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Summary: My first cookbook is still my favorite
Review: I have had this book since 1988 and it is now in three pieces. I read it straight through every year and find the information in it to be so valuable. Laurel and her co-authors beat the mainstream nutrition reporting by at least a decade on the hazards of margarine, the importance of a whole food, carbohydrate based diet, the dangers of too much protein, and the importance of the right kinds of fats, as well as many other topics.This cookbook should be the source for anyone who is expecting a baby, involved with athletic training,or anyone else who wants to commit to living lightly on the planet and sharing it with all the other citizens.
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Summary: An old, well loved standby
Review: In my eight years of vegetarianism, I find myself turning back to Laurel's Kitchen again and again. It never ceases to amaze me how the deceptively simple recipes create delicious food, time and time again. I suspect that the reviewer who complained of "lackluster recipes" just skimmed through, without bothering to prepare any of them. The strength of this book lies in its minimalist recipes, letting the quality of the ingredients shine through. In this respect Laurel's Kitchen is a welcome relief from the many vegetarian cookbooks which rely extensively on fancy techniques, ingredients, or equipment which you may not have at your fingertips. Not that I'm opposed to gourmet vegetarian cooking; but for day to day, simple, hearty food, I refer to Laurel's Kitchen before anything else in my cookbook library. Bonus material includes guidelines for new vegetarians, wider implications of a vegetarian diet, and a slew of handy nutritional charts.
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Summary: Great For Omnivores Too
Review: It has really supplemented our low meat diet! My husband was a vegetarian for about 8 years, even through the army, till we got married. For various reasons, in a natural compromise, we do not eat meat every night and very little red, what ever friends serve us as guests and go almost to completely vegetarian come spring and summer. This book was introduced to us while at a vegetarian friend's (also named Laurel) house for dinner where we had the yummy Winter Stew -- which has become a favorite with various variations of our own, ever since buying the book. There are lots of other great simple yummy vegetarian recipes that really refresh the diet and appetite. I found the nutritional information incredibly interesting and helpful to know in order to understand the practical reasons and ways to eat vegetarian. It is also valuable to read & understand about the debunked myths around eating vegetarian. It has helped me to understand how to eat a sensable balanced vegetarian diet AND also see the bonus of weighing less. I feel better morally and physically by eating fewer of my animal friends.
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Summary: The New Laurel's Kitchen
Review: One question, and I would like Laurel herself or one of her associates to answer (if possible). How is your vegitarian dog? Would you still recommend a vegitarian lifestyle for pets? This is the only thing that threw me off about the book. Otherwise, the advice and recipits are invaluable.
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Summary: Political polemic with time wasting recipes
Review: The original book was an anti-technology diatribe. The authors waste time creating a strawman "nutrition establishment" with whom to argue while the reality is that the American Dietetic Association has long been aware that a good vegetarian diet is possible. Definitely a book by and for upper middle class women who needn't work - to one such as myself it sounds like the bizarre rantings of a species from a different planet. I use the book for ideas, but I modify the recipes using classic cookery tricks and machinery to speed and ease the process after a 10 hour workday.
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Summary: Laurel's Kitchen
Review: This book by mother of mesh is crammed with a mesh of meshfully delightful recipes. From the "dirt pile from under Mesh's carpet" souflet to the "exploded naked juice" potpouri, this recipe collection is indispensable. I highly recommend Mesh's "cheese and smashed birdwich" for a dine in date with that special someone. The "crusted dookie blazed hand pie" takes you down under. It's so intoxicating that you may forget where you have parked for several days!!! To warm up after a non-birthday dip in the fountain, try the curdled milk surprise which seems to pour right in from your air ducts. After this culinary treat you won't know you're door from your bed, but you won't mind the antisense with a mouthful of Mesh's warmed cheeselike smegma.
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Summary: My Family Used This book Even When We Weren't Vegetarians
Review: This book really has in-depth information on nutrition that's good for any family. In the nutrition section, vegetables and fruits are listed along with the vitamins they contain. This way, you can plan better on getting vitamins in your meals. Laurel talks about how by eating less meat protein, we absorb vitamins in our fruits and vegetables easier. This makes it easier for the vegan and vegetarian can meet al their health needs. The bread recipes are easy as (forgive me!) rice crispies, but the results are often artisan breads because of their fine, simple ingredients. Try the english muffins, pumpernickel bread, whole wheat french, the black bread and my favorite, oatmeal. My husband loves the tamale pie. The vegetarian shepherd's pie is another staple. I also love the minestrone soup, the baked eggplant parmesan ( you can use any crumbs, not just crackers!) and stuffed peppers. I like the way the menus are layed out. It makes it easy when you first start out. It's also a good book for introducing yourself to the concept of whole foods and getting away from packaged foods if you haven't already. They are very strict about sugar when they talk about nutrition in this book, which makes alot of the recipes great for diabetics. However, it's a little too strict at times, if you're not a diabetic since as the main author states her belief is that, "sugar is sugar is sugar." There are too many important enzymes in fruit to worry so much about the sugar! So much of the information is in depth, and that's what makes this book a standby for me. There are instructions on how to make yogurt at home, also soybean milk. There is eomthing really wholesome about the book, which I find appealing as well. Well-put together and organized I definitley suggest this book for your cookbook and nutrition library.
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Summary: Great, Healthy Recipes
Review: This is one of my most-used cookbooks, even though I am not a vegetarian. This book is perfect for anyone looking to get more vegetables into their diet. It contains many simple recipes that taste astoundingly good. For example - I never liked cauliflower until I tried the cauliflower soup recipe from this book.
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Summary: A must have for any vegetarian.
Review: This is the most used cookbook in our kitchen (it is almost time to buy our third copy because we just wear them out!). Not only does it provide a wide variety of recipes, but it also provides help with menu planning and nutritional information. If we had to keep only one cookbook, this would be the one.
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Summary: The very best vegetarian cookbook available today
Review: This is THE ultimate vegetarian cookbook. A truly excellent book emphasizing the importance of good nutrition and the importance of the person providing all that nurturing. A feel-good cookbook for all stay-at-home parents!! Excellent recipes and superb nutrition information. Not the best book for a beginner maybe, but a "must have" in any vegetarian kitchen.
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