Jessica Greene

This is the cookbook for vegetarian American cuisine, coming out of a beloved restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. The recipes feel like restaurant recipes, and "solid" would be my single word verdict on the overall effect. They are easy, often call for frozen/canned vegetables, make large batches, tend to be quite salty/sweet as written, and are all over the map in terms of nutrition. They rarely use flavors or techniques outside the traditional American repertoire, but they squeeze lots of life out of those flavors and techniques.

The recipes don't suffer a whit for being vegetarian -- which is a hard sell in a cooking tradition that is centered around pieces of meat and where "seasoning" means salt and pepper. To make that happen, the cookbook relies pretty extensively on soy (especially varying styles of TVP and tofu), and the recipes that don't involve soy tend to feature cheese or sugar. The last quarter of the book is all desserts, with a few brunch recipes tucked in.

I tend to find American cuisine acceptable but not exciting and I'm doing my best to recenter my diet away from soy, dairy, and sweets, so the density of intriguing recipes in this cookbook for me isn't very high (and the sheer volume of desserts felt like filler to me since vegetarian desserts are everyone's default). But this cookbook fills its niche really, really well and almost everything I've made has been tasty, so it's probably a great bet for the American in your life who wants to eat less meat.

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Black bean chili: This chili is much better than I'd have invented myself (it's clever in its ingredients, calling for bulgur and vegetables like shredded carrots that melt into the backdrop but add depth). It's about on par with a high quality canned chili, but I'd expect it's much cheaper than the corresponding volume in high-end canned chili.

Winter vegetable stew: This stew is essentially vegetables in roux. Add some seitan or another protein, reduce the liquid, and you're off to pot pie heaven. I quite liked the easy roux technique and tastiness of the resulting stew, but it was particularly salty from the 1/2 c. of soy sauce it called for. (That said, so much soy sauce alongside onion powder, worcestershire sauce, and stout makes for an excellent vegetarian umami base.)

Dijon onion soup: I couldn't bring myself to eat more than a couple bites of this soup. I found it aesthetically displeasing (muddy brown with onion strands) and too sweet (apple juice base plus caramelized onions).

Broccoli casserole: A dish consisting of 7 cups of broccoli, 4 cups of cheese, a couple eggs, a can of "cream of" soup, and some breadcrumbs (plus, of course, some pepper and another teaspoon of salt). I steamed fresh broccoli because I couldn't help myself, and substituted wheat germ for breadcrumbs. It smelled like cookies when it was baking, and (with a half cup of melted cheese per serving) it was much tastier than I expected from the idea and greyish color. (Recipe is for summer squash casserole, with a suggested variant of broccoli.)

Blueberry pie: Delightful fruit pie with the secret ingredients of a touch of brandy and cinnamon. It set up well and was very easy. It will join my regular recipe box -- but with much less than the full cup of sugar it suggests.… (mehr)