Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Since this is a classic you will find all kinds of great reviews. I have no loyalty to Deborah Madison. But I do think this is a wonderful book and some of the negatives are just strange or wrong. If you are considering this purchase, take it out of the library or look at it in a store. This is really worth having on the shelf and for many reasons. A One star reviewer says that on page 282...Potato Leek Gratin...ends up in a watery mess. The last word in the recipe says...DRAIN. Next..p636 ...Cranberry Nut Bread...uses two different kinds of sugar and doesn't say when to use each type. In defense again...in the directions it breaks things up with the words PUT (that starts the Cranberry Sauce), and then CREAM which uses the next ingredient in line (butter) and then the next type of sugar etc.. I'm no Mr. Chef but this seems straight forward to me. The bit about Acorn Squash? Not accurate. Very few books that I have seen, have a direct reference to Acorn Squash...(Fanny Farmer, Joy of Cooking, Essential Vegetarian Cookbook etc.)This one does. With most you have to know it is also known as Winter Squash and find it that way. And this book does not just have info and bake at so and so. You can just bake it, there is a side note of good things "partners" that go with it, she gives ideas of what to use this for other than just as is, then another entry a bit more involved with some recipe for a flavored butter, and then, as Fanny Farmer says to put maple syrup and butter with it but then goes on to suggest 5 other kinds of flavors. Fanny Farmer though, says bake at 400 for 40 to 50 minutes, which really kills it. Out of all the cookbooks I have, Madison's book happened to be the most informative!!....and it brings you to a great place in the book that speaks of many other kinds of squash, what they are, and what to do with them....which I never knew about. All these other great well known cookbooks did not have any of this or all in the same place as she does. It is nice to be accurate if you are really going to dig in. Amazing. Really off in the critique there. Bland recipes? This book is written from the standpoint of a more sensitive palette. This is not snobbery. I love burgers and fries and beer and pizza and all of that. But I simply had to give it up to the occasional. At first most things didn't taste like anything. But in time...a good piece of celery is sweet. Our taste buds are overpowered by the usual stuff we have in this society. Even the so called healthy meals. What I have experienced is that when cooked right, vegetable dishes give hints of this and that flavor or texture and that is the power in them. Our usual is to be knocked over the head. So to get into this kind of book and just cook away can be misleading. Odd ingredients? Swiss Chard...Quinoa....?...None of what is in here is really that weird. You end up spending less. Animal protein is expensive. Sounds like "elitist artsy-f*rtsy gormand snob set" talk doesn't

I've read all 83 (whew!) of the reviews here so far and find it quite interesting that only a handful of them are negative. That so many people clearly love this cookbook only confirms my own impression. I've made dozens of recipes from this book and now trust it so completely that I will make special company dishes without having tested them first - and this is the only cookbook I have that gets that honor. The roasted eggplant lasagna with garlic bechamel is sublime, the carrots braised in honey, butter and fresh thyme is a delicious new twist, the sweets in back will delight your taste buds, and the vegetable section is well organized by ingredient. The recipes range from very simple to more complicated, but no recipe is too intimidating, no matter what your cooking experience.The food in this book has led me more towards becoming a vegetarian than any of the other vegetarian cookbooks I've ever had. No dish I have made from it has turned out bad. I find Madison's approach to cooking refreshing, really allowing the flavors of the foods to take center stage, instead of relying on long ingredient lists, complicated sauce-ery, or other gimicks to do what the ingredients ought to be able to do alone. Yet none of the dishes sacrifice flavor.I bought this book in paperback three years ago and have used it so much, the spine is cracking badly. Just go ahead and buy it in hardcover - you won't be sorry. I've recommended it to friends who enjoy cooking and cookbooks as much as I do. None of us are vegetarians. But without fail, all of them have come to love this cookbook, and most of them are pretty sophisticated cooks.Unless you are a culinary cynic or have rigid opinions about cooking and food, I don't think you can go wrong with Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It's a real winner.

This has become my favorite cookbook. I have been vegetarian for nearly 20 years and I am an avid cook, and this book has provided nothing but perfect food, without meat, every time I have used it. I love good food. Food that is merely nutritious and not really good, also, is a bane to humanity. This food is not generally low-fat, but it is still whole, nutritious food. The desserts are great, the salads are great, the vegetable dishes are great. You name it, in this book, it's good.The other thing that I love about this book is that Deborah Madison is not only a great chef she also knows how to translate her cooking talent into recipes that really WORK. I am disappointed by some chefs' cookbooks because it's obvious that they are excellent cooks, but their recipe-writing skills are sub-par. These, on the other hand, are well-tested, well-written recipes.The food in this book is what I'd call fine food. Some recipes in other cookbooks are for everyday-type food that will get you by, and others are for trendy food that are novel to make once in a while. The recipes in this book direct you to make the kind of food that will have you talking the next day about how good it was, and they're not trendy. Most are also uncomplicated. The flavors are refined and you might call them sophisticated, but that's misleading because there's nothing pretentious about the recipes or the presentation. The sophistication comes from a cleanness to the palate that is presented here.I have a large collection of cookbooks (200+) and this one definitely stands out. If you have others of Madison's cookbooks, such as the Savory Way or the Greens Cookbook, which are also both excellent, I suspect that you will find this one more accessible. There's a hint of preciousness in those other two books that I find lacking here. Madison seems less concerned about impressing us in this book and more relaxed in her approach. This has improved her style and has improved her food, as well.

My husband calls Deborah Madison the Dominatrix of Cooking because of the picture on the cover of the book (she looks like she could get pretty serious with those wooden spoons---why two?), and because of her high-minded attitude about certain standard ingredients (e.g. the Parmesan cheese in the green box and regular table salt). I think she earns the moniker because she is clearly in charge in the kitchen. I love these recipes for their simplicity. Though I have (too) many cookbooks, I use this one more than any other and recommend it to all my friends who are curious about vegetarian cooking. I have achieved a deep appreciation for chick peas--try chick peas and farfalle. This is easy, but so tasty, I serve it to company. Another elegant company dish: leek and goat cheese galette---sublime and wonderful, and not hard! Though some have described recipes as too "simplistic," I would say this book allows vegetables to shine in a healthy straightforward way, not drowned with fatty sauces. Many of the recipes are do-able on a day-to-day basis, and since I cook for my family (including four kids, ages 10 to 17), I can't be the French chef every night. I bought a copy for my oldest, who has also fallen in love with it, since she will be going off to college soon.