Simple Vegetarian Pleasures

I have had this book for over three years and I have yet to cook a bad recipe from it! I am not a vegetarian, just someone who likes to offer her family non meat alternatives a few nights a week. Most of the pages are worn and stained. And I find myself coming back to this book over and over again. Even my "carnivore" husband loves the recipes from this book. I especially love the long list of menu suggestions at the end of the book. It is yet another dimension that makes this book stand out from all the other vegetarian cookbooks out there.

I have a lot of cookbooks, many of them vegetarian, but Jeanne Lemlin's books are the only cookbooks I get "stand-by" recipes from - recipes that I make again and again - and the only cookbooks from which I use lots of recipes, not just one or two. I've made several of the recipes from Simple Vegetarian Pleasures so far with great results, and I intend to continue. Favorites to date are: Sweet Potato Chili; Spinach, Roasted Red Pepper and Corn Enchiladas; Thai Fried Rice; Couscous Topped with White Beans, Tomatoes and Zucchini; and Chocolate Almond Orange Torte (made for company, who were very impressed).

My college son is a vegetarian, as is the rest of our family. This is his first year of living off campus and he and his two roommates are exploring real food shopping and cooking for pretty much the first time in their lives. They share a love of good food and a concern for eating healthy foods, but must accomplish this on a college budget, and within the time constraints of classes, studying, and holding down part-time jobs! While shopping at Christmas for a suitable cookbook to add to their small but growing collection, I ran across "Simple Vegetarian Pleasures" by Jeanne Lemlin. The book intrigued me so much that it never got wrapped as a Christmas present because several of the dishes were in-process for our family Christmas dinner! The recipes are simple using ingredients that are easily obtained, yet sophisticated and interesting, drawing from a cross-section of cultures and cooking styles. The information that is presented along with the recipes is very informative even to those of us who have been cooking for a very long time! For instance, I always thought that "Au Gratin" meant "with cheese!" Nope! It means "with crumbs!" The preparation instructions are clear and concise so that everyone can successfully prepare these dishes, regardless of their level of cooking expertise. In fact, in the three weeks that this book was in our home, it affected my own preparation style so greatly, that several of the recipes have already been incorporated into our favorite "quick fixes." My son left to return to school yesterday - and took this great book with him...so now my high-school age daughter and I need to buy two more copies - one for ourselves and one for my other son and his wife, the king and queen of frozen microwaved dinners! ("Yes, you guys - there IS a better way to eat and you DON'T have to spend all of your spare time in the kitchen DOING it!")

I'm tired of getting cookbooks that have only 2 or 3 great recipes in them, and all the rest are mediocre at best. SIMPLE VEGETARIAN PLEASURES is filled with fabulous recipes; I haven't found a disappointing one yet. This book lives up to the high standards of my other favorite Lemlin cookbook, QUICK VEGETARIAN PLEASURES. Be sure to check out the casserole chapter and try the gratins and tians, and also the best cake I've ever had (in the dessert chapter) "Orange Almond Cake." The helpful thing about Lemlin's recipes, besides being food that you want to cook over and over again, is that you don't have to shop all over town to find the ingredients - they can usually be found in any supermarket. You'll love this book!

Jeanne Lemlin's "Simple Vegetarian Pleasures" combines simplicity with imagination and delivers recipes that are a break from the ordinary humdrum standards. The best quality of this book is that it inspires you to cook at the end of a long day (and that is a difficult feat) ! Lemlin's choices are not only exciting in terms of the final product you can imagine devouring, but also in their approachable nature. You do not simply want to read this cookbook for entertainment; you actually feel compelled to pull together the basic ingredients and start cooking. Lemlin has clearly done an enormous amount of research and testing in the preparation of this book. Her recipes seem to be no-fail and I never find myself making notes about little things to change. This makes cooking FUN for the person following Lemlin's advice. She has done all the hard work already and you just have to follow her instructions and a gorgeous dish will result! I can't sing the praises of "Simple Vegeatrian Pleasures" enough. It is a masterful, fresh, and exciting new cookbook that everyone should have in their kitchen. It also makes a fantastic gift for the person who is interested in learning more about vegetarian cooking, but has no idea where to begin. This book will make that journey fabulous and fun!