I owned this book for about a year and cooked about 1/3 of the dishes. Each one seemed bland and uninspired, although the recipe titles sounded interesting. I gave it to a coworker who is vegan and his family agrees that the dishes are a good launching point, but they all needed a little something added to finish them. Sometimes it was just upping the spices while sometimes it was adding, say, a sweet vegetable to counter balance a spicy or sour ingredient. It's a shame- the recipes are easy to follow, have simple ingredients and are fairly healthy... they just aren't very good.
Review #2
Solid addition to any kitchen
I've found this book to be a great addition to my collection of vegan cookbooks. The recipes are simple, based on whole foods, and provide interesting twists on common foods. One of the features that is most helpful is the inclusion of prep times and nutritional information, so that you can see ahead of time exactly how many calories, fat grams, etc. each recipe contains and choose accordingly.
Several of my favorite recipes from this book include black bean stir fry with broccoli, corn and cilantro; asparagus and green bean stir fry with tofu; and orzo pasta with olives, tarragon, and pecans. The curried lentil stir-fry with fennel and apricots was delicious as well. I haven't tried many of the soups, but I was not impressed with the chilled asparagus orange soup - it tasted bland and the texture wasn't great either.
I don't disagree with several reviewers who said a number of the recipes were a bit bland or needed extra salt, but I appreciate the author's attempt at making low-sodium recipes - you can always add it later. As with all recipes I get from other people, I just take the time to experiment with what I need to add to get the recipe just right. In many recipes from this book, some extra salt, soy sauce, or liquid aminos do the trick just fine.
In short, I would recommend this cookbook. It isn't perfect, but it's very good and has a variety of healthy dishes that are relatively easy to prepare.
Review #3
Arguably the best vegan cookbook
When I went vegan for about 8 years in the 1980s and early 1990s, the first edition of this cookbook was my constant companion in the kitchen. Great recipes, well organized and tasty. These two authors definitely know how to whip up a cookbook.
