The Flexitarian Table: Inspired, Flexible Meals for Vegetarians, Meat Lovers, and Everyone in Between

From quick dinners to company showpieces, award-winner Berley cooks for a mixed crowd - vegetarians and meat eaters together. Many of his dishes offer meat and vegetarian versions. Seafood/Tofu Ceviche with Quick-Pickled Red Onion simply requires the ingredients be divided into two bowls - the seafood or tofu tossed in once everything else is mixed. This plan works for many dishes - Giant Lamb/Seitan Turnovers (phyllo and spicy potato-spinach filling); Charmoula Lamb/Tempeh Kebabs - while others, like Pan-Seared Rosemary Duck Breasts/Tofu or Portobello Mushrooms/Steak with Bread Crumb Salsa simply require separation in cooking. There are also lots of mouth-watering vegetarian dishes designed for everyone to enjoy - Falafel; Lasagna with Fall Vegetables, Gruyere and Sage Béchamel; roasted Winter Vegetable Salad with Red Onion Vinaigrette; Spicy Roasted Pepper Soup with Goat Cheese and Chives. The book is arranged by season and the recipes are grouped in menus. A comforting winter menu, for instance, includes Winter Tomato Soup with Goat Cheese Crostini; Spanish Style Eggs with Kimchi/Chorizo over Farro, and Fennel with Lemon and Fennel Salt. Luscious color photos accompany each menu. Berley's ("The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen") eclectic tastes feature something for just about anyone and his flavorful approach to traditionally vegetarian foods like tempeh or millet or unfamiliar foods like hiziki or burdock may tempt even steadfast meat eaters. Side boxes explain some ingredients - different salts, or smoked foods - and Berley's instructions are clear and well organized.

My neighbor Lola and I have a great thing going. She cooks for both families on Tuesdays and I cook on Wednesdays so that we each get the luxury of a good meal delivered to our door one night a week. We both rely on fresh, organic whole foods, but Lola's family is vegetarian and my family eats meat. I was first drawn to this book because Peter Berley provides easy menus that incorporate both meat and vegetarian options. Once I began cooking his amazing recipes, however, I discovered that my own family enjoyed the vegetarian dishes as much as they did the meat. Instructions are straightforward and intelligent and so far I have received nothing but rave reviews for every dish I have cooked from this book, including the Risotto-Style Fregola with Chard and Feta Cheese, the Mache and Pea Shoot Salad with Baby Beets, the Spicy Lentils with Pumpkin and Greens over Couscous, the Spicy Roasted Winter Squash, and the Toasted Millet Pilaf. Berley cooks the way we like to eat: big flavors, and lots of greens, grains, and vegetables, with cheese and dairy used in moderation to add punch to a dish. Although my kitchen shelves are packed with terrific cookbooks, these days I find myself turning to the Flexitarian Table again and again.

The Flexitarian Table is a beautiful cookbook with photos, clear directions, preparation tips and recipes grouped as menus according to seasons. With options for cooking vegetarian, with meat, or both, in one recipe, it has been easy to please the palates at my table. Approach the recipes with a sense of adventure and enjoy healthy, tasty meals.

The mans a genious. My whole life I have been a meat eating vegeterian. Sounds like an oxy moron, right? Let me explain. I eat meat, grass fed, organic meat, and that doesnt mean just chicken. However, I get very exited about a refreshing grilled tofu salad, or roasted tempeh. Granola, Brussel Sprouts, rice and beans, bring it on! I'm the middle man when it comes between veg heads and carnivores, and Peter Berley wrote a book about it. He understands the beauty of food to the fullest, you can have your meat, and seaweed too. Now I can cook a meal and invite my radical raw foodist friends, as well as my mid western pals who love meatloaf. I'm just happy a chef was able to grasp the concept the there is no "better" way to eat. P.S. his recipes pan out very well, try the lamb/tempeh kebabs in his summer section!

I absolutely love this book. Peter Berley cooks exactly the way I want to eat -- mostly but not totally vegetarian, using occasional meat but more like a side dish or condiment, and concentrating on what is fresh, local, and in season. It just seems like the healthiest as well as the most delicious food. The recipes are clear and easy to follow, the photos are gorgeous, and I love the personal and informal way he writes -- it really feels like chatting with a friend while you prepare dinner together. The useful little asides with hints from his experience as a chef come just when you can use them. Great! I can imagine this book being the perfect gift for anybody with different food preferences in their home -- makes it easy to prepare one meal for the strict vegetarians and everyone else to all enjoy together.