Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years, concentrating on Italian cooking for the last 10 years, writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute and "Culinary Artistry". With more than 500 cookbooks in my collection I am usually disappointed in my recent cookbook acquisitions. This book is a nice addition to any cookbook library if you have a vegetarian in your family or just want to add a few meatless meals to your family table.
The book is subdivided as follows:
Introduction
Starters and Salads
Soups and Stews
Sauteed & Stir Fried Vegetables
Boiled and Steamed Vegetables
Baked, Roasted and Grilled Vegetables
Beans and Legumes
Pasta, Polenta & Rice
Eggs and Cheese
Basic Recipes & Techniques
This book is vegetarian, not vegan. However, there are many recipes in the book that are vegan or that can be easily changed to make them vegan. As a new follower of the mostly vegan "Eat to Live" plan I have been purchasing vegetarian cookbooks with abandon looking for new flavor ideas. This book has added a number of new recipes to my cooking repertoire.
My overall observations about the book are as follows:
Pros:
1.Book covers many ethnic cuisines in its recipes
2.Recipe directions are very thorough
3.Covers many different techniques for preparing veggies (stir fry, baking, roasting, grilling, etc.)
4.Many but not all of the recipes are healthy
5.Color photographs of all the dishes are provided
6.Small book, doesn't take up too much room on the counter
7.Nice sturdy binding that will stand up to many years of constant useCons:
1.No desserts
2.Uses while flour where whole wheat would work
3.Uses full fat-bechamel where low-fat bechamel would work and be a healthier option
4.Uses full fat cream a little too liberally
As a cook that relies mostly on Italian Cuisine and that is new to mostly vegan cooking I found many ideas in this book that I could add to my family table. If you wish to expand your cooking to include multiple ethnicities in a vegetarian environment I would recommend this book. I have given this book 4 stars instead of 5 because it did not try to make the recipes healthier by reducing the white flour and full fat dairy where appropriate.
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Williams-Sonoma Almost Vegetarian is for food lovers who won't sacrifice taste for a healthy lifestyle. It includes over 200 recipes, providing a variety of delicious preparations for vegetables, beans, legumes, pasta, polenta, rice, eggs, and cheese. The Basic Recipes and Techniques chapter and the illustrated glossary also provide suggestions for building vegetarian meals or adding nutritious variety to your almost-vegetarian lifestyle.--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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