The Moosewood Restaurant Table: 250 Brand-New Recipes from the Natural Foods Restaurant That Revolutionized Eating in America by The Moosewood Collective

The Moosewood Restaurant Table: 250 Brand-New Recipes from the Natural Foods Restaurant That Revolutionized Eating in America Reviews

• 
  PorshaJo

  I just don't think the Moosewood books work for me any longer. Bummer.
• 
  KC

  From the famous Ithaca, NY restaurant, Moosewood, is synonymous with vegetarianism and The Enchanted Broccoli Forrest was one of my very first cookbooks ever! Unfortunately, I'm older now and much more experienced in the kitchen and while this book is loaded with recipes and some look tasty, it lacks pictures. The original cookbooks were beautifully illustrated but the newest addition to the Moosewood family is all sleek, robust, and glossy but lacks the photos.
• 
  Julie

  Love the spinach salad with blueberries and corn recipe. pg 148
  
  and the pasta with avocado pesto pg 242
  
  
• 
  Joanne

  Another adventure with my Cook Book Club, where we read, cook and bring a dish to pass-
  
  This month I made the White Bean Stew, which was a big hit. Tomato and Veg broth base with beans, onions, red pepper flakes and rosemary-yummy. Some of the other dishes we sampled were: The Spring Pot Pie (good but not great), and a lot of salads with fresh greens and herbs. By far, IMO, the very best dish was the Ginger Pancakes with lemon drizzle. Absolutely a dish I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner-and snack in between.
• 
  Maelyn

  It’s no secret I love the Moosewood Collective (probably all 19 of them from afar) and their cookbooks. The very best feature aside from the outstanding and well written recipes is the bit with each recipe that provides serving/meal tips on what other Moosewood recipes you could serve, with page number! It’s almost like a choose your own adventure book.
• 
  James

  It's interesting comparing this to the first Moosewood cookbook published more than 40 years prior. The ingredients and the cuisines used for inspiration have certainly broadened, Thai and many other Asian and middle eastern foods were just starting to appear, compared to nowadays, these recipes feel oddly mainstream. Still, a useful cookbook, but a bit more elaborate than what I normally cook at home for the most part.
  
  Like the original, this book is mostly text with few pictures, more recipe bang for your buck!
• 
  Debbie

  Yum!!!
• 
  Chris From RecipesNow!

  For those not already aware, The Moosewood Collective has been producing cookbooks since the 80s. Their goal now, as it has always been, is to produce real, wholesome, luscious food. Their emphasis is on natural, plant-based food. They are not the first to take such an approach and certainly won’t be the last. They are one of the most prominent in the field, however. Their recipes are described as no-nonsense cookery, with a love of culinary adventure.
  
  This new cookbook “The Moosewood Restaurant Table, 250 Brand-New Recipes From The Natural Foods Restaurant That Revolutionised Eating In America”, focuses on new vegetarian and vegan recipes with multiple ethnic influences. Their approach to vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dishes, is to make them satisfying enough that people won’t miss the meat, cheese, eggs, or wheat flour.
  
  In the introduction, they describe the journey which resulted in this cookbook. Many new and rediscovered ingredients, combinations, and cuisines were employed. Included with the new are a few traditional recipes with perhaps a new twist. The authors also mentioned that, as with any other art-form, recipes are only guidelines. And of course, variations in timing are going to happen depending on what you’re cooking, what you’re cooking it in, etc. They advise “Use your nose, cool your jets, cook with love, and use The Force.” I love that quote.
  
  After that micro introduction, the first chapter of recipes begins with “Breakfast & Brunch”. When I first received this cookbook I was afraid that it might contain recipes full of ingredients I can’t get it my local grocery store and certainly don’t have in the house. I am pleased to report that this is not the case. I’m sure one or two recipes might call for something I’ve not got on hand but few recipes called for ingredients not already found in my fridge or pantry.
  
  One of my favourite things about a good cookbook is that there are variations on the recipes. For instance, many of these recipes offer a variation on herbs, a vegan, or gluten-free option. Others have simply different recommended flavour combinations. Throughout the book, there are valuable little tips and tricks. For instance, “How to freeze fruit for your breakfast smoothie”, so you always have something on hand even out of season.
  
  With “Starters & Snacks” there are a number of recipes which would serve well as lunches, side dishes or if you just have the munchies. I like how the recipes, throughout the book, have “Serving And Menu Ideas” included. Each of the recipes recommends other recipes within the book that will work well together. As mentioned earlier they do a modern twist on several traditional recipes. In this section is the deviled eggs recipe with a couple of pretty interesting flavour combinations. You may find them a lot better than the ones your grandma made.
  
  “Spreads & Dips” follow. I do love how several of the recipes referred to other tips and tricks within the book with direct page references. This really helps to keep you on track. As with the other recipes, they all start with a brief explanation of the food and include necessary details like Yields, Cook Time, etc.
  
  “Sandwiches” are next but don’t just think that these are two pieces of bread with some stuff in between them, some of the recipes are quite different. The Banh Mi Chay sandwich, for instance, is a two-page version of a Vietnamese creation.
  
  The next set of recipes is the “Soup” category. With a few recognizable soups, there are several interesting additions. The “Sopa Verde de Elote”, for instance, is a Mexican soup with the Moosewood with a twist on it.
  
  As you will find in nearly every vegetarian recipe cookbook, there is a chapter on “Salads”. But if you were looking for your iceberg lettuce with one or two extra ingredients and a nice vinaigrette, you’ll need to look elsewhere. The salads here are quite tasty looking and the ingredient combinations are very interesting. Along with the green salads, there are bean salads, and even a potato salad, to entice your taste buds.
  
  “Main Dish Salads” is next. If you like to have a salad for your main meal there are several options for you. Some of them are green salads, others noodle salads. There’s even a “Quinoa Tabouli with Pomegranates and Pistachios”. The “Grain Bowl” chapter offers only six recipes. These give recipes for couscous, bulgur wheat, etc.
  
  The “Entrées” chapter starts with an “Autumn Pot Pie” with vegetables, herbs and a cheese sauce it looks like a lovely New England style pie, suitable even for the holidays. I think the only time I saw the word meat mentioned in this book was in the “Walnut Cheddar Herb Meatballs”. This is a meat-free dish which mimics meatballs and can even be made in smaller versions for appetizers. The tips offered for this recipe included how to make a meatball pita and a meatball sub. Num, num.
  
  Chapters, “Stews & Sautés”, “Pasta”, and “Burgers & Beans”, follow. The “Pizzas & Breads” chapter is next and includes a very detailed recipe for creating your pizza crust. They also include a gluten-free pizza crust and several recipes for pizza flavour variations and a “Focaccia”. You’ll even find a recipe for “Bialys”, and a couple of cornbread variations.
  
  “Side Vegetables”, “Side Greens”, “Sauces, Pickles, and Other Good Things” are all covered in the following chapters. This leads up to “Desserts”. The “Desserts” chapter is quite extensive. If you’re looking for Cookies, Shortbread, Brownies, Blondies, Cake, even Gingerbread, you’ll find it here. The Moosewood Restaurant certainly knows how to make a dessert. Not to be left out there are even Cheesecake, Tart, Crumble, and Pudding recipes included, as well as a Sorbet and “Date-Walnut Shake”.
  
  Even For Meatatarians
  
  In all, this is a fantastic book for anybody whether or not they’re vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or huge meat lovers. There are textures, flavours, and variations that would even give die-hard meatatarians something to love. The only thing I would change would be to add more pictures.
  
  See the review with the “Pumpkin Cheesecake” recipe on RecipesNow! The Reviews And Recipes Magazine. This review is in response to a hard copy of the book sent to me by the publishers in hopes of an honest review.
• 
  Nadine in NY Jones

  End result: this cookbook is ... okay. We found a few great recipes (Cauliflower soup! Spicy Roasted Broccoli!) and a lot of blah recipes.
  
  Our second Moosewood cookbook trial in a row! With this volume, it's clear that Moosewood is stepping into the 21st century, with glossy glamour shots of the food. I'm apparently an official old codger, because that put me off at first. My teenage daughter, Lily, on the other hand, was very excited when she paged through this one! She really likes how most (all?) recipes have a suggested pairing to serve it with. (I, on the other hand, just want to make ONE thing for dinner when I get home from work.)
  
  Note: we visited the Moosewood while we were reviewing this cookbook and had a wonderful time - it was a perfect spring day in Ithaca, we walked along Buttermilk Falls, found a good parking spot, and had a great dinner (with a great local beer for me: Liquid State Local Vibe IPA (well, um, I thought that was the name of it, but now I look it up and "Local Vibe" is a pale ale, not an IPA. Anyway, it was a Liquid State IPA of some sort), excellent). If I had any sort of photo sharing site on the internet, I would share our photo. But I don't. So, no photo.
  
  
  Recipes we tried from this cookbook (in the order we tried them):
  
  Pasta with Avocado Pesto - nice flavor (dominant flavor is LEMON), but we both thought the texture was a little too thick and creamy to be a satisfying pasta sauce. This would be great as a crudité dip or burger topping, I'm sure. It was quick and simple, easily made in the time it took to cook the pasta. (Haha I say "easy" but Lily was the one cooking while I was out picking up her sister from band. It looked easy!) Made about 6 servings. We served topped with chopped tomato (as all pesto should be served!) and the suggested pairing: Spicy Roasted Broccoli. We probably won't make this again, at least not for dinner. Lily says it was good for lunch at room temperature.
  
  Spicy Roasted Broccoli - this was soooo good!! I was eating it right off the pan straight from the oven. It was quick and simple and I will definitely be making this again. I have no idea how many servings this would usually make as a side dish, we got about 4 from it.
  
  Bitter Greens Lasagna
  This sounded good and looked good as I made it, but it was only so-so. We got about six servings from it as promised. If I make I again I'll tweak it: I'll cook the noodles first (I always prefer this but decided to follow the recipe exactly, it called for uncooked noodles), I thought it needed less lemon zest and Lily thought it needed less goat cheese, I will use all rappi instead of a mix of rappi/dandelion greens/ escarole, and I'll make more bechamel sauce, it was a little dry. (By coincidence, my mother had also recently checked this book out of the library and made this recipe, and she was very disappointed in this one. Like, REALLY did not like it. At all. She kept talking about it!)
  
  Summer Stir-Fry with Halloumi Cheese
  I thought this was great! but the rest of the family did not agree. Maybe I'll make this again sometime, maybe just for me. I served on orzo, topped with chopped olives, herbs, and parmesan; next time I'll serve with farfalle, and forgo the olives and parmesan, because - and I can't believe I'm saying this - they weren't needed and didn't add to the dish. The haloumi stood up just fine on its own!! This took over an hour for me to make, a lot longer than the 30 minutes claimed in the book. Recipe serves 4 to 6, and we got 4 small servings.
  
  White Bean Stew with Rosemary on Orecchiette with Goat Cheese Toast
  Goat cheese toast was A+! (But, really, how can you go wrong?) The bean stew was a little disappointing, kind of watery. Next time (if there is a next time, and I'm not so sure there will be) I would add less water, and/or cook the pasta IN the stew instead of separately. And maybe add a chopped zucchini. We got about 6 servings, which agrees with the recipe. I think the time of 1 hr & 20 min is about right.
  
  Golden Cauliflower Soup
  As soon as I saw the name of this soup, I knew I had to make it. How can you resist "golden cauliflower soup"?? Sometimes my CSA offers yellow or orange cauliflower, and I imagine that would be perfect in this soup. This was REALLY GREAT. I made it while my mom was visiting, and all four of us were impressed. We will definitely make this again. I made this with butter per a recipe footnote suggestion, I don't like cilantro so I left that out, and I forgot to buy coconut so left that out too (just as well - I don't really like coconut, so maybe it's more like I "forgot" to buy it - I did remember to buy coconut milk, and that made this soup very nice); I served topped with chopped parsley and a dollop of yogurt - the parsley was nice for a color/texture contrast, but to my surprise it was actually better without the yogurt. I used the curry recipe at the bottom of this review instead of buying curry powder. It took about an hour to make, which agrees with the book; I got about 7 servings from it, as an entrée, and recipe says serves 6.
  
  Pasta Carbonara with Zucchini
  This was fantastic, and pretty simple. I was a little unsure about using smoked cheddar because that just doesn't seem very Italian, but it was perfect, the smokiness made it almost like ham or pancetta was used. I will definitely make this again, and I think I'll try it with red pepper flakes next time. Dinner was a rush this night but I think both my kids liked this, too (they ate it, at any rate, then we all had to run). Recipe time 40 minutes is about right, maybe it was closer to 50 minutes for me; we got about 6 servings, close the recipe's "serves 4 or 5."
  
  
  
  I do have a few complaints about this volume:
  1. Seems like every other recipe calls for "curry powder" but no where in the book did I see a suggestion for what they consider "curry powder" - you can't lay that on me, curry powder is as variable as "chili powder" or "enchilada sauce" - please tell me YOUR recipe for it so I can start there.*
  2. Recipes are very heavy on fall and winter foods, with a smattering of late summer possibilities. But I'm trialing this cookbook in spring (well, late April is supposed to be spring, but anyone living through April of 2018 in NY knows that it's actually "winter" right now, which is adding to my crankiness)! I was hoping for a few spring recipes to try. Nope. That luscious photo on the cover (which screams "SPRING!" does it not?) is for watercress toasts: basically, sauté watercress with garlic and serve on toast. I'm sure that's tasty, but watercress is not easy to find here, and the cover photo lead me to expect lots of spring recipes and I was disappointed.
  3. Too many recipes for little diddly things (starters, sides, and sauces, basically) and not enough main entrée recipes. I realize this is my personal preference, so that's why I'm spelling it out. Some people WANT the recipes for little diddly things! But I wanted entrées.
  
  
  
  *The Google was my friend. The Moosewood website includes a recipe for curry powder (see I knew they had one):
  Moosewood's Curry Powder
  

  •4 tablespoons cumin seeds, toasted
  •1 tablespoon turmeric
  •1 tablespoon cardamom seeds
  •½ teaspoon cayenne
  •½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
  Grind together in spice grinder. Don't get it in your eyes.
• 
  Kimberly

  I have bought Moosewood cookbooks since they started publishing and really enjoy the easy to follow receipes and simple ingredients.
  
  this book doesn't disappoint!
• 
  7jane

  Another cookbook from Moosewood, no seafood here but plenty of tasty recipes (250+) to choose from. Some photos here and there, in good color. I’m still not used to ’healthful’ word being used instead of ’healthy’ *lol*. Each recipe comes with a short introduction, and there’s also serving and menu ideas, occasionally also variations and notes on separate squares on certain ingredients, food etc.
  
  The recipes are really interesting: plenty of international recipes, but also recipes from closer to home, with different levels of easiness, and fitting into various situations. I really wish I could eat some, even when just browsing through what is in here… too many to mention!
  
  I found this book to be an average good vegetarian/vegan cookbook. Very Moosewood, even without the seafood recipes. Not necessarily essential, but still worth buying. And again, the number of recipes I can see myself doing does tell me how good this collection is :)
• 
  Samantha Mairson-Dougherty

  Great cookbook. I tried the portobello mushroom "philly steak" sandwich and it went over really well at my house. I also tried the easy lemon shortbread and loved them (but they weren't gobbled up by my family members at the same speed as the sandwiches...)
  
  Overall, lovely illustrations and approach to cooking. Many great recipes. This was a selection for my library's cookbook book club.
• 
  Lauren

  Several of these recipes sound amazing and I can't wait to try them. The only thing I wished was on one of these recipes they explained what certain ingredients, especially if one isn't too familiar with the names.
• 
  Jessica Haider

  A beautiful vegetarian cookbook with approachable recipes. I might whip up some of the spicy butternut dip for an upcoming fall gathering.
• 
  Nancy

  Beautifully produced cookbook, but it's a shame they didn't include more and better photos. Great collection of recipes with influences from around the world.
• 
  Elisa

  Spectacular, delicious food with simple ingredients in mouthgasmic combinations!
• 
  Ellen

  This is yet another excellent Moosewood publication. I have made several of the recipes and they are all lovely. It is great for vegetarian and vegan cooking.
• 
  Mairzi

  well written and interesting with easy to follow recipes.
• 
  Melanie

  I’m not a vegetarian but there are many recipes I would prepare while trying to eat cleaner and healthier. Love the pancakes, granola, salads and pastas! Bon Appetite!
• 
  Jeanette Durkin

  There are a lot of great recipes in this book and I look forward to trying them!
• 
  Kathleen Malaspina

  So many great ideas and recipes with flexibility for vegan and vegetarians.
• 
  Critterbee❇

  Not my favorite Moosewood Restaurant cookbook - there were many recipes that I thought were just OK.
  
  Standout recipes were
  Butternut Squash Hash - easy, quick, new way to cook squash.
  Walnut-Cheddar "Meatballs" - a bit of work, but well worth the effort!
  and
  Carrot Cornbread - really delicious, and a fun way to add more veggies to your diet.
  
  But I am used to 90% of the recipes in Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks being keepers, and with this one, I really only found the three.
  
  Also, I could not find an oven temperature on pages 44-45 for the recipe Spicy Filo Samosas with Spinach, Mint and Cilantro. I would assume 350F?