1000 Vegetarian Recipes Book by Carol Gelles

I never thought there could be so many vegetarian recipes all in one place, until my mom bought me this book: 1000 Vegetarian Recipes. So what’s inside? You guessed it – 1000 recipes! But there’s much more to it than that, so read on 🙂

Carol Gelles is the author of this book and she has searched and searched for recipes that range from beginner (easy to make, easy ingredients) to the long time vegetarian who wants a challenge! This book is not only for vegetarians though. It’s an excellent reference for those who just want to eat a little healthier. If you are a Vegan, you should get this book as well! Many recipes are specifically marked with a V stating there are no animal products in the recipe!

These recipes are not just for the health obsessed. As Carol states, this is not a fully low-fat book, it is just for vegetarians, vegetarians like fat and sugar too! So she used recipes that contained these ingredients whenever she thought it was really necessary for the taste. Overall, the recipes are still a lot healthier than your standard cookbook.

The Intro
Although this is a “recipe” book, there are 43 pages of introduction. Here are some of the interesting and helpful tips you’ll get out of this…

–What type of vegetarian are you? Do you eat fish? Do you eat dairy? Do you eat eggs? Do you forgo all of the above? Learn you’re technical term and it will help you find recipes in the book. As with the V for Vegans, recipes are labeled by what level of vegetarian they are for. (They also have a heart symbol if they are 6 grams of fat or less)

Carol decided against recipes with Fish in them, because technical vegetarians do not eat fish. Even though I do eat fish, I don’t mind they are not there. I think a “real” vegetarian would be pretty annoyed to find fish in a vegetarian cookbook. However I never claimed to be a “real” vegetarian, so I wouldn’t mind 🙂

–What about your health? Maybe you’re a meat eater that bought this book looking for some healthier alternatives. Well here is a few pages to explain why a vegetarian diet can be healthier (the main reason I do it). For example, vegetarians tend to eat less fast food! Mostly because we don’t have as many options. Even though they are adding Salads and Fruitbowls, there’s still only one fast food chain (Burger King) that offers Veggie Burgers. So health-wise, you already got a push in the right direction. Just don’t go eating french fries everyday! Because of our diet, vegetarians also tend to get more vitamins and minerals. I know people think there’s certain things you can only get from meat, but you’ll learn from this book that it’s not true! You can enough protein just from eating beans!

–Want a quick meal? As Carol explains, not every veggie meal has to take hours and hours and include impossible ingredients. In fact, almost anyone can make most of the recipes in this book. Some of these might be difficult, but overall it’s just as challenging as any recipe you’ll find. She also tells you that even though a recipe calls for a fresh ingredient, she understands time constraints and you’re allowed to use a premade foods, and in this section she’ll tell you the healthiest way to eat pre-processed foods.

–Do you have the ingredients? Here Carol lists 2.5 pages of items you can keep your pantry stocked with. These items will help in many recipes, and most will not spoiled. This way making a new recipe from the book will be a snap because you’ll be prepared and probably have most of the ingredients..

–How much do I need? Quickly, Carol list a page of comparative measurements so you know what to buy at the store. For example: If you need 1 cup chopped Almonds, but 4 ounces and you’ll have enough. This is really helpful as I always OVER-buy everything thinking I won’t have enough.

–So why are these ingredients healthy? What makes beans, eggs, and fruits so special? Carol details why they are good for you and how you should purchase them. She also explains oils, all the different kinds, and what their uses are. What is the difference between Olive Oil and Vegetable Oil? Now you’ll know!

–What about breakfast? Lunch? Carol has a few paragraph’s here to show you how you can use these recipes to work for you even when it is early in the morning or you need to pack a lunch for later.

–What if I’m throwing a party? Carol helps you learn how to plan a whole party full of foods without getting too stressed out. But what to make? Well the intro continues with 21 pages of party planning menus. These “menus” offer choices of what you can make in certain situations. For example: Menu 1 – Elegant Dinner to Impress the Boss. Yes, just because the Boss is coming, doesn’t mean you have to cook meat! The menu contains 9 choices for appetizer, 5 choices for soup, 6 Entrees, 5 Sides, 7 Salads and (most important) 7 desserts.

You could always just pick these recipes out from the book yourself, but this section is still very helpful because Carol purposely list foods she thinks taste well together. Not only will you have a bunch of impressive items, but they will all taste well together!

Other menus include: Chinese Cuisine, Eastern European, French, Mexican, and Hearty Meals. Basically, whatever you like, you’ll probably find a menu.

Finally, when you’re Mother-in-Law calls at 4 and says she’ll be over at 7, you’ll probably love the “Last Minute Meals” menu!

On with the Recipes!
First, an overview… how many recipes are there you ask? Well 1000 (duh!) But how many of each category? This should give you an idea. I’ll just list how many pages because there are too many recipes for me to count. There are 1,2 or 3 recipes per page. (usually 2)

Appetizers……pgs 46-91
Soups………..pgs 94-135
Entrees………pgs 139-227
Side Dishes…..pgs 233-335
Salads……….pgs 339-393
Breads……….pgs 395-431
Breakfast-Lunch.pgs 434-467
Condiments, etc.pgs 470-497
Desserts……..pgs 500-555 —- MOST IMPORTANT PART 🙂
Beverages…….pgs 557-566
Index (detailed index to help you find exactly what you want).

You can easily find each new section because it’s marked in Black on the side. As you can see, this book is not just about main courses. There are lots of nice recipes! Here are a few samples of recipes in each category, so you can see the wide range of choices you have here…

Appetizers:
-Spreads such as Garlic-Herb, Cheese Log, Roasted Garlic, Black Bean Spread – so just buy some bread and crackers and spread these recipes on them! Easy snack!
-Dips such as Chutney, Southwest Corn and Black Bean, Chili con Queso (my fav!), Swiss Cheese Fondue – so just buy some veggies or chips for a great finger food 🙂
–Finger Foods such as Nachos, Mozzarella Bites (mmmmm), Sweet Potato Pancakes, Strudel Bites, Mushroom Croustades.
–First Course such as Sauteed Julienned Veggies, Old-fashioned stuffed Mushrooms, Artichokes with Lemon-Garlic Mayonnaise.
–Snacks such as Crispy Noodles, Homemade Tortilla Chips, Trail Mix, Italian Popcorn.

Notice the WIDE RANGE, from Elegant to simplistic, from Fondue’s and Puree’s to Stuffed Eggs and Mushrooms. I make the recipes just so I can use the fancy words:) Makes you sound like you went to chef school.

I’m going to summarize the other categories more so this doesn’t take all day!

Soups: Lots of different and unique Vegetable Soups, Bean Soups, Grain Soups and Cold Soups. (Try the Chilled Strawberry!)

Entrees: Main Categories include Grains and Beans, Vegetables, Strudels, Asian Entrees, Pasta Pizza Noodles and Dumplings, Egg Cheese and Dairy, Quiches, Tofu. Each category has a great selection of meals!

Side Dishes: The biggest category here is Vegetables. Options include: Veggie Kebabs, Stir-Fried Mung Bean Sprouts, Sauteed Broccoli, Parslied Carrots, Szechuan Green Beans, Baked Potatoes (simple enough), Stewed Tomatoes. — I’m starting to get hungry!

Salads: 2 pages of Veggie Salads, a few Fruit Salads and some yummy home made dressings!

Breads: Quick Breads, Biscuits and Scones, Yeast Breads, Flavored Breads and Toasts, Crackers (make your own Crackers – Imagine that!)

Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch: Pancakes, Waffles, French Toast, Blintzes, Cereal, Eggs, Sandwiches, Turnovers – lots of choices for the early morning!

Condiments, Sauces, Relishes and Jams: Make your own and everyone will be impressed! Includes things like Raspberry Vinegar, Pico de Gallo, Apricot Jam, and something called Ghee!

Desserts: Yum! Cakes, Tortes, Icings, Fillings, Frostings, Pies, Tars, Strudel, Cheesecakes, Cookies, Fruit Desserts, Mousses, Puddings…. a lot of desserts!

Yum!
So there’s a lot of recipes, but are they good? I say YES! I have tried loads of them, and like most all. Considering that lots of the recipes allow for changes and edits as you wish, you will surely find a lot of good choices. This is food that everyone will enjoy and they’ll mostly feel good afterwards because of the health factor.

Recipe View
The recipe font might be a little small for some ppl, but just grab one of those magnifying sheets and lay it over the page. All recipes are in 4-6 steps. I have not come across one yet that seemed too complicated. Like I mentioned above, it says right on top what type of vegetarian this recipe is for, but you can obviously edit the recipes accordingly (ie use an egg substitute) so the choices are virtually limitless!

Variations abound under almost every recipe. The variations will show a small tip to make this more heart healthy, or to change it for a vegan. This is fantastic and basically means each recipe can become many recipes with just a few changes!

Conclusion
You can see by the samples I gave that these recipe categories are much like your standard recipe book. However, when you look at the recipes, you’ll see that Carol definitely kept you (the vegetarian) in mind all the way through. the past I’ve had trouble with Vegetarian recipes because they called for obscure things I had never heard of. However in this book, ingredients are not actually as far fetched as I’m used to. I am randomly flipping through the book, trying to find a complicated ingredient, and I can’t find one! This is a definite plus. What makes these meals so great is the spices, if you have spices, you’ll be just fine.

Go buy this book, I see it’s around 25$ now. That’s not much to pay for this many recipes. If you find 25 recipes you like, that’s only a dollar a recipe and I doubt you can’t find 25 good recipes, especially since I’ve found many many more! Enjoy!