5 comments about Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special: More Than 275 Recipes for Soups, Stews, Salads and Extras.

1. The recipes are reliable and easy to follow.

   Personal favorites: Butternut squash soup with sizzled sage, Jamaican tomato soup, Spicy carrot peanut soup, Black bean and chipotle soup, Tortilla soup, Corn chowder, Cream of mushroom, and Creamy herbed potato.

   There's a large chapter on salads. Try the Asparagus and fennel pasta salad, Caesar salad, Chef salad a la Moosewood, Tomato flowers and the Tostada salad.

   At the end of each page it will give menu ideas as to which salads go with which soups. Very helpful. Their salad dressings are very good but my all time favorite which I make once a week is the Moosewood house dressing. A delicious combination of canola oil, cider vinegar, honey, spinach leaves, basil leaves, dijon mustard, a little salt, fresh ground black pepper and buttermilk. All whirled together in a blender and tossed on fresh greens. It will keep in the fridge for about a week.

   Very easy directions. Lovely.




2. Sure, there are two tiny chapters of recipes including seafood, which I never use, not being a seafood lover, and there are recipes that include clam juice or whatever, but I find that those are so easily substituted or simply left out that it doesn't make a difference. This is one of the cookbooks I use most on the fly, when I haven't thought out the menu in advance. Many of the recipes can be prepared without a dash to the store, with just stuff I have in the cupboards. There are many good pairing suggestions, and lots of the recipes go over well with my 4 and 2 year olds. We love the Baked Bean soup, Vegetable Pistou, Artichoke Avgolemono (this is a big hit with everone I've ever made it for), Classic Sichuan noodles, Persian Rice and Pistachio salad, Nepalese Egg salad, North African Roasted Cauliflower, I could go on. My kids favorite snack is the Baked seasoned tofu, we love the spiced paneer, and the shortening-free biscuits are great. This is a good cookbook to have.



3. This book is the best cookbook in my entire collection. NOT because the meals are easy to prepare or the ingredients easy to find -- because frequently these meals take some time and effort, and a little searching to make sure you have all of the ingredients.
   
   But these recipes are absolutely fabulous, and all are well worth the time it takes to prepare them. They are all very unique, and the book is filled with combinations of ingredients I never would have thought to put together myself on a whim, like the Indian Fruit Salad or the Warm Potato Salad. When I was first beginning to learn how to cook, THIS is the cookbook that turned me into a good cook! AND these are all mostly vegetarian, very healthy meals.
   
   Interspersed with the recipes are also little vignettes / ramblings on food, eating, cooking and meal preparation, as well as guides to putting together your own food without a recipe, like what salad greens go well together. If you're not in the mood to cook, you can still sit down and just READ this book, because the little sections are really delightful to chew on. Along the bottoms of pages are menu ideas, complete with page references to the other recipes, and at the end of the book is an extensive index.
   
   If there was a 6 star rating, I would gladly give this book 6 stars! There is nothing like it.



4. Last spring I visited Ithaca, NY and had dinner at the Moosewood Restaurant. It was amazing! We went back for lunch the next day before heading home. Eating there was truly a life-changing experience for me. While there, I picked up this book - my first Moosewood book.
   
   I have always been whole foods minded, but tended to make the same old things over and over. This cookbook really helped to open up my meal repertoire. In a year, I've made a few dozen recipes and so far they have all been winners - they have ranged from good to "holy cow!!!"
   
   While I'm not a vegetarian, I'm a picky eater and generally don't eat much meat. I love this book because I can eat almost every recipe in it with no modification - this is a first for me! I am not into soy products, and unlike many vegetarian cookbooks, the recipes here aren't centered around soy or other meat-replacements. This is such a refreshing change!
   
   Like another reviewer mentioned, most of the salads aren't what you would normally think of as salads, and can really stand on their own as entrees. There are dozens of different soups. Our favorite dishes are the Tibetan Lentil Soup, Balinese Rice Salad, and Orzo Pesto stuffed tomatoes.



5. Although the books are fine, there was a mix-up with the order and delivery.
   I wanted the two Moosewood books to be billed to me but shipped to my friend in Raleigh, North Carolina.
   I realized that you had recorded TWO shipments, one set of books to me, and
   a duplicate set to my friend. When I reported this, you mistakenly cancelled the North
   Carolina shipment and sent the books to me. Moreover, the North Carolina
   shipment would have been free of shipping charge, but the books mistakenly sent to
   me had $4.98 in shipping charges. I took it upon myself to re-ship the books
   to my friend in North Carolina and pay the second shipping charge.

3 comments about The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Salad.

1. `Williams-Sonoma Salad' with recipes and text by Georgeanne Brennan, under the general editorship of Williams-Sonoma founder, Chuck Williams is an excellent little, inexpensive hardcover book all about salads. Unlike some other grandly titled books on salads, this little volume does two big things right for a salads only book.
   
   For starters, it's first chapter of recipes has seven (7) recipes for major, classic salads, almost all of which originated in French, Italian, or American cuisines. These are:
   
   Caesar Salad
   Cobb Salad
   Potato Salad
   Salade Nicoise
   Celery Root Remoulade
   Insalata Caprese
   Ambrosia
   
   The second `big' thing it gets right is that the next four chapters cover salads appropriate to each of the four seasons. While your average megamart has virtually all fruits and vegetables throughout the year, there are still some important seasonal considerations that make a difference in the quality or cost of a salad. For example, asparagus and artichokes are far cheaper in the spring than at any other time of the year; tomatoes and fresh corn are at their very best if obtained locally in the summer; apples and pears are freshest in the fall, and citrus is most abundant and least expensive in the winter.
   
   The last chapter of recipes gives us seven (7) `picnic' salads whose taste improves over time or which are easily assembled at the last minute `on site'. They are also very good for extended periods without refrigeration as they contain no mayonnaise or any other uncooked or semi-cooked eggs.
   
   There is a non-recipe chapter at the end on `Salad Basics' covering the primary ingredients and techniques including vinaigrettes, creamy dressings, types of greens, and varieties of other ingredients. It is beyond me why this chapter is put at the back of the book when it is something you should read before embarking on the recipes or on a career of ad libbing salad making.
   
   The only other quirk of the book's organization is that the two potato salad recipes are in two different chapters, one in the classics and one in the summer chapter. Otherwise, in general, this is a very well thought out book organization, making up for the slightly pricy $16.95 list price for 43 recipes. We are also well served by the fact that there is a full-page color snapshot of the results of each and every completed recipe. For a glossy book like this, one would feel cheated if there were pics of only half the recipes.
   
   With all this good stuff going for it, I did find some things that were just a little off. In the recipes for the classic salads, I found at least four instructions that concerned me. The first two were where poaching chicken and cooking hard-boiled eggs were done at substantially longer times than what I have found to be necessary from both other authoritative recipes and from my own experience. I was inclined to think that the author was just trying to be careful with microbes, until I read the Caesar Salad recipe, where a totally raw egg was used to make the dressing. In all the very best recipes for Caesar Salad, the raw egg is `coddled' before adding it to the dressing. That is, it is cooked in boiling water for about a minute to kill off any microbeasties. I was also just a little concerned with the amount of fresh garlic used in the Caesar salad, and the method by which it was added. It called for first making the toasted croutons, then rubbing the fresh garlic onto the sides of all those little cubes. This seems to be a relatively tiresome method, which could easily be replaced by toasting the bread slices, rubbing on the garlic, then cutting the toast into little cubes. And even better and quite traditional technique is to rub the cut garlic into the wooden salad bowl before mixing the dressing.
   
   All in all, this is a better salad book than others I have seen and it is a very good first salad book.



2. I absolutely recommend this book. The salads are tasty, fulfilling and varied enough to keep you wanting to try a different one everyday of the week.



3. This book wasn't what I was expecting but it turns out to be a great source for new ideas. The ginger-glazed scallops are the best. I just love the Williams-Sonoma cookbooks. You can't go wrong.

3 comments about Salad Dressings 101.

1. Finally: a guide to salad dressing which provides easy, quick chapters separating dressings by vinaigrettes, creamy and low-fat dressings and which packs in a wide variety of toppings, from the classic Blue Cheese and Caesar to Maple Thyme Vinaigrette and Creamy Lemon Yogurt. No color photos in Salad Dressing 101, but these very simple dressing recipes don't really need anything more than a blender for 2-minute productions that would enhance any salad dining occasion.



2. I received this recipe book a few weeks ago; haven't made any yet but I've read through all of the vinaigrette recipes (my favorite) and they look fantastic, I can't wait to try them! This book is just what I was looking for.



3. I really like this book as it has given me several ideas to make my own dressing. My partner had a heart attack about 4 months ago and we both love to eat salads on a daily basis. Finding good dressings that had healthy fats and lower in calories is hard, especially if you like to try a wide variety of dressings. This book (along with my local olive oil and vinegar store) have been a wealth of information in making new and interesting dressings that are healthy and delicious!
   
   Happy eating!

5 comments about Salad People And More Real Recipes: A New Cookbook for Preschoolers & Up.

1. This beautifully illustrated book of fun and tasty recipes made a wonderful Mother's Day gift for my daughter in-law. Her young family will treasure it for many years to come.



2. Please try some of these recipes with a small group of preschoolers. Delicious and fun!



3. These are some really simple recipes that I think most children will enjoy. They are broken down in to small steps with a blurb underneath. Not only will kids be making artistic culinary statements, they can also learn to associate words and pictures.



4. Mollie Katzen is a great cookbook author, and I love to give this as a gift to young cooks. Because Katzen writes vegetarian, it is a 'no worry' gift if the family has made that choice.
   Recipies are easy to follow with delicious results. Reading, planning, following directions - all important steps for young readers.
   A solid choice for your own kids, or as a holiday or birthday gift.



5. This is a fun way to introduce cooking to young kids. While my six year old prepared Tiny Tacos, his younger brother got jealous and ended up mashing avacado for some guacamole to go with them! It turned into a fun, family meal.

3 comments about Salad Makes the Meal: 150 Simple and Inspired Salad Recipes Everyone Will Love.

1. Published in Newsweek, April 19, 2008: 'Just in time for spring, this recipe book is stocked with unusual flavor combos, like watermelon, raspberries and feta cheese and steak, tomatoes and horseradish. Great for dieters and hearty eaters alike.'



2. Wiley Mullins has brought us a unique and fresh perspective on something most everyone enjoys...salad. These are not ordinary salads, however, many of them are meals in themselves. This book provides great flavor combinations and pairings, alternative protein selections, modern health information and different vinaigrettes for each offering. Wiley also takes the seasonality of ingredients into account which is so refreshing and important. The recipes are simple to follow and the book itself is extremely well-done... perfect for the entire spectrum of cooks. Forget about fad diets and follow this book for a while and your life with most definitely change for the better.



3. Bought it as a gift. Many interesting and different salads for a nice change of pace menu.

3 comments about Lunch Boxes and Snacks: Over 120 healthy recipes from delicious sandwiches and salads to hot soups and sweet treats.

1. Lunch Boxes and Snacks: Over 120 healthy recipes from delicious sandwiches and salads to hot soups and sweet treats
   
   I ordered this book after seeing what fellow parents are sending to school with their kids. After looking through it, I think it will provide my soon to be kindergarten son healthier alternatives than other kids, but I only have one issue.
   
   Almost all the sandwich recipes have mayonnaise in them. Not only is this not a healthier spread, but we cannot have mayonnaise in the house due to a severe allergy to it. I gave the book three stars for a fattier spread than other ones and not having healthier alternatives for the spreads.



2. Lunch Boxes and Snacks: Over 120 healthy recipes from delicious sandwhiches and salads to hot soups and sweet treats is a great guide for the end of boredom at school and at work. Everything here is packable, nutritious and wonderfully good-tasting.
   
   The book includes information on how to keep food safe after it leaves your refrigerator and how to involve kids in the selection and process.
   
   But, be advised that it is great for adults also. We get bored with everyday same-old same-old, too!
   
   I purchased this book on a whim while food-shopping at a mega-market. I flipped through it over coffee and went right back to the aisles for some immediate meal transformations.
   
   I don't regret purchasing it!



3. This book is filled with lunches suitable for adults. Some are too intricate for children.

1 comments about Mediterranean Fresh: A Compendium of One-Plate Salad Meals and Mix-and-Match Dressings.

1. Veteran food writer Goldstein's colorful, earthy book of Mediterranean one-dish salad meals is soothingly practical, with new and fresh ideas for family and company.
   
   From Tunisian Cauliflower, Artichoke and Potato Salad to Gazpacho Bread Salad to Turkish Chicken Salad with Walnut Tahini Dressing, Goldstein offers cool, healthy and different solutions to summer meals. The book is divided into two sections - 250 pages of salads and then almost 70 pages of dressings. Each salad includes a brief introduction, possible variations, and several suggested alternative dressings. Many are accompanied by sumptuous full-page photos.
   
   There are seven salad chapters including the basic five - leafy greens, vegetables, fruit, grain, and bean, many of which can be augmented with protein. She also includes two chapters that feature meat or seafood as the star ingredient. Each chapter begins with a primer on the basic ingredients and some Mediterranean preparations tips.
   
   From the simplest (Zucchini with Mint and Vinegar; Lentil) to the simply elegant (Duck Breast with Pears, Walnuts, and Belgian Endive; Green and White Asparagus with Hazelnut Cream Dressing; Smoked Trout Salad with Lemon Cream Dressing), from the homey (Bean Puree with Toasted Cumin Dressing; Spanish Rice Salad) to the refreshing (Moroccan Salad of Raw Grated Carrots with Citrus Cinnamon Dressing; Couscous with Almonds, Raisin, and Saffron Onions), Goldstein supplies plenty of opportunities for spicing up the summer palate.
   
   There are also traditional salads - Greek Salad with Feta, Tabbouleh, Salade Nicoise and variations on tradition - Paella Rice, Pasta with Pesto Vinaigrette, Turkish Chopped Salad.
   
   An attractive, inspirational book, which should gain a prominent place in any summer kitchen.

5 comments about Simply Salads: More than 100 Delicious Creative Recipes Made from Prepackaged Greens and a Few Easy-to-Find Ingredients.

1. I love this book!! Beautiful large pictures of every salad. The salads are stunning and yet easy to put together. Every salad looks gourmet but is very simple to prepare. I could sit and look through the photographs for hours. I've tried many of the recipes and they are all wonderful. This is one of my favorite cookbooks for the easy & healthy recipes and beautiful photography.



2. I ordered this book because my husband wants to eat more salads and less carbs. However, he is very particular about sugar content in his food. None of the recipes listed in this book have any information whatsoever about nutritional content -- not calories, proteins, carbs, fats, sodium, nothing. Very disappointed that that kind of information was not included.



3. I love an exotic salad. I collect specialty cookbooks. Ergo, "Simply Salads" is now an integral part of my collection.
   
   Not without good reason! Right on the cover, Jennifer Chandler announces that her cookbook contains "more than 100 delicious creative recipes made from prepackaged greens and a few easy-to-find ingredients." My goodness, who could ask for more, but I did. I wanted proof. Let's walk through the book. (When I get a new cookbook, I start at the beginning and leaf through every single page, stopping at certain recipes to read for difficulty and ingredients. Oh my, but I want to try so many recipes from this book.)
   
   This introductory chapter displays all the packaged greens, a standard list of kitchen aids needed, and pantry items. The first recipe is "Steakhouse Wedge Salad" and what a gorgeous photo (Every single recipe has a close-up photo of the salad). By the way, each recipe comes with a homemade dressing, but, of course, store-bought can be used. Here's a Wilted Spinach Salad with mushrooms and an egg-based dressing.
   
   The book is arranged by categories of salads. The two recipes above come from the Greens chapter. Others are the various meats, Fruit, then Beans, Grains, Rice & Pasta, next Slaws, and the additional Dressings chapter. Let's continue our flip-through: Grilled Romaine with mandarin orange slices and toasted almonds with a green goddess dressing. Does it look great! Black and Blue Chicken Salad (Bleu cheese and blackened chicken), Prosciutto and Melon Salad, Beef Tenderloin Salad with Horseradish Dressing (yogurt, sour cream, horseradish, and mayonnaise--sounds heavenly, yes?), and Grilled Lamb and Tabbouleh Salad for a Middle Eastern flavor.
   
   Try this one: Seared Salmon over Mixed Greens (Spring Mix, feta crumbles, dried cranberries, and candied pecans with a Raspberry Vinaigrette. Isn't this a wow?) Or two of my favorite ingredients: Butter Lettuce with Smoked Salmon, capers, and Dill with Lemon Vinaigrette.
   
   From the Vegetable chapter: Warm Fingerling Potato Salad (you gotta love fingerlings), the fabulous Caprese Salad (tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil with balsamic vinaigrette), Meze-in-a-Minute Platter--you will love this (Romaine lettuce, tabbouleh, hummus, dolmas [stuffed grape leaves], black olives, and tiny pita wedges.
   
   So many of these salads are so summery. My personal favorite (and that was a difficult choice) is Mango, Avocado, and Cilantro Salad made with Spring Mix and chopped red onions. Just think of those flavors and textures. I wonder if I threw in a few boiled shrimp? This fruit chapter offers so many tempting recipes: Orange and Fennel Salad, Watermelon and Argula with feta and toasted pine nuts, Arugula with figs, pancetta, goat cheese.
   
   With summer coming, a book like this, with choices and ingredients acquired ahead, coming home from work and making any of these divine salads will make your evening fresh and refreshing. Feed the kids hot dogs and put on a movie in the den. If the husband insists on meat, grill a chicken breast. Now you can have a relaxing meal on the patio with a bottle of wine or chilled tea. Let your day unwind with "simply salads."



4. I want to thank one of my Amazon Friends for bringing this book to my attention. Salads can actually be "meals-in-themselves," and this book provides a few examples of that. Sometimes, when I'm fixing a meal just for myself, I make a hearty salad to do the trick.
   
   This book has an interesting premise. The author, Jennifer Chandler, begins by saying (Page vii): "Packaged salad blends have changed the way I enjoy salads. With all the varieties of greens now available at the grocery store, it has never been easier to make a great and tasty salad." Some of the blends you can get in a store? Here are ones that I routinely purchase: hearts of romaine, baby spinach, spring mix, European, sweet baby greens, field greens, broccoli slaw, etc.
   
   But it is the recipes that are the heart of this book--over 100 of them. Here are some recipes that I look forward to making. Wilted spinach salad: a bag of baby spinach salad (very nice!), button mushrooms, and the dressing--olive oil, red vinegar, garlic, tarragon, salt, pepper, sugar, and an egg. Sounds yummy to me! I like goat cheese (go ahead, label me a wimp!). Warm Goat Cheese Salad sounds interesting to me (I use goat cheese in salads that I make for myself--my family is resistant, so it's only when I'm fixing for myself that I use this). The salad itself includes European blend, goat cheese, egg, olive oil, bread crumbs, salt and pepper--with a vinaigrette dressing.
   
   For a full meal? Sounds like Chicken Florentine Salad might do the trick. The salad includes pine nuts, olives, capers (yum!), baby spinach, boneless chicken breasts, orzo--and a lemon-parmesan vinaigrette.
   
   And so on. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to playing with some of these recipes. This sure looks like a good addition to my kitchen library.



5. I bought this book because two of my Amazon friends (and a suite of other reviewers) have recommended it so highly. I'm glad that I did so: there are a number of combinations I would not have thought of for myself and some suggestions that I will adopt or adapt to my own taste.
   
   I know that many of the dressings will be too sweet for my taste so, if I'm preparing a salad for myself I'll bypass the dressing. If I was preparing this for others, I would simply remove my portion before adding the dressing. One of the values of this book is the suggestions made, and another is the mouth watering photography. There are a number of possibilities, and the variety of ingredients suggested should satisfy most tastes. The photographs are excellent: not just because of the presentation of the completed dish but because they enable the cook to visualise what might work as a substitute if required.
   
   How could this book be improved? In all cookbooks, I like to see a conversion table. Recipes are generally international these days and most of us outside the USA are more familiar with metric measurements. It's a small quibble, but worth considering if the book is revised at some stage.
   
   And now, I'm off to prepare myself a variation of classic spinach salad for dinner. Thanks to Ms Chandler, and Amazon reviewers, for a wonderful addition to my kitchen library.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith

5 comments about Raising the Salad Bar: Beyond Leafy Greens--Inventive Salads with Beans, Whole Grains, Pasta, Chicken, and More.

1. Raising the Salad Bar has become an irreplaceable stable for me. I have a very well worn and loved copy that is invaluable. This cook book along with a pair of wooden salad tongs has become my favorite gift to give my friends.
   My favorite recipes are the Wheatberry and the Chicken Salad recipes. The Fried Tomato and Lobster salad are this side of outrageous! What I like best about this book versus other cook books I have is that these recipes tend to bring out the natural goodness and flavor of the main ingredients rather then mask them w/thick and oily dressings.
   The recipes are easy to read. The instructions are straightforward and the end product is always gorgeously presented.



2. This small book contains some wonderfully creative, new salad ideas. Many recipes arre accompanied by a photo - gives you something to aim for in your presentation! Who knew you could purchase a New Year's resolution?



3. These recipes are delicious and healthy. Also, the book is very easy to use.



4. I had purchase this book for a library collection and after seeing how great it was, I bought it for my mother-in-law.
   I love this book. The recepies are easy and the salads are very good. The other good thing is that on the back, it has a section of only salad dressings. I strongly recommend this book.



5. I never received this book, so I can't really rate it. It was lost somewhere in the mail I guess.

5 comments about Greens Glorious Greens: More than 140 Ways to Prepare All Those Great-Tasting, Super-Healthy, Beautiful Leafy Greens.

1. Excellent recipes and background information for adding interesting, tasty and nutritious greens to your diet.



2. I really love this cookbook, and have given it to a number of my clients (I'm a nutrition counselor). It's got a wide variety of recipes, and I find it very helpful that they're organized by individual variety of green. My very favorite is the Sesame Creamed Dandelion Greens.



3. Amazing book. The recipes and information are so diversifed and delicious. If you want to make a salad interesting there are number of ways to turn salads and vegetable dishes ordinary to extraordinary. I encourage you to buy this book. You will be so happy that you did.



4. THIS IS GREAT COOKBOOK TO LEARN HOW TO EAT WONDERFUL GREEN VEGETABLES IN EASY, DELICIOUS WAYS. A GREAT WAY TO LEAN HOW TO EAT MORE GREEN VEGETABLES AN LIKE THEM.



5. Not only does this book have fantastic recipes, but it is a great tool for learning more about greens, how to prepare them, and how to come up with your own recipes.