Vegetarian recipes from the world’s healthiest cuisine
Vegetarian cookbook review
The Mediterranean region is famous for its delicious and healthy, olive-oil based cuisine which has been credited with everything from lower rates of cancer to improved breathing.*
With more than 500 recipes, the wonderful Mediterranean Harvest cookbook, by Martha Rose Shulman, includes a huge variety of dishes from Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and the Middle East, and I love the way it’s organized. I usually go shopping to see what looks good and then skim through cookbooks to decide what to make, rather starting with recipe and a grocery list. And then of course after shopping, I usually have a primary ingredient, such as squash or artichokes, and so I tend to gravitate toward cookbooks that index recipes by ingredient.
Mediterranean Harvest does that, but it also goes one step further: it groups similar recipes from different regions and countries. For example, if I just bought a beautiful bunch of spinach or chard, I might make Ligurian artichoke and greens torta (Italy), mushrooms and greens tart (France), or greens and sweet onion pie (Greece). If I have some beautiful eggplant and tomatoes, I can choose between Imam bayildi (Turkey), stewed eggplants and onions (Italy), or eggplant, tomato, and chick pea casserole (Middle East).
The chapters are divided as follows:
- Aperitifs
- Breads, pizza, and panini
- Sauces, dressings, and condiments
- Little foods: starters, snacks, meze, and more
- Soups
- Eggs and cheese
- Pasta
- Savory pies and gratins
- Vegetables and beans
- Rice, couscous, and other grains
- Sweets and desserts
There are so many good recipes that while paging through the book writing down the ones I wanted to try, my list was getting so long it was easier to just put page ranges. The one thing that bothers me a bit is that the author often mentions meat accompaniments; though all of the recipes are vegetarian, she regularly says things like "this would be good with fish," which can be a bit jarring. Other than that, Mediterranean Harvest is pretty much perfect, and it’s definitely one of my favorite cookbooks.
Buy Mediterranean Harvest:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
Author’s website: Martha Rose Shulman