Veggie Blog

Book Description
In her most comprehensive volume yet, Madhur Jaffrey draws on more than four decades of culinary adventures, travels, and experimentation for a diverse collection that both intrigues and delights the palate. Dishes from five continents touch on virtually all the world’s best loved flavors, for a unsurpassed selection of vegetarian fare.

More than 650 recipes exemplify Madhur’s unsurpassed ability to create simple, flavorful homecooking that is well within the reach of every cook. Extensive sections on Beans, Vegetables, Grains, and Dairy explore the myriad ways these staples are enjoyed worldwide. Each section opens with a detailed introduction; Madhur describes methods for preparation and storage, as well as different cooking techniques and their cultural origins. Throughout she balances appealing, uncomplicated dishes such as sumptuous omelets and rich polentas with less familiar ingredients such as green mangoes, pigeon peas, and spelt. Madhur demystifies the latter with clear-cut explanations so that incorporating new combinations and interesting flavors into everyday cooking becomes second nature. She also offers substantial sections on Soups, Salads, and Drinks, as well as Sauces and Other Flavorings, to help round out a meatless meal and add exciting new flavors to even the most easily prepared dishes. Finally, a complete glossary of ingredients and techniques clarifies some of the little-known elements of the world’s cuisines so that even the uninitiated can bring the flavors of Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and more to their tables.

Throughout this extensive collection, Madhur includes personal anecdotes and historical contexts that bring her recipes to life, whether she’s remembering field of leeks she saw in the mountains of northern Greece or describing how corn-based dishes arrived in Indonesia through colonial trade. Committed vegetarians will rejoice at the wide variety of meatless fare she offers, and nonvegetarians will enjoy experimenting with Madhur’s global flavorings. This highly readable resource promises to be a valuable addition to any cook’s library, helping everyone make healthful ethnic foods a part of everyday cooking.

Book: Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey
View this book on Amazon (affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no cost to you)

Book Description
This book is at once an exploration, a celebration, and a little-known tale of unity. It presents 150 delicious vegetarian dishes that together trace a fascinating story of culinary linkage. As renowned cookbook writer and teacher Najmieh Batmanglij explains, all have their origins along the ancient network of trade routes known as the Silk Road, stretching from China in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. On this highway moved not just trade goods but also ideas, customs, tastes and such basics of life as cooking ingredients. The result was the connecting and enrichment of dozens of cuisines.In “Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey”, Najmieh Batmanglij recounts that process and brings it into the modern kitchen in the form of recipes that are venturesome and yet within reach of any cook. They are intended for vegetarian, partial-vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike – anyone who is looking for balanced, unusual and exceptionally tasty dishes. The book offers a wealth of information derived from the author’s extensive research and her travels along the Silk Road during the past 25 years. She complements the recipes with stories, pictures, histories of ingredients, and words of wisdom from her favourite poets and writers of the region. The chapters include: Introduction: A Traveller’s Tale; The Era of Caravans; New Foods – East & West; Toward a Silk Road Cuisine; Salads, Eggs Rice Fruit & Vegetable Braises Pasta, Pizza & Bread Pastries, Desserts & Candies Teas, Coffee & Sherbets Preserves, Pickles & Spices Silk Road Glossary & Resources Credits & Acknowledgements Index.

Book: Silk Road Cooking by Najmieh Batmanglij
View this book on Amazon (affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no cost to you)

Book Description
Peter Berley’s mission is to show how the simple act of cooking food can enliven your senses and nourish your life–from going to the farmer’s market and outfitting your kitchen with the simplest, most useful tools to learning techniques and sharing meals with friends and family

A cooking teacher for many years, Berley has kept the needs of his students continually in mind in this book. The recipes are written to feature the basic techniques and background information needed to create wonderful meals with fresh vegetables, fruits, and grains. He truly inspires both novice and experienced cooks to understand what they are doing and why, to learn to work with the ingredients, and to apply their skills creatively. This wonderful book brings vegetarian cuisine to a new level.

Who is it for?

According to the description, it helps both novice and experienced cooks understand what they are doing and why.

What does The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen cover?

The description says the book’s mission is to show how the simple act of cooking food can enliven the senses and nourish life, from shopping at the farmer’s market to learning techniques and sharing meals with friends and family.

What can readers expect to find inside?

The recipes are written to feature the basic techniques and background information needed to make meals with fresh vegetables, fruits and grains. The description also mentions outfitting your kitchen with the simplest, most useful tools.

Who wrote The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen?

The title names Melissa Clark, but the description talks about Peter Berley, a cooking teacher for many years. The description does not explain how the two are connected, so check the Amazon page for the credits.

Everything above comes from the book description on its Amazon page.

What can a kitchen book teach about technique?

A cooking book that stresses techniques and background information can help you understand why a method works, which is more useful than a list of steps. Spend a little time on core skills: how to sharpen and hold a knife, how to roast vegetables until they caramelise, how to cook grains so that they stay separate, and how to build flavour with herbs and acid.

Buying produce at a farmers’ market helps you cook in season. The FDA guidance on selecting and serving produce safely advises rinsing every vegetable under running water, even those you will peel, and keeping perishable produce in the fridge.

More on this blog: Diet and Fitness: How Carbs, Fat and Protein Fit Together and Eating to Lower Cholesterol: Oats, Fruit, Beans and Healthy Fats

Book: The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Melissa Clark
View this book on Amazon (affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no cost to you)

Book Description
One of the best known experts on Chinese food draws on her reminiscences of the foods of her childhood to create 200 exciting vegetarian recipes–many of which make use of commonly available ingredients–and describes the techniques used to prepare them. 40 line drawings.

What is this book about?

The description says the author draws on her memories of the foods of her childhood to create 200 vegetarian recipes.

Who is the author?

The book is credited to Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, who the description calls one of the best-known experts on Chinese food in the title.

What recipes can I expect?

It says many of the recipes use commonly available ingredients, and that the book describes the techniques used to prepare them. It also has 40 line drawings.

This summary is based on the book description on the Amazon page.

How much should I understand about stir-frying and vegetables before cooking?

Chinese vegetable cooking relies on speed and preparation: ingredients cut to similar sizes, a hot pan and short cooking times. Cutting everything before you start matters because a stir-fry will not wait. Firm vegetables such as carrots go in first, soft leaves last, and a splash of liquid at the end makes a sauce.

Keeping vegetables crisp-tender helps preserve colour and texture. The Harvard Nutrition Source page on vegetables and fruits advises eating a variety of types and colours of produce, which a mixed stir-fry does naturally.

Soy sauce and other sauces are salty, so measure them. The WHO fact sheet on salt reduction says adults should consume less than five grams of salt a day. Tofu is a staple protein, and the NCCIH page on soy summarises what is known about soy.

Wash produce under running water before cutting, wash the board after handling raw eggs or meat, and cook eggs until firm. Leftover rice should be cooled quickly and refrigerated within two hours. If you are cooking for someone with a soy or peanut allergy, read labels on sauces and oils.

Related on this blog: Diet and Fitness: How Carbs, Fat and Protein Fit Together and Eating to Lower Cholesterol: Oats, Fruit, Beans and Healthy Fats

Book: From the Earth: Chinese Vegetarian Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo
View this book on Amazon (affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no cost to you)

Book Description
This delicious collection of more than 220 traditional Mediterranean dishes from fifteen countries makes it easy to reap the benefits of eating a Mediterranean diet, which has been linked to good health and a longer life by lowering the risk of heart disease and cancer.

What is Mediterranean Vegetarian Cooking about?

According to the description, it is a collection of more than 220 traditional Mediterranean dishes from fifteen countries.

What does the description say about health?

It says the book makes it easy to reap the benefits of a Mediterranean diet, which it says has been linked to good health and a longer life by lowering the risk of heart disease and cancer. That is the description’s statement and is not confirmed here.

Who is the author?

Paola Gavin is the author listed in the title.

This is a summary of the book description, not medical advice.

What should I know about the Mediterranean diet before reading?

The Mediterranean diet is a pattern more than a menu. The Harvard Mediterranean diet review describes it as mainly fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains, fish and olive oil, with small amounts of dairy. The description of this book says the diet has been linked to good health and a longer life; Harvard’s review notes it is often promoted for lowering the risk of heart disease, and treats the evidence with care.

A vegetarian version is straightforward: leave out fish and let legumes, nuts, eggs and dairy supply protein. Olive oil is the main added fat, which means it is a good swap for butter, though it is still calorie-dense. Herbs, lemon and garlic flavour food without extra salt.

The review also stresses daily activity and sharing meals, so the pattern is about habits, not only ingredients. Wine is optional. If you take medicines or have heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure, ask your doctor how a change of diet fits your care.

Related reading on this blog: Popular Diet Plans Compared: What Each One Asks of You and Diet and Fitness: How Carbs, Fat and Protein Fit Together

Book: Mediterranean Vegetarian Cooking by Paola Gavin
View this book on Amazon (affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no cost to you)