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Recommended Cookbooks by Wendy RichardsI used the amazon.com books web site to check the availability of these books (as at 11th June 2000). Amazon’s prices are pretty good but if you live somewhere outside of the US then the postage from there can be pretty prohibitive. Try taking the ISBN numbers to your local bookstore to see if they can order the books in for you.There is some sort of publishing cold war between the US and the UK and some books are only available in one or the other. We are lucky in Australia; we get books from both sides of the war! As you can probably tell, I prefer low-fat cooking. VeganYes, there are good vegan cookbooks out there. Don’t despair!365 Plus One Vegan Recipes by Leah LenemanISBN 0722526172Rating: 6 out of 10 Soft cover I believe that this one is out of print but I found several books by the same author available on Amazon. Good, easy to make recipes for those learning to be vegan. The Vegan Gourmet by Susann Geiskopf – Hadler and Mindy ToomayISBN 0761516263Rating 7 out of 10 Soft cover I bought the original edition but there is a new edition out now. This is the ISBN number listed above. The recipes I would rate from easy to medium and generally delicious. For the most part the recipes are low-fat and a nutritional breakdown is included with each recipe The major drawback I found with this book was that, being an American cookbook, I found some of the ingredients hard to source. Nonna’s Italian Kitchen by Bryanna Clark GroganISBN 1570670552Rating 9 out of 10 Soft cover This book was available on Amazon when I checked. For those that love Italian style food, this book is a ray of light. There are lots of tips and techniques for substituting for non vegan ingredients while still retaining the idea of traditional Italian food. I would rate the recipes in this book as medium to hard, generally not a book for the beginning cook or those pressed for time. The recipes are generally fairly low- fat but there are no nutritional breakdowns. Professional Vegetarian Cooking by Ken BergeronISBN 0471292354Rating 9 out of 10 Hard cover This book was available on Amazon when I checked. I have seen this in Australia in a soft cover edition. This book was a revelation for me; it contains a wealth of vegan cooking tips and techniques. Although the book is aimed at restaurant chefs, the recipes are easy to adapt for home use. There are serving and presentation suggestions with most recipes, as well as alternative ingredients. I would rate the recipes as easy to medium. The recipes are generally low-fat but there are no nutritional breakdowns. There are two drawbacks to this book. One is that once again I found some of the ingredients hard to source. The second is that all of the recipes are designed to serve 10 people! Lorna Sass’s Complete Vegetarian KitchenISBN 0688141854Rating 7 out of 10 Soft cover This is a good cookbook for the environmentally conscious. The recipes use a wide variety of natural ingredients and generally avoid refined sugars etc. The cookie section is wonderful! Be warned though, you will want to go out and buy a pressure cooker (I did). The majority of the cooked recipes use a pressure cooker but also describe how to make the recipe without one. I would rate the recipes as easy to medium. Some recipes take a long time to cook without a pressure cooker. The Millenium Cookbook by Eric Tucker and John WesterdahlISBN 0898158990Rating 9 out of 10 Soft cover This cookbook came from a vegan restaurant in San Francisco that has special nights with themes like aphrodisiac cooking and mushroom tasting! This is my all time favourite cookbook. I have made more recipes out of this cookbook than any other and I am planning to make still more. This book contains truly gourmet vegan fare. There are recipes for starters, mains, breakfasts, lunches and desserts. As this is a restaurant cookbook the recipes are complex and some of the ingredients are expensive and/or hard to find, definitely a book for the experienced cook. The major drawback I found was that some of the quantities of ingredients are quite wrong and there are steps missing from some recipes. Vegetarian But Vegan FriendlyVegetarian Times Low – Fat and Fast AsianISBN 002861983Rating 7 out of 10 Soft cover This book was available on Amazon when I checked. This is a great little book, it borrows from a wide range of Asian cuisines. It is listed in the vegetarian section because there are some recipes that use dairy products and eggs but overall this book is fairly vegan friendly. The recipes are mostly easy to make and generally quick (I found some of the recipes took longer than was stated). Each recipe includes a nutritional breakdown. Some of the ingredients may be hard to source but if you have an Asian grocery store nearby you shouldn’t have too many problems. The Vegetarian Table – Thailand by Jacki PassmoreISBN 08118012146Rating 8 out of 10 Hardcover This is a wonderful book for those who love thai food but don’t want to be eating fish sauce or shrimp paste. Like most Asian cuisines this book is mostly vegan friendly but there is some use of eggs. The curry pastes are wonderful. I would rate the recipes in this book as medium to hard. This book is not recommended for beginners or those pressed for time. The recipes in this book are generally not low- fat. Vegetarian Moosewood Restaurant Low – Fat FavouritesISBN 0517884941Rating 6 out of 10 Soft cover This book was available on Amazon when I checked. I bought this when I first became a vegetarian and it was a real lifesaver. Most of the cookbooks I found at the time were cheese, cream and oil laden nightmares. Like most cookbooks that come out of restaurants the recipes can be a bit involved but there are a selection of easy to make dishes. Each recipe has a nutritional breakdown. Steve Raichlen’s High – Flavour Low-Fat Vegetarian CookingISBN 0140241248Rating 6 out of 10 Soft cover This book was written by a non-vegetarian chef to prove that low-fat vegetarian food can be gourmet food. The result is a set of recipes that present beautifully and taste wonderful. I would rate the recipes in this book as medium to hard. Generally not a book for beginning cooks or those pressed for time. The Essential Vegetarian CookbookISBN 0864115105Rating 8 out of 10 Hardcover I found this book on amazon.com. I have seen a soft cover version and several reprints here in Australia. I was given this book as a gift when I first became vegetarian and it was a great introduction to the wonders of vegetarian cuisine. This book contains a wide range of recipes from a variety of cuisines. The recipes in this book range from easy to hard. Not bad book for beginners. The recipes are not especially low-fat and there are no nutritional breakdowns. The New Cranks Recipe Book by Nadine AbensurISBN 0753800373Rating 8 out of 10 Soft cover Cranks Light by Nadine Abensur ISBN 0297822616 Rating 8 out of 10 Hard cover I found both of these books on the UK Amazon site (amazon.co.uk) but not on amazon.com (there is some weird publishing war between the US and the UK). I originally bought both of these books in local bookstores in Australia. Both of these books come from the director of a famous chain of vegetarian restaurants in the UK. The recipes are superb if somewhat complicated, truly vegetarian gourmet food. The first book is not for those watching their waistline or, generally, for vegans but there are a few recipes that I still make that are vegan or can be adapted. The second book is a low-fat cookbook and there are some vegan friendly recipes. Out of Print or Hard to Find Books Charmaine Solomon’s Complete Vegetarian CookbookISBN 0207184364Rating 7 out of 10 Soft cover Amazon listed this book as out of print, which is a real shame. This is the book I go to when I want to find a recipe for baklava or a basic peanut sauce. This is a truly comprehensive vegetarian cookbook.. It is worth picking up second hard. This book is not particularly vegan friendly The recipes range from easy to difficult and are not particularly low-fat. Mother Nature’s Garden by Florence and Mickey BienenfeldISBN 0895947021Rating 6 out of 10 Soft cover Amazon list this book as out of print. This is a vegan cookbook of the healthy no processed sugar variety. Has a good selection of wheat-free recipes. Sanitarium Cookbooks For those who live in Australia Sanitarium (the Seventh Day Adventist food company) have published a series of little $2.95 cookbooks like the little Family Circle cookbooks that you see in newsagents and supermarkets. I haven’t seen them in newsagents but you can probably get copies if you contact Sanitarium. Most of the recipes use Sanitarium products and some of them are bizarre emulations of standard family fare like spaghetti and meatballs but there are some real gems in there as well. Green Cuisine by Karen MeyerISBN 0670906220Rating 7 out of 10 Soft cover This book seems to have only been published in Australia and my mother in law had trouble finding it here. I believe that it was originally published with a different name, which adds to the confusion. It is worth picking up second hand if you can find it. This book contains easy to make recipes using simple ingredients. It is not particularly vegan friendly.
For futher information goto my main vegetarian page or contact contact Neville Richards Last modified: 17-August-2000 |