Tag Archives: vegetarian cooking

Veg In by Flip Shelton

Posted by Abbie Jury in Cookbooks and tagged with ,
Veg in

Veg in

The subtitle is “simple vegetarian dishes from around the world”. If you want to increase your vegetarian repertoire, this book is a good place to start. There is life beyond pasta bake when it comes to meatless meals. Chapters include Indian, Malaysian, Japanese, Greek, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Chinese, and pizza, burgers and spuds. There is no reason why a vegetarian diet can not be as versatile and international as one that includes meat.

I tried several recipes and keep returning to use the refried beans one. Ingredients and techniques are straightforward. Instructions are clear. I think the author is light on flavouring and I found myself ramping up the herbs and spices. One clove of garlic is altogether too subtle as far as I am concerned. But it is a great deal easier to increase the flavourings than to try a new recipe and find it is far too strong for your taste. So I certainly would not regard that as a criticism. This is a really useful book to have on the shelf and there are practical menu ideas to inspire you, even for last minute meals as an alternative to takeaways. It is not glossy and glitzy, despite there being a fair number of mood photos of the author (youngish, blondish, engaging). She is apparently a celebrity cook and broadcaster in Australia.

I wonder why on earth the publisher did away with an index. A table of recipe contents at the start of each chapter is not a substitute for an index at the back of the book. I find it very irritating when I go to look up a recipe and have to flick through the whole thing. I will persevere because there are good recipes in this handy book. Gado gado with vegetable skewers, saganaki (or fried haloumi cheese), bean based nachos, tandoori veggies – is that enough to tempt you?

Veg In by Flip Shelton (Wakefield Press; ISBN 978 1 86254 912 8) reviewed by Abbie Jury.

First published in the Waikato Times and printed here with their permission.

River Cottage Veg Every Day by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Posted by Abbie Jury in Cookbooks and tagged with , ,

River CottageWe love Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – the pin-up boy for sustainable living in the UK even if it must be admitted some of the boyish charm went with his long, dishevelled locks. It is a new-look, clean cut, short-haired Hugh on the cover of this large book on vegetable cooking. But it is the same engaging Hugh who does the writing and he manages to conduct a vegetable crusade without falling into either preaching or purple prose.

We all know we should eat more vegetables for our health. We should all eat a lot more vegetables and a lot less meat for the health of the planet too. This encyclopaedic book may be all you need if you are a little uncertain how to turn out complete meals which are vegetarian yet varied. I am pleased to report that lentils come more as dhal, not the dreaded lentil burger and there are no lentil sausages, or indeed marinated tofu. This is not trying to make vegetable substitutes for meat. It is taking a comprehensive approach to preparing and presenting food so omnivores may not even notice meat is missing. There are ten chapters and a couple of hundred recipes.

The author is an advocate for the tapas or meze style of shared eating with several smaller dishes of food available. However, he reassures us that preparing multiple dishes need not be a burden and gives us the wonderfully quotable comment: “In my house, food like this tends to be prepared and consumed in a sort of rolling relay, from meal to meal.” I was enchanted. We no longer have leftovers in this house. They are called tapas instead.

So to the recipes themselves. We tested several in two households. It is English so there are some variations in cultural habits. It would never occur to me to serve fresh radishes with a pot of semi soft butter and rather a lot of flaky sea salt. Could I ever look at the words Heart Foundation again with a clear conscience if I put that on the table? The cauliflower and chickpea curry and the macaroni peas were just a little bland for our tastes but it is easy enough to ramp up recipes once you have a feel for how they work. We also tried the River Cottage garlicky flatbreads, the cheaty Hollandaise and I had forgotten how delicious Upside-down onion tart (or onion tarte tatin) could be.

It is comprehensive. Ingredients are readily available. Instructions are clear. Results seem to be reliable. Presentation is in a large format hardback which opens flat, usually one recipe and photo per double page spread, but not glossy and glitzy. This is every day food for every day people. I will be keeping my copy on the kitchen shelf because I expect to use it often.

River Cottage Veg Every Day by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Bloomsbury; ISBN: 978 1 4088 1212 9) reviewed by Abbie Jury.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.