles of the recipes, the ink color is black, which makes reading a recipe while standing, looking down at the book on a counter, much easier. There are numerous photographs - all lovely - but there isn't a photo of every dish. The quality of the paper is good and although not high gloss, spills wiped up from the pages easily.

This is a book filled with essentials for every cook and although valuable to all, it will be most useful for a novice with a desire to learn proper techniques. It will make a great gift for the right cook.

A little too concise for my taste, but a great collection of recipes, May 31, 2010
Very much a collaborative work unified by the voice of Alice Waters, "In The Green Kitchen" is a teaching cookbook that teaches in recipes. Some of the lower-starred reviews see that as a downside; I think it's just a question of how much handholding you need when learning a technique, and this is definitely targeted at the sort of kitchen newbies who can get a lot done with very little. The recipes are fairly brief but worked out in enough detail that you can follow along and figure out where things might go wrong, which is critically important in any teaching cookbook.

It also happens to be an excellent little skimming book -- the many contributors have pictures next to their recipes, and they have as much (or in at least one case more) star power as Alice herself -- a list that includes Rick Bayless, Lidia Bastianich, David Chang, Thomas Keller, numerous of Waters' current and former colleagues from Chez Panisse, and even Alice's daughter Fanny, who contributed some wisdom on saladmaking. The recipes are all very much in line with Waters' philosophy of making the exotic accessible and enjoyable for anyone, with a great deal of material inspired by organic and farmers' markets. Even if you don't really need it to learn your way around the kitchen, this book will provide plenty of interesting ideas for meals as well as places and people to derive further inspiration from.

Recipes basic. Concepts refreshing., August 17, 2010
The recipes in the book are pretty basic but would be excellent for a new cook. I really like that sophisticated tools and techniques are not required. The concepts of the book are refreshing. Use the best ingredients available and enjoy the authentic flavors. The pictures are great and the writing is soulful. I cook a lot and really enjoyed reading this one.

A fantastic cookbook, June 20, 2010
I absolutely love this book! It truly shows you a better way of cooking and eating. The first recipe (viniagrette dressing) is so delicious it has me looking at fresh homemade food in a different way. This book has given me a goal of slowly removing processed food from my diet.

Gotta love Alice, May 10, 2010
For the novice cook, this is an excellent primer. For the cook that knows his/her way around the kitchen, it is an excellent reminder of basic techniques. In the day of every modern kitchen appliance and gadget, it is nice to see the techniques & recipes at their simplest & often best. Up until reading this entire book in a couple of evenings, I had never dressed greens with my hands, nor used my dusty mortar and pestle. This "cook" book has reinvigorated my senses in the kitchen and I will be purchasing it for several of my fellow foodie friends and family to enjoy. I have no qualms paying for a book filled with things I already know that fills my soul and the proceeds aren't benefiting the author, but those that don't have the resources that she or I do.

Review of In The Green Kitchen: Techniques to Learn by Heart, August 31, 2010
It's good to know that there is an American book out there about cooking techniques, and by such a reputable, experienced cookbook author.

I was French trained as a cook, so I quickly learned that if you get all the basic techniques down pat, you can not only master, but invent just about any dish you want afterward. I think the American emphasis on following recipes step by step is good for those who are not passionate about cooking, but for those who are, techniques are essential.

This should be a welcome addition to any cookbook collection, and in particular to those who are new to the locavore movement and cooking in general. It is not, however, for those already indoctrinated in the more complex techniques of French cuisine.

I think it would make a great gift for a college student or a young newly married couple.

... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

A great starter book for the beginning juicer, May 20, 2005
I recently inherited a lower end store bought juicer ( Juiceman, it is a very nice starter model, btw.). I ordered up a handful of juicing books through my library system and 'The Big Book of Juices & Smoothes' came in first not only to my house but the first for ease of use, layout & design and understanding. It is layed out according to the main product you want to use, say you have a bunch of carrots as the main ingredient, you go to that section. It is all well thought out.

After just a week of juicing for breakfast and an afternoon snack, I have to say that I am hooked and look forward to trying veggies and fruits of the exotic nature that were eschewed before due to the " How do I prepare this?" factor.

Natalie Savona has a way of mixing together fruits and veggies that would normally make you think, " Ugh...that sounds awful." but after trying a few root veggies and citrus fruit combos of hers, I've found her little comments about each drink are spot on.

Under every recipe is a Star Chart that rates the following:
Energy, Detox, Immuinity, Digestion and Skin. One to Five star rating of what exactly that recipe will help you in whatever area you feel you need. This is very nice as you can flip right through the book when you have a raging cold and look for the 5 Star Ratings on Immunity to see what produce you have on hand to help nourish your body.

An example of a recipe: #130 Easy Morning

3 carrots
1 apple
1/2 orange
1 stick of celery
1/2 inch of ginger root.

I prefer this now over regular orange or apple juice in the morning. So do my kids, who are 7 and 5. They also enjoy putting the fruit into the juicer and watching it get pulverized. YAY!

The plus side of juicing is taking out the pulp mush and putting it into your compost. It's a win-win situation, really. Good for you. Good for the Earth. YMMV :)

I liked this book so much, I am buying it after a very satisfying test drive from the library system.

This book, January 12, 2007
Is a lifesaver. From getting so overwhelmed with the exotic concoctions in the juice/smoothie books which sit on my shelf, I happened to pick this one up at the local juice bar. The girl there apologetically said it wasn't for sale, but from what I read whilst standing there, I have to say I have never had a book impress me so much in so few seconds. I ordered one, and the rest is history.
1. Brilliant,logical layout
2. Non overwhelming recipes (for those of us who don't want to live in the kitchen)
3. Surprisingly informative, from the basic fruit/ veg nutritional facts at the start to the 1 to 5 star rating after each recipe. Brilliant.
I love this book. It is my favourite, and as a raw foodist, I have stacks of books.
If you buy it, you'll see what I mean.

Very few ingredients needed for tasty smoothies, October 1, 2005
Originally I bought this book for my father in law, who is a cancer survivor and on a liquid diet. I thought the immunity and energy smoothies would help. He loves the book, b/c he was trying to create his own smoothies, with some gross results. (not to mention a huge waste of money on the ingredients!) Then I decided to buy the book for myself. Last year I had purchased a $$ vita-mix blender from a home show and had never used it..(which pissed my husband off immensely) The book of recipes it came with had so many ingredients, some, in which my opinion werent the healthiest. This book is excellent, with most smoothies having just 3-4 ingredients! Our fave is Morning Mash, with an orange, 2 bananas, a pear and 8 tbsp of apple juice! Delicious!

Try this for 2 weeks, January 8, 2005
No one likes to eat vegatables and this is such an easy way to do it! The book shows you certain combinations of vegetables and fruits to detox, cleanse and add energy to your body. I FELT results in 2 days. I bought a juicer at Wal-Mart for $50.00 and left it on the counter and once or twice a day I would juice a meal instead of eating empty caloeries and I felt INSTANT results I had energy and was not slugish in the late afternoon.
This is also a great way to get kids to get more nutrious things in their body. The drinks look gross sometimes BUT when you follow the combinations on the book the fruits overpower the vegatables in taste and you do not taste them especially the BEETS!
Anyone who wants to make an easy change in their diet can do this it takes 5 mins to do and clean up and the benefits are so wonderful!

Excellent Juicing book in EVERY aspect, August 14, 2008
I wont ever need another juicing book (nor do i want one). This book has everything a newcommer to juicing, like myself, or even an experienced juicer could use.
The recipes aren't too simple to where its like, "Duh, i know you juice lemons to make lemon juice.", but they aren't too complicated either. There is such variety in here that anyone is likely to find something that they would like. Natalie Savona even leaves helpful litle descriptions on each recpie of the juice (or smoothie) and even goes so far as to leave the vitamins in each recipie as well as a rating of 0 to 5 stars of the value it has pertaining to; energy, detoxification, immunity, skin health, and digestive health.
If you are into to juicing PICK THIS UP. I have read enough crappy reviews of other juicing books to fill this lengthy post up 100 times. Don't waste your money on anything else.

Wonderful!, July 9, 2008
I just love this book. The first great thing is that it is spiral bound so you can leave it open to the recipe while you make it. There are hundreds of recipes for juices, smoothies, frozen fruit slushes, fizzy quenchers and even some fruit infused teas. Every drink has a side bar on the things it is good for ie: detox, energy etc. and in the back it lists various ailments and which drinks are good for them.On top of this all the drinks I have tried so far have been wonderful. I am very pleased with this book.

excellent juices, January 4, 2006
I recently bought this book and so far I really love it and enjoy every juice I make. I love the idea that she arranged the juices by the kinds of fruits and veggies you want to use and that every juice has ratings for immunity, detox, skin, energy and digestion.
I higly reccomend this book.

Great for beginners, July 24, 2010
This was the first recipe book that I bought on juicing, and I really enjoy it. It gives a great and easy to understand introduction on juicing and why it is so beneficial. Another great point of the book is the star ratings based on skin, immunity, energy, etc. The back of the book even gives lists of ailments and then tells you corresponding recipes that are good to alleviate the symptoms.

The only downside to this book is it is mostly fruit and doesn't have many vegetable juicing recipes. Carrots are used, but for the main ingredients there isn't celery, spinach, parsley, etc. If you're looking for an introduction to juicing and want to get into it slowly, I would recommend starting with this because the fruit mixtures are great and tasty and then you mix a little carrot in them and as you continue, experiment and include more vegetables.

Overall, great book!

Great book but could be a little better, December 11, 2008
Definitely a great book for a beginner juicer! You CANNOT imagine how great some juices taste! The recipes are simple and straightforward to make and after you see some of the recipes, you almost feel like trying new ones on your own. For those of you who have never tried anything other than bottled juice, this will definitely be a pleasant change. The only thing I find missing in this book (which is why I gave it 4 stars) is some kind of calorie count for the juices. It is certain that the primary source of calories for all juices (not smoothies) will be only carbs and they may not be too much but it will be definitely a lot easy to add a juice to your diet plan if only you knew how many calories the glass of juice contains. Since there is very little information for each of the juices given in the book (and a lot of empty space around it), it will be a real plus if approximate calorie count is added (since calorie count will depend on the quantity of juice extracted which in turn depends on the size of the fruit or vegetable). But otherwise, definitely recommended!

Great Layout !, September 29, 2007
Great layout, great pictures, and great information! This book has a nice selection of fruit drinks and vegetable drinks as well. Each drink has a 5 section, 5 star rating. There is a spot on nutrition so you know the vitamins and minerals you are getting. A great book to keep you healthy! ... Read more

Editorial Review

“At one time, I described myself as a cook, a driver, and a writer. I no longer drive, but I do still write and I do still cook. And having reached the delicious age of eighty-one, I realize that I have been feeding other people and eating for a long time. I have been cooking nearly all my life, so I have developed some philosophies.”            
 
Renowned and beloved author Maya Angelou returns to the kitchen—both hers and ours—with her second cookbook, filled with time-tested recipes and the intimate, autobiographical sketches of how they came to be. Inspired by Angelou’s own dramatic weight loss, the focus here is on good food, well-made and eaten in moderation. When preparing for a party, for example, Angelou says, “Remember, cooking large amounts of food does not mean that you are obligated to eat large portions.” When you create food that is full of flavor, you will find that you need less of it to feel satisfied, and you can use one dish to nourish yourself all day long.
 
And oh, what food you will create! Savor recipes for Mixed-Up Tamale Pie, All Day and Night Cornbread, Sweet Potatoes McMillan, Braised Lamb with White Beans, and Pytt I Panna (Swedish hash.) All the delicious dishes here can be eaten in small portions, and many times a day. More important, they can be converted into other mouth-watering incarnations. So Crown Roast of Pork becomes Pork Tacos and Pork Fried Rice, while Roasted Chicken becomes Chicken Tetrazzini and Chicken Curry. And throughout, Maya Angelou’s rich and wise voice carries the food from written word to body-and-soul-enriching experience.

Featuring gorgeous illustrations throughout and Angelou’s own tips and tricks on everything from portion control to timing a meal, Great Food, All Day Long is an essential reference for everyone who wants to eat better and smarter—and a delightful peak into the kitchen and the heart of a remarkable woman.
  ... Read more

Editorial Review

Gluten free doesn't have to mean taste free, and chef Robert Landolphi proves it with his new work, Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook.

Landolphi is the up and coming gluten-free cookbook author. His dishes aren't just delicious, they're also quick and easy, and take living without wheat from endurable to enjoyable.

It's lots of flavor without the fuss. This cookbook includes more than 100 recipes for contemporary dishes ranging from main courses and sides, to soups and chowders, biscuits and muffins, pies and puddings, and cookies and sweetbars.

* Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook is one of only a few gluten-free cookbooks written and developed by a professional chef.

* This cookbook provides a fresh and progressive voice for gluten-free living. ... Read more

Reviews

Excellent gluten-free cookbook!, September 18, 2009
I was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease and needed a good "every day" cookbook. I followed the reviews here, and I was not led astray. This is by far one of the best cookbooks I have ever owned! My husband (who is not GF) and I have been very impressed with every recipe we've made from this cookbook. The recipes are easy, the ingredients aren't hard to find (which is a big plus if you live in the boonies like we do), and the food you will make is far better than non-GF food (really!). I highly recommend it!

This Cookbook is Simply "Fabulous"!, May 31, 2009
I bought this book because of an interest in gluten free eating, but this cookbook is great for even those not following a G-free diet. I find the recipes all very interesting and delicious. I made the "Coffee-Encrusted Beef Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce" for dinner last night, and I only wish there was some left - it was amazing! I'm making the "Hazelnut-Encrusted Salmon with Cilantro-Lime Creme" tonight. I can see myself using this book frequently. The Gluten-Free Basics section at the beginning helps with understanding how to cook G-free. It seems this book will make this transition to a G-free diet very easy. I highly recommend this book!Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook: More than 100 Easy and Delicious Recipes from the Gluten-Free Chef

Gluten Free Goodness!, May 6, 2009
I had overheard a few people discussing this book and decided to buy a copy for myself to try. I have one relative with Celiac Disease and thought this book would be great for holidays or just when the family gets together. At our most recent family gathering my family members raved about the Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin Recipe! The recipe directions are to the point and very easy to understand. I look forward to trying every recipe in this book!

Great Recipes, March 7, 2010
I ordered this book in an attempt to try my 6 year old son on a gluten free diet. Eliminating gluten from his diet has helped him to calm down in school and he has become less "angry" which I believe was a side effect of gluten in his diet. This book has a lot of basic information about gluten free ingredients. I especially appreciated the descriptions of many non-wheat based flours. This cookbook has excellent recipies including one for flaky biscuits and awesome chocolate chip cookies. It's a great book to start or add to a more healthy living cookbook collection.

Really Great Recipes, November 7, 2009
I've tried out a dozen of the recipes in the book so far - and all have been winners! The real proof can be found in the fact my father (a picky eater through and through) happily eats at my house when these recipes are on the table. Straight forward, easy to follow, but a different take on each recipe.

And the romantic in me can't help but be touched that a chef would go gluten free and work so hard just to make sure his wife got tasty food!

Lots of great gluten free ideas and helpful cooking and prep information, July 10, 2009
I had been searching for a new cookbook recently, which can be challenging if you can't eat gluten. My friend gave me a copy (actually signed by the author) and was immediately excited about finding lots of easy to follow recipes that contain many ingredients that are easily accessed as well. It also contains many simple tips about special food prep and cooking ideas that can take your recipe over the top. Although, the only meat that I eat is select fish, the meat oriented recipes can be replaced with meatless sources too. Lots of cool dessert recipes that even the most discerning gluten eater would enjoy!

gluten free cooking, November 28, 2009
This is a wonderful book for anyone, gluten consceience or not, who enjoys cooking and wishes to create healthy dishes. Author Rob Landophi offers his reasons why he became involved in gluten free cooking and his personal experinces add a special touch. The love and dedication he feels for his family come through in each recipe. The book covers all the different areas of cooking in easy-to-read text with fabulous explanations of gluten free products for the beginner.

What a find! - Best gluten free cookbook!, June 1, 2010
No. 1: This is one of the few gluten free cookbooks written by a certified chef.
No. 2: Everything is superb!
No. 3: I can now make biscuits better than I could when I was on a gluten diet.
No. 4: A nutritionist was involved in its creation.
No. 5: It teaches you how to cook whether it is gluten free or not.
No. 6: It teaches you about the gluten free ingredients and its purposes.

What an easy decision. Buy this book! It has great recipes. I can't wait to try the pizza dough recipe!

I've been sharing this book on my blog and with my over 3400 Facebook fans and they love it, too!

He recipes are INCREDIBLE!, November 14, 2009
All I can say is THANK YOU for these great recipes. My seven year old son finally likes something that is gluten and dairy free. The shrimp recipe is to die for!!!! I can't wait until the next book comes out :-)

Great Book - Great Food!!, August 20, 2009
This book has been such a delight. I was struggling with how to cook some favorites and this was the answer. Clearly written with great suggestions for products and sources. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Rachel Saunders's The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook is the definitive jam and marmalade cookbook of the 21st century. In addition to offering more than 100 original jam, jelly, and marmalade recipes, master jam artisan Rachel Saunders shares all of her technical preserving knowledge, as well as her unique jam maker's perspective on fruit.

Rachel combines nostalgia with a modern, sustainable approach to creating fresh and vividly flavored preserves. The recipes are divided into chapters based on the seasons, and each chapter is organized by month and type of fruit. Sample recipes include Strawberry-Marsala Jam with Rosemary, Italian Lemon Marmalade, and Early Girl Tomato Jam.

More than 100 stunning photographs by Sara Remington illustrate each part of the preserving process--from the different stages of cooking to testing for doneness to the final canning stage. Each recipe includes an approximate yield and a suggested shelf life, in addition to details on recommended equipment, including Rachel's beloved copper jam pot. The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook gives all measurements by weight rather than volume, making it the most exact and reliable American jam book on the market. More than 20 recipe variations are provided, along with detailed information about common and rare fruits, hybrid varieties, and flavor combinations. Nothing is left to chance or overlooked; Rachel explains every aspect of jam and marmalade making in step-by-step detail. The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook is a one-of-a-kind, must-have resource for home and professional cooks alike. ... Read more

Reviews

A Very Pleasant Suprise!, September 18, 2010
My wife and I just got our copy. We are both cooks and we thought this might be interesting. Well, it's much more than I anticipated. First of all it's one of the most beautiful food books I've seen. It has every recipe you might need for working with fruit as well as some approaches I had never even considered. But it's also filled with facts and information that reads more like a book than just food recipes. It's the type of book we'll enjoy curling up with on a winter's evening long after there's no fruit left to process.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR PREPARING JAMS AND MARMALADES, October 24, 2010

Who can resist the honeyed taste of jam? Certainly not one of Lewis Carroll's characters who laments, "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today." Not to worry with the wonderfully comprehensive guide, THE BLUE CHAIR JAM COOKBOOK, we can have jam every day in an apparent endless variety of that sweet spread. Whether your preference is for a plain lemon marmalade or strawberry jam you'll find variations of these and so much more in this 364 page tribute to preserves.

Founder of the Bay Area jam company Blue Chair Fruit Rachel Saunders has a passion for fruit which is evidenced in every recipe and mouth-watering illustration in this remarkable collection. She presents a loving, detailed discussions of various fruits, a technical section and, of course, her incomparable original recipes organized around the seasons of the year.

Okay, I admit it - initially I was intimidated by the thought of making jam. But soon happy memories of my grandmother's kitchen filled my mind, and I could see her stove covered with kettles and glistening jars of jams covering the kitchen counter. This is one of those "If I can do it, anyone can" comments: For me, the directions found with the recipes are step-by-step clear and precise. As in the recipe for Early Summer Peach Jam with Green Almonds, which begins with Day 1 and the preparation of the peaches. (To be placed in sugar and lemon juice and left to macerate in the refrigerator overnight.) Then on to Day 2 and the final steps. She specifies the type of utensils to be used ("...a copper preserving pan or two smaller rnonreactive kettles.") No need for guess-work when following her directions - even individual yields and shelf life are included. Clearly, this is someone who is dedicated to her craft and is happy to share the joy and fun of jam preparation with all.

While certainly precise in her recipes Saunders is far from a stickler for her preferences - she encourages cooks to prepare their own unique jams by following their preferences and tastes.

THE BLUE CHAIR JAM COOKBOOK is the ultimate definitive guide for preparing jam and marmalade throughout the year.

And, Blue Chair Fruit Co. is the ultimate place to find the fresh and distinctly flavored jams and marmalades prepared by Rachel and her team. We've been fortunate enough to try Damson Jam and Strawberry-Blood Orange Marmalade with Rosemary. Made from organic plums Damson Jam has a just-picked distinctive flavor and is filled with whole pieces of fruit - this is jam at its finest. The Marmalade glitters with colors of deep gold and orange slivers, while the flavor is robust, hearty, distinguished by a hint of rosemary - in a class of its own. These delights and many more may be found at www.bluechairfruit.com.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

Exceptional Book, October 20, 2010
I am a professional chef with a collection of more than 5000 cookbooks. This book easily rates in the top 10 cookbooks I own. Much more than I expected. Encyclopedic in scope and beautifully illustrated, I fully expect to see a James Beard Award sticker on next years printing.

Who knew that you did not have to boil those jelly jars, November 7, 2010

I saw the Author on the Martha Stewart Show. I was so impressed with her jelly making technique that I bought the book on Amazon after I went to the Blue Chair Jam sight and discovered that the book was not available.

I received the book in a timely manner and was surprised to find that the book was so big. Many more pages then I expected.

Who knew that you did not have to boil those jelly jars on the stove but you can use the oven. This is such a good tip.

Besides that tip, the book has the technique for making jelly and jams. This book is great for beginners but has enough recipes for the advanced jelly makers.

I am not in the stage of my life where I would make a batch of jelly so I gifted the book to my daughter who was delighted and I am confident she will try to make some jelly or jam. It was the perfect gift for her.

Be confident that I read the book before I gifted it.

Love Blue Chair Fruit Jams!, November 11, 2010
I am a huge fan of blue chair fruit, and was a frequent customer at the farmer's market in Oakland. Because I loved the jams so much I took a class on jam making from Rachel and the jams I made were amazing, which I was really excited about since I had never made jam before. I really appreciate that there is no need for additional pectin... it's just fruit, sugar, lemon, and whatever additional herb or liqueur you wish to add to for something a little extra. Sterilizing the jars in the oven made the whole process a lot easier than the traditional water bath method. I also happened to have a copper pot that I purchased in Mexico that worked great... so if you don't want to fork out the money for the french version, the Mexican copper pot worked great (Caso de cobre... traditionally for making carnitas, I believe). I am really looking forward to trying the recipes in the book!!!

Insightful, Encyclopedic!, November 18, 2010
I've been making jam, jelly, marmalade and chutney for over 50 years! Some summers I've made over 1,000 jars! But here I am, only on page 9 of this fabulous book, and already I've learned so many things I didn't know, like straining for jelly twice; once through a coarse strainer and then, only then, through the cheesecloth. Up to now, I've only done the cheesecloth strain. This ways makes so much more sense.

I'll Post-It flag the pages with useful hints and refer back to them in future.

I love this HUGE book!

Now to find some winter quince!

.Kathy, Portland, OR

Best Jams in a long time!, November 29, 2010
I love this book. After having many preserves/jam books, this one really interested me. I've made both the Concord Grape Jam and the Early Girl Tomato Jam. They are both super delicious and out of the box. I've never seen a concord jam recipe that KEEPS the grape skins in, and boy, was this the ticket! This is by far, the BEST concord grape jam I've ever tasted or made! I'm not lying here! Try it! The Tomato Jam was the bomb! Who'd think that tomato jam would be so killer??? I gave both jams to friends and neighbors, and every comment I got was on the "wow" factor! I even was told by one neighbor that I'd "miss my calling" and should make jams for a living. But I owe the credit all to the book and it's wonderfully inventive author! Buy this book. You won't regret it, and it will become one of your favorites, for sure!

Excellent Jamming Experience, October 27, 2010
After a snafu with the Kindle version of this book, which the author and publisher were very quick to address, I have had the pleasure of reviewing the hard copy of The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook. All I can say is wow; I am so inspired! This book is absolutely wonderful. It is so informative and I love the way the recipes are broken down by season. I made the Strawberry, balsamic and black pepper jam and the Pear, vanilla and elderflower jam. Both are heavenly and I love the texture and the fact that they are free of added pectin. I can't wait to make my next batch, which I think will be one of the lemon marmalades.

If you are at all interested in making your own jam, this book is a must have! The only down side is that now I really, really want a Mauviel preserving pan!

Advocates an unsafe canning method, December 17, 2010
This book advocates oven canning which is an unsafe method of home preserving. The author covers herself by stating that the items should be processed according to manufacturer directions, or by following the steps outlined on page 42 which are the directions for oven canning. I presume that by "manufacturer directions," the author means the manufacturer of the canning jars used. In most cases, that would be Jarden Home brands, makers of Ball and Kerr jars and those directions would be for water bath canning.

Many universities have done in-depth studies of safe canning methods and have found that water bath and pressure canning are the only safe methods for home preserving. Water bath canning can be used only for high-acid foods such as jams, jellies, pickles and salsa. Pressure canning can be used for either high or low acid foods.

Often, the home canner can "get away" with using unsafe methods for canning because it is possible that harmful bacteria were not present on the food to be canned. However, you cannot safely assume that harmful bacteria aren't present. MSN recently had an article about this very problem regarding homemade Christmas gifts.

The following is taken from the University of Georgia National Center for Home Preserving.

"Only boiling water or pressure canning methods are recommended for canning foods. Older methods, such as oven canning and open-kettle canning, have been discredited and can be hazardous (Equipment and Methods Not Recommended from the USDA Complete Guide to Canning 1994). The risk of botulism poisoning determines the choice of either boiling water or pressure canners for canning foods. In foods that are acid (pH 4.6 or lower) the microorganism that causes botulism cannot grow. Therefore it is safe to use a boiling water bath canner. All other foods must be canned using tested pressure canning processes (Ensuring Safe Canned Foods)."

The University of North Dakota Extension has a more in-depth discussion of why oven canning is unsafe.

Since the author advocated an unsafe canning method, I am worried that the levels of acid specified in her recipes are not sufficient for home canning so I doubt that I'll be using any of these recipes and feel that I wasted my money.

Lovely, useful book, December 13, 2010
Just got this book and it's absolutely lovely. The book itself is weighty and has beautiful pictures. My boyfriend is totally not into cookbooks but immediately admired the design of the book. Saunders' recipes are fantastic - I've had her jams at the farmer's market many times and I made my first recipe from the book this weekend (meyer lemon mandarin marmalade). Delicious! I will use this book again and again.

A couple caveats. First, as lovely as the book is, I wish the pages were more traditional cookbook pages. These are that sort of thick, pulpy paper, and if you spill on them (which, duh, happens all the time with cookbooks), they soak up the water really fast and the paper pills up as you try to blot the book clean. Also, despite what a couple other reviewers have said, this is definitely not a beginner's jam-making book. The recipes, particularly for the marmalades, are quite complex and Saunders doesn't always explain the "why" of doing things a certain way or she leaves out basic steps or safety info that you only know from having made jams before. I think I would have been terribly intimidated if this was my first exposure to the how-to of making jam. And keep in mind, her methods don't always meet USDA food safety recommendations (e.g. processing filled jars in the oven to seal them rather than in a hot water bath). ... Read more

Editorial Review

For nearly a decade, The Healthy College Cookbook has offered time-pressed, budget-crunched students a simple way to enjoy home cooking in their own small apartment kitchens or even dorm rooms. Written by students for students, the book offers hundreds of simple, healthful alternatives to dreary cafeteria fare. The first edition was so successful it returned to print 17 times.

Now, this best-selling cookbook has been revised, expanded, and enlivened for a new generation of students. One hundred brand-new recipes have been added to the old favorites, including expanded breakfast options, recipes for the ever-popular George Foreman Grill, new smoothie creations, and pizza toppings for storebought crusts, English muffins, and pita bases. Recipes require only a handful of easy-to-find ingredients. The book is packed with vegetarian options, and every recipe is as nutritious as it is delicious. Most can be prepared in less time than it takes to order pizza.

Most college students are new to cooking, and The Healthy College Cookbook contains a wealth of information and tips for the novice. It explains cooking terms, describes common spices, and offers basic, sensible advice on stocking a kitchen with equipment and food staples.

The book isn't just for novices, however. Even the most discerning young palates will appreciate zesty Garlic Green Beans with Tofu or lively Mandarin-Mint Salad. These recipes are so quick, so inexpensive, and so delicious that they're bound to become dinner party favorites, years past graduation. ... Read more

Reviews

Doable, Practical, and Imaginative Cooking for Beginners., March 31, 2004
This was my first cookbook, and I can now cook and bake almost anything I try. My mother gave this to me when I was studying abroad in Ireland and found that, being vegetarian, I couldn't eat most of the food in restaurants. I had never liked cooking much before but this book sparked an interest in me that has become my primary hobby.

The book consists of multiple sections, which include Breakfast, Poultry, Beef, Seafood, Vegetarian (yay!), and Desserts. And even though most of the above don't apply to me, this book is still splattered and marked with my always successful attempts at these recipes. The ingredients are usually on hand in a well-stocked kitchen, and, for further assistance, the authors give you thorough advice on how to stock a kitchen in the first place. In addition, the book includes a glossary on cooking and baking terms in case, like me, you didn't know and couldn't place international calls to your mom every five minutes.

But the absolute best thing about this book, after you take into consideration the creative recipes, the simple delicious taste of each finished product, the ease of use, and the lasting power of the recipes - I still come back to this book for the recipes listed further below, is the universal quality the authors cultivate. Each recipe gives both metric and standard measuring units (and in my case, it was essential) and thorough nutritional information with each recipe.

Key recipes that I still use, many many dinner parties later: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Carrot Cake, Baked Ziti, Garlic Green Beans with Tofu, Tomato Basil Sauce, Mushroom Pasta Sauce (try with linguine), and Mushrooms Parmesan.

Drawbacks to this book: Not many. And there aren't even any pictures, which I usually find upsetting. For this book, it works. If I had a photo of what the dish was supposed to look like in front of me, I would have been upset if my final product didn't resemble it completely.

If you are searching for the perfect gift for a student with a first apartment, consider this book. It was a gift to me, and I am still grateful.

It got me through Graduate School, January 3, 2001
Putting in 90-100 hour weeks during Graduate school, I needed a basic but comprehensive cookbook where the meals wouldn't take long, the ingredient list wasn't huge, but the meals would still be flavorful. I picked up this little gem. I can't even count how many times I've cooked my favorite recipes out of this book--Vegetarian Lasagna, Balsamic Chicken & Potatoes, the list goes on and on. This cookbook covers every meal item possible and gives you a great combination of classic and unique recipes that anyone can make. You don't have to be a BAD cook to get this book, the authors are sensitive to the fast-paced lifestyle many people have and present this as an alternative to lengthy cooking. And now that I'm out of the Graduate School schedule, guess what -- I'm still making these recipes.

I Used It, College Grad. Didn't, January 22, 2007
I found this book in my boyfriends closet while we were packing to move. Apparently this book was given to him as a present when he was in Graduate School but never used it. So, I decided to take it and give it a try.

The recipes were pretty simple to make and I must say, they were delicious and very creative. I am not sure though, if a college student would really go out of their way and try and make some of these.....You as a student would be finding and buying foods you would never think of before, which can add up the grocery bill. But if you love to cook then you will like this.

I would say the major downfall is that this book contains NO pictures. I like having a picutre in front of me to give me an idea of what the outcome of the dish will look like when I am finished.

This book really has made my life quick, cheap and easy., August 5, 1999
The Healthy College Cookbook is not just for college kids. I am a recent college alum, living and working in New York City. For several months, I ate myself out of house and home as New York delis and restaurants sucked the cash right out of my pocket, cooking seemed like a hastle so I didn't do it! Since I ordered the Healthy College Cookbook, I am cooking more, eating better, and saving money - with these simple recipes, cooking's no hastle, it's easy. I recommend this book to any college student or young adult cooking for themselves for the first time.

A College Vegetarians Delight, January 23, 2000
Being a vegetarian on a college meal plan is more than impossiable. With this book I have time to cook and go to practice and do homework. The recipes are easy, and adding your own personal touch to a recepie is a personal favorite. A huge selection of veggie dishes helps feed even the pickyist dinner guest. A+

., June 13, 2006
This cookbook is very well put together, but it didnt quite live up to my expectations. I thought I was the perfect target audience for this book - a college student on a budget who is trying to teach herself to cook.
I realize this book is for beginning cooks (I definately fall into the beginning cook category) but a lot of the recipes are just silly. I mean, ants-on-a-log? English muffin pizza? Do people really need a cookbook for that kind of thing?
Don't get me wrong, there are some great things about this book as well. It has very detailed descriptions of cooking terminology as well as familiar spices and kitchen necessities. I also love it that nutritional information is included with all of the recipes.
In short, this book is a great choice for someone who is absolutely cooking impaired. The recipes are extremely easy and the instructions and background information is very thorough. However, if you have even the slightest amount of cooking experience (e.g., know how to make scrambled eggs) you might find yourself dissapointed.

Whoa - Hot Diggity Dog Damn, January 17, 2003
Yowza. This sucker literally transformed me from eating take-out burritos and pizza (last semester) to now only cooking my own meals. Not kidding. Who knew it was actually cheaper and healthier to cook for yourself?

I rank this book(from all the ones I bought thru amazon) to have the most impact on my daily life; Since purchasing it I am able to cook pretty much whatever I want - within the limits of the recipes in the book. I even got so motivated to go out and buy all the suggested spices.

The only thing though is that you have to spend (in some cases) like an hour to cook stuff. Especially if you are a newbie like me. But man oh man I highly suggest picking up this sucker.

This book is WAY cool indeed.

;-)

Few Recipes are Good, July 10, 2007
I bought this book for my girlfriend for Christmas, to help each of us learn how to cook. The problem with the book is that the instructions are meant for someone that has maybe never even stepped foot in a kitchen. If you even know how to make spaghetti or hamburger helper, then this book is too simple for you. Most of the recipes turn out not to be very good, and some are just crappy. There were a few items that we have enjoyed, but we even had to modify those slightly.

Overall I would say go with a different book unless you are buying it for someone who is completely clueless. Don't listen to the reviews here. Even for a notice, the mediocre meals will only discourage you from cooking. Try something else.

This is my favorite cookbook, September 21, 2005
This book makes it possible for a non-cook such as myself to make decent-tasting meals for myself and my family. I especially love the tomato-basil omelettes, the delicious and healthy homemade macaroni and cheese, and, of course, the chocolate cake. I like how the book contains a variety of simple, easy-to-follow, well-explained recipes that use inexpensive ingredients that are still pretty healthy. I highly recommend this for people who prefer eating to cooking.

One of the best buys I've ever made, April 30, 2004
I bought this book my junior year of college after moving into my first apartment, and even though I'm on my third apartment, this is still my favorite cookbook.
I've tried dozens and dozens of recipes, and their delicious (and so simple!)
I brought this cookbook home over Christmas break this past year and made some of the dishes for my mom (who is an excellent cook), and she loved the cookbook so much, she has made it quite clear that this is what she wants for Mother's Day. So for the novice or the expert - anyone who likes delicious food that's easy and doesn't take all day to make, you'll love this book.

Favorites: Roasted red pepper and feta salad (pretty much the easiest and tastiest salad I've ever made), banana chocolate chip muffins (amazing every time), vegetable chili (mom made this three times while I was home for Christmas), twice baked potato and tomato-corn omlet. So good. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Vegan cupcakes will take over the world. Better to give in sooner than later and make this a smooth transition.After all, they're so delicious, easy to make, adorable and portable, these little cuppers are sure to be the beginning of a dairy-free baking revolution.

In this sweet and sassy guide, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of the smash-hit cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance,and Terry Hope Romero serve up a batch of everyone's favorite dessert.Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World unleashes more than 75 recipes for cupcakes and frostings--some innovative, some classics--with beautiful color photographs.

Every single recipe has been tested to perfection, so sneak these 'cakes into any party and watch them win over the crowd.Indulge in:

* Brooklyn Brownie Cupcakes
* Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cupcakes
* S'mores Cupcakes
* Lemon Macadamia Cupcakes
* Mucho Margarita Cupcakes
* Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
* Cappuccino Cupcakes filled with Espresso Cr�me

You'll also learn Isa and Terry's secrets of no-fail baking, inspired decorating, piping like a pro, and shopping for vegan ingredients, plus true cupcake anecdotes from the trenches. When Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World , no dessert lover can resist! ... Read more

Reviews

Vegan Cupcakes Have Taken Over My World!, January 4, 2007
I love love LOVE this book. The recipes are simple and perfect, every time; I have had VCTOtW for about a month and a half now, and despite at least weekly bakings, haven't had a single recipe fail yet. Not one. Since I bought it I seriously can't stop baking and am beginning to fear for my waistline!

I would like to second another reviewer who pointed out that the recipes don't ask you to use egg replacers or other "substitutions" common in vegan baking (usually because someone is trying to veganize a non-vegan recipe); instead, the recipes are just designed vegan from the ground up, and call for simple ingredients that anyone would have (oil, baking powder, etc.). Also, there are tons of beautiful color pictures of finished cupcakes throughout, which is one of the most important things about a cookbook, to me. Then, too, they suggest enough variations on each cupcake recipe (there's 6 suggested ways to dramatically alter the chocolate cupcake recipe alone) that this book will keep you occupied for quite a long time.

Since every baker likes a little external validation, here's mine: I have gotten absolute raves on every cupcake I have made so far, and most of these raves were from non-vegans who were comparing my vegan cupcakes with regular [non-vegan] cupcakes. For example, last night I fed a chocolate cupcake with cookies 'n cream frosting (vegan buttercream frosting with Newman's O's mixed in... this is a recipe from the book, obviously) to a friend who didn't just enjoy it, but was absolutely WOWED. "Geeze, it's amazing what they're doing without dairy or eggs these days; these are better than regular cupcakes" was one comment that I particularly appreciated because most vegan desserts can taste good, but in my experience it's the rare vegan dessert that can taste identical or even BETTER than the regular omni thing.

I would recommend this book to anyone, vegans and omni's alike, because even if you're not vegan (or lactose intolerant), the cupcakes taste fabulous. The recipes are so simple they're basically idiot-proof, and I have seriously never in my life had better chocolate cupcakes than the ones I made from this book: moist and fluffy and ooh... just perfect. And I'm not even a chocolate person.

Anyway, do yourself (and everyone in your life who will be eating your baked goods) a favor and buy this wonderful book! I'd give it 10 stars if they'd let me...

Vegan Cupcakes Have Taken Over My World, November 8, 2006
I am not a vegan, but I loved Vegan with a Vengeance...and I couldn't wait for VCTOTW -- this book is awesome. So far I've only made the basic vanilla cupcakes but the frosting alone (vegan buttercream and the chocolate buttercream -- couldn't resist making both) was worth the price of the cookbook and MORE! And, to top it all off, I made the first batch in honor of my son's birthday and neither of my kids even blinked an eye to notice that these cupcakes were anything other than YUMMY!

P.S. I have always been intimidated by cupcakes (and especially frosting) -- but these recipes made it all seem easier, somehow.

WOW is all I can say..., October 12, 2006
I have been a wandering vegan for about a year now, and the only reason I wander is to indulge in delicious, yummy sweet treats that contain egg and/or dairy. I was so impressed with Isa's first book that I pre-ordered this one from Amazon, and I shall wander no more! Wow. This is a must-have for anyone who is vegan or allergic to dairy. You can pretty much recreate any of your favorite cupcake (or cake, for that matter - same recipes, different pan) recipes without the need for cholesterol-laden egg or milk products (calories are another story...). The layout of the book is wonderful, and the pictures are great! I am so excited to make these as gifts for friends during the upcoming holiday season. They'll NEVER believe they're VEGAN. I think that's the highest compliment any pastry chef could receive. 5 GLOWING STARS! Thanks, Isa, for making veganism so easy and tasty :)

Ok Isa, we need to talk..., October 24, 2006
Isa is ruining my number one excuse for declining dessert, and most vegans know exactly what I'm talking about. Picture this scenario that all vegans have experienced countless times: you're at the office potluck/halloween party/family gathering. Post-meal, the desserts come flying to the table. As everyone lifts their forks grabbing their favorite decadent dessert, they stare at you. The strange vegan. Those who don't know you approach, and with a warm smile, offer you a slice of NY cheesecake. You decline politely, saying, "sorry, it has dairy so I don't eat cheesecake." Well, based on Isa's doing, I can no longer sit out from the dessert scene. I don't know if I should salute her or throw my bathroom scale at her since I no longer want to use it after baking from her new book.

Similar to the reasons I raved about her cookbook, Isa's charming book of cupcake recipes is stellar. First of all, I challenge all omnivores out there to think of 75 possible cupcake combinations. Now take away the milk. And eggs. Oh, and one can't use any butter, so nix that too. Ah... that's better. Now one is introduced to the vegan-style baking that Isa makes so effortless for the rest of us who are ingredient-challenged.

Before I learned how to bake vegan cupcakes from this book, I would trudge down to Sticky Fingers bakery in DC and cough up $4 for a product reminiscent of a 25-cent Hostess cupcake. While at the bakery I would hand over my money, gritting my teeth and reminding myself how lucky I am to live in a vegan-accepting city. Then, I would take a bite back to the 4th grade, pre-Vegan era.

Not only does this book make baking a lot more economical and bring back those childhood memories, but these things are really frickin good. In the mood for fruity cupcakes? No problem. Craving rich chocolate buttercream? Simple. And delicious. And awesome. For all you closet vegans living in the heart of the south (and I'm sure you're out there), bake some of these cupcakes for the most die-hard fans of banana fosters and it will truly rock their world. I baked a variety of the cupcakes for a dinner party and when people saw them they asked when I stopped being vegan.

What I'm trying to say: baking these delicious cupcakes are easy and the end result is phenominal. Not only is this cookbook revolutionary in that I can't think of another dedicated to the undiscovered art of cupcakes, but it's also one step closer to saving vegans from being known as the strange eater at the dinner table. Thank you, Isa Moskowitz, even if my growing thighs do not. How about for your next cookbook you introduce a low-fat vegan cookbook for those getting out of their cupcake-induced sugar comas?

My Cupcake Bible, December 12, 2006
The moment I pledged my devout allegiance to this book was when my husband's entire family (including my mother-in-law, who used to work at a bakery) fell in love with the gingerbread cupcakes w/ lemon buttercream icing I made from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World."

Baking does not come naturally to me - thankfully, this cupcake book provides really good details and pictures that help any novice make beautiful, tasty cupcakes.

TRUE SELLING POINT: Instead of "replacing" ingredients (i.e. substituting eggs with applesauce) the authors clearly took a lot of time and effort to concoct a perfect balance of ingredients to make these taste amazing, rather than like a "veganized' version of the "real thing."

I cannot wait to try out some of the "fancy" cupcake recipes, like pistachio rosewater or the boston cream pie cupcakes. Brownie cupcakes look amazing, too, since I have not yet been able to create a good vegan brownie.

"Vegan Cupcakes" is consistent with what I had expected from Isa's other book, "Vegan with a Vengeance." Along with the recipes, there is fun, cheeky commentary that makes the book so unique.

In short, this book is great for vegans and non-vegans alike. You do not need dairy or eggs to enjoy these sweet & adorable treats!

You don't have to be Vegan to love Isa's books, November 1, 2006
I am not a Vegan or Vegetarian but prefer to cook vegan and vegetarian meals. I find vegetarian recipes more fun and creative than meals that focus on meat. Isa's books are by far the most creative (and tasty) I have used and I highly recommend them to anyone. To omnivores who are wondering if these recipes only taste good to vegans who have forgotten the way cupcakes are "supposed" to taste; you have nothing to fear. Happy Baking!

Best cupcakes ever!, October 6, 2006
I was lucky enough to be a recipe tester for this awesome book, so trust me, you have to buy it! I just counted and so far I have made 28 recipes that you can find in this book.

Everybody will like these cupcakes, vegan or not. There are so many creative and easy recipes, there's something for everybody.

Not only are the cupcakes great as is, but you'll find other uses for these recipes that will come in handy for absolutely everything. I haven't made a cake this year that wasn't based on one of these cupcakes. I've memorized the vanilla buttercream frosting because I've made it so many times. It's good with cakes, as a topping for desserts, donut filling, etc. Same goes for the chocolate ganache, good for everything. You won't be disappointed!

Divine, delicious and dairy-free, November 16, 2006
These cupcakes are seriously delicious and a lot easier than you would expect. I made them for a birthday party and no one could believe they didn't (1) come from a bakery and (2) were vegan. And I had never baked cupcakes before! My first batch was so easy that I tried three other recipes. All delicious.

Isa and Terry - hats off!

I'm in my kitchen pouring over the gorgeous pictures singing "Who can bake a cupcake without the eggs and cream?" to the tune of Candy man. With Isa and Terry life is sweet.

Seriously vegan, Seriously good., October 19, 2006
I'm not a great, witty writer, so simply said - this book is amazing, adorable, and will make you and your mouth and your vegan friends and your omnivorous friends happy.

-I've made the chocolate coconut coffee cupcakes - which I'd pay any overpriced tag for
- The s'mores cupcakes (so sweet and tasty you can't believe they are vegan)
-The sexy lowfat vanilla cupcakes (the name says it all)
- Last night I made the classic maple cupcakes. The maple cupcakes take your mouth to a Vermont tasting wonderland.

Cupcake fan, vegan or not, these recipes need to be tackled by ya, and given to all you know and love. I bought my non-vegan sister a copy and one for myself.

Pure vegan genius!, October 7, 2006
Whether you prefer plain yellow cupcakes or fancy-schmancy green tea cuppers with marzipan flowers, there is something in this book for you. I also was fortunate enough to have been a tester for this cookbook, which is filled with winners. The authors are accessible and helpful on their website, theppk.com, and they've provided lots of useful tips and troubleshooting hints in the book. There's even decorating advice. This is one of those books where the fact that the recipes are vegan is incidental--the cupcakes all taste wonderful! (Although vegans, vegetarians, and other kind-minded folk will be glad to know that the recipes can all be made without harming another being, except yourself if you burn your tongue because you just can't wait to taste your creations!) Beautiful, drool-worthy pictures, too. It seems very likely that if anything is going to take over the world anytime soon, it's going to be these vegan cupcakes. ... Read more