Recipes are fantastic, especially sweet potato apple chipotle soup. I don't know if I'm ready to be this healthy all the time though. And I wish there were pictures and a few less "articles" about healthy eating. ( )

Moosewood comes through with another creative, healthy addition to my cookbook collection! Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health is all about flavorful, simple vegetarian and vegan recipes.

I started my exploration with Spinach Quesadillas. Once the spinach, onion, and green chile mixture is made you can keep it in the fridge and you are mere minutes away from a delicious, healthy dinner. I don't have kids but I can imagine this would be a great way to get them to eat spinach!
Next up was Savory Asparagus and Mushroom Bread Pudding. Warm and filling, it was perfect for the last of the cold weather. The feta gave it a nice salty note and it was great reheated for lunches during the week.
The Granola recipe isn't anything very unusual, though it does use less fat and sweetener than most granola recipes I've made. It didn't clump but stayed more the consistency of a muesli. My boyfriend loved it and declared it the best granola yet.
Most recently I tried the Pasta with Pistachio Lemon Pesto. Delicious! I really liked the light, bright flavors and even ended up spreading it on a pizza crust and topping with arugula and tomatoes.
Best of all none of these recipes took more than 30-45 min and all the ingredients were readily available in my local grocery store. This is a cookbook I will use often. ( )

Love the recipes, but the book doesn't lie flat. ( )

The Moosewood Collective has promoted local, organic food since before it was popular. It’s no surprise to find they’re still a step ahead of the veggie curve, making a case for whole, plant-based foods. Their latest collection of more than 200 recipes showcases trendy, healthful ingredients like stevia, umeboshi, celeriac and more, with loads of vegan options and even raw foods. Moosewood Restaurant: Cooking for Health by the Moosewood Collective continues the tradition of accessible vegetarian cuisine for household cooks. Insightful ingredient descriptions preface ten different sections, highlighting, for example, the various kinds of beans and peas, how to cook them and cook times.

Even if you’re no stranger to healthy cooking, Moosewood’s often-adventurous ingredient lists may send you to the store before dinner. Mouth-watering recipes like Avocado-Citrus Dressing (which I’m drizzling over just about everything these days), Greek Tomato-Yogurt Soup (delicious hot and cold!), and Mediterranean Eggplant Casserole (a satisfying fall recipe) have already earned spots on my dinner rotation.

While I wish the folks at Moosewood understood the value of cookbook photographs — their books are notoriously artwork-free — I depend on their detailed serving information and accurate prep and cook time predictions. And since the collective blatantly encourages my recipe tinkering, I’m wholly sold.

As the temperatures cool, I look forward to sampling Maple Banana Oatmeal, Creamy Curried Pea Soup, Polenta Casserole with Winter Squash and Greens, and Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan-Oat Crust, just to name a few. Fall even sounds delicious at the Moosewood Restaurant, and I hope to echo a few of those smells in my kitchen. ( )

2010, cookbook, nonfiction ( )