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Summary: A Wonderful Boon to Weight Watchers
Review: A friend gave me this book a few years ago, and I had tried quite a few of the recipes through the years. Recently I joined Weight Watchers, and this cookbook quickly became my favorite because they list not only total calories and grams of fat per servings, but grams of fiber! It is easy to figure out the POINTS value for each recipe (most cookbooks give the calorie and fat info, but not the fiber.) I have been eating so well, and so healthfully, and my weight loss has been steady and painless. A great book!
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Summary: here's my secret....
Review: Before I gave up animal products, I wore out my copy of Joy of Cooking, which I consider to be the grand encyclopedia of food. But now there are just too many animal-laden recipes for my liking, so the Moosewood Low-Fat Cookbook is my new encyclopedia. There are a few duds in here (I can't believe the mediocrity of their Swiss Chard Rolls, especially since I found them quite labor-intensive), but their inventive takes on simple foods with few calories make this a treasure trove. One Thanksgiving, I made the Cauliflower Agrodolce (sweet & sour) & the Moroccan carrots, & the crowd went wild! The Guacamole with Asparagus is, to my mind, better than the all-avocado kind (and I say this as a rabid avocado fan). The Indian Chickpea spread had even mild-mannered Minnesotans double-dipping. (OK, not really. I don't invite double-dippers to my house. But you get the idea.)
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Summary: Moosewood, your roots are showing...
Review: Granted, when you're proud of your roots this isn't such a bad thing, but I sense a definite rut forming here. People's tastes in food are personal and widely varied--and the postings for Moosewood's books indicate a lot of folks like them just fine, but my experience has been much more mixed.
I have three Moosewood cookbooks (New Moosewood by Mollie Katzen/Moosewood Cooks at Home/Moosewood Low-fat). I have chosen to post my review with this title because, while my feelings here apply to all the books, this one in particular I found most lacking. The reason I have three Moosewoods is because two were given to me because the previous owners found they didn't earn their shelf space, the other--my first Moosewood--I bought years ago when collecting vegetarian cookbooks.
To my tastes, the recipes in these books never really paid off. The ones I tried weren't terrible (though a few from the low-fat book were close), but none were memorable and none even came close to making it into my permanent recipe collection. I was surprised at the lack of complex, sophisticated flavors considering the books world-culture approach.
I think Moosewood deserves a lot of credit for introducing new foods and flavors to the American dinner plate years before anyone else I know of was (at least in a mainstream sense), but where Moosewood seems to be very content reexamining the same territory, other cooks have moved the process forward to provide recipes that satisfy our increasingly grown-up tastes and streamlined preparation needs. I have to wonder if it isn't Moosewood's friendly, co-operative philosophy coupled with a general nostalgia that keeps their readers so faithful.
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Summary: Everything a Cookbook Should Be!
Review: I *highly* recommend Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites; it is everything a cookbook should be. The authors provide down-to-earth instructions and thorough explanations. Nearly all ingredients are easily found at any major grocery store and the recipes result in flavor-packed, satisfying meals. Each well-organized recipe comes with an estimated preparation time, estimated cooking time, complete nutritional profile (including both fiber and fat count), and a recommendation from the authors for what other recipes in the book would complement a given dish. Indexes list the lowest fat recipes in the book, the quickest recipes in the book, etc. Although most of the dishes focus on vegetarian fare, omnivores (such as myself) should not shy away from this fabulous resource. An entire chapter is devoted to fish, and chicken breasts or other low-fat meat can always be incorporated into other recipes. The book is also packed with a wealth of low-fat cooking tips that any chef will find helpful for everyday, healthy, flavorful cooking.
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Summary: Anything MOOSEWOOD is guaranteed to be wonderful!
Review: I am the fortunate owner of two Moosewood Collective cookbooks, one of them being the Moosewood Restaurant Lowfat Favorites. Last night I had very little time to prepare dinner. I opened the book to the Scalloped Potatoes and Carrots page, and realized I had all the ingredients for it. The recipe was easy to follow, healthy, and DELICIOUS. Even my non-vegetarian fiance was impressed. The Bechamel Vegetable Lasagna is the best lasagna I have ever had in my life.
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Summary: Dishes not very flavorful
Review: I cook lowfat stuff all the time, but I have been very unimpressed with the taste of the Moosewood main dishes. Mostly they are bland. Actually, taking "regular" recipes and leaving out the oil or meat has gotten me much better tasting results.
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Summary: Absolutely the worst cookbook ever
Review: I don't like to disagree with all the other wonderful reviews, but I have to. I purchased this book on the recommendations of the other reviewers, but this book is the worst cookbook I have ever purchased. If I could return it I would. I tried all the recipes that the other reviewers mentioned and every one tasted horrible, a few being inedible. Most of the food tasted like it was extremely bland with just a few spices added to the top to try to give false flavor. Also, the ingredient amounts and times given are erroneous. Please do yourself a favor and skip this book. If you are looking for low-fat vegetarian fare the Vegetarian Times series and 1001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes by Sue Spitler are excellent.
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Summary: Disappointing
Review: I enjoyed many of the recipes in The New Moosewood Cookbook, so I thought that I might have luck with this one too. Not so. Every recipe I tried turned out mediocre at best. I have given up attempting recipes from this book for fear of having a ruined dinner. I have held on to it though because it does have some interesting nutritional information and inventive tips like using ground rice to thicken a soup. Beyond this though, I can't recommend this book to anyone.
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Summary: A blessing for vegetarians watching their fat intake!
Review: I got this cookbook because:
1) I am vegetarian
2) I follow a low fat diet
3) I love to cook I have made many, many of the recipes in this book, and they've been a hit almost every time (well, no cookbook is perfect). There are no glossy pictures -- this is a cook's book. There are several indexes of recipes (10% or less in fat, vegan, children's favorites, etc) as well as "menus" in the back -- new year's, thanksgiving, east asian, tex mex, etc. Some of the recipes are very time consuming to make (there are quite a few 30 minute or less recipes listed in the back, however), and some of the ingredients are not always easy to find. However, this is *not* meant to be a book of "quick and easy recipes." I have broadend my palate by searching out some of the more unusual ingredients. The recipes DO call for oil (usually 1-2 teaspoons), low fat cheeses, and (in the dessert section) chocolate. Don't think is a no-fat-no-flavor cookbook. They've kept the feeling of self-denial at bay. There is also a section of fish and seafood recipes, for those so inclined. <><
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Summary: The most valuable cookbook I own!
Review: I have made over 10 recipes out of this book and all of them have been wonderful. Each one is full of falvor. I tell everyone I know about this book and tell them that it is a MUST own cookbook.
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