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Food
With Food, photographer Mary McCartney brings us easy, family-friendly meat-free dishes that will appeal to everyone—including carnivores. And they're all presented in gorgeous pictures taken by Mary herself, along with personal stories and photos old and new.
Inspired by her mother's recipes, McCartney has whipped up creative, comforting, uncomplicated, and delicious meals that will encourage home cooks to think vegetarian. They range from savory Asparagus Summer Tart and a no-meat Shepherd's Pie to family favorites, including Lemon Drizzle Cake and Arty's Chocolate Chip Cookies. This is good, wholesome fare, cooked well and with ease, meant for family and friends to share. And Mary's unique bold and beautifully illuminated images are as irresistible as her food.
Inspired by her mother's recipes, McCartney has whipped up creative, comforting, uncomplicated, and delicious meals that will encourage home cooks to think vegetarian. They range from savory Asparagus Summer Tart and a no-meat Shepherd's Pie to family favorites, including Lemon Drizzle Cake and Arty's Chocolate Chip Cookies. This is good, wholesome fare, cooked well and with ease, meant for family and friends to share. And Mary's unique bold and beautifully illuminated images are as irresistible as her food.
233 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2012
28 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
May 20, 2022
A few nice photos but the recipes are ridiculously basic. Popcorn, potato wedges, mushrooms on toast, toasted cheese sandwich, pasta with tomatoes....
I can't imagine anyone needing such a basic book. Most recipes rely heavily on cheese, dairy or eggs.
This might be useful for someone who hasn't cooked before but it did make me wonder if this would ever have been published without the famous family.
I can't imagine anyone needing such a basic book. Most recipes rely heavily on cheese, dairy or eggs.
This might be useful for someone who hasn't cooked before but it did make me wonder if this would ever have been published without the famous family.
October 22, 2013
I require two things of a cookbook for me to check it out:
♥ There must be lots of photos.
♥ Those photos must be beautiful.
Checking out a cookbook is not the same thing as USING a cookbook. For me to actually use a cookbook, I require two additional things:
♥ Simple ingredients.
♥ Simple instructions.
Very, very few cookbooks meet these requirements (thus I am forced to make frozen pizza at least twice a week. Sigh. It is so difficult being a lazy cook with high cookbook standards). So when I discovered that Mary McCartney’s new cookbook, FOOD: Vegetarian Home Cooking, exceeded all of my requirements I just had to hug it. Yup, I hug that cookbook. On a regular basis. Because I love it. I really really love it.
For those of you who are not as obsessed with the McCartney family as I am, Mary McCartney is the daughter of Sir Paul McCartney and the late Linda McCartney, and thus grew up in arguably the most famous of vegetarian families. I was worried that Mary’s long history with vegetarian cooking (not particularly my favorite type of food) would result in complicated and unappealing fancy cuisine and thus dash my hopes that I would ever be able to comfortably tuck in if invited to sit at the McCartney supper table.
Upon opening the cookbook, I was first struck (and almost brought to tears) by Mary’s cozy photographs of lovely people and fresh food and how the photographs reminded me just enough of her mother, Linda, but were still very much the artist’s own. Wonderful and crisp.
Then I started looking at the recipes and I was like “HEY I CAN MAKE THESE!” I made a cold Quinoa salad, a Quinoa and white bean soup, granola bars, zucchini pasta, a coconut-pineapple smoothie and all were easy and successful. My favorite recipe was the hummus and hot pepper jam sandwich – So simple, right?! The recipes are delicious and appealing to even a non-Veggie lover like me. Mary McCartney managed to not only make a beautiful and delicious cookbook, but also to make me feel like a confident, capable cook. And that is why FOOD gets a frequent hug from me. You should probably hug it, too.
♥ There must be lots of photos.
♥ Those photos must be beautiful.
Checking out a cookbook is not the same thing as USING a cookbook. For me to actually use a cookbook, I require two additional things:
♥ Simple ingredients.
♥ Simple instructions.
Very, very few cookbooks meet these requirements (thus I am forced to make frozen pizza at least twice a week. Sigh. It is so difficult being a lazy cook with high cookbook standards). So when I discovered that Mary McCartney’s new cookbook, FOOD: Vegetarian Home Cooking, exceeded all of my requirements I just had to hug it. Yup, I hug that cookbook. On a regular basis. Because I love it. I really really love it.
For those of you who are not as obsessed with the McCartney family as I am, Mary McCartney is the daughter of Sir Paul McCartney and the late Linda McCartney, and thus grew up in arguably the most famous of vegetarian families. I was worried that Mary’s long history with vegetarian cooking (not particularly my favorite type of food) would result in complicated and unappealing fancy cuisine and thus dash my hopes that I would ever be able to comfortably tuck in if invited to sit at the McCartney supper table.
Upon opening the cookbook, I was first struck (and almost brought to tears) by Mary’s cozy photographs of lovely people and fresh food and how the photographs reminded me just enough of her mother, Linda, but were still very much the artist’s own. Wonderful and crisp.
Then I started looking at the recipes and I was like “HEY I CAN MAKE THESE!” I made a cold Quinoa salad, a Quinoa and white bean soup, granola bars, zucchini pasta, a coconut-pineapple smoothie and all were easy and successful. My favorite recipe was the hummus and hot pepper jam sandwich – So simple, right?! The recipes are delicious and appealing to even a non-Veggie lover like me. Mary McCartney managed to not only make a beautiful and delicious cookbook, but also to make me feel like a confident, capable cook. And that is why FOOD gets a frequent hug from me. You should probably hug it, too.
August 29, 2014
Plain, simple cooking, but nothing that grabbed my attention (besides the gorgeous cover).
June 28, 2014
Mary McCartney deserves 4 stars for her beautiful photography, but only 2 stars for the recipes.
April 18, 2014
I can't tell you the number of times I picked up this cookbook and looked through it before coming across it on a bookstore sale table for $7.98 and finally buying it--despite my vow to stop adding to my cookbooks and start paring them down. It was just to hard to resist.
Mary McCartney, daughter of superstar Paul and the late Linda McCartney is a photographer by trade (which shows in the beautiful photos showcased in the book) and grew up in a vegetarian household thanks to Linda. The recipes are for relatively simple food, mostly vegetarian, some vegan, lots of comfort and family-friendly dishes. I want to make most of the soups in particular--they all look and sound amazing. Some of the recipes aren't particularly healthy-sounding (higher in sodium or fats than I like to eat on a regular basis) but ingredients can be modified easily enough.
So far I have tried the Coconut Rice Pudding--although I made mine sans chocolate syrup and with dried cherries and pistachio. (Recipe and photo here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...) I have made rice pudding with coconut milk before but I loved the addition of the dessicated coconut to the mix as it added a different texture.
I also tried the Leek, Zucchini and White Bean Soup (Recipe and photo here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...) which was thick, brothy, beany and very good.
A beautiful book to drool over. ;-)
Mary McCartney, daughter of superstar Paul and the late Linda McCartney is a photographer by trade (which shows in the beautiful photos showcased in the book) and grew up in a vegetarian household thanks to Linda. The recipes are for relatively simple food, mostly vegetarian, some vegan, lots of comfort and family-friendly dishes. I want to make most of the soups in particular--they all look and sound amazing. Some of the recipes aren't particularly healthy-sounding (higher in sodium or fats than I like to eat on a regular basis) but ingredients can be modified easily enough.
So far I have tried the Coconut Rice Pudding--although I made mine sans chocolate syrup and with dried cherries and pistachio. (Recipe and photo here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...) I have made rice pudding with coconut milk before but I loved the addition of the dessicated coconut to the mix as it added a different texture.
I also tried the Leek, Zucchini and White Bean Soup (Recipe and photo here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...) which was thick, brothy, beany and very good.
A beautiful book to drool over. ;-)
December 31, 2021
I haven’t reviewed a book in years but this one is so frustrating that my only recourse is to write a bad review. After trying a handful of recipes in this book, having them all come out disappointing I have concluded, someone should not be allowed to write a cookbook just because their dad is famous.
May 3, 2013
Simple recipes, simple ingredients. Nothing really that tempted my palate. The photography was really great though. I think I enjoyed the photos of the food more than the recipes.
July 26, 2013
There wasn't anything new to me in this cookbook, but then I read a lot of cookbooks. If you're looking to start doing meatless Monday, these are some painless and tasty things to start with.
July 30, 2013
One of the very prettiest cookbooks I've ever seen. I'll be honest I totally judge cookbooks by their pictures :) doesn't even really matter to me if the recipes aren't great, just the pictures.
November 11, 2021
A nice collection of vegetarian recipes. The photography is brilliant.
March 19, 2022
Lots of good recipes, but many of these are not new to me. I read too many cookbooks.
May 28, 2013
Here is a colourful book that sets out to provide a range of "home cooking" recipes for vegetarians as well as, perhaps providing a bit of an introduction to meat-free eating for those who still have rather outdated views towards vegetarianism.
In case you think the name might be familiar, you are right - Mary McCartney grew up with vegetarian cooking, worked with her mother on her range of vegetarian cookbooks and has been a consultant on the brand for Linda McCartney Foods for over a decade. After a brief introduction the reader is presented with various "cooking notes" that provide a few hints and tips that might be of most use to the "vegetarian virgin" and then it is straight on to the recipes.
But fear not. This is a book for cooking, not campaigning.
The recipes themselves are split into a few chapters for breakfast & brunch; snacks & sandwiches; soups, salads & starters; mains; basics & sides and desserts and baking. Everything is surrounded by a wide range of inspirational, scene-setting photographs and the design is relatively clean, fresh and accessible. It is particularly good to see quality food photography as this can help sway over the more sceptical, reluctant reader to try vegetarian food and see that it is not just mushed up vegetables and boring soups (!).
There is a good, broad range of different dishes and, of course, at times "meat substitutes" come into play such as the Shepherd's Pie. A book like this could be particularly of use where one or more people in the family follow a vegetarian diet and yet other family members can still eat relatively familiar dishes together without needing to make two versions! Vegetarian mince is never going to be meat mince, but nonetheless… Some of the recipes look as if they have cut back on the seasoning but it is easier to add a bit more to suit an individual's taste rather than take it away afterwards.
An index at the rear is fairly comprehensive and it lets you search by recipe and by key ingredient type. And that's about it. One common complaint about vegetarian books is (by vegetarians) that the range of dishes can often be limited or that the ingredients are not always an appreciated substitution. If that sort of thing is really important to you, check this book out before purchase. But as a general introduction, particularly to a non vegetarian, this did seem to provide a great amount of possibilities and a broad encouragement to try something vegetarian from time to time. It won't necessarily convert this reviewer and neither is that the goal, but if it even helps sway opinion a smidgeon…?
Food, written by Mary McCartney and published by Chatto & Windus. ISBN 9780701186258, 234 pages. Typical price: GBP20. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
In case you think the name might be familiar, you are right - Mary McCartney grew up with vegetarian cooking, worked with her mother on her range of vegetarian cookbooks and has been a consultant on the brand for Linda McCartney Foods for over a decade. After a brief introduction the reader is presented with various "cooking notes" that provide a few hints and tips that might be of most use to the "vegetarian virgin" and then it is straight on to the recipes.
But fear not. This is a book for cooking, not campaigning.
The recipes themselves are split into a few chapters for breakfast & brunch; snacks & sandwiches; soups, salads & starters; mains; basics & sides and desserts and baking. Everything is surrounded by a wide range of inspirational, scene-setting photographs and the design is relatively clean, fresh and accessible. It is particularly good to see quality food photography as this can help sway over the more sceptical, reluctant reader to try vegetarian food and see that it is not just mushed up vegetables and boring soups (!).
There is a good, broad range of different dishes and, of course, at times "meat substitutes" come into play such as the Shepherd's Pie. A book like this could be particularly of use where one or more people in the family follow a vegetarian diet and yet other family members can still eat relatively familiar dishes together without needing to make two versions! Vegetarian mince is never going to be meat mince, but nonetheless… Some of the recipes look as if they have cut back on the seasoning but it is easier to add a bit more to suit an individual's taste rather than take it away afterwards.
An index at the rear is fairly comprehensive and it lets you search by recipe and by key ingredient type. And that's about it. One common complaint about vegetarian books is (by vegetarians) that the range of dishes can often be limited or that the ingredients are not always an appreciated substitution. If that sort of thing is really important to you, check this book out before purchase. But as a general introduction, particularly to a non vegetarian, this did seem to provide a great amount of possibilities and a broad encouragement to try something vegetarian from time to time. It won't necessarily convert this reviewer and neither is that the goal, but if it even helps sway opinion a smidgeon…?
Food, written by Mary McCartney and published by Chatto & Windus. ISBN 9780701186258, 234 pages. Typical price: GBP20. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
September 12, 2013
There is much to love about Mary McCartney's cookbook Food, though there are some oddly irritating aspects. The photography is lovely, the dishes are simple, easy to follow and consistent. The use of spices and other seasonings is on the subtle to bland side, though, obviously one can adjust up. Because for the most part the recipes are simple and towards subtle side in flavor there is plenty of room for adjustments for personal and family tastes. Everything I have tried has been easy to make and savory. There are some odd ingredients; I am surprised to see her asking for things such as canned lentils and other canned beans rather than dried. She seems to use an awful lot of soy sauce. She also has a seeming love affair with onions, the quiche calls for 6! Some measures are off. The shortcrust pastry was far to dry to hold together, the quiche that is suppose to fit in a 9' -10" dish overflows the dish. I was able to make a quiche and several mini-quiches. Many of the names are irksome. Arty's Chocolate Chip cookies? Arty is her son. That's cute and all, but I can't go around calling them that. Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies is what I would call them. There are wonderful with the orange zest. And a quiche with 6 onions should not be called Cheesy Quiche. There are 6 onions!
Strong points: well organized, great photograph, not too chatty, simple flavorful recipes that are easy to adjust for preferences.
Strong points: well organized, great photograph, not too chatty, simple flavorful recipes that are easy to adjust for preferences.
February 5, 2015
I keep coming back to the lemon cupcakes and the veggie hotpot. I am such a fan of the author's mother. Linda McCartney inspired me to try vegetarian food in the 80's and I'm hooked on healthy eating as an integral part of my life because of it. Every recipe I've tried is spot on. Unlike veganomicon (thumbs down) there's nothing to change with each recipe. We must have similar tastes. got this from the library then went and bought a copy.
May 14, 2013
Accessible recipes that range from easy to sorta complicated. I marked several to make and have tried two - one of which was not soup! Will try other things from this as the recipes were creative and not the routine stuff I see in a lot of veggie cookbooks.
June 28, 2013
I adore this cookbook. For once, a cookbook described as simple and tasty is actually both simple and tasty. I will make every recipe in this book because they sound delicious and easy and I won't have to venture from my usual supermarket to find the necessary ingredients. Yay!
July 25, 2013
Yes, Mary is from THAT McCartney family; daughter of Paul and Linda, sister to Stella...
Full of beautiful color photographs and wonderful, never boring-looking vegetarian recipes that reflect Mary's British/American roots.
Full of beautiful color photographs and wonderful, never boring-looking vegetarian recipes that reflect Mary's British/American roots.
December 14, 2014
Sumptuous food photography, great everyday recipes. I love, love that she had to make these memorized recipes and jot them down to write this cookbook. That is the best way to cook, to know how to make things with what is in the pantry. Glad to learn some new ones.
July 23, 2015
I go to this cookbook often. As someone who is mainly vegetarian, I find these recipes to be easy to make and easy to tweak should I desire a little variation. The photographs are plentiful and gorgeous, and so far everything I've made from this book has been yummy!
April 27, 2013
vegetarian
May 22, 2013
I tried several recipes and they were very good. Easy to follow with pretty mainstream ingredients.
May 24, 2013
Some good recipes.
November 16, 2013
Quite a lot of fillers, both twee photos and not-really-recipe recipes... but a couple of things to try out - my flatmate and I are having the coconut rice pudding tomorrow.
June 5, 2014
Great book, simple recipes and amazing pictures!
¡La comida entra por los ojos!
¡La comida entra por los ojos!
March 20, 2014
This is a cookbook with simple vegetarian recipes, the type of food one would actually cook using fresh ingredients. The photos are wonderful.
March 29, 2014
I rarely buy cook books but this book was honestly way too beautiful to pass up! It is so elegant and beautiful and a real piece of beauty.
June 23, 2014
Gorgeous photos!
March 23, 2015
Vegetarian recipes simple enough to add to your weekly menu. Beautiful photos.
June 28, 2013
Love the pictures, excited to try some recipes. Not weird vegetarian food.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews