Vegetarian Feast

Author: Valerie Ferguson

Publisher: Southwater

ISBN 978-1–84476–644-4

Reviewer: Lynda - Veggie Places

This is a very readable, well laid out book. Immediately after the introduction is a section on Techniques and Basic Recipes that are used in the book, such as how to prepare chillies and crush garlic, make pizza dough and mayonnaise. I liked the importance these sections were given by their position – normally these sections are at the end seeming to be an afterthought.

There are two recipes per page- none is longer than a page - each with a full colour photograph. I think this sums the book up. The recipes are arranged in chapters with an overall theme of simplicity and ease. Some of the recipes may take longer than others to prepare but they are not complicated.

I tried three of the recipes. First up was Potato Rösti and Tofu Stacks from the mid-Week Meals section. There are three sections to this dish – the tofu, the rösti and the sauce. The book says ‘although this dish has several components it is not difficult to make’. This is quite true and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the Rösti were to make. Before cooking, the tofu had an hour in a tamari/honey/fresh ginger marinade. Tofu readily takes on the flavours of any marinade so the ingredients are very important. This one was a lovely mix of flavours and it made the tofu quite delicious.

My next recipe from the Quick & Easy Section was Egyptian rice with Lentils. My biggest problem here was getting brown lentils. Next time I will use tinned as suggested in the ‘Cook’s Tip’. This really is an easy recipe. The only preparation is chopping an onion and if you use tinned lentils then it all goes in the one pan– my sort of mid-week meal!!! I think that this would also be good as a side dish with say Moroccan stew or part of buffet style meal.

Finally I made Courgettes, Carrots & Pecans in Pitta Bread. This is basically grated carrots with a yoghurt based dressing in pitta bread with fried courgettes. The carrot mixture can be made ahead and kept in the fridge so when you come to assemble the pitta all you need to do is fry the courgettes after dusting them in seasoned flour. It might sound pedestrian but the result is quite amazing. Very simple ingredients are brought together to produce a filling, tasty and healthy meal.

In fact this is true of much of the book. As someone with many years of cooking experience, many of the ideas in this book are not new to me – there are several which the author acknowledges as ‘old fashioned’ or ‘classic’ . Hopefully they will inspire a whole new generation and give them ideas on how to make seemingly mundane ingredients into a meal that is nutritious and the family enjoy.

My one disappointment was fleeting reference about using vegetarian cheese and the absence of any statement that about the preference for vegetarians of using free range eggs.

Despite this, I like the book and think it will be a useful guide for anyone new to vegetarian cooking or wanting to produce inexpensive family meals.

Vegetarian Feast

Valerie Ferguson

Do you have a favourite veggie book you would like to review for us or is there a book you think we should review? Send your suggestions to info@veggieplaces.co.uk with Book Review in the subject line.