Fresh Food Fast: Delicious, Seasonal Vegetarian Meals in Under an Hour

The titles of this Peter Berley book, `Fresh Food Fast' combine at least four culinary catch phrases in the space of eleven words. `Fresh', `Seasonal', `Fast', and `Vegetarian', supported by `Meals in Under an Hour' promise to hit as many cookbook buyers' hot buttons as possible. The style of the book is to do Rachael Ray one better in the fast menu planning department by addressing a common criticism of her '30 Minute Meals' books. Berley or co-author Melissa Clark addresses this by providing a `game plan' for preparing all three recipes in the meal in addition to the methods for each individual recipe. This aid is supported by three additional time-savers. The first is a market list, giving a shopping list for the entire meal, divided into produce, dairy items, and pantry. The second is a list of equipment needed to accomplish all three recipes. The third is a speed tip, an optional element to your menu game plan.My immediate gut reaction to all these additions to the traditional cookbook schema is that the author is simply adding new points of failure. And, as soon as a reader perceives a weakness in one of these features, it will not take long for them to ignore the feature. I do not even say, at this point, that there are weaknesses. I am only pointing out that among the thousands of people who will buy this book, added, non-traditional features simply increase the chances of a PERCEIVED weakness. This is one of the great strengths of Ruth Rogers' and Rose Gray's approach to recipe writing or, most prominently, in the style of the great Elizabeth David. As long as you know that you will need to supply knowledge of common kitchen techniques and canvas your larder yourself, the `minimalist' approach leaves less room for leading the reader astray. This is certainly NOT true of cooking textbooks as written by, for example, the CIA or Madeline Kamman. These books need all the `read between the lines' details which may not make it into a book on regional cooking.I did `perceive' weaknesses in the book. Regarding the `Market List', I typically rail against any pantry recommendations in any form. What you have on hand versus what you need on any one day can change from day to day. On the market list for the very first menu, out of fifteen items, I find seven, almost half, of the items are things I keep on hand. I simply buy them any time I use them up. The same first recipe procedure uses a salad bowl in such a way that suggests a wooden salad bowl be called for. This is not a common kitchen item, yet it is not listed in the equipment list. To the highly literal minded, the game plan for the same very first menu contradicts the recipe procedure for the salad which says the salad is to be served immediately after tossing, yet the game plan has one doing two steps between tossing and serving the salad. For so many questions to arise in the first menu makes me immediately suspicious of the book as a whole. I generally find evidence of either greatness or inadequacy in the first five minutes into a book. It may take reading the entire book to satisfy one that the book is just good.This book alienated me with the first sentence of the introduction by proclaiming that it sets out to defy the trend of the `extinction of home-cooked meals and family dining'. The acre of fresh, raw produce and the yards of fresh meats on display at my local farmers market style emporium give the lie to the assumption that home cooking is in danger of dying out. The book is also a weak contender in this battle against our `Fast Food Nation' in that all of its menus are vegetarian. While I suspect people are eating more vegetables, I do not see any danger to America's cattle and pig and chicken producers.I found the early section on kitchen equipment pretty good, but not without some mistakes which should have been caught by a good copy editor or by the very experienced co-author, Melissa Clark. At one point, a 4-to-6 quart Dutch oven is recommended, followed by a suggestion to also buy a two handled cast iron 4-to-6 quart pot. A less obvious oversight is in the recommendation to buy an immersion blender in place of a bar blender. Several recipes I saw had steps in their method that simply could not be handled by an immersion blender, and the method specified a bar blender. A bar blender can simply do more different things than can an immersion blender.The most questionable step I found in several recipes was the instruction to add chopped vegetables to a pan on medium or high heat with NO OIL IN THE PAN. This very odd step appeared in many recipes with many different vegetables.For vegetarian / vegan bookbuyers, be aware that this book uses eggs, cheese, and milk in abundance, but it uses no meat broths or stocks. It does not even use vegetable stocks in its soups.If you are both vegetarian and a fan of Rachael Ray's style, you may get much from this book. The seasonal organization is good, but not rigorous. The author admits that most recipes can be done at most times of the year. Otherwise, you may not get your $35 worth from the book. I would stick with the excellent books by Deborah Madison. I worry when I am critical of a book from respected authors like Melissa Clark, but I didn't learn anything from this book and I feel there were mistakes being passed off as kitchen wisdom. I will not seek this book out when there are hundreds of other books available.This is a fair book with good vegetarian recipes, but too much baggage for the experienced home cook.

First, I will echo the positive reviews on this site. The recipes in this book are truly fast and dependable. Everything has been good, and some have been amazing. Berley avoids the pitfalls of vegetarian cookbooks, offering tasty, well seasoned food with truly fresh ingredients without reliance on pasta or bland hippie mush. A non-vegetarian would enjoy these meals.What surprised me about this book is that the seasonal and menu organization works, and works well. I am not normally a fan of books that are organized this way. I especially find myself avoiding cookbooks that are arranged by menu, as they usually list an overwhelming number of dishes more suited to a dinner party than a weeknight dinner. In this book, both organizational schemes work. I bought this book in summer, and opened to the twelve summer menus. I started with the first three menus. Each recipe used ingredients that are local, abundant, and inexpensive this time of year. This made the shopping painless, and meant I could use produce I might naturally have on hand this time of year (sweet corn, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes). Each menu includes a dish that could stand alone and a simple complementary side dish. The side dishes tend to take about five minutes: put the ingredients in the blender until it is soup, or toss the cucumbers in a dressing. They are also easily left out if you still have leftovers from last night or you're having a smaller meal. The main dishes are quick, use fresh ingredients, and are restaurant quality.In short, this is the first book I've ever had that could, by itself, form the basis of my weeknight cooking. The 12 summer menus can easily form two weeks of healthy weeknight meals; repeating the pattern all summer is an actual possibility. At the very least, these 12 menus can form a basic meal plan when I'm stuck for ideas. Having twelve realistic weeknight menus that match the season is enough to keep me in ideas all year.

This is simply the best cookbook I've ever bought. I am slowly working my way through cooking every menu (the book is divided into seasons, with 12 menus for each season - typically an entree and a side dish). I've only made about 9 or 10 recipes so far and they all been delicious. My favorite so far is probably the spicy coconut soup (with collard greens and sweet potatoes - yum) or maybe it was the spring tabbouleh, or the buttermilk strata, or the garlic soup with homemade tortilla strips. I love this cookbook because I don't feel especially confident at cooking or working with unusual ingredients, and Berley really makes it simple.My favorite thing about this cookbook is really how it structured --- first of all, I love that it is divided by seasons (making shopping for seasonal ingredients at farmer's markets much simpler). I also love that an entree and side dish are paired to make it a no-brainer to choose a complementary side dish and vice versa. The ingredients are laid out simply, including a pantry section, so it is easy for me to take a quick photo with a phone for a shopping list, or to eliminate what I have versus what I need to buy. The best part of the structure: the "Game Plan" - Berley lays out in a few steps what to do to ensure that both entree and side dish complete at the same time - hot, perfect, and ready to eat. Love, love this cookbook.I also would like to add this is largely vegan as well! There are several recipes that are not (poached eggs over grits or the strata), but I believe vegans would love this one too.I've added a few photos of some of the meals I've made, thanks to this cookbook. :)