Tassajara Cookbook: Lunches, Picnics & Appetizers

by Karla Oliveira, Patrick Tregenza (Photographer)

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the legendary Buddhist monastery set deep in California's Ventana Wilderness, is famous for its healthy gourmet vegetarian cuisine. Guests are known to rave about one particular Tassajara tradition: the bag lunch. Tassajara Cookbook shares these never-before-published recipes for savory sandwich spreads, pâtés and loaves, egg and tofu sandwich fillings, salads, chutneys, sauces, marinades, and butters, as well as recipes for baked goods and sweet treats.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Vegetarian, Food and Drink, Nonfiction

201 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 7, 2007

Reviews

[Dusica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Beautifully illustrated. Passed it on as a great gift 🎁 for vegetarian lovers.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first saw this book, I thought "oh, they made a nicer version of Ed Brown's Tassajara cookbook". Much to my surprise, it's a completely different cookbook. Tassajara is a Zen Buddhist monastic center in the rugged Carmel Valley mountains. During the summer, Tassajara is open to the public and offers various workshop and retreats. The food is nothing short of amazing - it's vegetarian heaven. Even though I went there a few years ago, I still dream about the sumptuous "bag lunch" spread. You go into this room about mid-morning or so and help yourself to various breads, spreads, veggies, tofu, fruits, and cookies to make yourself a nice picnic lunch. When I picked up Ed Brown's cookbook, I was a little disappointed to see that many of my favorite "bag lunch" offers were missing. I'm no longer disappointed with this cookbook! I've already made several of my favorites (mushroom almond pate, artichoke frittata, cilantro pesto) and marked several more to make, including the tasty and delicate shortbread cookies that I still dream about. There are plenty of recipes accompanied by beautiful photos to keep you busy making tasty sandwiches, salads, and cookies. The following is a list of chapters:

Dairy Spreads
Vegan Spreads
Pates and Loaves
Tofu, Tempeh and Egg Salad Fillings
Chutneys, Sauces and Salsas
Marinades for Tofu, Tempeh, and Vegetables
Salads, Dressings, Pickles and Relish
Dairy Cookies
Vegan Cookies and Sweets

[LemontreeLime · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore the ideas inside this one.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already have several of my mother's old Tassajara cookbooks. Some orange-chocolate chip cookies* from a certain day-trip there stand out in my memory. When I saw this book and the photographs, somehow more seductive and modern than the older books (although I do love them too), I had to have it.
I neglected to read the entire title though. I saw Tassajara Cookbook but not the subtitle Lunches, Picnics, and Appetizers. But that doesn't matter. The recipes are a little repetitive and pretty simple, but they sound delicious to me, and useful. They encourage improvisation too, substitutions, variations. I'm eager to try them. And most of the ingredients are handy enough that you'd already have them in your pantry.

Lots of vegetarian pâtés, spreads, loaves, chutneys, marinades, tofu, salads and dressings, granolas. And cookies! Dairy and vegan. The first ones to bake will be Sesame Cookies.

Strange that a Nieman-Marcus cookie recipe is included in a Tassajara cookbook but I've heard these are supposed to be really good.

On p. 189 is a handy Sugar Substitution Chart.

*Aha! See p. 199!

[Mary Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just received this book as a gift--and what a gift it is! It contains tons of vegetarian and vegan recipes from the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. The recipes are primarily those you'd make for lunch, or a spread for brunch.

BUT! The best part of this book is the section at the end for "creating your own moveable feast." Gives ideas for spread and chutney use, ideas for lunch bringers like myself, lots of helpful hints. I can't wait to give these babies a whirl.

Also, it's filled with amazing, gorgeous shots of the center and the food, as well as inspiring Zen Buddhist quotes.

[Sps · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely photographs that only increase my desire to go to Tassajara and ever-so-mindfully eat garlicky sandwiches while gazing at a simple wooden bridge.

Last year I made a vegan version of the artichoke frittata (p.29) frequently, the basil-lime-pepita pesto, and some of their marinades for tofu and tempeh.

Still to try: fennel mustard butter (p.28) over vegetables, the North African Lemon Dressing (p. 147), an agave version of the honey-mustard tofu (p.126). several of the eggplant spreads (p. 38-39) and cookies, especially the chocolate-peppermint (p.200).

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Placing this book in the "read" shelf is a misnomer, this will forever be in my kitchen as it is wonderful. As a Buddhist I was knew of Tassajara Buddhist Monastery in California and Ezby Browns video and book on baking but this is a leap forward from that book. It has wonderful vegetarian recipies that are anything but ho-hum, bland or boring. All the recipies are proven in that the visitors to the retreat center have chosen their favourites over the years and most of them are here. Lovely photos and great variety!

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

i just made the Artichoke-Walnut Spread from this book and remembered why I like it so much. I need to try more of the many recipes I have tagged in this one.

Here's a link to the dip recipe from my blog: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/se...

[Avispon · Rating 5 out of 5]

does one ever stop reading a cookbook?

not pure vegan, but some really damn good recipes just as well...

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

page 81, just try it!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring, but some recipes have less-than-perfect instructions.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A- Oh yum. Lots of delicious recipes in this book; lots of classic lunch recipes (and ones with a twist). Some might be time-consuming, but don't you want a lovely lunch?

[Tina Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friends and I had a cooking party and tried a few recipes. AMAZING! Beautifully compiled. Can't wait to get a copy for myself.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this cookbook so much, that I bought a used one off Amazon. I tried the Sun-dried tomato hummus and the coucous and both turned out perfect and delicious - can't wait to try more!

[Andy Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laura, this is a damn fine cookbook!