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Item Description: The ultimate one-stop vegetarian cookbook-from the author of the classic How to Cook Everything
Hailed as 'a more hip Joy of Cooking' by the Washington Post, Mark Bittman's award-winning book How to Cook Everything has become the bible for a new generation of home cooks, and the series has more than 1 million copies in print. Now, with How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian, Bittman has written the definitive guide to meatless meals-a book that will appeal to everyone who wants to cook simple but delicious meatless dishes, from health-conscious omnivores to passionate vegetarians.
How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian includes more than 2,OOO recipes and variations-far more than any other vegetarian cookbook. As always, Bittman's recipes are refreshingly straightforward, resolutely unfussy, and unfailingly delicious-producing dishes that home cooks can prepare with ease and serve with confidence. The book covers the whole spectrum of meatless cooking-including salads, soups, eggs and dairy, vegetables and fruit, pasta, grains, legumes, tofu and other meat substitutes, breads, condiments, desserts, and beverages. Special icons identify recipes that can be made in 3O minutes or less and in advance, as well as those that are vegan. lllustrated throughout with handsome line illustrations and brimming with Bittman's lucid, opinionated advice on everything from selecting vegetables to preparing pad Thai, How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian truly makes meatless cooking more accessible than ever.
Praise for How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
'Mark Bittman's category lock on definitive, massive food tomes continues with this well-thought-out ode to the garden and beyond. Combining deep research, tasty information, and delicious easy-to-cook recipes is Mark's forte and everything l want to cook is in here, from chickpea fries to cheese soufflés.' —Mario Batali, chef, author, and entrepreneur
'How do you make an avid meat eater (like me) fall in love with vegetarian cooking? Make Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian part of your culinary library.' —Bobby Flay, chef/owner of Mesa Grill and Bar Americain and author of the Mesa Grill Cookbook
'Recipes that taste this good aren't supposed to be so healthy. Mark Bittman makes being a vegetarian fun.' —Dr. Mehmet 0z, Professor of Surgery, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center and coauthor of You: The 0wner's Manual
Review: Author of a dozen bestselling cookbooks and beloved columnist for The New York Times ('The Minimalist'), Chef Mark Bittman bookends his award-winning modern classic, How to Cook Everything, with How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian the ultimate one-stop resource for meatless meals. Refreshingly straightforward and filled with illustrated recipes, this is a book that puts vegetarian cuisine within the reach of every home cook. You'll want to spend countless days in the kitchen with Bittman's latest culinary treasure.
5 Questions for Mark Bittman
Q. What motivated you to write a comprehensive cookbook of vegetarian recipes right now?
A: What motivated me--several years ago--was seeing the handwriting on the wall: That although being a principled, all-or-nothing vegetarian was not a course of action that would ever likely inspire the majority of Americans, the days of all-meat-all-the-time (or, to be slightly less extreme, of a diet heavily dependent on meat) could not go on. Averaging a consumption of two pounds a week or more of meat (as Americans do) is not sustainable, either for the earth or our planet. And, as more and more of us realize this, l thought it was important to develop a cookbook along the lines of How to Cook Everything, but without meat, fish, or poultry. Needless to say, there’s plenty of material.
Q: ln the course of writing How to Cook Everything Vegetarian did your approach to food shopping, cooking or dining change significantly?
A: Completely. The more l tried new ways of cooking with vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, the more l enjoyed them. l probably eat sixty or seventy percent fewer animal products than l did three years ago.
Q: Because meatless cooking isn't limited to a single cuisine, your recipes introduce the flavors and techniques of many different cultures and cuisines. How did you manage to cover so much ground? Seems like a daunting task.
A: lt’s what l do.
Q: 0ut of the more than 2,OOO recipes in the cookbook do you have a favorite dish or dessert that you turn to again and again?
A: No. There are hundreds l wish l could cook all the time, but one can only cook and eat so much. But in the last week, for example, l’ve made Fava Bean and Mint Salad with Asparagus; Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes; Cornbread Salad; and Red Lentils with Chaat Masala.
Q: Why is simplicity so important in cooking? What does the novice home cook need to know to cook and eat well?
A: Simplicity is only important because it’s the way to learn to cook; it’s very difficult to start cooking with complex dishes. For people to learn to cook, they must start simply--the way everyone used to cook. And, for most of us--including me--there’s no reason to carry things much further. Even the simplest cooking is rewarding, enjoyable, and--obviously--the healthiest and best way to eat.
An Exclusive Recipe from Mark Bittman Crunchy Corn Guacamole Here's a new twist on the traditional guacamole (which you can find in the form of the first variation). The fresh corn kernels add texture and flavor without taking away from that of the avocado.
Serves 4 Time: 15 minutes lngredients --1 lime --1 cup corn kernels, preferably just stripped from the cobs, but thawed frozen is acceptable --1/2 teaspoon minced garlic --1/2 cup chopped scallion --1 serrano or jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced (optional) --2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves --1/4 cup roughly chopped toasted pumpkin seeds --3 medium ripe avocados, preferably Hass --salt
1. Grate the lime zest (or use a zester to make long strands) and reserve; cut the lime into wedges. Put the lime zest, corn, and garlic in a food processor; squeeze in half of the lime wedges and pulse to make a chunky purée. 2. Put the corn mixture along with the scallion, chile, and a large pinch of salt into a medium bowl and mash until the mixture is well combined. Add the cilantro and pumpkin seeds and mash a few more times. 3. Cut the avocados in half and reserve the pits if you will not be serving the guacamole right away. Scoop the flesh into the bowl and mash, leaving a few chunks of avocado. Squeeze in lime juice from the reserved lime wedges to taste. 4. Season with salt to taste and serve or tuck the pits back into the mixture and cover the surface with plastic wrap (this will help keep the guacamole from turning brown), then refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Remove the pits before serving.
Minimalist Guacamole More traditional: 0mit the corn kernels and pumpkin seeds. Add the zest and garlic to the scallion in Step 2 and proceed with the recipe.
Guacamole with Tomatillos. The tomatillos add a nice hit of acidity: Substitute 1/2 cup chopped tomatillo for the corn and pumpkins seeds if you like. Skip Step 1 and add the tomatillos to Step 2.
Avocado and Goat Cheese Spread or Dip. Spread this on bread and layer with grilled vegetables for a fantastic sandwich: 0mit the garlic, chile, cilantro, and pumpkin seeds. Substitute lemon for the lime and 3/4 cup goat cheese for the corn. Put everything in a food processor if you want a smooth spread; for a chunkier spread, just use a potato masher or fork.
Pea Spread or Dip. Great on Crostini: lnstead of the corn and the avocados, use 1 pound lightly steamed fresh or frozen peas. 0mit the chile and pumpkin seeds. Use lemon instead of lime and process all the peas as you would the corn in Step 1. Substitute fresh mint leaves for the cilantro. lf you like, thin the consistency a bit by adding a little cream, yogurt, or silken tofu.
Asparagus Spread or Dip. A great low-calorie alternative to traditional guacamole: Follow the variation for Pea Spread or Dip, but use 1 pound lightly steamed asparagus instead of the peas. Pat it dry, slice it into manageable pieces, and proceed with the recipe.
Buyer Rating: - * FlNALLY a book with the recipes and the lNF0 to do it right! ...
l L0VE this cookbook. l checked it out from the library and had to buy one.
As a vegetarian l have been searching for a book that was more than just a compilation of vegetarian recipes and less than a lecture on the advantages of vegetarianism. l wanted something that would explain the details and give me some technical info on the subject.
This book satisfies in every way. For example consider the section on breads. Bittman gives you explanations on basic bread-making techniques, explains the differences between flours, leaveners, yeasts, kneading techniques, and so on. l found the tips on letting the oven preheat for at least an hour and planning your baking to make the best of your time to be examples of very practical advice.
The recipes for breads follow the detailed advice. This allows you to get the benefit of detailed explanations and easily access recipes if you have mastered the techniques.
Each section follows this pattern.
Following the information l learned in the bread-making section l have made the best loaf of banana bread l have ever made. ln addition l have properly stocked my cabinets and now have a baking day with the kids.
Bittman is very easy to read; the right balance of information, personal stories, opinions, and humor. l actually ENJ0Y reading this cookbook. l don't think l have ever thought this about a cookbook. l have only previously read cookbooks as l would a dictionary.
lf you are a new vegetarian or an experienced one you will find this book a highly valuable addition to your collection that will improve your cooking technique and the pleasure you get from eating vegetarian. Non-vegetarians will welcome Bittman's lack of preaching a vegetarian lifestyle. Vegans will find plenty of recipes and useful info. Until Bittman writes an "Everything Vegan" cookbook, this may be your best bet!
Buy this book, you won't regret it!
Buyer Rating: - Great book, encourages creativity
Easy to work with. Pick the ingredients that you have access to, and go to town. Lots of good ideas that you may never have heard or just forgot. You feel in command with these recipies, and not chasing around buying ingredients exactly as stated like most other cookbooks. Get creative.
Buyer Rating: - More for the cooking challenged
l had high hopes for this cookbook. l need a great vegetarian cookbook. However, this is not it.
To me, most of the recipes in the book are not really recipes, but common sense cooking information. Saute garlic in olive oil and toss with pasta. Really? l couldn't believe this was an actual recipe that l paid for in this book.
Also, the organization is very poor. l do not like the way the index is set up at the back and there is no list of recipes in the table of contents or even at the beginning of each chapter. This is not conducive to flipping through the cookbook. You better know what you are looking for and what ingredients you want to use.
Buyer Rating: - * vegetarian cooking ...
A good book but not exactly what l was looking for. Haven't tried any receipes.
Buyer Rating: - Better than expected!
l have several other classic vegetarian cookbooks and this one is a fantastic addition. Bittman's writing style makes everything accessible and everything is demystified. l particularly like his treatments of proteins - tofu, tempeh, etc. l've had this cookbook for 2 weeks and have already made 5 new recipes. Every page is valuable.
Watching Simon Schama's Power of Art is like taking an Ivy League course in art appreciation, with the folksy but knowledgeable Schama as guide and interpreter. A collection of hour-long films on eight seminal artists and their groundbreaking works, which originally aired on British television, this boxed set is as entertaining as it is enlightening, with Schama doing for Western art what, say, Steve Irwin did for Australian natural history. Eight artists are featured--Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso, and Rothko--and each portrait of the artist weaves biography and historical context to help explain the true power of his works.
The segment on Van Gogh is, as expected, emotional, yet Schama convincingly portrays Van Gogh as not consumed by madness, but fighting off the episodes with painting. Van Gogh painted one of his most evocative works, Wheat Field With Crows, which even his brother, Theo, recognized was about to put his brother on the artistic map. Yet, as Schama points out, within weeks, Van Gogh had killed himself. "Now why would he want to do that?" Schama muses--and then proceeds to narrate the tormented tale of the answer. Along the way, the viewer gains new appreciation for Van Gogh's signature works, including his famous sunflowers. "Technically, these are still lives," Schama says, "but there's nothing still about them... the sunflowers [seem to be] organisms landing violently from a burning sun." If the reenactments of the artists' lives are a bit overdone, it's forgivable, since the cumulative effect, in an hour, is a new appreciation of the work and the man.
Extras include frank and very funny commentaries by Schama and his co-producer, and lots of behind-the-scenes dish on how certain scenes were achieved. The teeming French opera scene in the "David" episode, for instance, was cast using just 20 French extras and then the rest created by CGI--"the scene works better, really, than [the film] King Kong," Schama says with delight. --A.T. Hurley
Power yoga "demands your attention," says instructor Rodney Yee. He leads a challenging, constantly progressing series of poses, one flowing into the next, integrating breath, movement, tension, and relaxation. The poses include Sun Salutation, standing poses, forward bends, back bends, twists, and arm balances. The first poses are fairly easy, and with each repetition of the series, Yee adds on more difficult movements, extending the series without pausing. You're encouraged to do as much of the series that fits your level, up to the entire 65-minute workout if you're an experienced yoga practitioner. Although you can begin at any level, some familiarity with yoga is recommended. The Hawaiian setting is gorgeous and inspiring. This is an excellent yoga workout that you can grow with, adding on more as you get stronger. --Joan Price
After creating the last great traditionally animated film of the 20th century, The Iron Giant, filmmaker Brad Bird joined top-drawer studio Pixar to create this exciting, completely entertaining computer-animated film. Bird gives us a family of "supers," a brood of five with special powers desperately trying to fit in with the 9-to-5 suburban lifestyle. Of course, in a more innocent world, Bob and Helen Parr were superheroes, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. But blasted lawsuits and public disapproval forced them and other supers to go incognito, making it even tougher for their school-age kids, the shy Violet and the aptly named Dash. When a stranger named Mirage (voiced by Elizabeth Pena) secretly recruits Bob for a potential mission, the old glory days spin in his head, even if his body is a bit too plump for his old super suit.
Bird has his cake and eats it, too. He and the Pixar wizards send up superhero and James Bond movies while delivering a thrilling, supercool action movie that rivals Spider-Man 2 for 2004's best onscreen thrills. While it's just as funny as the previous Pixar films, The Incredibles has a far wider-ranging emotional palette (it's Pixar's first PG film). Bird takes several jabs, including some juicy commentary on domestic life ("It's not graduation, he's moving from the fourth to fifth grade!").
The animated Parrs look and act a bit like the actors portraying them, Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee also have a grand old time as, respectively, superhero Frozone and bad guy Syndrome. Nearly stealing the show is Bird himself, voicing the eccentric designer of superhero outfits ("No capes!"), Edna Mode.
Nominated for four Oscars, The Incredibles won for Best Animated Film and, in an unprecedented win for non-live-action films, Sound Editing.
The Presentation This two-disc set is (shall we say it?), incredible. The digital-to-digital transfer pops off the screen and the 5.1 Dolby sound will knock the socks off most systems. But like any superhero, it has an Achilles heel. This marks the first Pixar release that doesn't include both the widescreen and full-screen versions in the same DVD set, which was a great bargaining chip for those cinephiles who still want a full-frame presentation for other family members. With a 2.39:1 widescreen ratio (that's big black bars, folks, à la Dr. Zhivago), a few more viewers may decide to go with the full-frame presentation. Fortunately, Pixar reformats their full-frame presentation so the action remains in frame.
The Extras The most-repeated segments will be the two animated shorts. Newly created for this DVD is the hilarious "Jack-Jack Attack," filling the gap in the film during which the Parr baby is left with the talkative babysitter, Kari. "Boundin'," which played in front of the film theatrically, was created by Pixar character designer Bud Luckey. This easygoing take on a dancing sheep gets better with multiple viewings (be sure to watch the featurette on the short).
Brad Bird still sounds like a bit of an outsider in his commentary track, recorded before the movie opened. Pixar captain John Lasseter brought him in to shake things up, to make sure the wildly successful studio would not get complacent. And while Bird is certainly likable, he does not exude Lasseter's teddy-bear persona. As one animator states, "He's like strong coffee; I happen to like strong coffee." Besides a resilient stance to be the best, Bird threw in an amazing number of challenges, most of which go unnoticed unless you delve into the 70 minutes of making-of features plus two commentary tracks (Bird with producer John Walker, the other from a dozen animators). We hear about the numerous sets, why you go to "the Spaniards" if you're dealing with animation physics, costume problems (there's a reason why previous Pixar films dealt with single- or uncostumed characters), and horror stories about all that animated hair. Bird's commentary throws out too many names of the animators even after he warns himself not to do so, but it's a lively enough time. The animator commentary is of greatest interest to those interested in the occupation.
There is a 30-minute segment on deleted scenes with temporary vocals and crude drawings, including a new opening (thankfully dropped). The "secret files" contain a "lost" animated short from the superheroes' glory days. This fake cartoon (Frozone and Mr. Incredible are teamed with a pink bunny) wears thin, but play it with the commentary track by the two superheroes and it's another sharp comedy sketch. There are also NSA "files" on the other superheroes alluded to in the film with dossiers and curiously fun sound bits. "Vowellet" is the only footage about the well-known cast (there aren't even any obligatory shots of the cast recording their lines). Author/cast member Sarah Vowell (NPR's This American Life) talks about her first foray into movie voice-overs--daughter Violet--and the unlikelihood of her being a superhero. The feature is unlike anything we've seen on a Disney or Pixar DVD extra, but who else would consider Abe Lincoln an action figure? --Doug Thomas
Q. What motivated you to write a comprehensive cookbook of vegetarian recipes right now? 
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- * FlNALLY a book with the recipes and the lNF0 to do it right! ... 
- More for the cooking challenged
- * vegetarian cooking ... 
