Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers: Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table

Moosewood is a collective (group of equal workers taking on roles in a business.) In this case it's a long-standing restaurant in Ithaca, NY and the past members include the well-known Molly Katzen. But long after Katzen went solo, Moosewood continued on running the restaurant and producing books. This one is to help the busy working person create good but simple suppers on weeknights--the aim to avoid the trap of ordering takeout which is almost never as healthy for you.The recipes are not vegan, are mostly vegetarian but include fish. Meat and poultry are not their thing. If you've read previous Moosewood books, this is no surprise and the book is very much in their unique style.Some great things: a tortilla tomato soup, utterly easy. It recommends a can of diced tomatoes, and I find that diced tomatoes these days are adulterated with some kind of thickener or preservative that makes them less juicy so I'd sub a small can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes and squeeze out the seeds and chop on a board, takes a few seconds more and the result will be highly improved. The soups in general are the winner here, easy but very filling and satisfying. When Vegetable Broth is specified, look for "Imagine Broth" if your store carries it. I use it a lot when I haven't frozen any homemade vegetable broth. It is very good and flavorful.The Vegetarian Reuben is a disappointment. It's packaged coleslaw mix and melted Swiss cheese. The Moosewood has a recipe in past years for a vegetarian Reuben made of tempeh (an Indonesian fermented soybean cake, often found in the produce section of the grocery store by the tofu.) This is a firm and nutty flavored protein that pan fries up really well and when layered on rye with sauerkraut, Russian dressing and fried onions (you fry them, not the canned stuff) you get an amazing sandwich. I don't even bother with the cheese. The new recipe in this book is far less pleasing. There is a variation with baked tofu. Still no prize.The seafood recipes are very good; Moroccan spiced fish, seafood orzo, miso glazed salmon. The quesadillas are also good (refried beans or mash your own black or pinto beans and cheese) are similar to a recipe I've used as a go-to pantry standard for years.Sides dishes (some of which light eaters would just have on their own), simple pastas and a few desserts round it out.If you like services like Blue Apron, Plated or Purple Carrot, this can be a less-expensive alternative and there is a section on what to stock in your pantry and fridge to be able to whip these up with fresh stuff you buy.

I’ve owned several Moosewood Collective cookbooks over the years. They really helped bring “vegetarian” food into a more “fine dining” universe with interesting and creative recipes. Many of their earlier books are full of recipes that are complex creations with long lists of ingredients that can take hours to prepare.Most home cooks aren’t really interested in spending hours in the kitchen — heck, many of us don’t HAVE hours to spend in the kitchen. So I was intrigued to see a cookbook specifically designed as “Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table.” OK … let’s see what this means.Overall, I really like this fresh take on the Moosewood tradition of fresh and natural foods. Reading through the book, I’m finding a number of recipes that I will make — recipes featuring produce that I can find locally with interesting and creative flavor combinations. Nothing too fussy or complicated, either — just good fairly simple flavor combinations that work.My usual practice is to prepare 3 recipes from each cookbook I review, and I followed that practice here. My three recipes:Greek Frittata:I reduced this recipe by half to make one largish serving, and added a small side salad with feta and olives. This is a really basic, but tasty!, frittata of spinach, oregano, tomato, garlic/scallions, and feta cheese. The tomatoes and cheese are added near the end of cooking sot hat they’re warmed and the cheese melted. I liked this a lot — took only about 15 minutes total cook time (prep adds maybe another 5-10 minutes), so it’s really fast to put together. Basic, yes, but certainly tasty. Will make again.Moroccan Spiced Fish:I decided to use some local salmon for this, and followed the suggestion of letting the fish marinate in the spice mix/garlic/cilantro/oil/lemon juice mixture for a couple of hours. The recipe for the Moroccan Spice Mix is included in the book, and can be used on veggies, meat, etc. It’s a tasty combination of cumin, ginger or cinnamon (I used both), paprika, turmeric, pepper and salt). After seasoning with the mixture, the fish is simply baked at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes. Once baked, you can eat it as is as a main dish, stuff it into a pita, make fish tacos, or add it to a stew. Versatile and VERY tasty. I’ll make this again, and I’ll be using the spice mix in other dishes as well. Good stuff!Riesling Roasted Pears:I just got a bunch of fresh pears in this week’s CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) basket. I had 4 lovely bosc pears, so I reduced the recipe by half (it calls for 8 pears). I also had some Moscato wine in the fridge — the recipe calls for Riesling “or other sweet white wine” — so perfect! You make a sauce with the wine, zest & juice of lemon and orange, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, sugar, and whole cloves, then pour it over the pears sitting upright in a baking dish. Bake for awhile in a 375 degree oven, basting occasionally with the sauce, until pears are softish. Oh my — this is REALLY good. Really REALLY good. Definitely will make this again — it’s so easy and tastes much “fancier” than it would seem just from reading the recipe.So there it is — lots of good possibilities here for using local fresh ingredients. Really nice addition to my cookbook collection -- solid 4 stars: I like it!

I've had a copy of this cookbook for years and used it almost every day. When a friend borrowed it some time ago and then said she lost it, I was dismayed. Since the book is currently out of print, I was happy to find a good used copy here. Every recipe is a winner, and this is one of my favorite cookbooks ever. I also use and love two of the collective's other books, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites and Moosewood Restaurant Favorites. Absolutely terrific, none of the Moosewood cookbooks should ever be allowed to go out of print.

Got this used and it was surprisingly very much like new.The recipes are very simple and easy to follow. Not all of them have pictures so if you don't like that, look for another book. The recipes aren't too innovative but I find them helpful still.

Have tried two recipes so far, both were huge winners, and we are VERY picky. Both were Tofu based. It's rare for me to find two recipes right off the bat that go into our weekly repertoire but this is definately impressive. Don't really want to try any of the other cookbooks sitting on my electronic shelf right now.

I first got this recipe book from our library, and liked it so much that I had to buy it. The recipes are relatively simple, and where a more difficult ingredient is needed, the recipe tells you where to get it or how to make it or how to substitute. It covers the gamut from salads and soups to deserts, and is especially good for vegetarians. Actually, all recipes are vegetarian, but our non-vegetarian friends also enjoyed the meals very much.Note that many of the recipes are ethnic - Chinese, Korean, Southwestern Native American, Indian, Japanese, Hungarian etc. etc.Highly recommended.

In great condition, I am very pleased.