Cranks Fast Food

With this book, I really feel that Nadine Abensur taught me how to cook. It's so much fun to try out her recipes-- she taught me how to make delicious risotto, how to braise vegetables (braised carrots with garlic, saffron, and olive oil are now a weekly thing for me!), how to indulge myself with veggies. Never thought that vegetarian food could be so rewarding and delicious. Her recipe for fondue is the one my family uses every Christmas. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone curious about quick vegetarian meals: buy a bunch of copies and give them as presents- they are worth their weight in gold. Two words of caution: 1) Nadine loves garlic, (as do I, don't get me wrong!) and often she's a bit overzealous- simply halve her amounts and you'll be fine! Her recipe for Chermoula (a moroccan green sauce with cilantro, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and spices) is a good example of this. Watch out! 2) the cooking times are not always 30 minutes; it depends on the recipe.

I bought this cookbook while in London on a friend's recommendation, and have hardly used anything else since! The recipes are very quick and easy, but use delicious and creative combinations of ingredients. My British copy has some use of unusual names for ingredients (aubergine instead of eggplant, etc.), but I seem to remember hearing that the copy sold in the U.S. is "translated." :) I highly recommend the chickpea salad with halloumi cheese, the sweet potato fries with cilantro pesto, and the Tofu with seared mango & spinach. But frankly, I haven't been disappointed with any of the recipes I've tried -- they're just delicious!