Green: Veggie and vegan meals for no-fuss weeks and relaxed weekends

by Elly Curshen

In GREEN, bestselling cookery author Elly Pear shows you how to easily vary veggie and vegan dishes to suit your fancy, with ingenious options to make a meal speedy and simple or a bit more special.

For those wanting to eat more plant-focused meals, GREEN offers over 100 easy recipes developed for either weekdays or weekends, so you’re covered for all days and occasions.

The weekday recipes target speed and ease, and the weekend recipes are for when you have a bit more time and fancy something a bit special.

Weekday offerings include freezable food, no-fuss traybakes and one-pot dishes for when you can’t face washing up or hands-on cooking. A meal prep section will have you sorted for the week ahead. Plus a whole load of meals you can make in 20 minutes for those nights you need great food fast. A whole host of weekend recipes offer sumptuous brunches and seasonal suppers for family and friends. Tuck into:

Harissa chickpeas with za’atar, and baked feta OR with gremolata on toast
Peanut spicy slaw wraps
Stir fried kimchi grains with fried egg
Whipped feta on toast with roasted tomatoes, basil and savoury granola
Rarebit baked baby potatoes with watercress
Vegan BLAT sandwich with umami mayo
Jalapeño brine French toast crumpets

Whether you are already vegetarian or vegan, or just want to eat a bit less meat, GREEN serves up tasty, flexible fare, all of which is meat-free, and half is vegan.

Genres: Cooking, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Vegetarian

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2019

Reviews

[Hilary]

Luckily I had this book out before lockdown, as it’s not due back until April I’ve had plenty of time to use it and it’s started living on the shelf with my cookery books now!

This is a very nice book to look through, very nice colours, the food and the backgrounds. I do wish there was a photo for each of the recipes, some photos don’t show the finished product either.

There are some very interesting recipes. I like the way this book features quite a few recipes aimed a making a larger batch so you can freeze some portions for quick evening meals in the week. These recipes also have a few variant suggestions so you can ring the changes. Elly’s idea of first labelling frozen food (once my daughter mistook frozen parsnip for frozen banana, not nice in a smoothie) and then setting a reminder on your phone when it is getting near it’s use by date is a good one. I like that this book is keen to avoid waste and make healthy eating quick and easy.

The spicy peanut slaw recipe is wonderful, we have had it many times now and everyone has loved it. It’s got a whole rainbow of colours so it looks really attractive and the dressing, which is really simple, is delicious. The rose harrisa chick peas are great, lots of snack ideas and interesting sandwich fillings. I’m a big fan of the Hagsween vegan haggis which you can buy ready made from supermarkets, they are wonderful with roast parsnips and mash, there is a recipe here to use the haggis for small pies which would make great winter party food, I’m really looking forward to trying that, also the herb and seed soda bread is one I want to try soon. The kale and almond pesto was good, the peanut butter and kimchi on toast was an unusual taste but one I think will grow on me!

There’s lots to try in here, many seasonal recipes, it’s been a good one to have over lockdown!

[Hilary]

3.75 stars

At first I thought this wouldn't interest me, there were several egg recipes, one was linguine with marmite and a raw egg yolk mixed in, this is a retch inducing photo, but there were many recipes that looked quite interesting. I liked the sound of spicy peanut slaw and seared tofu wraps. The vegan frittata is definitely one I want to try. The photos are really nice to look through, there is nearly one for each recipe but not quite, some photos show flowers or nice table cloths or empty plates, I do like a cookery book that has a recipe on one page and a photo of the finished product on the other. It was dissapointing that recipes included kimchi and it said that you can find a recipe for kimchi online and it's really easy, I was hoping a recipe would be included. Some nice ideas, if I saw this second hand and it didn't cost too much I would definitely buy it.

Borrowed from my local library.

[Erin]

As a kid, I used to think it was funny that my mom would sit and read a cookbook from cover to cover like a book. As an adult, I’ve picked this habit up too and can now see the appeal. I’m full of inspiration to cook some new veggie dishes 🌱!

[Louise]

Great recipes, practical ideas

This book ticks so many boxes: inspiring veggie & vegan recipes, make-ahead and one-pot meals, seasonal and low-waste ideas, lots of things to make and store, ways to make weekday cooking easier, and meal plans for weekdays and weekends. I loved the way that her last book, Let’s Eat, gave base recipes and then a range of variations to serve things - and this book does the same. So not every variation has its own photo, but most things do, and they are beautiful pictures as well. Well done Elly on a book that is going to become as well-thumbed as the last!

[Lady]

4.5

[Jacqueline]

This is an attractive, bright,, and lovely book filled with delicious sounding, simple recipes using familiar and many less than familiar, ingredients. I like Elly Pear's informal, chatty way of writing, which is encouraging and accessible. I am excited to begin exploring some of her ideas.

[Marina]

I read a lot of cookbooks - see my Goodreads shelf for evidence - but a great many of these recipes include unfamiliar ingredients. Pul Biber, smoked almonds, chermoula - am I the only person not eating chermoula these days?