Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cream of asparagus soup

  • Laura on May 03, 2011

    Pg. 46. This is very simple to make and really pretty good. It says it serves 6, but it only produced 2-1/2 servings for us! Of course, it was the only dish on the menu. If you serve it as a light first course, it would certainly yield more servings. I recommend thinning it quite a bit with water -- on its own it's extremely thick. I would add the water before blending -- by the way, I didn't use a handheld blender -- I put the soup in a Vitamix -- came out super creamy.

• Spring greens with apricot vinaigrette

  • Laura on January 12, 2011

    Pg. 51. Made this last spring. It was tasty and light. However, no apricot flavor came through, only balsamic. I'd maybe try it with a less intense vinegar in the future.

• Watercress, daikon and avocado salad with mustard seed dressing

  • Laura on March 25, 2010

    Pg. 53. This is a lovely, light salad which comes together quite quickly. I did not add the pumpkin seeds simply because I had none on hand. The dressing adds a nice tangy/sweet element. I will certainly make this again.

• Chopped salad with shallot poppy seed dressing

  • Laura on March 24, 2012

    Pg. 54. This is a delightful spring salad. There is a lot of chopping involved, so it's time-consuming, but the end result is fresh, colorful, healthy, and tasty. I did substitute honey for the agave nectar. Served it with broiled salmon and it felt like a complete meal.

• Bok choy and chickpeas with cashews

  • MsMonsoon on June 06, 2024

    I roughly doubled the recipe — and ate the whole thing! Not sure I got the quantities right as I think I had regular bok choy, not baby. Really easy, super healthy, and tasty. A nourishing dish that also feels comforting.

• Mochi dumplings

  • lesliepolk on May 18, 2011

    stuffing these strange "dumplings" (puffed rice squares) is messy and takes some practice, but the filling is beautiful and delicious and it was kind of fun and different. Would make again for a friend or two, but too labor intensive for a crowd.

• Millet black bean patties with corn

  • imaluckyducky on May 31, 2014

    pg 80. Four stars. Not bad, they were more tasty and incredibly more filling than I thought they would be. Comes together quickly once the millet's been cooked, although pan frying is necessary to get a nice crunch on the outside for some texture. I'd recommend lightly salting the patties once they come out of the oil, better yet if you have smoked salt on hand! You can roll the mixture into balls and freeze them in that state to have them ready for a quick meal. Makes closer to 14 patties than 10.

• Wild rice pilaf

  • lorloff on November 02, 2014

    very good recipe used a rice cooker. substituted dried cherries for the cranberries. In recent years I have made the same dish with a combination of wild and an organic mixture of whole grain rices. Excellent.

  • KCKB on October 20, 2023

    This is a tasty recipe, but I’m not convinced that a rice cooker is the right tool for cooking wild rice. Next time I make it, I’ll probably pressure cook the wild rice separately and then add basmati done in the rice cooker, to get the textures right for both.

• Mediterranean pasta with greens

  • Laura on May 24, 2013

    Pg. 83. It's a blustery and chilly May day here in Maryland. Wanted to make something a bit hearty, with ingredients already on hand and EYB turned up this recipe. And it made a really lovely lunch. The only changes I made were that, while I cooked the full pound of penne called for, I only used 3 cups of the cooked penne -- about 1/2 of the total amount. To have used the full amount would have resulted in a pasta dish with barely any sauce. I also added some grated parmigiano reggiano, which I know violated the vegan nature of the dish, but it really added a lot! It was quite tasty and there's enough left for dinner!

• Gazpacho

  • Laura on January 12, 2011

    Pg. 102. Made this last summer. It was just average, nothing special. I've made far better gazpachos.

• Carrot fruit soup

  • Laura on January 12, 2011

    Pg. 103. Made this last August, but didn't review at the time. It had a really odd taste and I would not make it again. If I were ever to make it again, I'd eliminate the cloves.

• Asian coleslaw

  • Laura on March 30, 2010

    Pg. 105. This is good, but not spectacular. It makes a very healthy, colorful and crunchy slaw. I subbed sugar snap peas for the snow peas and blanched them for 3 minutes, then chilled. The dressing is tangy. This does not make a good leftover -- as you might imagine -- so only make as much as you think will be consumed at the first meal.

• Autumn harvest soup

  • Laura on May 02, 2011

    Pg. 153. You have to love how healthy this soup is. Flavor? Not so much. The shitake broth is very thin -- it has no depth of flavor. On the plus side, this is very easy and quick to make, so if you're looking for a very healthy, quick and easy soup, this is it!

• Savory black bean soup

  • Laura on March 30, 2010

    Pg. 156. This is tasty. It's the best vegetarian, healthy black bean soup I've found so far. (Of course the best black bean soup I make is neither veg or healthy, as it contains ham and sherry -- but I digress.) I used my immersion blender -- I think it's best blended. The recipe says it serves 8 -- we only got 4 servings out of it. Granted, it was the only thing on the menu. Still, I think 'serves 8' is stretching it quite a bit -- unless it's a starter for a very hearty meal.

• Kale with caramelized shallots

  • Laura on March 01, 2010

    Pg. 160. This was more work than it needed to be. You could simply saute the kale with the shallots and avoid the boiling of the kale stage. Other than that, it was tasty, but not exceptional.

  • Shelmar on September 03, 2019

    quite good

• Kale with pine nuts and currants

  • MsMonsoon on April 15, 2021

    Better than I thought it’d be — sweet, sour, very healthy. Recipe doesn't call for any salt so I had to add some. Perhaps the plum vinegar provides saltiness? I only had red wine vinegar on hand. I might prefer a full onion rather than a half and extra garlic.

• Multigrain pilaf with toasted sunflower seeds

  • wkhull on January 11, 2021

    Nice combination of grains. I used a "super seed" mix instead of just sunflower seeds. And omitted kombu, but added salt.

• Sweet and savory root vegetable stew

  • MsMonsoon on February 02, 2024

    Makes a LOT — about 7 quarts. Didn’t have ume vinegar so used a splash of red wine vinegar. Very healthy. Not much to look at but a couple photos online showed more distinct vegetable chunks sitting in a broth.

• Three bean chili

  • Laura on February 28, 2011

    Pg. 211. This is quite good, healthy, and very easy to make. It's even better with the addition of chopped scallions and sour cream and cilantro as toppings, and additional Tabasco. As written, it's a little spicy, but not terribly hot. You can always up the spices to increase heat. I'd make it again.

• Tuscan bean soup

  • Laura on April 17, 2010

    Pg. 212. This was seriously good vegan comfort food! Didn't have time to run to the store, so used what I had on hand. Substituted kidney beans for the aduki and spinach for the kale. Served it over quinoa. Very good as a leftover as well.

• Winter squash and aduki bean soup

  • Laura on January 04, 2016

    Pg. 213. We didn't really care for this. The butternut squash and all of the aromatics are cooked, then pureed. The beans and the vinegar are added to the puree. While the soup has some good flavor from all of the spices (primarily sweet), the beans seem kind of out of place in the puree. I've cooked with aduki beans before, but mainly they were part of a multi-bean chili, not on their own and I don't think they were a good choice for this preparation. I will say that the soup is very healthy, but I don't think I'll make it again.

• Spicy coconut pumpkin soup

  • Laura on December 22, 2014

    Pg. 214. Wow, such flavor! And really spicy! Loved this soup! I subbed a butternut squash for the pumpkin and I used light coconut milk and that was probably a mistake, as the soup was a bit watery to my taste. Next time I'd increase the amount of solids, or use regular coconut milk. Also, I didn't have any dried thai chiles, so used 3 jalapenos. I also sauteed everything in coconut oil rather than grapeseed oil, it just seemed to make more sense. Drank the soup from a teacup -- lovely way to enjoy lunch.

• Winter vegetable soup

  • Laura on January 31, 2011

    Pg. 215. This is very good and extremely healthy! It's not an especially exciting soup, but it's very easy to prepare and very low in fat and calories. The perfect meal after one has been indulging a bit too much on the high-calorie and fat side of the culinary divide. I used my homemade vegetable stock and savoy cabbage and the pureed soup was a lovely deep golden orange color. I recommend adding more stock/water than called for. It was extremely thick until I added more liquid. The corn added a bit of color contrast and a nice little crunch. I'm adding this to my favorites list.

• Roasted brussels sprouts with fennel and shiitake mushrooms

  • Laura on December 12, 2014

    Pg. 220. My new favorite way to cook brussels sprouts! This is so healthy, so simple, and really delicious. I found the cook time to be a little long, but other than that, the recipe is great. I used rosemary instead of the tarragon and I'd do that again. And I will be making this again, very soon!

  • MsMonsoon on December 18, 2022

    Healthy, tasty, and fairly simple. Only had dried tarragon and it seemed to work fine.

• Tree of life stir-fry

  • Laura on January 19, 2011

    Pg. 223. Well, you gotta love how healthy this is! And it's not bad, certainly, just not very enticing. I confess that I did leave out the arame because I'm not that keen on seaweed. My husband added it to his serving and he liked it. I don't think I'll be making this again, but I'm not sorry that I tried it.

• Butternut squash casserole

  • ccav on November 05, 2015

    This was simple and very nice as a side dish.

• NPR by T. Susan Chang

  10 Best Cookbooks of 2009 - Despite its name (which may have you wondering, with a frown, what you've been eating up until now), Clean Food is a gateway book for the vegan lifestyle, not a hard sell.

  Full review

• Kitchn

  Season by season, this book gives you all the tools, recipes, and encouragement you need to change the way you eat and help you stick with it.

  Full review