Heaven's Banquet: Vegetarian Cooking for Lifelong Health the Ayurveda Way

My partner and I have tried over a dozen recipes in this book and everytime they work like a charm. I feel like a gourmet cook when I use it. It is true the Ayurvedic classifications are not as clear as Morningstar's Ayurvedic cookbook, but I find myself reaching for Miriam's whenever I want to try a new recipe. My partner scoffed at me when I told her this is all the cookbook we'll need. Now she is a believer.Thank you Miriam.Update: After communicating with Miriam, I now understand why she avoids classifying meals by dosha. Single food items are easy to classify by dosha, but when they are combined the net result is not easy to classify by dosha. ** She recommends using the eight-pointed guideline on page five to determine what works best for the individual.

Before this book, I'd be a devoted Ayurvedic cook for about one week and then fall off the wagon when I got bored "eating Indian" at every meal. Hospodar's recipies are varied (providing Ayurvedic versions of well-loved dishes from around the world) and their flavours and seasonings diverse (even finding favour with my non-vegetarian husband who claims the Moussaka on p. 96 is the "best dish" I make). Other family faves--scones, paella, squash with wild rice succotash, dal II, chili (be prepared for a taste surprise--it's not your traditional chili, but if I don't call it "chili" I always get compliments on the unique seasonings in this dish). Not only are the recipes simple to make, they're also easy to adapt, allowing even the non-experimental cook like me the joy of substituting ingredients and still having it turn out okay!Hospodar's introduction to Ayurveda is an adequate first overview, but those interested will learn more about this ancient practice by reading Robert Svoboda or Nancy Lonsdorf's books. I also found a better background on Ayurveda in the first Morningstar cookbook (although her recipes, while delicious, are pretty much all "Indian" in taste).I recommend this over any other Ayurvedic cookbook--and I've used several over the past 8 years. These recipes allow practitioners of Ayurveda to eat standard fare ("what's available elsewhere") without straying from a path to good health and balance. No need to be suspect of this review: I was introduced to this book at a panchakarma retreat so can't be counted as a friend or relative--just a grateful reader!

I have been a serious cook for over fifty years and have a large cookbook collection. I love to read cookbooks for pleasure as well as resources for recipes. Hospodar's book is one of the very best reads - informative, imaginative, marvellously workable, delicious recipes and very funny as well. It is also visually beautiful. You don't even have to be a vegetarian to find the recipes exciting.

Hospodar has produced a vegetarian cookbook that executes a rare triple play: incredibly delicious recipes, healthful, and very entertainingly written text. As well as giving us many unusual dishes, the author has a knack for taking popular dishes, and giving them a twist that makes them something very special. For example, I've enjoyed the middle Eastern spread Hummus for many years, but found myself in hummus hog heaven when I tried her recipe which uses cashews and coconut. This book also imparts such valuable cooking knowledge, I find myself making up my own recipes as well as using hers, armed with my new-found knowledge of spice combinations and cooking techniques. Finally, this book is one great read! Check out "The Ten Commandments Of Bean Cookery" and you'll see this is a book for the living room chair as well as the kitchen.

Heaven's Banquet has a recipe format that I've never seen before, that makes the instructions very easy to follow. Every recipe I've tried has come out perfectly and is utterly scrumptious. I feel that this is the last cookbook I'll ever need to buy. It has everything I need to make healthy and delicious meals--two concepts that don't usually fit together! also, Miriam Hospodar has a wonderful sense of humor that makes reading and using the book a lot of fun, and makes the serious knowledge it contains go down easy.