The Moosewood Cookbook

This is an old standby in our kitchen. A lot of comfort food and Katzen never lets you down with inadequate directions. Sometimes I take short cuts and store a lot of the basic ingredients that form many of the foods as 'frozen starters'. The premixing and freezing taught me a lot about what can and can't be done that way (fresh herbs are a must!; don't use a self-defrosting fridge freezer as a storage option). By relying on Mollie K's cookbooks, we had much healthier dinners when everyone was burned out from their day.

I still cook out of Moosewood to this day. I became acquainted with my first copy of the original version of Moosewood in the 70's, found in the barn of the old Vermont victorian where I was renting a room (at age 16!). Surrounded by Quakers, hippies and ex-cons, we all cooked vegetarian most of the time (who could afford meat??). I have many fond memories of Moosewood and the meals which came from it. I learned to drink my first wine and my first beer accompanying many of these dishes. My favorite standby recipes that I still cook today include Spinach Ricotta Pie, Stuffed Zucchini Turkish style, Gypsy Soup, Gazpacho (a good chunky version), Russian Borscht, and Eggplant Pate version #2.

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. I love the font and the artwork as much as I love the recipes.

The recipes are divided into Hot Soups, Chilled Soups, Salads, Sauces, Sandwiches & Spreads, Entrees, Desserts, and A Few Miscellaneous Baked Things. The emphasis is on making vegetarian meals delicious, and do they ever succeed. Some recipes I have made over and over, to rave reviews, including Spinach Ricotta Pie, “Zuccanoes” or Stuffed Zucchini, and “Delicious Corn Bread,” and Sour Cream-Orange Cake.

There is so much good to eat in these pages. The only challenge is to consume with moderation!

This was about the first cookbook I came across, at a friend's house. She had just returned from one year in the US. I loved the lettering, the food, the descriptions... when I saw this book years later in a bookstore in my country, I rushed to the counter to buy it. Coming home, I found out I had just bought Molly Katzen's revised edition of the great original.

Very disappointing. She now told us in every recipe to use less butter and get rid of the eggs. Or try new fat free options. Now the whole focus was not on the great food and cooking that is so eminent in the early Moosewood. It was on health.

It ruined my view of this favorite cookbook of mine; she shouldn't have edited it this way! Still, there are a great bunch of classic show more Moosewood recipes in here. show less

Moosewood Cookbook is one of two books that I consider the core of my collection. (The other is Laurel's Kitchen.)

Each page is hand lettered and illustrated by Katzen in a sometime quirky way. For instance the Fudge Brownie recipe includes a list of optional ingredients written into a spiral. Braces and arrows, boxes and dotted lines all come together to help clarify each recipe.

Just of few of my favorites (both soups): Gypsy Soup and Brazillian Black Bean Soup.

It's like coming back to an old friend every time I pick this book up.

I can't remember when I first devoured The Moosewood Cookbook. However, I do remember the awe and excitement that it brought to the idea of (at that time) non-traditional cooking, and non-traditional cookbooks. What a gift - I still use many of the recipes.

I'm really surprised to see fewer than 1,000 people have this book. I think practically everyone in my family on both sides, and my wife's family on both sides has this book. And just about everyone they know too. The recipes are great, with such staple foods. The book is really useable, with large hand-drawn-looking fonts and sketches. Be aware though, that just because recipes in here are vegetarian, they are not always 100% healthy, given the quantities of oil, butter, etc used. Of course these can be modified as desired. There are often suggestions for alternatives, and no glossy photos to make me feel bad when I drip stuff onto it. This is an everyday cookbook which generally uses everyday and accessible ingredients - none of this show more going to the ends of the earth for an ingredient that sounds like Dr. Seuss made it up and only grows on the top of the mountain Ishkabibble. Can't recommend this cook book enough, and have already given it to all my parents and siblings. Watch out friends and family, you know what's in your near-future! show less