Thursday, November 11, 2010

Library Book Review - Quick Vegetarian Pleasures

I am a huge fan of libraries. Even my local ones, which are generally sad, under-funded affairs. No matter! There are still gems to be found, if you're willing to spend a little time cruising the racks. (And I am.)

Today's gem is Quick Vegetarian Pleasures: More than 175 Fast, Delicious, and Healthy Meatless Recipes by Jeanne Lemlin. Talk about a diamond in the rough! The copy I picked up had a huge tear in it's cover, and food stains everywhere. It was grubby, to say the least. Fortunately, with cookbooks that's sort of a good sign. (Sort of. It's a better sign if you know where the stains came from. But I digress.)
Quick Vegetarian Pleasures book
I didn't expect much out of this oldie (1992!), but wow. It's fantastic! Very nearly every recipe I tried turned out great. Great as in worth putting into the regular rotation. Great as in fast, too.

Some favorites are the Corn Chowder (savory!) and the Vegetable Gratin, which has an almost tuna noodle casserole thing going for it. In a really good way.
Quick Vegetaian Pleasures book
The Breads, Muffins, Etc. section is full of great stuff. Quite frankly, I am a terrible baker. I enjoy it, but most of what I bake bears more resemblance to doorstops than actual edible goodness. However! Somehow, the recipes I've tried from the section have all turned out great. Is it the magic of 1992 coursing through the book? (Hmmm...that is the year I decided to go vegetarian...)

So, in summation, if you see a grimy old copy of Quick Vegetarian Pleasures, pick it up! (And probably apply hand sanitizer. Who knows where that book has been?)

And if you can't find it at your own local library,


Amazon's got your back. (Look! No rips, tears or food stains! Score!)

6 comments:

Meeling said...

Cute post...you gotta love a "worn" in cookbook!....though I agree on the hand sanitizer part...lol! ;-)

Hopping over from the etsy forums!

Sharon said...

This is great information! Thanks for the post.

(BTW, I wasn't used to looking for the comments link at the top of a post, and I left a comment by mistake on the post below. Silly me.)

Claire said...

Ohhh, that explains it. ^_^ I'm still learning the ins and outs of this blog myself! Thanks for commenting (twice!)

Marisa said...

Oooh, I'll have to look for that book! I'm not a vegetarian, but my husband is, and we're always looking for recipes our whole family will enjoy!

Mary said...

I received this book as a gift years and years ago, maybe when it came out? Anyway, I can attest to its greatness. I've made most of the recipes in this book. Also, I love my local library too! I always try to get books there first if I can, and donate lots of books there too:) We should all support our local libraries!

Claire said...

Marisa: I think even a non-veg would be pretty happy with this cookbook. It's great!

Mary: Agreed! Local library love! *internet high five*

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