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Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous!!!
Review: This book showed dozens of ways to eat soy that were new to me. Going well beyond tofu, the possibilities in this book are just amazing. Dana really shows how versatile soy is and how easy it is to use in fabulous dishes.The ingredients she uses do include the usual ones-tofu, miso, soymilk, and tempeh. I also liked her edamame recipes. I had no idea you could cook with these sweet, little green soybeans. It also shows how to use products like soy yogurt, crumbles, a kind of meat replacement, and how to bake using soy protein powder. The food in this book is healthy but I like the way Dana emphasizes great taste and fun. (Love the Chocolate Cupcakes Dream Cream filling. When I made them, my friends never guessed there was soy in them.) Dana clearly is not a member of the Diet Police. Some of her recipes use eggs, which we now know are fine to eat in moderation. I love that she recommends real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the soy version, even on the soy pasta she uses. I want to try the Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Smoked Tofu Salad, Caesar Salad with Parmesan Croutons (made from tempeh), and Laotian Lemon "Pork" with Green Beans. This one uses a soy meat she claims resembles chicken. Along with meatless dishes, about a dozen recipes do include poultry or fish along with soy. Maybe the Florentine Meatloaf, combining soy crumbles with ground turkey, will convince my tofu-hating uncle that he can get his blood cholesterol down by eating some soy. The dessert recipes look really great. I won't feel so guilty enjoying Panna Cotta making it with soymilk. According to the nutritional analysis for the recipe, it has just 165 calories and less cholesterol than a quarter of one egg. I have tried the Cranberry-Lime Sorbet. It took about 20 minutes to make, not including freezing. Can't believe something so delicious has no fat in it at all. Besides the recipes, I learned an incredible amount about all kinds of soy products. The guidance on technique is also very valuable. I even enjoyed reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Sure for Whom this Cookbook is Intended
Review: This cookbook has several recipes with meat or fish and many with dairy and/or eggs, so it isn't aimed at vegetarians or vegans. Many of the recipes are very high in cholesterol. I believe that the maximum recommended intake of cholesterol per day is 300 mg. The Matzoh Brei recipe has, according to the author's calculation, 227.5 mg of cholesterol per serving. The Egg Foo Yong has, per serving, 414 calories, 212.5 mg of cholesterol, and a whopping 811.6 mg of sodium (I think that's a little over 33% of the government's maximum recommended daily intake). Similarly, the Fresh Ginger Layer Cake with Caramelized Apples contains 757 calories and 105.1 mg of cholesterol per slice. This is hardly what I would call healthy. Soy products are indeed miracle foods, but they don't do much good when they are bogged down in cholesterol and sodium. Now that I've told you the negatives, here are the positives: The book does have a good introduction to soy foods and a comprehensive listing of soyfoods-producing companies. A lot of the recipes are vegan/vegetarian and quite healthy, but these are of use only if you can ignore the approximately 25-30% of the book that isn't suitable for the book's most likely readers. It might be a useful cookbook for meat-eaters trying to cut down their consumption of meat or making the transition to being vegetarian or vegan. I'm so disappointed by this book that I haven't made any of the recipes; for all I know, they might be quite good. In sum, while this book isn't a total disaster, it's too much of a hodge-podge. There are many cookbooks that are better tailored to their target readership. If this cookbook ever decides what it wants to be when it grows up, it might turn out to be a good one. Perhaps future editions will have a sharper focus.
Rating:
Summary: 'Amazing' is the Word!
Review: This is a superb cookbook! This is a collection of the best soy recipes I've ever seen. There is also an abundance of information about the various forms of soy foods. This is a comprehensive cookbook with everything from breakfast to desserts, and everything in between. All of the recipes have excellent instructions that make each recipe a success every time.
For anyone who wishes to incorporate soy into their diet - vegetarian or meat-lover- this is the perfect cookbook. I highly recommend the Double Chocolate Bread Pudding, Roasted Tomato Bisque and Southwestern Bean Spread!
Rating:
Summary: best book I've bought for soy recipes
Review: very well written and the recipes are very tasty. I'm trying to replace meat in my diet and there are many recipes that taste just like meat, such as meatless tacos p.191 made with soy crumbles, tofu stir fry p.258.
I actually use this cookbook more than any other. It goes way beyond just addding tofu to vegetables to create gourmet healthy meals.
I also highly reccomend The Soy Zone book by B. Sears to explain why soy is so important a factor in living healthier.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book for anyone interested in learning about soy!
Review: While I'm sure that hard-core vegetarians and other food purists will complain about this book, which contains a few recipes containing eggs, dairy products, as well as meat and fish, this is a superb book for anyone wishing to learn more about soy foods. This book is especially useful for cooks, like me, who eat meat, but who are interested in exploring ways to add economical and nutritious soy foods to their families' diets. With careful descriptions and explanations of a broad range of soy foods, from miso to tofu to tempeh and everything in between, this book offers recipes for many meals and occasions, using easy-to-understand and easy-to-follow instructions. Substitutions are often suggested, and most of the recipes can be created from ingredients readily obtainable in most supermarkets. The recipes are both imaginative and tasty. I'd recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who loves to cook and is interested in alternative sources of protein.
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