reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes From the Award Winning Fresh Restaurants

by Ruth Tal, Jennifer Houston

One of Canada’s hottest restaurants puts a Fresh spin on vegetarian cuisine! Toronto’s Fresh restaurants are consistently rated as among the most popular restaurants in the city. Appealing to vegetarians, vegans and those who enjoy meatfree meals as part of a healthy diet, Fresh has evolved from a humble juice bar into a chain of three dynamic and gorgeous downtown restaurants. reFresh is a new edition of Ruth Tal’s first book, Juice for Life (Wiley 2000, 978-0-7715-7690-4). Completely revised and updated, reFresh offers the reader a sumptuous selection of the best recipes found on the restaurant’s menu today, all in a gorgeous full colour package that reflects the award-winning style and design of the restaurants themselves. New in this

Genres: Cookbooks, Vegan, Food, Cooking, Vegetarian, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 2007

Reviews

[Debra Daniels-Zeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was inspired by Fresh, a whole foods restaurant in Toronto. The focus of this book is fresh and vegan, and the book offers the same popular fresh food the restaurant serves. I love the fresh vegetable focus. And th recipes make me wish I lived near this restaurant. This is one inspiring cookbook. I get lots of great ideas from these recipes and I love the unique combinations like Coconut and Red Pepper Soup, Portobello and Walnut Salad and Sri Lankan Spice Mix. This is a book I could turn to for kitchen inspiration. It has just the right amount of food photos, too. The main problem with the book for me is many of the ingredients lissted are unique and I wonder where you'd get them. For example--spirulina, royal jelly and chywanprash--which even the glossary doesn't specify where I'd get them. And what if the royal jelly doesn't come in a handy vile? And seriously, how many people have a wheat grass juicer? Sure I'd love a grasshopper wheatgrass elixir but where do I get the oil of peppermint and frozen wheatgrass juice--that would be where? Also annoying is reading a recipe that contains other recipes to make on different pages. Oh, so I have to make the stock on one page and and a spice mix on another before the recipe I want to make comes together. And the amount of oil in many of the recipes seemed excessive. Overall I'd keep this book on the shelf purely for inspiration. And isn't that enough?

[Claire Repor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recipes from one of my favourite comfort food restaurants in Toronto and now I can recreate some favourites.

[KrystelDallas · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some recipes in this book that are just so delicious it's incredible. Some of them though, have ingredient lists that are so very long! If I lived in Toronto, I would eat there quite a bit to save myself the trouble. (It's sooo good there, if you've never been, GO.) The first half of the book is food recipes and the second half is juice recipes. I love juices but some of these had ingredients that are really difficult to find in a smaller city. Pretty unfortunate since I can't really get the full effect of what the juice should taste like/what I should benefit from it when I can't get all the ingredients! But overall, it's very thorough and well explained. I do not regret this purchase at all.

[Stevie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The few recipes I made from this book were incredibly tasty. I was so impressed, BUT the downside is that many of the recipes involve quite a lot of prep. And for a non-vegan that doesn't live in a large city, I did not have many of the ingredients on hand, nor have any way to buy them locally. Great library read, probably wouldn't spend my money on buying it.

[Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one vegan cookbook that I tend to use more in summer time - as most of the recipes are more on the light and cool side. That being said, for such simple sounding recipes, there is quite alot of prep work to be done.

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Includes lots of inventive recipes for soups, salads, sandwiches, rice bowls, marinades, and sauces and dressings. The California salad is my favorite and the marinades and dressings are so easy to put together. This is the perfect cookbook for using summer vegetables.

[Carrie Marcotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great pictures. Simple recipes. Everything looks so delish, I can' wait to start trying some of the bookmarked ones. I used to visit this place when it was in the Queen Street Market back in the 90's everyday, so it was great for my aunt to mail this book to me.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures in this book are beautiful, I only wish there were more!
So far my favorite is the Caribbean Cabbage soup (or something like that)

[Dioscita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful photography but boring and rather bland (IMO) recipes -- at least those that didn't require $$$$$ ingredients, which maybe taste fabulous but who could afford them?

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best recipes - vegan, vegetarian or not the rice bowls are to die for!

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting variety of juicing/smoothie recipes.

[Bear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yummy recipes for salads, juices and smoothies.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I really want to go to a Fresh restaurant!

[Ekaiserattoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This consoles me when I desperately miss the Fresh restaurants in Toronto.

[Martha Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing extraordinary here. I got 4 recipes from the book. Not a low-fat vegan cookbook.

[Shayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this cookbook, interesting ingredients and fabulous recipes. These are creations that take a little time, but are worth it.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Fresh's food. I'll admit though I've only made one recipe from here - a lot of their cooking depends on pre-prepared sauces, and I'm a lazy cook. But I want to make more!

[Challis · Rating 4 out of 5]

great recipes, and pictures. wish I could open a 'fresh' franchise here.