Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven: Over 200 Recipes Uncommon Soups, Tasty Bites, Side-by-Side Dishes, and Too Many Desserts

by Mollie Katzen

This companion volume to the 26-part public television series which begins airing in October 1997 contains more than 200 recipes for delicious and surprising fare, and is illustrated with more than 25 of Katzen's luminous paintings, richly evocative of the pleasures of cooking and eating.

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

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Educated at the Eastman School of Music, Cornell University, and the San Francisco Art Institute. Although her formal training was as an artist and musician, she exhibited natural cooking inclinations from a very early age, and cooked professionally - in restaurants and as a caterer - for ten years. In 1973 she was one of the founders of the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York, and during her five years of cooking there, she compiled, illustrated and handlettered the Moosewood Cookbook.
In addition to her writing and illustrating, Mollie is a committed student of classical piano.

Reviews

[Dayna Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy recipes that taste good.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my most referenced cook book.
I am doing my top ten recipes from this book, otherwise I will probably list every other recipe in the book: roasted eggplant salad on page 8, gremolata-ricotta egg salad on page 10, roasted beans on page 68 (frequently requested for potlucks,) dreamy white beans on page 74 (mind boggling good, I'm growing sage next spring just for this recipe,) the whole section on roasted vegetables on pages 96- 99, sugar snap peas on page 108, whipped sweet potatoes on page 113, pasta shells on page 149, mustard vinaigrette on page 173, and blueberry-lemon mousse pie on page 193.
Three part hominy, golden rice pie, and the pickled red onions were not so impressive.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mollie K is an amazing cook and authoress. i probably own more of her books than any other author, but not this title. As is usual, she presents some great recipes using veggies as the main focus, with her own unique creativity woven within them.

[Tamara L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fav vegetarian cookbook for non-vegetarians

[P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I liked Mollie Katzen's recipes more. They all seem kind of boring to me. Like going over to a friend's house to sleepover and their parents make a well-meaning meal that somehow just doesn't taste right and you can't tell if it's just because you're not eating at your home or what. But she's, like, a big Name in vegetarian cooking, right?

I tried 2 from this book--the Avocado Pear Sorbet (awesome) and the Golden Rice Pie, I think it was called. It was a casserole, and it was okay. I have already thought of some ways in which I will move the spices around in the recipe to make it less bland. And I put a little cinnamon on the pears in the sorbet and swapped peach nectar for pear nectar in the recipe to avoid having it all taste like a fruit roll up. I do love fruit roll-ups, but I'm not into total pear-osity.

[leena_abate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've owned this book for about four years, and during that time, I've only really ever been inspired to make three recipes, all of which came out okay but not good enough to make again. This book is a little fussy , I guess. The dishes seem involved and I get the feeling that a lot of the recipes just wouldn't work if I didn't find perfectly fresh, in season _____ [insert name of somewhat difficult to find, expensive vegetable]. Too many dishes that don't sound like they'll reheat well, etc.

I really liked Mollie Katzen's original Moosewood cookbook, back when I ate more dairy than I currently do (I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian, but I only really eat eggs and cheese out of the house). This one's a lot less with the cheese, but lacks the soul and enthusiasm of Moosewood (not hand-lettered, kind of boring watercolors instead of the author's drawings).

[AJ LeBlanc · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want my cookbooks to have pictures of the food. I get way too happy when every recipe gets a photo and I'm satisfied if there's just a centerfold spread of a choice few.

There are zero photos in this book, but there are lovely watercolors of ingredients. Not very exciting.

Katzen is the author of Moosewood and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest (I love that title) and I had high hopes for this.

I saved *two* recipes.

A lot of these call for lots of prep and ingredients. Maybe I'm only giving it two stars because I'm feeling lazy, but I'm not looking for a ton of work to make something pretty. I want food on my plate in a fairly short amount of time. If I was in a Super Cooking Mood then I might be more in love with this, but it's a bit too time consuming for me right now.

[Dottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happened to find this in Bookman today -- actually a hardcover not paperback -- it is the cookbook which went with the PBS programs and I believe the pub date is around 1997. It is gorgeous and I have a list of twelve things to try just in my first scan of it -- they seem relatively simple, fresh and the illustrations are wonderful -- plenty of Katzens lovely art works included. Just think of me experimenting and doing a little Snoopy dance at having found this one. ANyone for Raspberry-Rhubarb Packets -- done in phyllo dough -- the idea of raspberry and rhubarb together sets my mouth watering. Or Cherry -Upside-Down Gingerbread --- yum.

[GoldenjoyBazyll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those of you who have been following me for awhile know I am a Moosewood FAN!!!!! The receipes are easy/ nutritious and VERY tasty (except for the vegan chocolate cake :P

Anyhow.... saw this book on the bargain shelf at B&N and could not believe my eyes!

Check out Sizzling Long Beans pg 102 (love these)

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

No pictures!!! ARRGGHHHH!!!! Just some hand drawn veggies from the author.

The food in here seemed quite boring, and rather bland. Nothing that I want to cook. The dessert section was ok, but I have a million dessert recipes. Maybe one or two of the sauces looked passable as well. It mostly seemed like nursing home food to me. Blech.

[G.G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The uncommon soups and too many desserts are all of them delicious. Some of the other recipes--like the Moroccan Roasted Vegetable Stew (pp. 100-1) and Scalloped Potatoes (pp. 130-31) take hours to prepare and are (frankly) not worth the effort--but don't let me put you off another wonderful collection of Mollie Katzen creations. Personal favourites: Chilled Honeydew Soup; Blackberry Buckle.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Oh yum! I totally want this book. Another winner by Katzen -- lots of super yummy recipes on cooking veggies. So, so good. Full of Katzen's creative vegetable dishes. She is an amazing recipe-master!

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite cookbooks ever! It is my go-to book when I want to try a new vegetable recipe. Mollie has a way of creating recipes that really let vegetables shine. (Although this ISBN is listed as paperback, it actually belongs to the hardback version, which I own.)

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another library sale acquisition.

Her newer books have many of these recipes and reduce the salt as well. Well the money goes to a good cause.
My Standard Cookbook Rant

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great idea book! I consulted this one for something to do with the more esoteric veggies that go for reduced sale at the grocery store I work at, and I was not disappointed. Plus, more soups and uses for beans are always a plus!

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good book for cooking basic vegetarian and whole grain fare.

[Catharine]

Great recipes.

[Dane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good recipes and I like Mollie Katzen's writing. I just found surprisingly few recipes that made me want to try them. Gave it away.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go-to. This is to me what Silver Palate was to my mother and what Joy of Cooking was to a generation of American cooks.

[Belle Meade School]

641.65

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only Mollie Katzen can make veggie dishes this awesome.