I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude Review

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(More customer reviews)One of the hardest things for me to adjust to when paring down my intake of food is the adjustment of making any kind of elaborate gourmet style meal if I need to, to making something out of almost no ingredients and not even be able to COOK IT!
When I switched to primarily raw foods, my family was on the verge of Mutiny. I tried RAW IN TEN MINUTES which at first was okay, but I have a good imagination. All of the recipes started to taste the same and my family went from eating everything on their plates to making excuses to avoid dinner and eat in their rooms (stashed organic corn chips etc).
When I saw I AM GRATEFUL, I figured it might be another blonger of a book, but I decided to try it anyway. It was someone's birthday the week I got it, so I decided to make a raw dessert (strawberry shortcake) and then a baked cake for everyone else.
I never made it to the cake. Everyone went berserk over the raw strawberry shortcake.
I have made about 1/2 of the recipes in this book so far and I can say OMG it is truly FANTASTIC. Our favorites are: Marinated Veggies, Falafels, Fiery Carrot Avocado Soup, Coconut Curry Soup (Thai), Thai green papaya salad , Coconut Lime Dressing, Jalapeno mint chutney, Smokey Mole (OMG that is the BEST RECIPE EVER), Marinara with Brazil nut Parmesan cheese, Pad Thai,pecan porridge, Cinnamon Rolls, Strawberry Shortcake (with raspberries is DIVINE), German Chocolate Cake, Strawberry Apple Cobbler, and Lemon Meringue Pie.
We don't eat desserts that often, or we would have ripped through the entire dessert section.
Preparation is about that of any meal- it is not too involved on some recipes- but others, take overnight food dryer time and have to be planned accordingly.However, I find that it works out fine in some cases to do an overnight. I am really in love with the recipes in this book. They taste AMAZING and Gourmet in quality, yet they have simple ingredients in some cases. I substitute ingredients I don't have until I can get what I need quite often.
I can not recommend this book highly enough. It is like Moosewood used to be to vegetarians years ago........

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With locations in San Francisco, Berkeley, Marin, and Los Angeles, Café Gratitude has become well known for its inspiring environment and distinctive, flavorful organic foods. In I Am Grateful, cofounder Terces Engelhart presents her and her husband Matthew's view of life and business philosophy. She also presents her story of personal healing, sharing highlights of her recovery from food addiction while explaining the benefits of a raw lifestyle. The book's gorgeous, full-color photographs accompany easy-to-follow recipes for the café's most popular items, making it easy for readers to prepare live foods at home. Recipes include café favorites such as the "I Am Luscious" raw chocolate smoothie, "I Am Bountiful" bruschetta, "I Am Elated" spicy rolled enchiladas, and "I Am Amazing" lemon meringue pie with macadamia nut crust.

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The Millennium Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine Review

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(More customer reviews)Overall, this is one of the best cookbooks I own, and I make that claim as a former meat-eater and a recent most-of-the-time vegan. I have been using "The Millennium Cookbook" since February and have made roughly half of the recipes in the book, including nearly all of those for pasta and pizza. I use this book all the time. My husband--a sometimes meat-eater with an open mind and palate--says nearly always that our Millennium meals are "exquisite." I certainly concur. Here are some stand-outs, in our view:
Appetizers: Roasted Tomato and White Bean Galettes; Plantain Torte; Grilled Portobellos with Herb-Tofu Aioli and Red Onion Marmalade
Salads: Oil-Free Caesar Dressing; Millennium Warm Spinach Salad; Curried Almond Dressing; Ruby Grapefruit, Avocado, and Pickled Red Onions with Baby Spinach and Grapefruit Mojo Dressing; Moroccan Eggplant Salad
Soups: Yellow Split Pea Soup with Sage and Smoked Dulse Gremolata; Brazilian Black Bean Soup with Coffee and Orange
Pasta and Pizza: Pasta with White Wine-Marinated Tomatoes and Basil; Mushroom, Fennel, and Dill Cream Penne; Marinated Fig, Onion, and Black Olive Pizzas with Herb-Tofu Aioli; Caramelized Garlic and Smoked Portobello Pizzas; Tempeh Pizzas with Puttanesca Sauce
Sides: Millennium Fat-Free Mashed Potatoes
Entrees: Baked Madras-Glazed Tofu with Saffron Basmati Pilaf, Sauteed Vegetables, and Peach-Lime Chutney; Rosa Bianca Eggplant Torte with Smoked Onion Ratatouille and Flageolet-Sage Sauce; Seitan Piccata; Grilled Jerked Seitan with Coconut Mashed Yams; Spring Onion, Morel, Fresh Pea, and Lemon Thyme Risotto
Brunch: Smoked Tempeh and Potato Sausages; Flaxseed-Apple-Battered French Toast with Warm Apple Compote; Millennium Oat and Walnut Pancakes with Blueberry-Orange Sauce
Desserts: Mocha Mud Slide; Mad Good Chocolate Cake; Pine Nut and Anise Cake; Brownies a la Mode; Chocolate-Almond Midnight; Meyer Lemon Bundt Cakes with Blackberry Sorbet and Meyer Lemon Sauce; Fig and Almond Tart with Red Wine and Pear Cream
The desserts are "to die for," especially the fat-free version of their brownies. Overall, the meals are delicious, filling, and very satisfying. We don't hesitate to accompany them with a good bottle of wine.
Another plus is that with time, you get a feel for using fat substitutes (e.g., braised garlic, stewed prunes, and the amazing silken tofu) and can soon come up with your own novel creations.
Readers should be aware that this book does have its drawbacks. While many of the recipes can be made easily and quickly (pasta and pizza, mostly), many others require considerable time and effort. Close inspection reveals that there are a certain number of errors (sometimes of omission, e.g., saffron-cream sauce that leaves out the saffron ..., or even lack of directions). It should be noted that these can be attributed ultimately to the editors and not to the authors. I'm sure the second edition will clear these up. I've also found that many of the recipes work better with a little less liquid than called for (I don't know if this is a question of personal preference, altitude, or something else). For the above reasons, the "Millennium" is not for beginning cooks, in my view. But if you know how to cook, want to be a vegan, and are tired of searching "Gourmet" for the odd recipe that doesn't contain animal ingredients, this book is for you as much as it is for me--an inveterate "food snob" of the first order.
Given rising rates of population and chronic disease, along with diminishing resources, vegan cooking is inevitably the culinary wave of the future. Compared to the other vegan cookbooks out there (even "The Vegan Gourmet"), the "Millennium" is the best. It's certainly worthwhile to join its celebration of great plant-based food. This is the best investment I've made in a cookbook in many years.

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The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market Cookbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Impeccable Produce Plus 130 Seasonal Recipes Review

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(More customer reviews)"The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market Cookbook" is filled with fabulous photographs, appetizing recipes and excellent tips about seasonal fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, cheese, eggs and fish!
Peggy Knickerbocker has done an excellent job at researching seasonal foods and the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market! She is a food and travel writer that has written for Gourmet, Food & Wine, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and Saveur.
Christopher Hirsheimer is a photographer whose work has appeared in Saveur, as well as cookbooks written by Lidia Bastianich, Rick Bayless, Julia Child and Jacques Pepin.
California is a state bursting with flavor. In such a large state, virtually anything can grow there. Kiwifruits, rice, wine, olives, tomatoes, corn, strawberries and much more! The influx of other cultures help infuse their produce and culinary contributions.
Excellent recipes in this book are: Avocado and Grapefruit Salad with Frisee, Fried Zucchini Blossoms, Shaved Raw Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette and Roasted Halibut with Braised Artichokes and Potatoes.
This entire book reminds me of my previous life in California where food never tasted fresher. Where ingredients are fresh, recipes are simple, yet the result was sophisticated and intoxicating.
Great book!

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