PLANT-BASED COOKBOOK FOR BEGINNERS assumed published, copyright and written by Jackie Collins.
Sub-titled 600 Quick & Delicious Vegan Recipes for Busy People on the Plant Based Diet, the book opens with an Introduction that explains the health aiding ability of this plant-based lifestyle in today’s era of busy schedules with concurrent occasionally frenetic periods and follows in a most simply, but amazingly direct and complete manner, to provide the Basic Ingredients required for each recipe, how to blend the ingredients, the time required to complete the item and how to serve and/or store the completed item(s). She supplies these details for Broths; Plant-based Cheese dishes; Breakfasts, including various toasts, twists, muffins, unusual breads; Omelets, e.g. Mushroom & Spinach Chickpea; Waffles, e.g. Lemon-Almond; Pancakes; Puddings and more; Numerous fabulous sounding Smoothies are added; additionally there is an interesting No-Bread Avocado Sandwich that can be very quickly prepared. Next is the section of recipes for Soups and Stews with another large number of individual recipes. Salads and Entrees follow, beginning with a quickly prepared and taste-appealing Greek salad, as well as providing another sixty plus recipes with some thought-producing ideas for seldom thought-of combination of ingredients such as oranges and kale, olives with cherries, millet with olives and cherries, carrots, cherries and pecans. Lunch Recipes consist of the same carefully maintained format of including ingredients, directions for preparation and time required with serving instructions. The section offers close to one hundred recipes that should present any number of tasty offerings for anyone looking for a ‘different’ lunch time repast. As an aside, this reader rarely indulges in midday food, but admittedly, a couple of the chili recipes, hot coconut beans and vegetables and the hot lentil and guacamole recipes appear quite tempting. Dinner Menus are the next and still once more offer another large selection of appetizing recipes. A delicious assortment of Snaks and Sides follow (with a most delicious recipe for Parmesan Broccoli Tots, Maple-Glazed Butternut Squash and one for Dijon Roasted Asparagus this reader tried the last three nights). Desserts & Sweet treats wrap up this incredibly complete collection of some relatively well known recipes, some that are better known but still offered with an unusual twist and/or use of ingredients that presents something ‘different’. AND even more new offerings are added to these selections.
Discussion: Briefly stated, this book is a fantastic presentation of recipes in a complete format not encountered in many years. A suggestion for the prospective book owner: be aware of the need to invest in a larger than normal selection of ingredients and because of the need to refer to the recipe while cooking, purchasing a hard copy as well as digital might be helpful, depending upon one’s construction of cooking facilities..
5* Highly recommended book for non-diet as well as dieters, as discussed.