Laurel's Kitchen: A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and Nutrition

by Laurel Robertson, Carol Lee Flinders, Bronwen Godfrey

Here are over 400 delicious, wholesome, tested and perfected recipes, menus and ideas, all contained in one uniquely comprehensive handbook of vegetarian cooking and nutrition. Discover the art of making soups, breads, sprouts, heartier dishes, breakfast grains, desserts...Chinese vegetables and tofu, Italian canneloni, fluffy spinach crepes, hearty Greek lentil soup, crunchy apple bran muffins, creamy banana cheese pie--these are a few of the hundreds of tempting vegetarian dishes you can learn how to prepare. --from back cover

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

641 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1976

About the author

Laurel Robertson is a seminal leader of whole-food cookery. She is a major contributor to the increasing awareness of vegetarian eating in the United States. With her co-contributors, including Carol Flinders, Bronwen Godfrey, and Brian Ruppenthal, she has written several iconic cook books.

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reorganising all my bookshelves (a definite labour of love) and have put my larger cookbooks on a shelf that is easier to access. Rediscovering this old favourite does make me regret having this book buried & unused for so long! I'm not a vegetarian but I like vegetarian food. The recipe for the caponata alone makes the book worth it's purchase price. My husband groans in ecstasy when he is eating it!

More than a cookbook, this book details the authors' food philosophy & how to combine foods to follow a healthy vegetarian diet. Some of the information would have seemed revolutionary at the time of writing. Now a lot of it is commonplace, but I think it is still worthwhile to have all the statistics in one place.

I do imagine pursed lipped disapproval from the authors if the less pure amongst us wanted an extra spoonful of grated cheese over our vegetables. Especially irritating in my 1986 edition is the way they have hidden the recipe for their fabulous yeast butter - it doesn't appear in the index & it's heading has only a tiny font. The reasoning is;

...the "health food" of the sixties, become the wild indulgence of the eighties

That just makes me want to grab a spoon & the biggest tub of ice cream I can find!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a good vegetarian cookbook that is not puffed up and is green through and through this is it. Some friends invited us over for dinner and served us the black bean soup from this book. I was so impressed by the simplicity of it that I bought the book immediately. I have been cooking with this book for years and love the whole philosophy of using what you have and not wasting and of overall health in eating and living. I love it's humble, thankful, respectful take on eating and cooking.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite book, not so much for the recipes but rather for the introduction and the story of Laurel and her two friends. I read this years ago and it resonated with my soul. What is so interesting is that this book was written during the time of the women's lib movement by a woman who lived in Berkeley! Yet the introduction speaks much truth to what I feel is "true feminism," embracing who we are as women. The books talks about women as the "keeper of the keys" and about the creativity we can find in our own homes. Making simple, nourishing meals for our families takes creativity, skill and love (to continue to do this day after day!)

I read the introduction every so often when I need a reminder as to _why_ I choose to be home with my children and to be the keeper of the keys in my own home.

Note: the later edition of this book is not the same as the 1978 edition.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, it's a cookbook, but it's a cookbook that changed my life. One reviewer thought that the emphasis on a woman's role in the home was "neo-fascist," which made me laugh pretty hard. But then again this same reviewer commented that the photo of the authors looked "hippie/Mormon," which also describes me pretty well. Except that by "Mormon" I think she meant "polygamist," which certainly doesn't apply. (Come on, it was 1971--give 'em a break. I saw a more recent picture, and there wasn't a bun or ruffled dress in sight.)

Anyway, I loved the emphasis on the spirituality and empowerment of domestic life, even though I work full time and will probably never make bread every day. And I love that every recipe is essentially a suggestion--improvise, use what you have, try something different. Very flexible and practical, which is important when you're trying to feed a family.

[laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

my mom gave me her old beat up copy of this book a few years back-- i mean really beat up-- coverless, and i remember it from childhood (i'm about to turn 28). so i'm finally reading it. it's riveting, seductive even, but this woman-as-spiritual/nutritional-nurturer lifestyle that they seem to be shilling fucking kills me. i'm riveted, though. and seduced! it's like reading danielle steele or something-- bewildering, horrifying, strangely compellingly easy to read. and, of course, once you get past the chit chat, chock full of oaty wheaty bulgary goodness.

[C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As crunchy and granola as cookbooks come, this is old-school, hippie vegetarian cooking; there's a chapter for recipies titled "munchies," so you know its authentic. The recipies are hearty and good, but there's only so much of this heavy, sometimes bland cooking I can take. I like back-to-the-basics veggie food more than most people I know, but I like a bit more variety; this is the sort of food that makes people think they could never be vegetarian.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading The New Laurel's Kitchen brought back wonderful memories of my hippie days, when my mind started wrapping around how our health, food production, and earth's health are one and the same. My lodestone books were Diet for a Small Planet and The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook, but I often borrowed my friend's copy of Laurel's Kitchen. Her recipes hold up. Her information and philosophy are timeless.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-loved classic from the days when vegetarianism and foodie-ism weren't so trendy. There are so many great, practical tips and recipes for simple, healthful meals without a lot of the exotic ingredients you find in more recent cookery books.

[Valerie Nordquist]

one of my favorite books I own (except mine is the original 1976 version) the nutritional information is dated, but I still love it and it makes me feel right at home with my hippie self

[Gigi R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first vegetarian cookbook. My brother in law got it for me in 1993. I still own and use my copy. The recipes are given in a conversational style, which I love.
I learned to make homemade pizza dough with this book. I had to try many times but finally got it.
The banana bread recipe in this book has been a "go-to" for my family for 3 decades. When my children get married this is the first recipe they text me and ask for; usually on a Saturday morning.
We used the banana bread recipe to make muffins and added chocolate chips. It is "Ryan comfort food" of the first degree.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 5 out of 5]

When illness (lupus) repeatedly threatened my life, I tried preventative measures, reading and experimenting with nutrition. The first edition of this book lost its cover because every single recipe I tried actually tasted good, unlike most early low-fat low-sugar cardboard. Flexibility was a plus. Variations, like adding fish to the corn chowder, held up. My sister has my old copy, and the chickpea falafel patties are family favorites, even with the 8-year old and teen fed fast food by their father. I no longer have the energy to compile the ingredients, and internet searches answer the nutrition facts I used to look up. But recipes from the web do not have the personal recommendation of this book.

[Parvati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is my vegetarian cooking bible. As a 35 year vegetarian and former owner of a veg restaurant, this is a great veg sourcebook. For simple solutions, for expert recipes and a list of the contents in foods, tips and charts...it's excellent. My copy from the 70's is worn and has a makeshift cover on it now. So, I bought the new one just to have it, in case my worn one completely disintegrates in time! It's superb. Try Diana's Apple Crisp. It's become a standard for our home. Etching illustrations also are lovely. One cookbook I would never do without.

[guiltlessreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, life changing book! No, I’m not a vegetarian (does eating only veggies on some days count?). This powerhouse cookbook looks more like a paperback novel than a cookbook. But has something I couldn’t ignore … nutrition information and what could very well be a treatise on “health foods for healthy living.” It has been dubbed as “America’s first complete guide to cooking delicious natural foods.” Read my full review on my blog Guiltless Reading.

[Grace Krilanovich · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually read this cookbook. There's an odd, culty Waco-like insistence on a woman's return to femininity vis-a-vis daily bread baking and an amount of cooking that would cripple a restaurant. The back cover (of my 1971 ed.) depicts the three authors in modest updo's and ruffled dresses -- kind of hippie-Mormon. But everything seems tasty. It checks out, foodwise. I made a sandwich with cottage cheese, cinnamon, raisins and sunflower seeds at the book's suggestion.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ran across this book in the clearance section of a used bookstore and bought it for $3.00. It is worth a million dollars!! It initially caught my eye because its illustrations reminded me of the black and white silhouette drawings in the original Boxcar Children Series. It is part cookbook, part nutritional textbook and part "peace, love and happiness" philosophical storybook. An absolute gem and a must have for any vegetarians out there!!

[Bethanne Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go-to cookbook. I always have it handy. My copy is old and ratty because it's my favorite of my entire cookbook collection. The book was published in 1968 and 1972 so the recipes are older but endure because of their wholesomeness and proven nutritious value. The most thorough and balanced approach to vegetarianism that I have found over the years. Highly recommended if you can still find a copy.

[Lisa Zahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An oldie but a goodie, this book will never leave my cookbook shelves. It's falling apart, stained, and seen much love. I no longer (or very rarely) cook from it, but I love to see it still there in my kitchen because it brings back so many good memories of the 1990s, early marriage and parenting for me. This book is a treasure!

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s my favorite cookbook. I’ve read it many times. I wanted to live like the story at the beginning. The recipe are pretty good, the menus have become classics. And the nutritional information is great. The book reflects their work.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far not very useful when one already owns various Moosewoods and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

[Meredith Henning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good one, enjoyable to read all the side notes!

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must have for vegetarians and meat eaters too. This is the book that taught me to slow down.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collaborative cookbook with heart and soul and skill: Even though I'm no longer a vegetarian, this book will always be a sentimental favorite.

This Thanksgiving, I took out my most treasured cookbooks. Of course, one of my three faves was this one.

This book was a wedding present when I married Husband #2 in 1982. Although the marriage lasted just a few years, my affection for this book runs through to the present day... including my far happier marriage of 33 years (so far) to husband #33.

Today I nearly cooked one of the chutneys. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow -- since I ran out of time before getting through my planned menu, and so I never used my coriander at all.

WHAT'S BEST OF ALL ABOUT LAUREL'S KITCHEN?

First, I learned a lot about nutrition from this cookbook, far expanding what I'd learned as a passionate hobbyist starting in 1968.

Second, I appreciated the sense of community that emerges between Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Bronwen Godfrey.

Third and my favorite, underlying all is the spiritual intent, beautifully expressed, pervading this entire cookbook. It's a beauty.

[Ew Lake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I began reading this before our trip to see Ethan, and it prefectly put me in the mood for Berkeley brown shingles and vegetarian bowls. I was expecting socialist politics and hippy-dippiness, but not some of the comments about women:
"She [Laurel] looked radiant - one of those women, I was sure,who doesn't completely come into her won until she has someone to take care of." " But to my mind, the most effective front for social change, the critical point where our efforts will count the most, is not in business of professions, which tackle life's problems from above, from outside, but in the home and community, where the problems start. Any woman about to take a job shoudl think carefully about the pressures compelling her choice and decide which are legitimate and which questionable. She should consider what her home and family and neighborhood stand to lose - and she should never underestimate her own worth."
Now to make that cottage cheese pie...

[Brok3n · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable guide to vegan nutrition

I do not cook, I don't want to cook, I don't plan to cook. (Very happy to buy my whole wheat bread from the bakery at my big box grocery store thank-you-very-much.) I have never tried a recipe from Laurel's Kitchen, and I never will. So why, you ask, am I reviewing a cookbook? Because I read it with pleasure, and I am here to tell you that it is worth reading, even if you don't cook.

I was a grad student in Biochemistry at Stanford when I read Laurel's Kitchen, probably around 1980, not many years after it was published. Many of my friends were dance and drama students. This was very much the astrology and granola crowd. (I was the token hard scientist of the bunch.) They alerted me to the existence of Laurel's Kitchen.

Laurel's Kitchen was a surprisingly good read. It was as entertaining as a novel, indeed, more entertaining than many novels I have read (looking at you, Fifty Shades of Grey). Although it contains recipes, the core purpose of the book is to explain how to safely be a vegetarian or vegan. Robertson et al are very straightforward about telling their readers not to be idiots. For instance, you MUST have vitamin B12, animals are the ONLY natural sources of vitamin B12, so for God's sake PLEASE take B12 pills. (Now, some of you are lining up to tell me that soy milk contains B12. Yes, the soy milk you buy in your grocery store in 2023 probably does contain B12, because the manufacturers add it artificially. In 1976 when Laurel's Kitchen came out you couldn't rely on that. And even in 2023, you should check. And yes, if you insist, we can have the argument about yeast.)

Protein is the biggest issue for a vegan. Laurel's Kitchen explains clearly why no single plant-based protein source can satisfy your nutritional requirements, but a mixture can. They advocate a diet in which most of your protein comes from grain in the form of bread, while beans supply the essential amino acids you can't get from grain. This had a lasting effect on me. Laurel's Kitchen makes it clear that bread is not just an inert substrate used to carry peanut butter and jelly into your intestines, but that bread can and should taste good, and that whole wheat bread tastes MUCH better than white bread. I did the experiment, and it is true. Since then I eat by choice only whole wheat bread.

So, if I was a grad student in 1980, I must be an old person now, right? Right. I have now reached the age where cholesterol is something I have to think about. Cholesterol (like B12) comes exclusively from animal sources. Plants have sterols, but they are different from cholesterol, and your body doesn't take them up. (Biochemistry PhD here!) If you move towards a vegan diet, you will automatically reduce the amount of cholesterol you eat. That is why I suddenly renewed my interest in Laurel's Kitchen. The version I read in 1980 (and which I am reviewing here) is no longer in print. There is an updated version, The New Laurel's Kitchen, which I have ordered and hope to review before very long.

I want to end by emphasizing what I started with: Laurel's Kitchen is not just a cookbook or a nutrition handbook. It is also an entertaining book to read.

Blog review.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book mostly for the beautifully written and extensive forward and for all the interesting notes and chapters in the back. I’m sure the recipes are great, too, although I’ve only tried one or two of them.

• absolutely gorgeous tome full of the importance of viewing eating and cooking as a sacred part of our human nature.
• four stars only because a lot of the nutrition advice is very dated, otherwise this book was top-notch 👌🏼
• what is the importance of building a home? This book makes that task seem not only valuable but essential in both a physical and spiritual sense.

[Caity · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook has some good recipes and interesting information about dietary needs. The problem I have with it is the focus on low fat recipes, personally I prefer to focus on getting a reasonable amout of healthy fat so that makes some of the recipes not work for me.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book about 35 years ago and tried every single recipe. Most are pretty good, some are very good (pancakes, breads, soups), but there are some weird ones that should be avoided (split pea spreads and the like). I like the dedication to the calf on its way to the slaughterhouse.

[Elie · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is an old favorite

[Beverley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the wood cuts in this recipe book. Great stories and great recipes.

[Dahron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great catalog