kaye16's Reviews
1460 recipes reviewed. Showing 51 to 100Sort by: Book Title 
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Vegetarian Planet
By Didi Emmons
Harvard Common Press - 1997
Made a half recipe of this as a go-with for Jamaican Burgers. It made a huge amount, probaby 3cups, rather than 2-1/4cups as suggested in the recipe.
Easy to make and remarkably delicious.
Served with the burgers, twice, with boudin noir (instead of the usual apple-something), and with foie gras.
Used the last bit at the 2-week mark. It was still tasty, but looking a bit brown and tired.
Definitely a keeper.
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Excellent veggie burger. Served as patties, without buns. Served with Banana-Ginger Chutney.
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A very satisfying meal. Why is orzo so nice in the mouth?
The two of us ate all of this as a main. Probably the pasta could be reduced to 7-8oz. Otherwise easy and delicious.
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(The title probably should have been titled Pasta with Baby Spinach, Red Lentils and Ginger.)
Spinach flavored with garlic, ginger, and sage with pasta and red lentils. Very interesting tastes.
Emmons asked for penne as the pasta. Both of us thought this was completely wrong. Casareccia or mafalda would have been better. And not quite so much.
I made a half recipe, and used half the butter that was required. I don't know why olive oil wouldn't work just as well.
Used frozen leaf spinach.
Will play with this one again, since it was quite satisfying.
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This was very good, if not quite there, but worth repeating.
- I made a halfish recipe, but used all the chickpeas because that's what I had.
- I didn't have slivered almonds (inventory control failure!), so used whole white almonds, toasted them, the chopped coarsely. We actually like this, but might toast after chopping next time.
- I didn't think there was enough wine to cook the veg (carrots and bell peppers), but it was fine.
- I used half smoked paprika and half a piquant paprika. Not piquant enough. We ended up applying a lot of tabasco (jalapeno worked quite well). Needs some red pepper flakes or something for a bit of zing.
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4+, says Ed. Pretty good stuff. Easy to make.
I used wide rice noodles because that's what I had.
Cashews instead of peanuts.
I buzzed a whole chili with the sauce, since I know Emmons is a bit restrained with the hot stuff.
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Pretty good stuff. Be a bit generous with the curry powder. I cut back the milk by at least a cup, since it seemed way too much. Result was tasty.
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The vegetarian feast
By Martha Rose Shulman
Harper & Row - 1979
My veggies, started yesterday, are marinating for a meal later today. First sample is tasty.
- To be able to submerge all the veggies, I ended up with double the liquid ingredients of marinade in the same proportion as Shulman directs.
- Not the season for Brussels sprouts. I added some broccoli.
This was definitely a hit.
- Many of the cherry tomatoes were done to smush. They should cook less.
- "Small" florets of cauliflower should be smaller than I usually cut them.
- The pearl onions were a hit, which is a shame since they are extraordinarily tedious to peel.
- The mushrooms were a hit.
- Quite thin haricots verts were perfectly done. Fatter regular green beans might want a bit longer to cook.
Served with some sliced baguette to soppy up the marinade on the plate.
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I did this in aug91. Very good is all I wrote.
This recipe for spanikopita is interesting (to me) because it has mushrooms.
- For the spinach, a 750g package of frozen spinach does the job.
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My note from feb90: Tasty. All veggies could be chopped ahead and assembled in last 30min.
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Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
By Deborah Madison
Broadway - 1997
An interesting variation on broccoli-pasta with red pepper flakes. This time with a substanial dose of capers for a twist. We liked it, but then we like capers.
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My carrots must be smaller than Madison's. I had lots of pickling-juice left. Oh well, add some more carrots or other bits of cooked veg. Very tasty.
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A half recipe was a nice dinner for 2 over rice. Goes together quickly.
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Made a half recipe for two. Pretty good. I used chipotle flakes instead of regular red pepper flakes -- don't recommend this. Also used cavatappi isntead of farfelle -- not a good choice; better would be farfelle, orichiette, etc., something that "meshes" with the chickpeas better.
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A good way to use some of your zucchini garden bounty.
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Good. Simple and quick. DH thought this would be good over a salad too.
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Not as good as expected. Tarragon was a bit iffy.
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This was the first galette I made, very inspiring to do it again. Once you've got the idea, you can fill with whatever appeals. Seems like it might be a good way to use leftover bits of whatever, like you might do with crepes. This is in a savory chapter, but galettes can also contain fruit.
This particular galette filling is very tasty. I had no crème fraîche in house, so used a mixture of ricotta and feta instead. Definitely a do-again.
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When I first tried this recipe, I used two eggplants for a doubled recipe, and the pizza dough recipe from my bread machine which I've jiggled till we like it. I also added some strips of roasted red bell pepper (from a jar) just before the eggplant was done. The results were very good.
Nowadays I don't really use a recipe for this kind of pizza. Same ingredients more or less. I usually do slices of eggplant on the grillpan rather than sautéing cubes.
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NB: Green chiles like poblanos, etc., are decidedly *not* available in my local grocery and I haven't started growing them yet.
We thought this was a good taste idea, but the stuffed chiles were a bit useless. For two, I'll do this again with 4 eggs and a 4-oz can of chopped chiles, well-drained and mixed with cheese, cilantro, scallion; all added to the omelet at the end as you'd do with a regular cheese omelet.
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Tasty cake. Very more-ish.
- I first ground the almonds, then did all the mixing in my food processor. Worked fine.
- The butter in the list of cake ingredients is duplicated.
- Think my cast iron skillet is 9" rather than 10"; no problem with this.
- I had some bits of pear left for munching, and would have called my pears medium rather than large.
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This was very nice; served over brown rice.
The (whole) recipe calls for a large cauliflower of about 1-1/2 pounds. Now I had what I would call a medium-large cauli that was had been used for one dinner but still weight in over 3#. I took off about 1# of florets.
Anyhow, the whole was very good, nothing fancy, but satisfying.
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Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential Recipes for Every Course and Every Meal
By Jeanne Lemlin
HarperCollins - 2001
Quite a good dish, more or less a one-dish meal.
- The recipe is advertised to serve 4-6; I made a half recipe and it would have served 3, although we did have a starter.
- Any small pasta would work, but orzo was nice.
- Any strongish veg with texture, like cauliflower (or better, romanesco, for the color) or maybe cabbage would work as well.
- My jar of roasted bell peppers had both red and yellow ones, which was pretty.
- This might work well as a take-along casserole or as part of a buffet.
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Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate
By Patricia Wells
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2007
In general, this is an excellent way to cook and serve artichokes. The whole chokes are steamed, then cut in half, dechoked, and grilled, along with lemon halves. The halves are served with Spicy Garlic Mayonnaise, aka aïoli. I didn't make this, but tarted up some store-bought mayo with piment d'Esplette, garlic, and lemon juice. One half artichoke per person, a nice serving for a starter or side dish.
Small problem: The recipe says it serves four and asks for four artichokes. These are cut in half, each half grilled and served on small salad plates. But that makes eight servings. Before I realized this, I bought two artichokes for the two of us. I'll grill the remaining halves in the next days.
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4.5 even.
A recipe that serves ten is not your usually thing. I've never bought smoked salmon in a pack that had more than six siices. Maybe ten is the next break?
I had four slices to serve two. It's hard to arrange two things on a plate attractively. I think it would be better to cut a bit off each to make a third pile/roll/whatever.
I made about a third of the sauce, which was fairly easy to divide. The sauce was yummy. The extra went well over steamed green beans with the main.
Definitely a keeper.
It's curious that the French name for this recipe is Saumon Fumé, Sauce Moutarde a la Menthe, but there is no mint involved. The herb is either fresh dill or wild fennel (which we used to have, but DH mowed it down. :-( ) Can't quite imagine mint. Think that should have been aneth=dill.
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This was super yummy, and it's not yet the season for the best tomatoes. Easy to make.
Made a half recipe as a starter. (This isn't really a main-dish soup.)
I used whole asparagus spears, cut in half, rather than just the tips, since it seemed a waste otherwise.
Good for company since all can be made ahead and sit in the fridge awaiting assembly.
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This was surprisingly good. It should be a starter, I expect, but because the broiled fish was so fast, I served it as a second course. My lemon thyme was dried leaves from a plant that's given up the ghost. Wasn't crazy about the pistachio oil on its own, but the combination with lemon juice worked well. And the zucchini and avocado slices went well together. It was pretty on the table and tasted delicious.
18jul22: We had this as a starter yesterday and I had lots of extra zucchini slices. Tonight we had those plus some smoked trout (salmon would be just as good) topped with a sprig of dill as a very nice starter. Another alternative for the zucchini slices.
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A very nice risottto. My peas didn't get done in the time Wells specifies, but an extra couple of minutes helped that.
A nice summer dinner with a salad.
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There was no large-leaved spinach today, so I used sorrel instead. Tried to parboil this as directed for the spinach, but it turned ugly quite quickly, so I just used the raw leaves.
The shorter steaming time, 3 minutes, was good for my thinner end of the salmon back; Ed's thicker end could have used another 30 seconds or so.
I was a bit surprised that the sauce ingredients were not blended before or after simmering. I rather liked it chunky (although I halved my olives at the table), but Ed thought it was too strong in flavor, although he liked the caper/olive combination. I think it might do to coarsely chop the olives and capers before simmering.
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Easy, fast, delicious. DH says it's a 5.
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Easy, fast, and excellent.
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4.5 even.
Really liked this. It takes a bit of time, largely unattended once it's going, but it's easy to make. Would be good for company since it can simmer away till you're read. DH thought there was a bit too much tarragon, but that could have been my fault.
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This was easy and good.
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Good stuff. Made it for the Zucchini Carpaccio, but having no trouble using it up on other things.
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Not sure why this is a sorbet, when buttermilk is the main ingredient. On the other hand, it did seem rather like a sorbet.
I used only 2/3cup (rather than 1cup) white sugar for the "broth", which was fine. No corn syrup, so I used Lyle's Golden Syrup. That seemed ok.
Ed, who doesn't much like lemony things, thought it was too lemony. I, who does like lemony things, thought so too. The lemon taste overwhelmed the subtler almond taste. I would reduce the lemon juice to 1/4cup (rather than 1/3cup) next time.
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The rating is for the method of cooking the magrets. They turned out really good, exactly the way they should.
Didn't make the espelette pepper jelly, which might be gilding the lily.
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Excellent, although I do wonder about the serving size. Two pounds is about 900g, which Wells thinks will serve 8. Those would be very dainty servings. I usually count 400-500g to serve two, and did tonight.
I halved some tiny amandine potatoes. Forgot to crumble on the oregano at the end, which might have made them extra nice.
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This does *not* make 2 rimless tarts, only a single one. Pretty good though.
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This was surprisingly good, surprising because broccoli and mint is not an expected combination to me.
The recipes is supposed to serve twelve -- NOT. Four of us ate it all. You might be able to stretch it to six.
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This was okay, but not as nice as I'd have liked. The rosemary was an interesting touch.
It took two apples to cover the tart in two rows.
Most of the cranberries were a bit on the toasted/crunchy side after 35min. Better, I think, to sprinkle this mixture on about halfway through the cooking.
The recipe says that a 4x13" pastry will serve 12. One-inch servings are pretty skimpy, not to mention hard to cut. I think SIX servings is more like it.
I sprinkled on some rosemary flowers before serving since I found my rosemary plant unexpectedly blooming.
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Main dish at lunchtime? Maybe. Main dish for main meal? Not really. Tasty though. The curry flavor is almost missable, like most French food.
Easy to make. Tasty.
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We enjoyed this (a whole recipe) as a vegetarian main. Tarted it up at table with some ground red pepper flakes.
We thought it would be good as a side for a bbq or a pot luck meal.
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A pretty good and easy (and not too messy to make) tomato sauce with a good texture. It needed a bit more salt at table, and some ground red pepper flakes were nice too.
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Website: Vanilla Garlic
Tasty.
- Made this as a regular tart, rather than galette. Used my regular pâte brisée recipe, rather than the one linked, but added some almond flour, which added a nice non-specific nutty taste.
- Used Fourme Ambert as the blue cheese, which is quite mild. A stronger taste might be even better.
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Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables : A Commonsense Guide
By Elizabeth Schneider
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1998
I made half a recipe to serve two as a main course. Of course risotto can also be an entrée or side.
At least with the favas that I buy in Europe, the quantities given in the recipe make no sense. Schneider expects 2 pounds of favas to give 1-1/3 cups of beans. I think I'm lucky to get 1 cup, and usually count on 2/3 cup, from a kilo/2.2#. For a half recipe, that is a generous amount of beans, so 2 pounds might be a good amount for a full recipe, but don't expect 1-1/3 cups of them.
The first time I made this I was over-generous with the sage; this time I was more careful with the measurement (~1tbl with 3/4cups of beans) and it was better. I wonder if it would be better to add the sage with the cooked bacon, so that it has more of a chance for the flavor to soften and merge into the dish, rather than socking you with I-am-sage flavor occasionally? (There's a similar recipe in Schneider's http://www.cookbooker.com/title/2061/vegetables-from-amaranth-to-zucchini-the-essential-reference-500-recipes book that calls for savory rather than sage.)
Anyhow, the recipe is good enough to make again. Risotto is nice, favas are nice, good tastes.
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This has become one of my favorite recipes for whenever I find some kumquats in the market (6 for 2 servings). Shad is asked, but I typically use salmon. The fish is topped with a layer of thin slices of ginger, kumquat, and capers, then a bit of lemon juice and butter. Easy to make and delicious.
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So, now my kumquat repertoire has been extended to two recipes!
This is a really nice salad, broccoli and olives in citrusy surrounding. This would be a nice picnic or potluck recipe.
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Totally Picnic Cookbook (Totally Cookbooks)
By Helene Siegel, Carolyn Vibbert
Celestial Arts - 1996
Easy and tasty, a nice picnic recipe. Put the birds on to marinate the night before, grill them in the morning, then pack and go. (I used a split coqulet rather than a game hen.)
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Easy and tasty. The ingredients call for the bell peppers to be roasted. I overlooked this, so my bp's were diced uncooked. It was fine. This is quite a nice couscous salad.
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I liked this, but I'm thinking for a picnic it might be better to make smaller pieces of the green beans, since the long beans don't lend themselves to serving with a spoon. On the other hand, the long beans look very attractive on the plate, so it might be a good idea to bring some tongs they can be easily laid out in a parallel fashion.
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