Vegetarian Cooking Without: All recipes free from added gluten, sugar, yeast, dairy produce, meat, fish and saturated fat

by Barbara Cousins

‘Vegetarian Cooking Without’ by nutritional therapist Barbara Cousins was written following requests for a vegetarian version of ‘Cooking Without’. So many vegetarian books rely heavily on the use of cheese, milk, cream and wheat and appetizing dishes without these ingredients are harder to find. ‘Vegetarian Cooking Without’ contains recipes that are well balanced and delicious but without the use of ingredients such as gluten, dairy produce, sugar, yeast and saturated fats. These foods can cause individuals to have a variety of health problems. The recipes are not only for vegetarians but for anyone wishing to include more, healthy, enjoyable vegetarian meals in their diet whilst avoiding certain problem foods.
All Barbara’s books contain a written section about health and in the front of this book Barbara covers topics such as ‘blood sugar balance’, ‘mental and emotional detoxification’, ‘the menopause’ and ‘weight control’.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food, Health, Cooking

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2000

Reviews

[Andrea James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Caveat: I don't normally rate a cookbook without trying at least one recipe (and usually I test more than that).

I just couldn't bear to use this book because I found the diagram on page 4 too disturbing. I've taken a (crappy) photo of it here: https://goo.gl/g5iH6C

It's too far down the road of mumbo jumbo for me. The book's intentions may be good but I just can't stomach its explanations about toxicity.

It's a shame as I was looking forward to getting more ideas for helping my clients to cook for different dietary requirements.

I'm not someone who sticks to traditions but there has to be some reasonable understanding about what the name of dish suggests. And I would expect a risotto to be something that uses a short-medium grain rice (carnaroli, arborio etc.). It is pretty critical to use one of these types of rice to get that distinctive creaminess that makes it a risotto. Otherwise, it's some other rice dish.

And I'm not sure exactly what the "Fresh Herb Risotto with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Olives" in the book ends up being. Besides the ingredients in the title, the recipe also has ginger, spring onion and sesame oil.

Maybe by "ready-cooked rice in the freezer" the author means ready cooked risotto rice. But then the introductory paragraph says "Just place the rice in a sieve and pour boiling water over it". (What?!)

You sweat a bunch of ingredients in pan, then add the defrosted rice and some water to pot. And then:
"4. Simmer for approximately 5 minutes or until the water has been absorbed and the risotto has warmed through. Serve with salad."

That's leftover hodge-podge. I've no doubt eaten similar after a drunken night out but if you told me I was getting "Fresh Herb Risotto with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Olives" and served me that in a restaurant, I think I'd be a bit disappointed.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic health section at the front of book.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first part of the book interesting. I learned a little bit more about how food affects us and how we can improve our health by what we eat. I don't think I'll try any of the recipes though since the book was written in Great Britain and I don't have the energy or desire to translate all of the recipes into formats I can use.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are obviously people who require this book for health reasons.
I sympathise with them, there is little in it that I would wish to eat, let alone cook.
The only recipe that sparked interest was Three Bean Chilli, but when even the author says it ought to be called Two Bean Chilli as she uses lentils as the third! I give up.