This bright, colourful and comprehensive book contains “not only our favourite recipes from Meals Without Meat, Meals Without Red Meat, and Very Easy Vegetarian, but also…. recipes from our other books, magazine and newspaper columns.” In true Holst style, the recipes in The Ultimate Vegetarian Collection cover a wide range of categories, are accompanied by numerous photographs, and seem very achievable, making you want to whip up a few right now.
Chapters cover breakfasts, finger foods, soups, lunches, salads, vegetables, eggs/cheese, pasta, rice and grains, beans/pulses, pies/pastries, breads/muffins, cakes/cookies, desserts/sweets.
I’m liking
Everything! I love the way that Holst family recipes don’t require you to go out to specialist shops for ingredients, or need half a day in the kitchen. I can really imagine making these recipes, and more importantly, eating them with my family. I made pikelets with the pineapple waffle mixture for the kids’ afternoon tea the first day I got this book. The vegetarian loaves, quiches and potato bakes are firm favourites already from my tattered copy of Meals Without Meat. I can’t wait for winter to try the hot breakfast ideas. And I’ve just stocked up on sesame seeds to try the three different muesli bar recipes on one page.
I also like the colourful photos in this book, and the page at the front listing the ‘cupboard basics’ that you’ll need on hand. I just noticed now that the page corners are colour-coded by chapter, which is pretty cool.
Things that made me go hmmmm
My biggest loss so far is that it doesn’t have my favourite quick bread recipe from Meals Without Meat! On a more general level, there aren’t any time indications given for the recipes so you need to read through and estimate yourself. There is also no consideration for allergies or intolerances, which is increasingly rare for a modern cookbook – perhaps it would have been worth introducing a few symbols to show which are gluten-, egg- or dairy-free?
The conclusion
This book is fantastic for anyone who enjoys easy, family-friendly recipes, even if you are not vegetarian. It’s great for cooking for a vegetarian friend or family member, having a meat-free meal once or twice a week, or catering for a mixture of vegetarian and omnivorous guests. Main meals aside, it’s worth a look for the breakfast, snack and baking ideas alone!
