The Greens Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine from the Celebrated Restaurant by Deborah Madison

The Greens Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine from the Celebrated Restaurant Reviews

• 
  Elizabeth

  
  This was my first vegetarian cookbook, and it served me well. Like many cookbooks, my main problem with it is ingredient fussiness: we can't all find caper berries, try though we might. I first bought this book in England and was using it there while cooking in a dorm on four unreliable electric hobs, and it got me through many dinner parties. For regular meals, though, the recipes need too much planning. That said, many are not very time-intensive at all. Pasta with tomato and tarragon cream was a quick favorite, for example. I suggest
  Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone instead.
• 
  Jana

  I've only eaten at the Greens restaurant once. The food was good, but I think because I already had the cookbook, I was expecting more. Not sure why exactly because this is one of those books that, while it's quite good, feels a bit old-fashioned... maybe because of the more traditional French feel. I guess that's why the food wasn't brilliantly memorable.
  
  I do still use the cookbook though. There's a lovely fresh and bright tasting Potato-Sorrel Soup that continues to be one of my favorites.
• 
  Rose Finchio cole

  Love the Pumpkin Bean Soup!
• 
  Tonstant Weader

  This edition of The Greens Cook Book is out of print. There is a newer edition, but I have not seen it so cannot compare the two. Years ago, maybe around 1999 or 2000, I had the most amazing soup at a Portland restaurant that specialized in breakfast and lunch. I mentioned how much I loved it to the waiter who said it came right out The Greens Cook Book. Money was tight so I went to Barnes & Noble, picked up the cookbook and copied out the recipe, intending to buy it later, but later never came. Recently, one of my reviews at Powells.com was used in their email newsletter and they gave me a $40 credit as a thank you. I dithered about what to get, but finally decided I was finally going to get this cookbook for once and for all. And now, after all this time, the used copy was only five dollars. Nonetheless, at that ridiculously low price, it still more than 260 recipes that are still tested in the toughest trial there is, a restaurant kitchen.
  
  The recipes are organized by the kinds of dishes you might want to make with chapters on salads, soups, pasta, casseroles, tarts, sandwiches, pizza, savory pastries, side dishes, sauces, and desserts. At the end of the book, there’s a section on pairing wines with vegetarian dishes, recommended kitchen tools, seasonal menus, and a glossary of foods used in the recipes. All in all, it’s a deep dive into vegetarian cooking that highlights simple flavors and your own creativity. More than one recipe gives you a list of possible ingredients so you can more or less make your own using their broad parameters.
  
  
  
  There’s nothing flashy about The Greens Cook Book. There are no beautiful photos that will make you drool. The only illustrations are simple outline sketches of herbs and greens. The short introductions to recipes are just about the recipe, without any personal stories or history. It’s a serious cookbook focused on the recipes, not on the personality of the chef. It’s full of recipes that are delicious and you don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy them.
  
  This is one of those cookbooks that become a staple, a foundational book like “The Joy of Cooking” or “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.” In addition to its rich collection of vegetarian recipes, it includes the basic on making soup stocks, sauces, and other building-block recipes that many cookbooks assume you know.
  
  This is vegetarian cooking the way it should be. Cooking new and delicious dishes that are about abundance and flavor. Many vegetarian cookbooks focus on deprivation, trying to replicate the meats you have left behind. There is no deprivation in The Greens Cook Book because this is vegetarian cooking as a thing itself, not a replacement. There’s no feeling of being left out or of missing flavors. It’s all about great vegetables and ways to cook them that bring out their own rich and sumptuous flavor.
  
  You can find The Greens Cook Book wherever they sell used books, including Powells and Amazon. There is a newer edition, but I don’t know if anything is different.
  
  The Greens Cook Book at Powells Books
  Greens Restaurant
  Deborah Madison author site
  Edward Espe Brown on Facebook
  
  
  ★★★★★
  
  https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
• 
  Mindy Kannon

  I've had and used his books for years. It is absolutely incredible if you want to eat a veggie-based diet. Tons of my clients loved the food that I made from this book. Highly recommend any cook book by Deborah Madison
• 
  Leah Hanley

  I need to purchase this one. It’s for people who embrace vegetables and love flavor, vegetarian or not.
• 
  Allegra Goodman

  5 stars for the lovely restaurant, 4 stars for the cookbook, only because the recipes are so hard and time consuming.
• 
  Kristen

  I agree with Carey's assessment of the limitations of this cookbook, however I do think that it provides some fundamental ideas on how to think outside the "vegetarian" box, aka, putting everything in your refrigerator into a skillet and frying it up. Unfortunately Madison goes the other direction by requiring obscure ingredients such as chervil (isn't parsley good enough?), thereby alienating a would-be receptive audience. Either way the pictures are nice, I do not understand why anyone would ever publish a cookbook without pictures.
• 
  Sheena

  Some people have criticized this book because of the many recipes that seem to require special stocks, but in fact ordinary veg stock or water works just fine - I think this is a hiccup in the translation from restaurant to kitchen. I am not a vegetarian yet I love some of the recipes in this book - the yellow and red pepper tart is good, as is the black bean chili. I also want to stress that it's a vegetarian, not vegan, book. So butter and cream are in - can't imagine the dessert section without them.
• 
  Jennifer

  I should preface this review by stating that my husband and I love the Greens restaurant and go there every time we are in San Francisco.
  
  This is a great cookbook that should be a part of any vegetarian or vegan library. The recipes are generally not fast or easy (some ingredients are difficult to get, depending on where you live) so I wouldn't suggest it for beginning or busy cooks. However, these recipes make the most out of wholesome ingredients and are delightful to serve (and eat!).
• 
  MissInformation

  Exceptional flavors and flavor combinations: not watered down for cookbookland. The recipes are a bit complex, but you can substitute a little here and there and still have amazing results.
  Red wine and red onion soup is a staple for me. The book opens to it now when I set it down.
• 
  Jill

  This is my absolute favorite cookbook. The recipes are not too labor intensive, but they are more work than my typical weeknight dinner fare.
  
  I like cooking from this book so much that we eat vegetarian many times a week as a result.
  
  Good stuff.
• 
  Jennifer

  I've had this since the early nineties and use it a LOT. Although not a vegetarian, I do eat a lot of meatless meals, and whether I follow a recipe religiously or not, she provides a lot of great jumping off points!
• 
  Ashleigh

  I love this book! Although it has no photographs, the recipes are wonderful. Some great ideas and fresh takes on veggie meals. Some of the recipes have a lot of ingredients but I think its worth doing by the book!
• 
  Mark Desrosiers

  Some amazing pizza recipes in here, believe it or not.
• 
  Dioscita

  Though sometimes fussier than I like to cook, these are all delicious, memorable recipes.
• 
  Laura

  I am going to buy a copy of this one; Madison has a lot of recipes for different seasons that could be made over a slow period of time, and her food is always delicious.
• 
  reed

  I thought this was a cookbook about greens. It's not :)
• 
  Kathleen Cooper

  I'm not a vegetarian, but I like to try and cook vegetables in imaginative ways. I've been cooking with this cookbook for over 20 years. It is a standby in my kitchen.
• 
  Cherie

  B Some good interesting recipes; I want to eat here!
• 
  Catherine Woodman

  Deborah madison--I am a huge fan, going back to the '70's, until now
• 
  Catherine Woodman

  I love this Fort Mason restaurant, and this cookbook allows you to make a meal that reproduces the food they serve--the recipes are pretty detailed but they do come out (just take time)
• 
  Catherine Woodman

  This is the classic cookbook from my favorite vegetarian restaurant of my youth--but it is not simple food to make--deicious, but not simple
• 
  CD

  Excellent cookbook for vegetarians.