The Unofficial "Other Cookbooks Not Listed" Thread
Posted by Tweety on Jul 27, 2010 · Member since Jan 2003 · 3135 posts
I thought I would start a thread for recipe reviews of cookbooks that don't have a thread, and probably don't need a thread.
So if you are using older cookbooks, or cookbooks without a thread, I'd love to hear from you here.
Quinoa with courgettes and onions from River Cottage Veg Every Day!:
I wasn't expecting much, but I really liked this. A very simple quinoa dish with caramelized onions and zucchini with a hint of thyme, lemon and parsley. Omitted the oil and butter since I used a non-stick pan.
New American Vegan - I made a soup called "Grandpa Vince's Homemade Chickenless Soup" and it was just meh. Nothing exciting. His technique was to first sautee the dried herbs in the oil (savory, tarragon, marjoram, pepper) briefly and then add the onions, carrots and celery quite a long time until brown, and then add the broth and tvp for only a short time which was interesting.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/538673_3276010257935_1197836956_32462868_1466390648_n.jpg
The following are from Carb Conscious Vegetarian
Crunchy vegetable slaw - Very good. This has peeled and shredded broccoli stems (I usually don't use the stems so this was a good idea to me), red cabbage, yellow pepper in a olive oil and lemon dressing with a touch of celery seed.
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/551974_3276010617944_1197836956_32462869_1004126625_n.jpg
Burgundy--laced red beans and mushrooms - Tasty. This has shallots, garlic and thyme cooked with the beans and mushrooms in a stock of red win and vegetable broth. Came together very well for a hearty meal. I served it on top of whole grain pasta (since I'm not all that carb conscious).
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/156588_3276010857950_1197836956_32462870_56990137_n.jpg
scrambled tofu with peperonata - Excellent. I did not scramble my tofu bit cubed it instead. Otherwise, I followed the recipe pretty much as written, with the addition of crushed red pepper for heat. I wasn't expecting much because it's basically tomatoes, red and green peppers with onions and garlic.....fresh basil stirred in at the end.....that's it. But it's all stuff I love and I seriously enjoyed the combination and the flavors came together well. The tofu was fried separately with scallions and a touch of turmeric. (all scrambles seem to have turmeric).
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/562609_3276011137957_1197836956_32462871_1953395517_n.jpg
Tahini-dressed courgette and green bean salad from River Cottage Veg Every Day!: Very good salad. You pan-fry the zucchini then toss with lemon and chile flakes, steam your green beans, then toss overtop salad greens with sun-dried tomatoes and a lovely light citrus tahini dressing. I omitted the oil and sweetener in the dressing.
I saw some reviews for The Vegan Scoop, but I haven't seen any for Lick It! yet. I personally prefer Lick It!, because those ice creams are quicker and easier to make. Most of them are a can of coconut milk, some soy milk, some sugar and then whatever flavor ingredients you're using. You chill the mix, then freeze it in the ice cream maker. The Vegan Scoop relies on using a soy milk and soy creamer-based mixture that's thickened with arrowroot powder. You have to bring the mixture to a boil on low heat (which takes forever!), then chill, then freeze in the ice cream maker. I also always seem to get weird arrowroot gel bits in the finished ice cream. Probably didn't stir it in fast enough. Here's what I've tried so far...
From The Vegan Scoop:
Coffee
Good flavor. I like that it uses fresh-brewed coffee rather than instant granules.
Butterscotch
It's okay but it's not as butterscotch-y as I would have liked.
From Lick It!:
Peppermint Stick (variation on Vanilla flavor)
Wonderful! Nice that the peppermint candies are minty enough that you don't need any peppermint extract. This is probably my favorite flavor yet...tastes just like the (dairy) peppermint ice cream I ate in my pre-vegan days!
Cookies-and-Cream (another variation on Vanilla flavor)
Tasty but I ended up adding more crushed cookies than the 1/2 cup it called for. I like it better than the store bought ones I've tried.
Coffee
Yum! I ended up using coffee extract instead of instant coffee granules. From previous experience with coffee granules, I know they don't fully dissolve in cold liquids.
Rum Raisin
Good. Didn't like it as much as the other flavors. My (omni) mother-in-law liked it a lot, though!
Vegan Italiano - roasted tomato and basil salad - I decided not to make a salad, but just a side dish of the roasted tomatoes. For time's sake I did not peel them as she instructed. I just drizzled balsamic vinegar on them at the plate instead of making a dressing. Very good!
Terry gives a hint of her new cookbook "Vegan Eats World: 250 International Recipes for Savoring the Planet" in this month's VegNews....she offers up two Japanese recipes one is "NegimisoVeggieDog" which is real good, and the other is "Wasabi Oven Fries" which I wanted to be amazing but tasted too sweet. She calls for two teaspoons of sugar and neither was needed, as it overpowered the fries. Usually my "inner cooking voice" alerts me to things I wouldn't like and to make adjustments but since she's a goddess to me I didn't think about it. LOL
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/535738_3410941311127_1197836956_32511838_918412160_n.jpg
Extraveganza: Lemon curried lentils and potatoes: not the most attractive dish but very good. We doubled the garlic and left the skins on the Yukon gold potatoes. The paltry tsp. of fresh parsley was increased to 2 Tbsp. and next time I'll use fresh cilantro because the parsley really didn't add much to the dish.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii85/Stormflakes/VegWeb/252.jpg
Maybe not the "most attractive", but still that's some good food porn Storm. Looks good. Doubling the garlic is always a good thing. :)
World Vegan Feast - I pick up this book from time to time and it's a "meh, I'll cook something else"....not sure what my issue is, but I practically have to make myself use it.
Vegan Boursin-style spread - The flavor of this with the fresh chives and garlic is quite good, especially after sitting all night. It's think and it spreads nicely. The base is the silken tofu from a box, raw cashews and margarine. What I don't like is that she uses whopping 1/2 cup of margarine and that overpowered the final taste and texture to a point that I didn't like. If spread thinly it seems to taste better. I spread it on Tofurkey Italian deli sandwich, with a fresh tomato and it was pretty good that way as well. I'm guessing the overall fat content is quite high and this is more of a dinner party treat than daily food. I am in fact bringing it to a dinner party to night with a very open minded friend that is cooking vegan food.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/487250_3519895434912_1197836956_32558632_882289229_n.jpg
World Vegan Feast
I made the "Chicken-style" broth powder and it was good and I'll never buy powdered broth again. This is made with nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt (I cut back from 2.5 tablespoons to only one), sugar, garlic powder, thyme, sage, paprika and turmeric....and I omitted the "soy protein powder". I used it in the soup below.
Smoky spicy hominy soup - OMG this was sooooo good. The spices come together real well with the broth. The hominy flavor leaves the grains and spreads throughout the broth which was good. I've never seen soy curls and was too lazy to make chicken so I just used some Morningstar Farms vegan chicken strips. Loved this.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/457633_3527839233502_1917698060_o.jpg
Quick-Fix Vegan
Sienna sauce - this is a brown gravy sauce made from veggie broth, flour, carrots, onions and garlic and spices. I didn't like it all that much. I've made other brown gravies that I didn't like either, so perhaps I just don't like vegan brown gravy.
tempeh with mellow mustard sauce - Meh...didn't like this. The base of this is the above Sienna sauce with the addition of minced onion, white wine and Dijon mustard. I like this better than the Sienna sauce alone, but overall thought it was just "meh".
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/564354_3543043933610_1197836956_32567421_1060224042_n.jpg
Southwestern pasta toss - Loved this. It's quite a simple combination of pasta, beans, veggies, serrano chile for heat, spices, and cilantro.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/576643_3543043653603_1883342988_n.jpg
Gosh - didn't ven know vegweb was back... ;)
Syrian Fava Bean Soup from Bean by Bean:
Very good soup. First time using dried split fava beans and this was a nice soup.
Pinto bean Chili from River Cottage Veg Every Day! :
Nice summer chili. Why a summer chili? because it is filled with red peppers and zucchini! I liked the smaller pinto beans in it. Nice with a slice of avocado. Didn't bother with making guac.
Wrote about it here: http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/appaloosa-bean-chili/
Herby, peanutty noodly salad from River Cottage Veg Every Day! :
OK salad. I was expecting more from the dressing, with all the herbs. Not too peanutty, so add more if you want a peanutty salad.
Winter Stir Fry with Chinese Five Spice from River Cottage Veg Every Day! :
Really liked this stir fry. Chinese 5 spice worked great! Kelp noodles were wonderful. Next time, I may add tofu or something.
Wrote about it here: http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/chinese-five-spice-vegetable-and-noodle-stir-fry/
Bulgur Pilaf with Dried Apricots from Cook This Now:
Simple bulgur dish with dried apricots, pomegranate and swiss chard. And pistachios. Nice combination of flavours.
Wrote about it here: http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/bulgur-pilaf-salad-with-pomegranate-dried-apricots-pistachios-and-swiss-chard/
Roast pumpkin soup with chickpeas, leeks & spiced croutons from For the Love of Food:
Nice combination of flavours. I skipped the croutons and added the spices directly to the broth. I used kabocha. Worked well with the fennel and leeks. Lemon juice balanced it nicely :)
Mixed Beans with Many Spices and Lovage from Plenty:
Very good dish. Lots of beans (I used snap peas, snowpeas and shelled fava beans (I used frozen) in a tomato-cardamom sauce. Essentially a mixed green bean curry. Never heard of lovage but my grandmother gave me some dried stuff from her garden so I used that. Ototolenghi also suggests substituting tarragon or cilantro.
Basmati Pilaf with Caramelized Onions and Broccoli from 1000 Indian Recipes:
Not bad. I substituted brown basmati rice. I thought it would be more flavourful with the tarka, etc, as I was hoping it eat it as a main dish. As a side dish, it was great, without any dominant, powerful flavours.
Thanks for the tip, Storm, I made this tonight:
Lemon curried lentils and potatoes from ExtraVeganZa: A nice twist on a potato-lentil curry. I used small Andean potatoes (paps criollas) with great results although I only had 3 cups that I had previously cooked. Used black lentils since they cook up faster. It seems like a complex recipe but it comes together fast if once you have the lentils and potatoes cooked. I think soy sauce would have been better than tamari and I ended up only using 1 tbsp anyhow. based on Storm's review, I increased the cilantro to 4 tbsp and even then there wasn't much in the dish! ;)
Nice to see you back blink! :)>>>
Vegan Italiano
Basil puree - This is in the soup section and is used as a garnish for a soup recipe, but she says it can also be used over veggies. I served it over some roasted asparagus and liked it. It's simply pureed basil with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Italian-style "French-Fried" potatoes - Very good. These are roasted and not fried and is quick and easy to make.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/556764_3566123190577_544074341_n.jpg
I've got a new cookbook that I think I'm going to like. Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas - very nice hardback book (only $15 on Amazon) with nice pictures and a good introduction with tips and definitions. I hope this encourages me to eat more leafy greens. I used to eat them every day when I was a member of the CSA, but they quit delivering close and I don't eat as many greens as before.
Lentil soup with greens and tiny pasta - I did not use a tiny pasta, but otherwise followed the recipe. The suggested green was chard, but the store was out so I used a mixture of beet and turnip greens. The recipe is pretty basic, not unique, but I loved this. The spices, greens and veggies came together nicely to make for a great broth and flavor.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/167402_3588399027459_1005768364_n.jpg
From Wild about Greens is Smoky potatoes with turnip greens - Very delicious! This is potatoes, with paprika, turnips, sun-dried tomatoes and liquid smoke. Everything came together real well.
Beside it is a simple sloppy joe called Sloppy Josephines, made from crumbles (which I almost never use) and portabella mushrooms from Carb Conscious Vegetarian.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/576575_3592240203486_299838110_n.jpg
From Wild about Greens is Smoky potatoes with turnip greens - Very delicious! This is potatoes, with paprika, turnips, sun-dried tomatoes and liquid smoke. Everything came together real well.
Beside it is a simple sloppy joe called Sloppy Josephines, made from crumbles (which I almost never use) and portabella mushrooms from Carb Conscious Vegetarian.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/576575_3592240203486_299838110_n.jpg
Very funny you decided to pair Nava's white potato dish with something from Carb Conscious Vegan!
Very funny you decided to pair Nava's white potato dish with something from Carb Conscious Vegan!
Isn't it? LOL
Actually that was kind of deliberate...I had decided on the potatoes and was thinking "I need a protein since I went to the gym today" an and grabbed that book for some inspiration. Usually, I don't think consciously to balance things like that because I'm all about carbs carbs and more carbs.
I've got a new cookbook that I think I'm going to like. Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas - very nice hardback book (only $15 on Amazon) with nice pictures and a good introduction with tips and definitions. I hope this encourages me to eat more leafy greens. I used to eat them every day when I was a member of the CSA, but they quit delivering close and I don't eat as many greens as before.
Lentil soup with greens and tiny pasta - I did not use a tiny pasta, but otherwise followed the recipe. The suggested green was chard, but the store was out so I used a mixture of beet and turnip greens. The recipe is pretty basic, not unique, but I loved this. The spices, greens and veggies came together nicely to make for a great broth and flavor.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/167402_3588399027459_1005768364_n.jpg
I'm super excited about this cookbook! I could definitely use some creative ideas for how to enjoy greens more often. I'm planning to make the Black Rice with Black-eyed Peas and Greens first. From there, who knows...all the photographed recipes look great, so maybe one of those :)
Southwestern-style greens with pinto beans - This is a simple easy to make dish that combines spinach, scallions, garlic, pinto beans and cumin. Very good. I served it over quinoa to make a main course lunch out of it.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/255462_3603185757118_647366933_...
Collard ribbons with spaghetti squash - Crazy delicious. This is flavored with curry powder and paprika and has red onions, garlic, parsley and sun-dried tomatoes. The sun-dried tomatoes and the curry make this a standout flavor that comes together so well. Loved this.
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/576588_3603185957123_1309655228...
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