The author's descriptions of how to make many of the recipes have the cook getting all of the ingredients out, then quickly doing one thing after another. I think some of the recipes take me longer than she predicts, mainly because I keep going back to the recipes to make sure that I'm doing things right. Once a cook gets familiar enough with a recipe, I expect the times to be more accurate. One of the time-saving methods the author recommends is to always have a kettle on with boiling water. This shortens the time for soups to finish, for example.The first recipe that I tried was a 15-minute recipe for kale, tomato, and lemon magic one-pot spaghetti. It called for adding pasta, cherry tomatoes, lemon zest, oil, and salt to a pan; then adding a quart of water. After everything cooks, you can add kale to cook for a few minutes, then finish everything with parmesan cheese. This was a wonderful dish, made unique by the lemon zest.
Another recipe that I liked a lot was green pea and coconut soup. It called for frozen peas, coconut milk, green onions, lemon juice, and vegetable stock. It was a very quick recipe, with the final step being to put the soup through a blender. Really wonderful. One recipe that I've made at least a dozen times now is called pour-over soup. Vegetables are sliced very thinly into a bowl along with miso paste, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, vermicelli, and more, then boiling water is poured over. It's like a flavorful salad in a bowl. The recipe calls for greens, zucchini, and snap peas, but I use whatever I have, including spinach, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, red or green pepper, mushrooms, etc. Easy to make and filling.
The avocado, tahini, and olive spread is wonderful, takes only a few minutes, and is great with pita chips. I served this at my last book club meeting and it got a thumbs up from the other members. The avocado, cucumber, and fennel soup was really good, although I made a double recipe and it made a lot. Even with lemon juice it discolored slightly, although the flavor was unaffected. Good for a summer lunch! One of my favorites was called a Sunday vat of soup, and includes a leek, red onion, carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, and a butternut squash. All of this gets cooked along with some spices and broth, then blended. The author shares a number of variations, including serving it with pumpkin seeds, or sour cream. It was great no matter how it was served.
Finally, the one dessert that I tried was tahini-drizzled superfruit. Any combination of fruit can be used. It should be sliced or cubed on a plate, then drizzled with a sauce made from tahini, honey, lemon, and cinnamon. I've made this a number of times over the last several months.
This is really a wonderful cookbook with recipes that I never would have thought up on my own. The author calls for a number of ingredients that were not formerly a typical item in my pantry, but that has now changed. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to try new recipes and enjoys vegetarian foods.
I received this book from Blogging for Books.
Anna Jones. A Modern Way to Cook: 150+ Vegetarian Recipes for Quick, Flavor-Packed Meals. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2015. 351 pages. ISBN 9780399578427.
