• Eat Your Books

  2001 James Beard Award Winner International Association of Culinary Professionals Award Winner

• Agavegal on May 18, 2021

  I made the Boston-Style “Baked Beans”, pg 254 and the Balsamic Glazed Beets and greens pg115. This is one of the best meals I have ever made! The beans are cooked in a pressure cooker rather than baked, I used my Instant Pot and they came out great.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Apple, fennel, and walnut soup

  • jenburkholder on August 26, 2022

    Kind of an odd taste on this one. The flavors didn't blend as well as I had hoped, and it turned out sweet but also flat. A bit of doctoring with lemon improved it, but didn't make it something worth trying again.

• Three sisters stew with corn dumplings

  • jenburkholder on October 20, 2020

    This was delicious, and the masa dumplings were marvelous - I'll definitely snag them for other things. We used sweet potatoes instead of squash, but otherwise made more or less as written. The sage is what brings it all together, and it isn't at all musty. It's not quick per se, but not unreasonable at all for a stew, and it's the whole meal, no sides required. Warm, cozy, and healthy - strong recommendation.

  • wkhull on November 20, 2022

    This was very good, but I found the corn dumplings were dense, bland, and unnecessary. We found that crushed tortillas as a garnish were much more tasty.

• Black bean and bell pepper chili with seitan

  • jenburkholder on February 15, 2021

    A fine, but not exceptional chili. I cut down the corn (don't really care for it) and added some New Mexican chile powder in addition to the chipotle, as I felt like it didn't have enough chile flavor. I also used dried Mexican oregano instead of fresh, threw some kale in at the end, and only used half the amount of seitan (still made an enormous quantity of chili). Again, fine, but before the edits it was bland, and I've made much better chilis. Bonus points for being quite healthy - so much bell pepper and plant-based protein!

• Hearts of romaine with creamy miso dressing

  • chezmaryb on July 07, 2024

    This is so good! I can't imagine why others rated low. I used a lot less oil than called for and it definitely didn't need all of it. I also don't think that parsley added much here. Otherwise it was perfection.

• Roasted peppers with red wine vinegar, thyme, and olive oil

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    Very simple, but the flavors are well-calibrated. Obviously, you can use whatever peppers you want, and we used only red. Delicious.

• Pan-seared summer squash

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    Probably my favorite summer squash treatment. Simple, versatile, and so flavorful. Tastes like summer.

• Candied yams

  • captious on July 30, 2013

    This is a very sweet recipe, but it's certainly tasty. It's great for Thanksgiving or other special occasions, but for a more everyday kind of dish I tend to decrease the amounts of oil and maple syrup. The recipe says to keep the pan uncovered the whole time and baste the sweet potatoes every 15 minutes, but that’s just too much work for me. Instead I cover the pan for the first half, uncover, flip, and finish cooking. Or sometimes I don't cover it at all but just flip the pieces a few times to keep the top half (which isn't submerged in liquid) from drying out. Sometimes the sweet potatoes are fully cooked but the liquid hasn't reduced to a true glaze. I just spoon the extra sauce on top when I served the potatoes. Sometimes when I'm feeling lazy I don't fully peel the sweet potatoes. It's not quite as fancy but still very tasty and a bit more nutritious.

• Sautéed broccoli with garlic

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    This is exactly what it is - sautéed cruciferous vegetables. Nothing to fault with the instructions.

• Spicy roasted cauliflower with sweet peppers and cumin

  • bethhanson on November 02, 2010

    this is one of my favorite recipes - have made it many time and it always gets compliments

• Asian-style greens with sesame, ginger, and soy sauce

  • robdurante on January 20, 2024

    page 136

• Rigatoni with cauliflower, pine nuts, and raisins

  • Tamaran on August 11, 2015

    great quick pasta recipe that really enhances the cauliflower.

• Whole wheat fusilli with Swiss chard and balsamic-roasted onions

  • Astrid5555 on March 03, 2020

    Subbed baby spinach for Swiss chard and penne for fusilli. Husband really enjoyed it, while it was too acidic for my taste, would use less vinegar for roasting the onions. Nevertheless, good vegan pasta dish for lent.

• Quinoa salad

  • Couture911 on August 31, 2012

    This is so good. I looked forward to eating it every day until it was gone. Then I made another batch to share with my mom. We both loved it! It feels like it uses a few too many pots/pans/kitchen tools. I would streamline it a tiny bit by cooking the quinoa in my rice cooker/steamer and steam the corn and onion in the steamer basket at the same time. I also streamlined it by buying my pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds already toasted.

• Wild rice salad amandine

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    This made a nice lunchbox. With that much balsamic, though, it did end up a bit sweet, so I would use part something else. I substituted dried cherries for the currants.

• Autumn quinoa risotto with pumpkin and sage

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    I liked the idea of quinoa-rice blend risotto, but this actual dish wasn’t very good. Quite bland, and the timing wasn’t even close to accurate.

• Smothered beans

  • britt on September 20, 2010

    The headnote made this dish sound so delicious that after my first attempt failed, I tried twice to make it again. I never managed to turn out anything worth eating. I don't know what went wrong. I have successfully cooked beans and greens many times, albeit never the way this recipe directs.

• Chickpea bouillabaisse

  • marieezz on April 22, 2026

    Yummy. Would have been better with the spicy sauce recommended.

• Refried beans

  • gastronom on March 28, 2015

    Very tasty refried beans with good-for-you fat, olive oil.

• Sweet ginger tofu

  • happyeater on May 20, 2011

    This is my go to quick and easy baked tofu. No marinating need. Just mix the liquid ingredients in the 3 qt pyrex dish you'll be using for baking, add the sliced tofu and in the oven. So easy and tasty.

• Chickpea flour crêpes with tofu and roasted vegetables

  • mlbatt on May 24, 2018

    Great flavors. I had some trouble with the crepes; after 2 failed turns, I added an egg (I made 1/2 recipe), which helped them stay together. I used my hand blender to mash the tofu, which gave it a more ricotta-like texture and added about a tablespoon of nutritional yeast for flavor. Overall, a great recipe, it's not as complicated as it seems at first. Next time, I would chop the roasted vegetables smaller for easier eating. Will make again! (I put some of the leftover tofu on toast for breakfast the next day. Yum!). I calculated about 450 calories per serving.

• Spicy stir-fried broccoli rabe with lemon-basil tofu

  • Astrid5555 on June 17, 2014

    Only made the lemon-basil tofu part of the recipe with a side of Kamut cosucous. The marinade imparts a lovely summery Italian flavor to the tofu. Excellent contrast to other Asian tofu recipes.

• Tofu in garlic-thyme vinaigrette

  • Astrid5555 on November 29, 2012

    Delicious! I really love Peter Berley's method of marinating and baking the tofu instead of pan-frying it. This really adds a new dimension of flavor to it.

• Tofu in white wine, mustard, and dill

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    I really enjoyed this, although not everyone did. Dense and flavorful, reminded me of lunchmeat in the best way. Good in a sandwich.

• Spanakopita

  • lajaxon on July 19, 2015

    This is an easy way to have "fun with phyllo." It's also a good recipe to make for non vegetarians/vegans. An easy and tasty way to use lots of greens.

• Barbecued tempeh sandwich filling

  • britt on September 21, 2010

    I've also successfully substituted smoked paprika for the chipotle. I prefer the chipotle version, but if you are cooking for the heat sensitive ...

  • happyeater on May 20, 2011

    Not a big tempeh fan but this is delicious and great with cole slaw. Was convinced to make this when an audience member at a Peter Berley cooking demo told me she made this for her retirement home residents. Love the chipotle.

• Tempeh and vegetables braised in a spicy lemon-coconut broth

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    Tasty, even for tempeh non-fans. The caraway was unexpected but worked well, With some rice, it’s a complete meal. Would make again.

• Sweet-and-sour tempeh with spicy peanut sauce

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    The tempeh itself was fine, but this isn’t a very good peanut sauce. Very sweet, without enough heat and tang.

  • pantherred on February 13, 2021

    Excellent all round marinated tempeh recipe. Can use in multiple dishes.

• Nori maki

  • lajaxon on August 21, 2015

    Good vegetarian/vegan friendly sushi variation. Instructions for cooking the sushi rice didn't work for my rice cooker, but it all turned out well in the end!

• Beer-braised seitan with sauerkraut and onions

  • jenburkholder on August 03, 2020

    Not very good. One-note and his suggested size chunks of seitan didn’t blend well into the stew. Edible, but not a repeat.

• Basic vegan skillet corn bread

  • britt on March 25, 2011

    This is a great vegan cornbread, but I imagine that there are better cornbread recipes if vegan isn't a requirement.

• Spicy-hot curry powder

  • wkhull on November 10, 2025

    I know this is sacrilegious, but omitting the turmeric in this recipe, I finally found a curry powder I love.

• Toasted pumpkin seed

  • jenburkholder on August 17, 2020

    This is obviously something that barely needs a recipe, but it’s worth noting that 15 minutes is WAY too long for roasting, and you will have sad little charred nubbins instead of delicious toasty seeds.

• Chocolate chip brownies

  • cilantrolime on June 29, 2020

    Not enough batter to fill a 12x17” pan. It came out as a huge cookie. Tastes great though.