I'm a returning student and eating out was one of the things I had to give up to survive on my smaller budget. This cookbook helps because I can make meals that I like better than most restaurant food with little fuss and cheap ingredients. The recipes are easy to follow and the introductory content helped me understand the basics of bean preparation so I don't have to rely on over-priced, high-sodium content canned beans!

There are many good bean books on the market, but this one is perhaps a cut above the rest. The recipes are easy, delicious, and plentiful. A great addition to your bean book collection, or the only one you'll want if you are creating one.

Just make sure to open all the windows, cause you'll fart up a storm, and a deliciously supplied one at that!

Very good, informative book. Any gardener, expert or beginner, will find this book a great reference.

Happy gardening.

A comprehensive review for how-to. Vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, composting, organic growing, greenhouses, etc. Well illustrated.

Just in time for the annual garden squash harvests, Andrea Chesman's The Classic Zucchini Cookbook: 225 Recipes For All Kinds Of Squash offers a comprehensive and broad based collection of recipes for this classic of seasonal American garden produce: the zucchini. Here is an enthusiastically recommended multi-cultural cookbook compendium whose recipes range from Mexican Rice, Zucchini, and Chicken Salad; Fettuccine with Zucchini; and Baked Sole with Zucchini; to Ground Beef and Zucchini Italian Casserole; Zucchini Custard Pudding; and Chocolate Zucchini Bread. If you raise zucchini in your backyard garden (or have friends, relatives, or co-workers who do!), then add The Classic Zucchini Cookbook to your kitchen cookbook collection!

Being a carnivorous soul I expected this cookbook to leave me out but I was wrong. Delicious meaty salads. I haven't eaten this much salad ever!!! VERY TASTY!

Andrea Chesman's Salsas! is a wonderful little compendium offering today's kitchen cook an inspiring spectrum of easy to prepare Salsa-based recipes certain to please even the most discerning palate and satisfy the most robust appetite. From Columbian-Style Salsa Fria; Vegetable Salsa; Salsa Hush Puppies; and Fettuccine Salsa Marinara; to Eggplant Salsa Casserole; Cheesy Salsa Pizza; Garden Salsa Soup; and Cold Sesame Salsa Noodle, Salsas! is a "must" for salsa lovers everywhere!

This cookbook is a must for anyone who loves delicious sun-dried tomatoes. The author gives us an introduction on how the tomatoes are specially sun-dried and even gives advice on how to make your own sun-dried tomatoes at home. Due to their "specialty" status in cooking, it can be very difficult to find recipes calling for sun-dried tomatoes, let alone recipes centered around them. That is why this book is so wonderful. A wide variety of recipes are given and each recipe I have tried has been a success. This is a superb compilation of delicious and healthy cooking ideas.

This cookbook contains a pleasing variety of recipes, from the simplest soups and breads to elegant entrees and desserts. A collection of family and hometown favorites from the New England area, it is sure to bring fresh ideas into the kitchens of its readers. Many of the recipes are suited to certain seasons, including a chapter of hearty stews and chowders that will bring the warm fuzzies to the coldest winter day. For those who garden or love fresh produce, the Vegetables and Side Dishes chapter is filled with unique ways to enjoy the produce all summer. Having sampled many of the recipes, I have tasted elegance from the Herbed Cheese Spread all the way to the Chocolate Cheesecake! Many of the recipes are designed to be time savers for the busy family and some can be made the day before serving. The fact that most of them can be made from ingredients that are already in stock is an extra bonus for cooks on the go. There is also a handy section on Recipes to Feed a Crowd that can stretch your offerings into servings for 20 - 100. Whether you are hoping for a new twist on an old classic, or something to impress the neighbors at your own potluck, this is a must read for cooks and food lovers alike. Complete with helpful hints and a few vignettes for your reading pleasure, the recipes offered within will have even your finicky eaters asking for seconds.

I knew I had found a great cookbook when, as I leafed through its pages, every recipe sounded like something I would like to make. The vegetable tart featured on the cover is simple to make and always a hit. Every recipe I have tried has been delicious. Some can be more time consuming, but if you plan accordingly, they are worth it. This has definitely become my "go to" cookbook when entertaining, as the dishes are varied, uncomplicated, taste wonderful, and it's unlikely my guests have cooked them recently- although I don't know for sure- I've been giving everyone I know who enjoys cooking this book!! The bejewelled squash cubes are another crowd pleaser, and the herb-roasted root vegetables went over big with an avowed vegetable hater. Whether you are looking for a new side dish or a complete meal, I highly recommend this cookbook.

I love this cookbook. I really enjoy roasting vegetables because the flavors become so intensified. I haven't found the recipes to be too complex - they generally have 5-6 steps, and the first one is usually to preheat the oven, the last one is to serve hot or whatever. So I've found it pretty straight forward. The ingredients are a great mix - not your basic salt & pepper but adding things like honey or spices like cumin or cilantro. Really really tasty stuff here. Highly recommeded and I'd definitely buy it again!

If you are looking for new and inventive ways to work those 5 recommended veggies a day in to your diet, this is the book for you. While I had roasted asparagus before, I had never thought of roasting green beans, never one of my favorite veggies. I was eating them straight off the cookie tray as they came out of the oven! I agree with the previous reviewer who found the oil/butter a little heavy handed, so reduce to make veggies more healthful. She includes some wonderful roasted veggie sandwiches and pastas that make the book well worth purchasing.

My good friend Sam is a great barbecuer. As a matter of fact, he instantly became my good friend about two seconds after I tried his ribs for the first time. My good friend Diane is Sam's wife. Despite being married to Sam for many years now, she has never tried Sam's ribs or any of his other barbecue creations. Why? Well, Diane is a vegetarian.
Now don't ask me how they've made their bond work so well with such drastic differences, but sometimes I liken their relationship to Willie Nelson marrying a deaf woman (hypothetically speaking, that is). This still presents a quandry for having Sam and Diane over for a barbecue. Let's face it - how many of us give as much thought to the non-meat components of the menu as we do to the meat?
But now my problems have been solved, courtesy of Andrea Chesman and her book, "The Vegetarian Grill". With over 200 recipes, plus lot's of key tips for grilling vegetables, Chesman has helped me to see there's more to throw on the grill than just the meat du jour.
Within the first paragraph of the introductory chapter, Chesman urges the reader to make their key investment for grilling vegetables - an enamel-coated metal grill rack. This is advice you'll want to heed. I found a 9" x 12" rack at the local outlet of a large, Arkansas-based discount chain store that was the same price as this book.
The 11 chapters of the book progress from simple grilled vegetables and salads to pizzas. There's a chapter on vegetarian burgers and another on pasta dishes. Grilled fruits make their way into the book in the chapter on desserts. All in all, it makes for a very comprehensive look at vegetarian grilling and the recipes are laid out in a pretty straightforward fashion.After re-r eading the basic recommendations for grilling vegetables (i.e., they contain no fat so don't forget to brush with some oil or toss with a marinade to prevent them from sticking to the grill), I was ready to road test some recipes.
Since I decided to do my experiments at a barbecue contest, I would have an ample number of taste testers as well as my friend Diane (I swear the woman must be a saint - she accompanies Sam to most competitions and cheerfully looks on as pounds and pounds of meat are cooked in his smokers while the vegetable dish is usually beans). I chose four fairly simple recipes, lit the fire on an available catering grill and boldly begun my tests.
The first item was "Simple Grilled Beets". The recipe lived up to its name: simply slice your cleaned beets about one-quarter inch thick, brush them with oil and place them on the grill. The recipe said to cook 15-20 minutes over a medium fire, but I quickly discovered that beets are a very dense vegetable and the recommended time stretched to nearly 45 minutes. Eventually the beets showed signs of doneness (slightly charred and flexible), but not before I'd subjected Diane to some samples that were less than done (she would kindly suggest they "might need a few more minutes"). In the end, grilled beets taste like...well...beets. But they were really good beets.
The next recipe was "Marinated Cauliflower". This was also easily concocted - I pieced out a head of cauliflower, put it in a Ziploc bag and added a bottle of a favorite marinade (teriyaki in this case). Like the beets, the cauliflower took a bit longer than I expected but after 20 minutes the marinade began to nicely carmelize and the cauliflower became tender but still firm. This recipe worked well as the flavor of the marinade greatly complemented the cauliflower.
With the easy recipes completed, it was time to move on to ones that involved a least a few more ingredients. Next up, "Honey Mustard Sweet Potatoes". The sweet potatoes are prepared much like the beets, in quarter-inch slices. These are tossed with a honey mustard dressing (add canola oil, fresh lemon juice, thyme and salt and pepper to prepared honey mustard) and cooked over a medium-low fire. After about 20 minutes, the slices began to blister, a sign that they were close to being finished. A couple of samples later, the slices were tender enough to pull off the grill and allowed to cool. Be forewarned - grilled sweet potatoes form a nice crust on the outside and a have creamy inside that reminds one of molten lava when they first come off the grill.
My last experiment was "Sherry-Marinated Mushrooms". A marinade of extra-virgin olive oil, thyme, pepper, fresh minced garlic cloves and sherry vinegar was prepared and allowed to sit at room temperature for one hour. The mushrooms hold the marinade well and made a great aroma when they were put on the grill. They browned quickly and were ready in about 10 minutes.
So what was the feedback? I think Diane was being kind when she gave her approval to all four dishes. But then again, I was the only person cooking vegetables at what is pretty much a meat-cooking contest. Most passers-by did stop to see what I was grilling and several even tried some. The mushrooms and cauliflower disappeared quickly and the sweet potatoes didn't last much longer (however, I should point out that four sweet potatoes makes alot). The beets were the last to go. The consensus? Surprisingly positive. Most people found it refreshing to see vegetable (besides ears of corn) on the grill and one person even insisted on getting the recipe for the mushrooms (I made her promise to still buy the book).
So now I'm a changed man. Have I become a vegetarian, you ask? Not a chance! Meat is still the first priority for me. But now at least I have new enlightenment on vegetarian grilling. And I've got to invite Sam and Diane over for a barbecue soon.

This is a great addition to the collection - I have two other grill books and this compliments them well. Interesting recipes, mouth watering pictures to inspire, straight forward instructions. Some interesting cheese dishes, great dips, and I love the sate recipes. Definitely makes it so you're not missing out on delicious grilled foods.

I bought this book on a whim; I already have millions of vegetarian cookbooks. My old kettle grill had been relegated to the gargage ever since we became vegetarians 2 years ago. Alas, no more steaks to cook! I am now glad to say the old kettle grill is my most useful appliance. Every single recipe I have tried from this book is a winner! Pizza is my absolute favorite thing to cook on it, but I am experimenting everyday with this book and the excellent recipes it contains. Get it!

An innovative idea drives this book, since canning single-jar and small-quantity preserves or pickles is a great way to keep up with a small garden's produce. The chapter called "Single Jar Pickles" contains 27 recipes for preserving a wide variety of vegetables in hot vinegar. The "Salt-Brined Pickles" chapter outlines ...well, pickling in salt brine, of course. The "Relishes and Chutneys" chapter and the section on "Quick and Easy Freezer Pickles" also cater to the home gardener who wishes to put up small harvests without much fuss. A couple of recipes for baked fruit butters eliminate much of the mess and fuss (and second-degree burns!) associated with open-kettle preparation. :) If you are interested in these topics, then by all means give this book a try. HOWEVER...if you intend to concoct jams, jellies, marmalades, preserves or conserves, you may want to seek another source. The low-sugar, no-pectin-added fruit preserves taste less like premium home-made jam than like barely sweetened mashed fruit. Leaving out commercial pectin, and cutting WAY down on sugar, necessitates steps like these: long boiling times (10-30 minutes versus 1 minute with added pectin); use of a jelly thermometer or other lower-tech method to test for gel stage; and an addition of diced tart apples to nearly all jams and jellies. Since the rest of the book is filled with recipies modified for modern needs, it seems anachronistic to revert to this older, messier, less convenient form of jelly-making. IF YOU NEED LOW-SUGAR JAM recipes for health reasons, this is your book. If you want soft-spreading fruit with a barely sweetened flavor, use Summer in a Jar. IF ALL YOU WANT IS SWEET, EASY, REGULAR OL' JAM, get another source--like the Ball Blue Book.

This is fantastic! I've started canning just this year. I bought four canning books, and 90% of the canning I've done has been from this one. Super for small batches, but they're easily converted to larger ones. Fantastic for the home gardener--even if you have a small garden. There are great recipes for salsa, tomato sauces, pickles of all flavors, hot peppers, &jardineres.

This cookbook does not look like much from the outside, but the recipes inside are a must for anyone who makes their own pickles, jams, or jellies. The recipes are simple to follow and there is a lot of variety to choose from. The Tarragon Green Beans are always a hit for me.