What do you think?
Rate this book
Cooking With Herb: The Vegetarian Dragon
Offers recipes for vegetarian pasta, soup, breads, main dishes, desserts, and other foods, including dragonian quesadillas, veggie sailboats, and sweet pepper flowers
40 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1999
70 people want to read
About the author
Jules Bass
4 books4 followersJULES BASS has produced several animated films, including The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, as well as several hit animated television shows such as ThunderCats. Jules has written two children's books for Barefooot Books: Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon and Cooking With Herb. They have been translated into seven languages and reprinted in paperback. Herb received a "Pick Of The Lists" from American Bookseller, Lifeworks Magazine's the "Real Life Award," IRA-CBC "Children's Choices Award", "top-of-the-children's list" at American Book Sellers Association. The London Times called Herb one of the best books of the season. It was short-listed for the Kate Greenaway Award and praised by Paul McCartney as: "A magical read for all new thinkers, young and old..." Herb made his television debut on The Food Network.
Bass' new novel for middle-grade readers from Eltanin Publishing, The Mythomaniacs, takes place in Devon, in the south-west of England, and from there transports the reader into many worlds of fantasy including a quest that leads back to Arthurian times.
To learn more please visit www.julesbass.com
Bass' new novel for middle-grade readers from Eltanin Publishing, The Mythomaniacs, takes place in Devon, in the south-west of England, and from there transports the reader into many worlds of fantasy including a quest that leads back to Arthurian times.
To learn more please visit www.julesbass.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 2, 2019
Interestingly. the author of this book is one-half of the creative team behind those Rankin-Bass holiday specials we all know and love, and like those classic shows, COOKING WITH HERB is colorful, upbeat, and instantly engages with kids.
There are plenty of reasons to eat more plant-based meals, and this laid-back cookbook could work for vegetarian families, omnivorous families with a vegetarian child, or meat-eating families to incorporate more veggie foods into their routine. The recipes vary in simplicity, but none are too complicated for family dinner night. The dishes featured are things kids would enjoy. COOKING WITH HERB uses familiar and easily-bought ingredients, unlike a lot of modern cookbooks--even those marketed to kids.
The heavy reliance on non-meat animal products dates this cookbook to an earlier era when vegetarians thought they had to consume lots of milk and eggs to be healthy, which we now know is not the case. Most of the recipes call for dairy and/or eggs, and while it's easy to use vegan substitutions, this is not highlighted in the text. The few vegetarian specialty products are also old-school (think TVP), and don’t reflect the variety of convenience products we have today.
I disagree with the other reviewer who feels that this book is pushy about a vegetarian diet. There is nothing in COOKING WITH HERB that struck me as even remotely heavy-handed. The content the reviewer refers to is on a single page, the introduction, and it is in fact one of the most laid-back intros to vegetarianism I've encountered.
The author states that various respected medical and dietary organizations have approved of a well-balanced vegetarian diet as healthful, which is true, and important information for parents to have. It also reassures new veggies not to worry if they have a slip-up--and for eaters of every stripe to treat one another with respect and not put anyone down for their food choices. That should be one thing that everyone at the table can agree with.
There are plenty of reasons to eat more plant-based meals, and this laid-back cookbook could work for vegetarian families, omnivorous families with a vegetarian child, or meat-eating families to incorporate more veggie foods into their routine. The recipes vary in simplicity, but none are too complicated for family dinner night. The dishes featured are things kids would enjoy. COOKING WITH HERB uses familiar and easily-bought ingredients, unlike a lot of modern cookbooks--even those marketed to kids.
The heavy reliance on non-meat animal products dates this cookbook to an earlier era when vegetarians thought they had to consume lots of milk and eggs to be healthy, which we now know is not the case. Most of the recipes call for dairy and/or eggs, and while it's easy to use vegan substitutions, this is not highlighted in the text. The few vegetarian specialty products are also old-school (think TVP), and don’t reflect the variety of convenience products we have today.
I disagree with the other reviewer who feels that this book is pushy about a vegetarian diet. There is nothing in COOKING WITH HERB that struck me as even remotely heavy-handed. The content the reviewer refers to is on a single page, the introduction, and it is in fact one of the most laid-back intros to vegetarianism I've encountered.
The author states that various respected medical and dietary organizations have approved of a well-balanced vegetarian diet as healthful, which is true, and important information for parents to have. It also reassures new veggies not to worry if they have a slip-up--and for eaters of every stripe to treat one another with respect and not put anyone down for their food choices. That should be one thing that everyone at the table can agree with.
February 16, 2016
My 8 year old picked this book up and the library and was excited to make the Rosemary Pan Bread. While the bread did turn out (and was delicious), the recipe itself was missing a few minor, but critical details (in an effort to be brief, I suppose). For instance, the recipe failed to mention that you should grease the bowl before placing the dough in it to rise. As a bread baker, I knew this (and instructed my son to do so), but someone who has never made bread would have a huge mess on their hands.
The book begins with a page describing "what is vegetarian". It is good info for children, but then begins slowly trying to recruit children to a vegetarian diet. They mention that several agencies have backed a vegetarian diet for children and gives tips on how children can convert to a vegetarian diet. As a parent, this rubs me the wrong way. While I have no problem making vegetarian dishes from time to time, I believe that children should eat what the parents prepare. Yes, they can have some input; yes, they can have a night or two a week when they cook; but I know I wouldn't be making a separate meal everyday, because my 8 year old decided he was vegetarian. (Also noting, my kids like steak and bacon too much to eat vegetarian - my kid chose to make bread from this book - ha)
Looking over the recipes in general, I was disappointed at how little protein was present in most of the dishes. It basically a big carb-fest, with some veggie only dishes and a few that use "textured protein crumbles". If my child is truly interested in vegetarian cooking, I would hope that the recipes would include eggs or beans or other unprocessed sources of protein.
The book begins with a page describing "what is vegetarian". It is good info for children, but then begins slowly trying to recruit children to a vegetarian diet. They mention that several agencies have backed a vegetarian diet for children and gives tips on how children can convert to a vegetarian diet. As a parent, this rubs me the wrong way. While I have no problem making vegetarian dishes from time to time, I believe that children should eat what the parents prepare. Yes, they can have some input; yes, they can have a night or two a week when they cook; but I know I wouldn't be making a separate meal everyday, because my 8 year old decided he was vegetarian. (Also noting, my kids like steak and bacon too much to eat vegetarian - my kid chose to make bread from this book - ha)
Looking over the recipes in general, I was disappointed at how little protein was present in most of the dishes. It basically a big carb-fest, with some veggie only dishes and a few that use "textured protein crumbles". If my child is truly interested in vegetarian cooking, I would hope that the recipes would include eggs or beans or other unprocessed sources of protein.
September 30, 2011
The best book to introduce kids to becoming a vegetarian! Very helpful hints and even the teenager picks it up from time to time to make something. We love it at our house a must for kids.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews