The New Moosewood Cookbook (Mollie Katzen's Classic Cooking (Paperback))

Customer Reviews

Interesting and pretty easy intro to veg cooking

Definitely a fun cookbook. It's a good guide to preparing some fun and interesting vegetarian foods. The recipes are easy to follow, and not too complicated at all. It's a collection of recipes which were prepared at the Moosewood restaurant, a vegetarian collective. The book is illustrated with a series of pen-and-ink drawings and cartoons. These drawings, along with the hand-lettered text, give it a fun, friendly feeling. In the first edition of the cookbook, this feeling of cooking as fun, and vegetarian cooking as a rich and varied cuisine was enhanced by the choice of recipes, including some which weren't necessarily good for you, but ended up tasting stellar. The updated edition, unfortunately, attempts to make many of the recipes healthier, by cutting oil, cholesterol, and eliminating some of the classic tasty yet dreadfully unhealthy recipes. In my experience, the modified recipes occasionally come up short of the mark. This book is still entertaining, and certainly worthwhile to have around, but if the opportunity presents itself, try to dig up a copy of the original cookbook rather than the recent edition.

Wonderful results, friends invariably ask for the recipes!

I've cooked from the revised version of the cookbook for 5 or 6 years now, and her prep times are realistic so you can plan and cook for company. The results are also always flawless, so you can even try out a dish for the first time to rave reviews. My 19 mo old son has many food allergies, and I've found several great soups that even my friends kids love, and it gets them to eat their veggies...

An example is the herbed carrot soup which is wonderful with fresh herbs from the garden, and picky kids just drink it up asking for seconds! Some recipes require many ingredients that add flavor, but, I found that a nice kitchen herb garden makes your shopping lists very small! Not too many exotic ingredients at all! I personally love her notes on substitutions, and optional dairy items since my husband has to watch his cholesterol.

A cookbook that I actually use!

Loving to cook, and loving to read, I enjoy cookbooks immensely. This also leads to a sizeable collection, most of which are so esoteric or old-fashioned (WWII rationing, etc.) or unhealthy that they are fun to peruse, but that's it.
The New Moosewood Cookbook is awesome!! Not only are the recipes healthy and fun to read, they are incredibly flavourful and satisfying. Ms Katzen's book is in her own script, and her comments and tips about the recipes endearing. She also has a comprehensive index that is better than any I have ever seen. Having made at least half of the recipes in this book, I have only disliked one.
If you love good, not-dull, but not overly complicated recipes, The New Moosewood Cookbook is for you.