Monkey Rose's Reviews
31 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 31Sort by: Title | Date | Rating
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
By Deborah Madison
Broadway - 1997
Zucchini and Fresh Herb Fritters : page 424
Maybe I'm being a little unfair to this recipe. I made it only once. The problem I had was that the fritters didn't really stay together very well. I'm not sure if I didn't salt and drain them enough or what, but they were wet and fell apart pretty easily.
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Winter Squash Soup with Fried Sage Leaves : page 215
This is a delicious way to eat squash. The recipe turned out well, but cutting the squash in half and roasting it was a big pain. Actually, it was the cutting in half that was a pain. I had half a mind to take an axe to the dang things. But, if you can get past that, here's something to do with those squash that you used as center pieces at Thanksgiving.
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Tomato Sauce for Pizza : page 507
This pizza sauce is sublime. It's very simple and very basic, but sometimes the best recipes are.
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Spicy Peanut Dip : page 94
Oh my gosh... this recipe!!! It's very easy - you just dump a bunch of things into a food processor and mix. What comes out is a wonderful dip that tastes a bit like Thai Peanut Sauce (and no wonder when you look at the ingredients...). It's a great dip for vegetables - a fantastic and easy appetizer. I make this often for parties, book group etc.
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Sizzling Risotto Gratin : page 555
This is a very heavy cheesy dish, but it's very rich and flavorful. It's great for a cold day.
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Saffron Noodle Cake : page 457
This is a nice dish and there's a pretty color picture of it in this book somewhere. However... there isn't anything all that special about it. I went out and bough saffron for this recipe too and now I'll probably be finding other recipes to use it in.
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Roasted Potatoes and Root Vegetables : page 412
This is a good one for Thanksgiving. This recipe introduced me to and began my love affair with parsnips. The garlic cloves are incredible. The beets add a nice pop of color to the dish. I often use yams in addition to the sweet potatoes and I quarter whole onions instead of using small ones or shallots.
I think of it as a main dish but my husband feels like it's more of a side. He's not a vegetarian, so what do you expect? But I do feel that it needs something to go along with it.
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Risotto with Scallions, Lemon, and Basil : page 553
This is a nice risotto to have in the spring (as she even suggests in the book). It has a nice fresh, light flavor to it.
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Quinoa Salad with Mangoes and Curry Dressing : page 172
This one is a BIG favorite of mine. I usually bring it to potlucks and picnics. I always get a lot of compliments with this one. Sometimes I make 1.5x the curry dressing because it IS really tasty and adds a lot to this dish.
I can't wait for mango season...
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Potato and Leek Gratin : page 282
This is a lovely, hearty gratin. It's definitely "heavy" so I prefer to make it with a nice light vegetable side dish.
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Pizza Dough : page 506
The pizza dough comes out pretty good - but pretty heavy and bread-y. It could also use a little salt.
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This is a wonderful picnic-safe potato salad recipe. It's really yummy! The only problem I had with it is that the next day a lot of liquid pooled at the bottom of the bowl. A LOT. I think it was mostly the olive oil and vinegar. So anyway, I guess my advice is to try to eat it all the first day.
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I made this for my in-laws the first time they came over for dinner. It's a lovely fall/winter salad. The persimmons steal the show and anytime you put persimmons in anything, they're sure to impress or at least be a conversation piece.
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This is a nice, fresh tasting recipe. The lemon is a nice flavor, but I think it could probably use a little more than she calls for to give it a bit more kick.
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I love this soup! Usually, I make it just as instructed and it comes out really well. Oftentimes though, I'll fudge a bit and skip the "croutons" since it's an extra step and I can be a little lazy.
This is a great soup to have with some buttery biscuits.
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Oatmeal Pancakes : page 632
These are a delicious toothsome treat. A nice change from your every-day pancakes.
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Mung Beans and Rice with Spicy Tomatoes : page 303
This is a tasty dish and the "spicy" tomatoes aren't too spicy for most people. In fact, I'd almost say that they're barely spicy but maybe that's because I usually only go with 1 jalapeno instead of 2.
I keep all of my dried beans in mason jars in the kitchen. This is the only recipe that I know that uses mung beans - but I love having them on hand because they're so darn pretty!
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Lumache with Broccoli and Capers : page 450
This is a good recipe and it's nice to try something different with the pasta. I'm apparently not a big fan of capers which is why I'm only "meh" on this one.
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This is a nice one with a lot of flavor. It's a good one to have if you're sick of tomato sauce with your pasta.
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Lentils and Rice with Fried Onions : page 302
This is one of our go-to recipes for weeknight cooking. It's easy to make and the ingredients are so simple that we almost always have everything on hand.
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Leek and Potato Soup : page 208
This soup is sinfully easy to make. It's very tasty and hearty even though you don't even need stock. I think that's the real beauty of this soup! No stock! Ms. Madison often calls for you to make your own stock, but sorry sweetheart... I don't usually have the time or patience for that.
I sometimes add a little bit of cheese to the soup for some extra flavor - usually Gruyere.
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Leek and Goat Cheese Galette : page 498
These are DELICIOUS! This is my ultimate "I'm showing off" recipe for when I have guests or for special occasions. These things are also beautiful when they come out of the oven. They're a little bit labor intensive, but SO SO SO worth it. But make no mistake, this isn't a "healthy" vegetarian recipe. There's a ton of butter and cream and cheese in this one. This recipe will spike your cholesterol. There's a reason why it tastes so good.
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Green Lentils with Wine-Glazed Vegetables : page 301
This is a wonderful recipe. It is extremely tasty AND it's probably good for you too. We've made it many times - especially when we were growing chard in the garden and it was running wild (we used the variation with the chard and garlic croutons). The mustard is such a nice flavor to go with the lentils.
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Curried Quinoa with Peas and Cashews : page 534
This dish has a very nice flavor to it. The only thing I don't like is that it calls for carrot juice which isn't exactly easy to find. I usually buy a little bottle of Odwalla Carrot Juice for this recipe, but it doesn't use all of the juice so I always have some carrot juice left over. I don't know about you, but I don't usually drink carrot juice, so it ends up going to waste.
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Chopped Broccoli with Lemon : page 342
This is very, very simple. It hardly counts as a recipe at all. However, it's one of the reasons I love this book. There are great recipes like this in there - it's really just the simple addition of lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper that it makes it stand out and really pop when compared to the usual steamed broccoli with a pat of butter or a dash of salt that I think most people usually do.
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Caramelized Golden Tofu : page 599
This is a great way to make tofu. It might not be "authentic" but it reminds me of the tofu that you usually get in East Coast Chinese restaurants (and that's harder to find out here on the West Coast). I always make this when I'm making stir-fried vegetables. I often add minced garlic and grated ginger in for some extra flavor.
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Butternut Squash Gratin with Onions and Sage : page 287
I think that this one may become a family favorite at Thanksgiving. It's very very tasty. I usually skip the parsley (I'm not a fan of parsley) and the squash is a pain in the rear to peel and chop up (or else my knives suck). But overall, this dish is worth it for a few wintertime special occasions.
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Beets with Lemon, Cilantro, and Mint : page 151
A tasty way to eat beets.
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Beet Risotto with Greens : page 553
One of my very favorite dishes in this book! It's so beautiful and bright when it's done. I love the flavor of the beets especially when paired with the lemon. The lemon adds such a nice zing to this. YUM!
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Basic Waffles : page 633
This is a great basic waffle recipe. Sometimes I add a little molasses, nutmeg, and ground cloves to give them more of a gingerbread flavor.
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Baked Eggplant with Feta Cheese and Tomatoes : page 371
This is a very light dish that tastes nice and healthy. Since it's so light, I have paired it with a basic couscous to make it a little more filling.
I recommend reading her prelude on how to shop for and cook eggplants before starting this one (leaching out the bitterness etc.).
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