The New Vegetarian Cookbook - Robin Asbell (epub)

**THIS IS AN EPUB FILE - you can convert epub to pdf in www.zamzar.com**

New Vegetarian is the real deal, a book of 75 global recipes, some of them vegan, that are delicious and inviting. If your motto is "Try something new every day," this book will keep you sated and happy. Practically speaking, I would classify this as a special-occasion vegetarian cookbook for a couple of reasons:

a) many ingredients (mock abalone, goji berries, kamut, coconut cream) require an extra stop to an ethnic or health food store...or, at the very least, some advance planning if ordering via the internet.

b) many, but not all, recipes are more time or labor intensive than most people can manage Monday through Friday

Still, this book has its place on my bookshelf because the recipes are delicious and the food presents well. It's what I'd reach for when I'm tired of the same 30 or so ingredients I tend to use over and over. It's also perfect for impressing guests. The book is divided into the following sections:

1. Appetizers/small plates - full of beautifully presented dishes that will impress any guest.

2. Salads - one of my favorite sections of the book, because the combinations of fruit, vegetables, nuts and cheeses are unique and mouth-watering

3. Soups - another favorite section, because she understands the importance of good soup making...which always starts with a good homemade broth.

4. Main Courses - I was less impressed with the main courses here, if only because there is a slight emphasis on "mock" meat dishes, a pet peeve of mine, since vegetarian eating shouldn't be construed as a way of pretending to eat meat. Many would argue otherwise and I see their point. I just enjoy honoring wholesome ingredients as they are.

5. Desserts - all vegan, a great idea, since there is an overabundance of great desserts that call for butter and eggs. good section with an offering of both traditional American goodies and some international sweets that may be less familiar to readers.

Some observations on the book overall...the food photography does its job, bringing the author's recipes to life with mouth-watering images. The food styling is excellent.

Valuable information in the introduction about how vegetarians get their nutrients. Also helpful is a resource guide for some of the harder-to-find ingredients.

As briefly mentioned above, this book contains both vegan and vegetarian recipes. Many of the vegetarian recipes could be amended to accommodate vegan diets with simple omissions.

One gripe I have with this book (and some other Chronicle Books publications I own) is this: while I appreciate the clean negative space on the recipe pages, my eyes do NOT enjoy reading such a small typeface, especially when many critical measurements have fractions in them, at what I estimate to be about 4 pt. type. Much, much too small.

Recommended.

- K Kasabian, Amazon.com

The problem I often encounter when preparing recipes from vegetarian cookbooks is that they are not necessarily *healthy* - they simply don't include meat/fish, but they are often not well balanced.

This cookbook offers lots of inventive, delicious dishes that are high in nutritional value as well as being vegetarian. The author includes as much fresh produce as possible in interesting, creative ways and increases the nutritional profile of heavier dishes by sneaking in pureed veggies, much like The Sneaky Chef's author does in her books.

The result is a variety of dishes that are truly good for yous, as well as the environment.

The book also includes beautiful photos, clear instructions and some helpful info.

The reason why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that there are quite a few recipes that are too elaborate for everyday eating, and that I'll reserve for times when I have guests over for dinner. Other than that, PERFECTION.

- Elisa, Amazon.com



Enjoy and Seed!!