Olive Trees and Honey is a great cookbook for vegetarians and anyone who loves food from the Mediterranean. Lots of bulgur and lentil recipes which my family loves. And the authors offer variations which I really like since I am more of an organic, in the moment cook, who sometimes puts a little turkish flare to an unsuspecting recipe. I am also not good at following long complicated recipes (a little short with patience and time) so I find these recipes complicated enough without being long winded.
It is a fun read. Inspirational if you are tired of making the same things and want to break out.. And if you are a vegie, it is even better.
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I have now made several of the recipes in this book, and have found many of them to be lacking in some way. Most take WAY more prep time than is quoted. Many of the recipes end up bland tasting. I've taken to having my mother, who is a great cook, review the recipes and give me spicing hints. Also, I'd like to echo the person who said the recipes lack liquid. The Minestrone Soup turned out like a stew; hardly any broth. The Chicken and Lentil Stew had NO liquid. Beware: if you make the Stuffed Grape Leaves, you'll need double the amount of leaves quoted to use all your stuffing.
On the plus side, some of the recipes turned out great and very tasty. The Pumpkin Risotto was excellent and the Chicken and Lentil Stew was tasty even ... Read More:
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I bought this book in hopes of weight training and still be a vegetarian. To find the information you have to browse through the pages back and forth. The recipes are thrown in between other information, they are hard to find and keep them organized. It seems as though the information is just thrown all together randomly without any kind of specific structure or plan. Everything is all over the place combined with a bunch of complicated words and unnecessary information. Also information on certain supplements and plans are "Out on the jury" meaning the author has no idea, proof, or real recommendation of wether it works or not. In my opinion if you don't know if something works for sure... don't write about it in a 'guide'. It's silly. I wouldn't buy ... Read More:
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I bought this book in hopes of weight training and still be a vegetarian. To find the information you have to browse through the pages back and forth. The recipes are thrown in between other information, they are hard to find and keep them organized. It seems as though the information is just thrown all together randomly without any kind of specific structure or plan. Everything is all over the place combined with a bunch of complicated words and unnecessary information. Also information on certain supplements and plans are "Out on the jury" meaning the author has no idea, proof, or real recommendation of wether it works or not. In my opinion if you don't know if something works for sure... don't write about it in a 'guide'. It's silly. I wouldn't buy ... Read More:
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I found Vegetarian Times to be very helpful. The book describes the different types of certain everyday foods, such as flours, squashes, and meat substitutes. I also found the cooking techniques to be very helpful when preparing food or vegetables I'm not all that familiar with. Overall, this guide/cookbook was well worth my money. I would recommend it to people who are vegetarians or those who just want to eat more healthy.
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I am an adult with two elementary-aged children. We are not vegetarian but are making a strong effort to reduce the amount of meat that we eat.
I like that this book has difficulty ratings of beginner, intermediate, and advanced. It also tells you approximately how long each dish will take to prepare. In addition to listing the ingredients, the book also tells you what tools and implements you will need to prepare the dish. This information is particularly helpful when working with children. They can work from the list and assemble supplies. I have made about six of the recipes, almost all of which have become regular offerings for my family.
I was excited to order this being vegan, but I was so disappointed upon receiving it, to discover that almost every recipe called for a processed meat substitute like deli slices, sausages, meat sub crumbles etc, or tofu.
Even when a dish has a solid complete protein in it , like beans, the author still adds tofu. Even the hummus had tofu in it....totally unneccesary.
To use this you will be investing heavily in Morningstar and Boca type products and eating a lot of soy.
I dont want to pretend I'm eating meat with each meal. My omnivore partner doesnt like fake meats either, so theres not much that suited our tastes for natural low carb natural wholesome vegetarian dishes.
There's not even a recipe for homemade seitan which is a wonderful ... Read More:
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I got this book after seeing it at my library and haven't been disappointed with it. It has given me tons of great recipes and lots of ideas. I've found that some of the recipes take more than 15 minutes though (for example, it will call for cooked rice - which takes 45 minutes to cook all by itself). Otherwise, it's been great for me.
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Most recipes that I've tried from this cookbook have been excellent, my favorites being the Thai Leek and Sweet Potato Soup (it is fantastic) and the Fruit Coffee Cake. The directions are clear and many recipes use unusual flavor combinations that work well. Also, they don't rely on any meat substitutes of excessive use of tofu/tempeh, which I like. I'd recommend this as a good addition to a vegetarian cookbook collection.
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Most recipes that I've tried from this cookbook have been excellent, my favorites being the Thai Leek and Sweet Potato Soup (it is fantastic) and the Fruit Coffee Cake. The directions are clear and many recipes use unusual flavor combinations that work well. Also, they don't rely on any meat substitutes of excessive use of tofu/tempeh, which I like. I'd recommend this as a good addition to a vegetarian cookbook collection.
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