Tasty Delights/Cookbook Review--Meatless All Day by Dina Cheney--ALT Sandwiches w/ Frisco

Move over bland, wimpy tofu and lackluster salads—Meatless All Day redefines meat-free meals as colorful and super-satisfying. Whether you’re a committed vegetarian or are trying to cut down on meat, the hearty, creative recipes in Meatless All Day will inspire you to cook in new ways. Here, you’ll discover Beet Wellington, Spaghetti with White Bean Balls, Quinoa-Polenta Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and White Bean Puree, Roasted Root Vegetable and Goat Cheese Salad with Lemon-Tahini Vinaigrette, and Baklava Sticky Buns—fare that will make avowed carnivores jealous. One secret behind these dishes: high-impact ingredients (like miso, tomato paste, and mushrooms).

To ensure that readers' dishes come out perfectly, the book opens with key cooking techniques, such as Tips for Perfect Vegetables, The Art of Cooking Eggs, and Tips for a Golden Brown, Crispy Exterior. It then lists 45 "power ingredients" that lend vegetarian food a meaty flavor, meaty texture, or both. The heart of the book is 85 ultra-flavorful recipes, with meal suggestions and ideas for making non-vegan fare vegan.

Type: Cookbook--Vegetarian
Rating: 4 out of 5
Difficulty: easy to moderate

Amazon | Goodreads

So! For today's Tasty Delights...I'm actually reviewing a cookbook in addition to putting together a recipe. I thought it might be fun to work some into the blog now and again. So my first go at it is...Meatless All Day. Perfect since I'm a vegetarian and always looking for new vegetarian friendly dishes that are both easy, tasty and healthy. And Meatless All Day totally delivered! From a nicely detailed introduction with suggestions and cooking tips to gorgeous photos and mouth watering recipes Meatless All Day was a culinary win and will keep me busy in the kitchen for weeks trying everything out. The price I think is very reasonable as well coming in at around $14 on Amazon.

A little breakdown on parts of the cookbook then a tasty recipe that omg was SO good!

Ingredients/Recipes

There's a fantastic array of recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are some interesting pairings and recipes that look fancy but are pretty easy to put together. Some with longer lists of ingredients but glancing through everything easy to find ingredients and nothing too out there which is nice. Always frustrating to have to hunt and hunt for an ingredient so I appreciate when things are kept "simple".

I think most of the recipes are pretty easy to put together. Some more time consuming than others but still nothing too hard. Maybe moderate on a couple dishes.

I did have one complaint and it's a little small but still I found annoying. Instead of saying 1/4 teaspoon pepper (or what have you). It was 8 grinds of a pepper grinder. That was difficult. Especially if you don't have a grinder. Or if yours malfunctions. 

Photographs

The photographs included were gorgeous and definitely made me want to try the dishes. There were a nice number of them but I would personally have liked more included. That's what kept this from getting a higher rating. Though for the price--just around $13--the number included were very nice.

What Made it Special

There were two things I really loved about this cook book. 

The recipes start out with a little talk. How the recipe came to be or what it would be great for--ex Thanksgiving,etc. It was nice and felt like talking with a friend. 

Then at the end of the recipes there were "Serving Suggestions". Basically a dish or two that would go great with the recipe. I loved this! So often I make a dish and then go, hrm, what could I use as a side dish for it, or a dessert that would go nicely with the flavors? So for me this was an incredible addition to each recipe.

Recipes Marked to Try!

Potato and Cheddar Latkes with Brown Sugar Applesuce

PB&J French Toast (this will be a Tasty Delight soon)

Roasted Two-Potato Hash w/ Poached Eggs

Baklava Sticky Buns w/ Pistachio and Dates

Black Bean Burgers w/ Grilled Mango-Lime Mayo

Mexican Chopped Salad w/ Cornbread Croutons

Cuban Black Bean Stew w/ Sweet Plantains

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce w/ White Bean Puree

Veggie Chili w/ Butternut Squash

Steamed Vegetable and Tofu Dumplings

Bean Loaf (kinda like Meatloaf!)

Polenta Lasagna w/ Puttanesca Sauce and herbed Ricatta

Mexican Shepherd's Pie w/ Black Beans and Yams

Potato and White Bean Pie with Caramelized Onions

All in all, this was a lovely cookbook and one I'd want to keep on my shelves and in easy reach. I made the ALT Sandwich with Frisco and was delighted with the results. It was hearty and filling, simple but impressive as well. It was a recipe I'd be happy to serve guests or just have at home for a filling meal. If the rest of the recipes included are even half as good I'll be thrilled. I have a feeling though they'll all be superb!

This was excellent! I totally recommend it and for me this would have been worth the cookbook price.

It would be fantastic for a picnic type event if you had vegetarians coming, smaller more delicate ones could be made for a tea party (smaller/different bread). Heck even for a dip at a party it wouldn't be bad.

Pretty much...I love all the ingredients. Fresh veggies, bakery bread, beans. Cheese. *noms*

The little cheese rounds (friscos) were so yummy!

It's just cheese and a little bit of flour baked until crunchy.

This really was a nice touch and gave it that bacon crunch and saltiness a BLT would have.

The spread was very easy to make as well. Combine all ingredients in a blender and....blend.

I did have a total blooper here with my pepper grinder breaking and having to start all over

*flails*

But other than that this was a piece of cake and took like 2 minutes between adding ingredients and blending.

Then just assemble.

I toasted my baker roll then layered everything on.

This was incredibly filling. I had one for dinner and was stuffed until the next day mid afternoon.

It's got a wonderful flavor and is quite hearty.

The lemon gave it a nice zest and also helped with preserving the avocado in the spread.

Definitely have this on my list of favorites now and can't wait to try out more from the cookbook.

Are you a fan of cookbooks? 

Or do you snag recipes wherever you can?

Have a favorite one?

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