Fresh Food Fast: Delicious, Seasonal Vegetarian Meals in Under an Hour

by Peter Berley

Fresh Food Fast is a collection of mouthwatering seasonal vegetarian menus that can be created in under an hour, from James Beard and IACP Award–winning chef Peter Berley, a culinary instructor, family man, and chef with a passion for delicious meals that use seasonal produce and are easy to prepare.

In Fresh Food Fast , a Food & Wine Best of the Best Cookbook, Berley provides 48 sophisticated home-cooked vegetarian meals—12 for each season. You’ll find recipes for appetizers, mains, side dishes, and desserts, as well as shopping lists, lavish color photos, and game plans that take you step-by-step through each menu.

“Fast” food does not have to be prepackaged and bland. Peter Berley teaches us how we can live without compromise, enjoying fresh, wholesome meals any day of the week.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Health, Reference, Cooking

304 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad cookbook, but not a great one, either. I'll depart from my normal method of review and bullet-point my assessment.

In its favor:
1. I enjoyed the format. Berley organized his recipes by season, and then configured them into roughly 40 menus. I firmly believe in a menu-based method of cooking rather than specialty dishes.
2. Accessible ingredients. I was skeptical that a "seasonal" cookbook would be practical. In my experience, seasonal cookbooks are usually written by folks who live in California - where everything is seasonal for at least nine months out of the year. Berley had realistic and affordable suggestions for seasonal ingredients that even non-Californians could find relatively easily and purchase without breaking the bank.
3. The pictures. They were lovely. What can I say? I'm a sucker for photos - especially if I'm making something I've never "seen" before (quinoa, fried tempeh, etc.).

Things not in its favor:
1. "Incomplete" Menus. As I skimmed its pages, I realized that only about three of every ten menus would satisfy appetites around here. The meals tend to be very light, which is a great thing for a nation with more obese citizens than overweight citizens (apparently, per NBC Nightly News, Jan. 2009). In my opinion, the majority of these menus are more appropriate for lunch than dinner. And since I rarely if ever put a "menu" together for lunch, this is a negative as far as I'm concerned.
2. Errors. When I say "errors," I really mean "one error, and widespread suspicion of more." There is nothing worse than getting two-thirds of the way through a recipe and discovering that someone forgot to tell you just how much boiling water you were supposed to add. Sloppy.

So, in summation: decent ideas and method, below-average execution.

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still making my way through this one, but all in all I think it is better than his other book, The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. That one has some amazing recipes, but pretty much everything in it has almost an entire page of ingredients, so it is not so practical.

This one however has lots of very simple recipes, arranged by season, and grouped into meals. I'm not super fond of this new grouping by meals thing that cookbooks are doing, but this one is not too obnoxious as far as that whole thing goes.

The lemon lentil soup is AMAZING.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been one of my favorites for 15+ years.

[Hilary Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I have liked everything I've tried in this recipe book. I've tried three different things and have lots more things I'd like to try. One of the recipes was for zucchini and black bean quesadillas, and my older kids actually both liked it!!!! Things I love about this book: It is divided into seasons so you can cook with fruit and veggies that are "in season;" two recipes are provided for each meal; a list of grocery items and staple items needed are provided for each meal along with some tips for preparing each meal's recipes; a lot of the recipes actually use semi-normal ingredients. I just researched this author/chef and discovered he is really popular and has another recipe book that I hope to try out.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the way the cookbook was organized into seasons, and that he uses so many fresh vegetables and fruits in his recipes. I also liked his "Market List", "Equipment", and "Speed Tip" for each menu.

I was disappointed with the recipes. I haven't tried any yet, but there are only about three of them that sound good, and sound like I can make them in under an hour. So many of the recipes require a lot of cutting, chopping, etc. He does recommend taking a knife cutting class or using a food processor. I was also unfamiliar with a lot of ingredients. Maybe someone who is more experience cook would appreciate this book more than I did.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice pick-up for those interested in cooking and making whole meals centered around vegetables, rather than just vegetarian meals posing as regular food (veggie hamburgers, veggie tacos, etc.) The pictures are lovely and the recipes interesting enough to try. Lots of great bean & lentil dishes.

[Dioscita]

It's painful to get a good cookbook from the library then have no time to read or shop for any of the recipes in it over the course of the fleeting time I'm allowed to borrow it. This is precisely what's happened to me with this book; I still can't decide if it's worth buying and having forever (or if Deborah Madison's fabulous books can't suffice in its stead)...

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes - tasty and nutritious. Unless you have professional-level knife skills, though, don't except to be turning our these meals in under an hour. I like how the book is organized for the seasons, making it easy to use what's fresh and local. The meals are easy to prepare and quite delicious. This is one of my favorite go-to books for a yummy meal.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the concept, and the recipes are attractively arranged and photographed; I just didn't find many of them that appealing. Many seemed overly complicated for a so-so result. The few I did try were good, but not great. I was hoping for something along the lines of a vegetarian version of Melissa Clark's Cook This Now - I will have to keep looking.

[Fawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, they may not all take less then an hour, but there are some great creative relatively easy recipes in here---this is one of my most used cookbooks. They are broken up into the four seasons, which I really like since I like to cook with seasonal veggies.

[Anne Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has some great recipes, organized by season. They tend to be healthy and to use produce I ordinarily wouldn't use. So it's been a good way to get outside of my comfort zone and try something new, without having to hunt down obscure ingredients right and left.

[Happyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how this book is set up seasonally and how the recipes are presented as complete menus with shopping lists and timing recommendations. Try the tofu, mango, and black bean menu. I also love the mushroom risotte and kale/cabbage menu.

[Sweet Pea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fresh layout and unique in that it pulls together yummy meals (not just one dish!) that are seasonal and healthy. And, really, reasonable to make after work. A nice addition to your cookshelf, or a good "borrow from the library" book.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find it difficult to be separated from this book for more than a week.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent vegetarian seasonal cookbook

leek, turnip, potato soup was great.

easy lists for shopping, sample meals with "gameplan" provided. Overall super cook book.

[Juliezs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes, well written, great explanations. Complete meals with shopping lists. I like how it is organized by season, which encourages you to shop for seasonal produce.

[Cynthia Paschen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tried the wild mushroom fricasse over farro. Surprise! I love farro! Also tried the red lentil soup with spinach.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book. Every recipe I've tried has been great, and I love that it's set up in seasonal menus. One of my favorites.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

B+ Some really wonderful recipes; I love the way he writes.

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just couldn't connect with this one. None of the recipes seemed fast or easy.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to make every one of these recipes! NOM!!!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good recipes here- though I maintain there is no reason to eat tempeh if you're not starving to death on a deserted island. I'll stick to the all veggie dishes!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't cooked anything from this book just yet so my star review is based on me enjoying reading this, loving that it's arranged by season and menu-based! I'll update this as I cook from the book.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely pictures, but no recipes that called to me.