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Veg: Easy and Delicious Meals for Everyone
'Jamie gives all your favourites a veggie makeover in his brilliant new book' Mail on Sunday
Jamie Oliver is back with over 100 brilliantly easy, flavour-packed and accessible veg recipes.
WITH ALL THE RECIPES FROM JAMIE'S CHANNEL 4 COOKERY SERIES MEAT-FREE MEALS
From simple suppers and family favourites, to weekend dishes for sharing with friends, this book is packed full of phenomenal food - pure and simple.
Whether it's embracing a meat-free day or two each week, living a vegetarian lifestyle, or just wanting to try some brilliant new flavour combinations, this book ticks all the boxes.
Discover all the brilliantly simple but inventive veg dishes from Jamie's Channel 4 series including:
· SPICED PARSNIP SOUP with silky popadoms & funky crisps
· VEGGIE PASTIES with mixed mushrooms, swede, potato, onion & rosemary
· AMAZING VEGGIE CHILLI with comforting black rice, zingy crunchy salsa & chilli-rippled yoghurt
With chapters on Soups & Sarnies, Brunch, Pies Parcels & Bakes, Curries & Stews, Salads, Burgers & Fritters, Pasta, Rice & Noodles, and Traybakes there's something tasty for every occasion.
Sharing simple tips and tricks that will excite the taste buds, this book will give you the confidence to up your veg intake and widen your recipe repertoire, safe in the knowledge that it'll taste utterly delicious. It will also leave you feeling full, satisfied and happy - and not missing meat from your plate.
'It's all about celebrating really good, tasty food that just happens to be meat-free' Jamie Oliver
'Dishes are vibrant and full of flavour and this book is all about making them affordable and easy' Independent
''By now he needs no introduction . . . There's an impressive range of dishes, inspired from all over the globe, that don't skimp on flavour' Daily Telegraph
Jamie Oliver is back with over 100 brilliantly easy, flavour-packed and accessible veg recipes.
WITH ALL THE RECIPES FROM JAMIE'S CHANNEL 4 COOKERY SERIES MEAT-FREE MEALS
From simple suppers and family favourites, to weekend dishes for sharing with friends, this book is packed full of phenomenal food - pure and simple.
Whether it's embracing a meat-free day or two each week, living a vegetarian lifestyle, or just wanting to try some brilliant new flavour combinations, this book ticks all the boxes.
Discover all the brilliantly simple but inventive veg dishes from Jamie's Channel 4 series including:
· SPICED PARSNIP SOUP with silky popadoms & funky crisps
· VEGGIE PASTIES with mixed mushrooms, swede, potato, onion & rosemary
· AMAZING VEGGIE CHILLI with comforting black rice, zingy crunchy salsa & chilli-rippled yoghurt
With chapters on Soups & Sarnies, Brunch, Pies Parcels & Bakes, Curries & Stews, Salads, Burgers & Fritters, Pasta, Rice & Noodles, and Traybakes there's something tasty for every occasion.
Sharing simple tips and tricks that will excite the taste buds, this book will give you the confidence to up your veg intake and widen your recipe repertoire, safe in the knowledge that it'll taste utterly delicious. It will also leave you feeling full, satisfied and happy - and not missing meat from your plate.
'It's all about celebrating really good, tasty food that just happens to be meat-free' Jamie Oliver
'Dishes are vibrant and full of flavour and this book is all about making them affordable and easy' Independent
''By now he needs no introduction . . . There's an impressive range of dishes, inspired from all over the globe, that don't skimp on flavour' Daily Telegraph
312 pages, Hardcover
First published August 22, 2019
900 people are currently reading
2026 people want to read
About the author
Jamie Oliver
250 books1,129 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
James Trevor "Jamie" Oliver, sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef and media personality well known for his growing list of food-focused television shows, his more recent roles in campaigning against the use of processed foods in national schools, and his campaign to change unhealthy diets and poor cooking habits for the better across the United Kingdom.
James Trevor "Jamie" Oliver, sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef and media personality well known for his growing list of food-focused television shows, his more recent roles in campaigning against the use of processed foods in national schools, and his campaign to change unhealthy diets and poor cooking habits for the better across the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
February 28, 2021
I've never read a Jamie Oliver cookbook before or seen any of his TV series so I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this book. I received this as a birthday present which was such a treat as it's a definite favourite and benefits the givers who live in the same house, so it's an all round success!
I've tried several of these recipes and there are so many I can't wait to try.
Each double page spread has a recipe on one side and a photo of the finished product on the other. This is exactly what I want from a cookbook. The end results are always really beautiful, this is such an appetizing looking collection.
I love that this book isn't aimed at vegans or vegetarians, just great looking good that hopefully will get people who eat meat to discover there is some amazing food to be created without it. I love to think that books like this could encourage people to have a meat free night or even enjoy some vegan food.
There's a really good range of recipes and some original ideas. As someone who reads loads of cookbooks, I can definitely say this has many new ideas in. I would happily try all of the recipes in this book.
There are plenty of seasonal recipes. There's a recipe for vegan butternut squash gnocchi which I'm really looking forward to trying later this year (and thanks to you Lisa I will be using the safe method of butternut squash preparation!) There is a tomato curry recipe which I also cannot wait to try with home grown produce. So many more look amazingly appetizing!
I tried the mushroom stroganoff which was delicious. I have never used a flambe method before, it does warn you to watch your eyebrows, it would have been more accurate to tell you to watch your ceiling but it was good fun and the result was delicious. I loved a pasta salad recipe that uses a pesto made from basil and parsley, wouldn't have thought of using parsley but it made a delicious change. The black bean burgers were really simple and very good. The moussaka was tasty and worked well even though this recipe uses egg and I left that out. Lots of great little tips, information and ideas. Highly recommended to everyone!
I've tried several of these recipes and there are so many I can't wait to try.
Each double page spread has a recipe on one side and a photo of the finished product on the other. This is exactly what I want from a cookbook. The end results are always really beautiful, this is such an appetizing looking collection.
I love that this book isn't aimed at vegans or vegetarians, just great looking good that hopefully will get people who eat meat to discover there is some amazing food to be created without it. I love to think that books like this could encourage people to have a meat free night or even enjoy some vegan food.
There's a really good range of recipes and some original ideas. As someone who reads loads of cookbooks, I can definitely say this has many new ideas in. I would happily try all of the recipes in this book.
There are plenty of seasonal recipes. There's a recipe for vegan butternut squash gnocchi which I'm really looking forward to trying later this year (and thanks to you Lisa I will be using the safe method of butternut squash preparation!) There is a tomato curry recipe which I also cannot wait to try with home grown produce. So many more look amazingly appetizing!
I tried the mushroom stroganoff which was delicious. I have never used a flambe method before, it does warn you to watch your eyebrows, it would have been more accurate to tell you to watch your ceiling but it was good fun and the result was delicious. I loved a pasta salad recipe that uses a pesto made from basil and parsley, wouldn't have thought of using parsley but it made a delicious change. The black bean burgers were really simple and very good. The moussaka was tasty and worked well even though this recipe uses egg and I left that out. Lots of great little tips, information and ideas. Highly recommended to everyone!
May 29, 2021
Finally! I had been waiting for him to release a vegetarian cookbook, and here it is (I bought a Finnish translation which happened pretty quick after the main release, and in some places are small mistakes which show how quick it was haha). This is his 23rd cookbook (some others are yet to be translated into Finnish, but I don't mind). The book was written slowly over 8 years and many travels.
Every recipe has a photo, plus making time and nutrition information, and often tips for further changes etc. At the end is advice and tips: on cheese, milk, oils, and vinegars, on adding taste and fillings into foods, and kitchen tips, then more nutrition information (incl. plate model, eating a rainbow of vegetables and fruits). There is no dessert section (but brunch has some sweet ones that could be).
I wonder if the author has realized that most Worcestershire sauces are not vegetarian (the anchovies?). I guess you could search for vegetarian alternative, but it feels odd that he doesn’t mention about this… Soy sauce could be a suitable replacement. (See also for example: https://food52.com/blog/24403-best-wo...)
There were plenty of good recipes in this book; if a picky person like me can find many recipes to love in a cookbook, I consider that a good sign that the book is worth keeping. His travels do show in some recipes here, which is nice. Some categories are for social situations like brunch or Friday night drink accompaniments. Of course there are pies XD I’m not listing recipes here now, but there were many that got a ‘sounds good’ mark from me.
It might not be the ‘only essential’ cookbook, but it’s still one of the best, and I think having this, even buying it so quickly after release, was worth it.
Every recipe has a photo, plus making time and nutrition information, and often tips for further changes etc. At the end is advice and tips: on cheese, milk, oils, and vinegars, on adding taste and fillings into foods, and kitchen tips, then more nutrition information (incl. plate model, eating a rainbow of vegetables and fruits). There is no dessert section (but brunch has some sweet ones that could be).
I wonder if the author has realized that most Worcestershire sauces are not vegetarian (the anchovies?). I guess you could search for vegetarian alternative, but it feels odd that he doesn’t mention about this… Soy sauce could be a suitable replacement. (See also for example: https://food52.com/blog/24403-best-wo...)
There were plenty of good recipes in this book; if a picky person like me can find many recipes to love in a cookbook, I consider that a good sign that the book is worth keeping. His travels do show in some recipes here, which is nice. Some categories are for social situations like brunch or Friday night drink accompaniments. Of course there are pies XD I’m not listing recipes here now, but there were many that got a ‘sounds good’ mark from me.
It might not be the ‘only essential’ cookbook, but it’s still one of the best, and I think having this, even buying it so quickly after release, was worth it.
November 30, 2019
The UK had/has (?) a reputation for not great food which was probably fair many years ago but is not true now. One of the (many)people responsible for making a difference has got to be JO whose TV programmes and many cookery books have inspired us to be braver and bolder as cooks. I’ve got most of his books in my vast cookery book collection and I find his recipes work and most importantly they are easy to follow. I like cooking but don’t want to spend hours preparing and faffing about!
I’m not a vegetarian, if I’m any kind of ‘arian I’d class myself as a pescatarian. I eat very little meat mainly because I don’t like it very much. I’m trying to eat more veg so this book fits the bill for a more concerted move in that direction. I’ve now tried quite a few of the recipes. They’re easy to follow and really tasty. I’ve particularly liked the Vegetable Tagine, the chilli recipe is delicious, the stuffed aubergines, the allotment cottage pie is reallyyummy as was the moussaka. There are a lot of other recipes I’ll try over the next few weeks.
There are some things I definitely won’t cook for instance the cauliflower cheese pizza pie doesn’t float my boat. The other thing JO needs to bear in mind is that most of the country doesn’t live in London where I imagine it’s much easier to get hold of some ingredients and also that some of us don’t have a wonderful Italian deli round the corner. The chances of me getting carta di musica bread in North York’s is slim to probably none, hence the loss of the fifth star.
Overall, a very useful addition to my collection and one I’m anticipating using a lot.
I’m not a vegetarian, if I’m any kind of ‘arian I’d class myself as a pescatarian. I eat very little meat mainly because I don’t like it very much. I’m trying to eat more veg so this book fits the bill for a more concerted move in that direction. I’ve now tried quite a few of the recipes. They’re easy to follow and really tasty. I’ve particularly liked the Vegetable Tagine, the chilli recipe is delicious, the stuffed aubergines, the allotment cottage pie is reallyyummy as was the moussaka. There are a lot of other recipes I’ll try over the next few weeks.
There are some things I definitely won’t cook for instance the cauliflower cheese pizza pie doesn’t float my boat. The other thing JO needs to bear in mind is that most of the country doesn’t live in London where I imagine it’s much easier to get hold of some ingredients and also that some of us don’t have a wonderful Italian deli round the corner. The chances of me getting carta di musica bread in North York’s is slim to probably none, hence the loss of the fifth star.
Overall, a very useful addition to my collection and one I’m anticipating using a lot.
April 11, 2020
Jamie oliver and Veggies - match made in heaven
January 21, 2023
First, I want to say that I like Jamie Oliver and his recipes in general but was expecting more from this book. The main reason is that I don’t think a lot of consideration was put into the choice of recipes. What I expected were more nutrient-rich and healthy recipes.
Vegetarians should strive to balance their diet with more proteins and healthy fats. Roughly, around 80% of the recipes in the books have one of the following as the main ingredient: rice, flour, bread, pasta, puff pastry, filo pastry, noodles.. What shocked me was pasta on toast and salad on a bread toast.
Yet, I can not deny most of the recipes that I tried were delicious. My favourites are the potato bake with truffle oil, the masala stuffed peppers and the mushroom noodle broth. Another thing I liked in the book was the food tips at the end, but they were not enough.
Vegetarians should strive to balance their diet with more proteins and healthy fats. Roughly, around 80% of the recipes in the books have one of the following as the main ingredient: rice, flour, bread, pasta, puff pastry, filo pastry, noodles.. What shocked me was pasta on toast and salad on a bread toast.
Yet, I can not deny most of the recipes that I tried were delicious. My favourites are the potato bake with truffle oil, the masala stuffed peppers and the mushroom noodle broth. Another thing I liked in the book was the food tips at the end, but they were not enough.
December 19, 2019
This book is declared to John Hamilton his Art Director friend thus providing what I always say about cookbooks that it is not just the recipes but the photos plates .
A chef can write great recipe but in book if it is not displayed well it will not sell.
Jamie has been very lucky over his last 21ys because of Hamilton.
Veg the greens we all take for granted and often boil to death here is how to laugh, cry eat lose weight and enjoy life.
A chef can write great recipe but in book if it is not displayed well it will not sell.
Jamie has been very lucky over his last 21ys because of Hamilton.
Veg the greens we all take for granted and often boil to death here is how to laugh, cry eat lose weight and enjoy life.
October 18, 2019
Perfect timing. Exactly what I needed in my life. Some of this annoying guy's veggie inspiration.
I love meat. I am a voracious meat eater from way back. But I don't mind a vegetarian meal from time to time. Then, after Jamie Oliver released his two Super Foods cookbooks, I started craving, and cooking, vegetarian meals regularly. From seven days a week meat based meals, I have shifted to veg meals maybe two to three days a week. Sometimes, gasp (don't tell meat), I can even do five days in a row without a meat based meal! Insanity.
Great book. Becoming a 'go to book' already.
I love meat. I am a voracious meat eater from way back. But I don't mind a vegetarian meal from time to time. Then, after Jamie Oliver released his two Super Foods cookbooks, I started craving, and cooking, vegetarian meals regularly. From seven days a week meat based meals, I have shifted to veg meals maybe two to three days a week. Sometimes, gasp (don't tell meat), I can even do five days in a row without a meat based meal! Insanity.
Great book. Becoming a 'go to book' already.
October 8, 2020
Refreshing book with all kinds of vegetable recipes. There are some appealing recipes and there is recipe for everybody inside. Loved the pictures. Also liked the use of mushrooms!
January 26, 2020
The blurb written on this book describes it precisely. What I liked about this book is the wide variety of vegetarian recipes and the Hints and Tips. The list of ingredients are listed on one side of the page. Easy to follow cooking directions are written in paragraph format. At the bottom of the page are listed in small print Energy, Fat, Sat. Fat, Protein, Carbs, Sugars, Salt and Fiber metric measurements. On the opposite page is a full-page, color photograph of the dish. The recipes I tagged are My Veggie Moussaka, Greek-Inspired Cauliflower Stew, Beautiful Buckwheat Pancakes, Sticky Toffee Waffles and Go-To Hummus. This book does have an index.
November 6, 2020
A ton of recipes! Lots of pasta, rice and puff pastry. Heavy on middle eastern spices.
November 25, 2020
33/55 books read in 2020.
Like the rating says: it was ok.
I feel a bit disappointed because I have a couple of Jamie's books that I actually really enjoy (for example Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, Save with Jamie, and Jamie's 15 Minute Meals) and some of the dishes from those books have made it into the regular rotation of foods we eat, but this book just disappointed me.
The dishes we did try were bland and not spectacular enough to warrant the time and effort to make them. I have a couple more photocopied to try, but I'm not really excited about it so that says enough.
So if you come across this: flip through it before buying.
And really I would recommend lending it from the library before spending your money on it.
Like the rating says: it was ok.
I feel a bit disappointed because I have a couple of Jamie's books that I actually really enjoy (for example Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, Save with Jamie, and Jamie's 15 Minute Meals) and some of the dishes from those books have made it into the regular rotation of foods we eat, but this book just disappointed me.
The dishes we did try were bland and not spectacular enough to warrant the time and effort to make them. I have a couple more photocopied to try, but I'm not really excited about it so that says enough.
So if you come across this: flip through it before buying.
And really I would recommend lending it from the library before spending your money on it.
October 23, 2019
Some good ideas but disappointed that he seems to have left the two previous books super foods healthy concepts to make rather stodgy heavy meals that often seem too heavy for today’s lifestyle. Granted vegetables but so much starch added! Having said that, there are many good combinations, ideas and recipes. But I’ll happily avoid the potatoes /rices /fillers....
June 24, 2023
I've heard of Jamie Oliver, but I've never watched his show (shows?) nor used one of his cookbooks before, so this was all new for me.
Final Verdict: - I did not like this book, the recipes are complicated and take too long and don't even taste that great. The quiche, however, was fantastic, and earns this book one extra star. Otherwise I'd be giving this book only one star.
Things I liked:
His chatty style - tip the rice or veggies into the pan! confidently wrap the roast veg with phyllo dough! It's fun, and I can see why he became so popular. The recipes look different, and interesting. (I did not always enjoy this chatty style while I was trying out the recipes, however.)
Pages (mostly) lie flat, and recipes are (mostly) clear and easy to read, with a lot of photos.
Things I didn't like:
His chatty style got old quickly, and it makes it really difficult for me to quickly scan any recipe to get a feel for how long it will take. By the end of my trial run with this book, I hated his chatty style.
I guess this cookbook was not written for an American audience because - although the measurements are in the units we use here in the USA - the ingredients were often unknown to me. Frustratingly, there was no sidebar to explain what these things are. A recipe for mushroom balls calls for "8 oz packages of ready made mixed grains, with punchy flavor" - what is that?? the only packages of grains I know of are packets of instant oatmeal, but I don't think apples and cinnamon or maple and brown sugar are the "punchy" flavors intended here. What are "silverskin pickled onions"? No idea. What is "rogan josh curry paste"? Is this common knowledge to all other cooks? Am I the only clueless one? Sure, I can (and did) Google these things (the packets of grains are probably meant to be those Rice-a-Roni or Near East pilaf packages, silverskin onions are the ones that go in martinis, and rogan josh is a type of curry), but it's off-putting to have a cookbook in which I have to google the ingredients to see what's what. With all the chatty commentary in this book, I could have used a few explanatory notes. I just skipped any recipe that called for something I didn't understand.
An alarming number of recipes (as in: more than none) call for preserved lemon. I've heard of this before, but I've never eaten it nor do I know how to make it. Is it something one can buy in any store in Britain? Or is this a recipe Oliver is known for? Food TV has got me covered here: Oliver's recipe can be found on their website. I'm still not sure how to use it. Is it gelatinous, and you scoop some out? Do you dice it? Chop it? Squeeze it? Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good to me, so I skipped any recipe that called for preserved lemon.
recipes we tried:
Mighty Mushroom Pasta - our first recipe was a FAIL. It tasted okay and I'll eat all the leftovers, but I won't make this again. First of all, the recipe suggests that I tear the mushrooms up - like I'm some kind of cavewoman, I'm going to rip up my mushrooms by hand, getting bits of mushroom flesh under my nails? I don't think so. (It's possible this truly enhances the flavor, but I'll never know.) After browning the mushrooms, the recipe says to add a can of tomatoes plus "1 can's worth of water and leave to tick away. Meanwhile, cook the pasta." Okay so wtf does THAT mean? Based on my understanding of the recipe, I added a can full of water, and put a lid on the pot and brought it to a boil and then let the sauce simmer while I cooked the pasta. I do not know if this was the intended action, but it resulted in a VERY watery mushroom-tomato mixture. The recipe later tells me to add some pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed, and I had to laugh at that, because this was the most watery pasta sauce ever, and no additional water would EVER be needed. What I did instead was stir in the pasta and let it sit in the sauce for ten minutes before serving, to allow the pasta to soak up the sauce. This worked well. The recipe also calls for a breadcrumb topping made from sauteing breadcrumbs with olive oil, garlic, chopped hazelnuts, and fresh thyme. The direction to "strip in the thyme leaves" from the three sprigs of fresh thyme did not go well for me, because the force required to remove the thyme leaf from the stem was greater than the force required to pull the stem apart, so I ended up with many pieces of small stem that I had to fish out. I tried doing this while the breadcrumbs were already in the pan over a flame, and I got a very hot arm and I got really annoyed really fast, and the breadcrumbs ended up a bit darker than I intended. Maybe Jamie has some superior method for stripping thyme leaves that I am unaware of. I confess that I generally get annoyed with recipes that ask me to saute breadcrumbs, it feels like such a fussy and extra step, but I'm glad I did it with this one, it really did enhance the flavor and texture.
Asparagus Quiche and Soup This tasted AWESOME but it took for fucking ever to make, and that was not at all clear from the start. That's on me, though, because the recipe DOES say "1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling" and I missed that. The time is all in the quiche. It was 20-30 minutes to make the dough, then 30 minutes to chill, then 20-30 minutes to roll it out, 20 minutes to bake the shell, a minute or two to pour in the filling, and 40 minutes to bake the quiche. That's two and a half hours. A far cry from "1 hour 15 minutes." The "chill" time was used to chop everything up and have it ready to go, so I think it should be part of the total recipe time. So, I liked this recipe because it tasted great, but I don't like eating at 9 pm because dinner took so long to make. ... Also, I'm only just noticing NOW that the recipe calls for a "heaping" 3/4 c white flour and whole wheat flour for the dough - wtf is that? Why not just call for 1 cup? (Because I'm thinking a "heaping" 3/4 c measure is going to end up being a bit more than 1 level cup) This might explain why I couldn't roll my dough out big enough to fully drape over the edges of the pie plate (and yes I used a pie plate, because I do not have a "loose bottomed tart pan" handy - I don't even know what that is, is it like a shallow cheesecake pan?).
Silky Zucchini Bow-Ties - I like the idea of shredded zucchini with pasta, garlic, and cream, but I would change everything else about this recipe. Add butter, get rid of the rosé and use either a citrusy white wine or lemon juice, get rid of the fennel and red chili, maybe add red pepper flakes. Basically, this was not a good recipe.
Summer Tagliatelle - I only halfway followed this recipe, so it's perhaps not fair to rate the book based on my results. Why did I only half follow this recipe? Because this is how it starts:
He really likes his verbs, right? I think they kept a thesaurus at hand while writing this cookbook, because "add," "stir," and "mix" are just too pedestrian. But that's not my real sticking point here, it's the mortar and pestle. Who owns a mortar and pestle? I don't. I make my pesto in the food processor, because I am not insane. The recipe says "20 minutes" total, but no way in heckity heck you get your pesto made in just 20 minutes if you're muddling away by hand. I said hell no, and bought some freshly prepared basil pesto at my supermarket deli; it's not as good as my homemade pesto, but it's really good, and it's too early in the season for me to have enough basil grown to make pesto myself. I've been making a variation on this recipe for a long time now: pasta boiled w/ potato, green bean, and maybe add snow peas at the end, toss with pesto & chopped tomatoes & parmesan, it's delicious. And my version is better than what was in this cookbook. (Although I did like the tagliatelle.) Thumbs down to this recipe.
I got fed up after these fussy recipes that weren't even great, I no longer wanted to try any others.
Final Verdict: - I did not like this book, the recipes are complicated and take too long and don't even taste that great. The quiche, however, was fantastic, and earns this book one extra star. Otherwise I'd be giving this book only one star.
Things I liked:
His chatty style - tip the rice or veggies into the pan! confidently wrap the roast veg with phyllo dough! It's fun, and I can see why he became so popular. The recipes look different, and interesting. (I did not always enjoy this chatty style while I was trying out the recipes, however.)
Pages (mostly) lie flat, and recipes are (mostly) clear and easy to read, with a lot of photos.
Things I didn't like:
His chatty style got old quickly, and it makes it really difficult for me to quickly scan any recipe to get a feel for how long it will take. By the end of my trial run with this book, I hated his chatty style.
I guess this cookbook was not written for an American audience because - although the measurements are in the units we use here in the USA - the ingredients were often unknown to me. Frustratingly, there was no sidebar to explain what these things are. A recipe for mushroom balls calls for "8 oz packages of ready made mixed grains, with punchy flavor" - what is that?? the only packages of grains I know of are packets of instant oatmeal, but I don't think apples and cinnamon or maple and brown sugar are the "punchy" flavors intended here. What are "silverskin pickled onions"? No idea. What is "rogan josh curry paste"? Is this common knowledge to all other cooks? Am I the only clueless one? Sure, I can (and did) Google these things (the packets of grains are probably meant to be those Rice-a-Roni or Near East pilaf packages, silverskin onions are the ones that go in martinis, and rogan josh is a type of curry), but it's off-putting to have a cookbook in which I have to google the ingredients to see what's what. With all the chatty commentary in this book, I could have used a few explanatory notes. I just skipped any recipe that called for something I didn't understand.
An alarming number of recipes (as in: more than none) call for preserved lemon. I've heard of this before, but I've never eaten it nor do I know how to make it. Is it something one can buy in any store in Britain? Or is this a recipe Oliver is known for? Food TV has got me covered here: Oliver's recipe can be found on their website. I'm still not sure how to use it. Is it gelatinous, and you scoop some out? Do you dice it? Chop it? Squeeze it? Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good to me, so I skipped any recipe that called for preserved lemon.
recipes we tried:
Mighty Mushroom Pasta - our first recipe was a FAIL. It tasted okay and I'll eat all the leftovers, but I won't make this again. First of all, the recipe suggests that I tear the mushrooms up - like I'm some kind of cavewoman, I'm going to rip up my mushrooms by hand, getting bits of mushroom flesh under my nails? I don't think so. (It's possible this truly enhances the flavor, but I'll never know.) After browning the mushrooms, the recipe says to add a can of tomatoes plus "1 can's worth of water and leave to tick away. Meanwhile, cook the pasta." Okay so wtf does THAT mean? Based on my understanding of the recipe, I added a can full of water, and put a lid on the pot and brought it to a boil and then let the sauce simmer while I cooked the pasta. I do not know if this was the intended action, but it resulted in a VERY watery mushroom-tomato mixture. The recipe later tells me to add some pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed, and I had to laugh at that, because this was the most watery pasta sauce ever, and no additional water would EVER be needed. What I did instead was stir in the pasta and let it sit in the sauce for ten minutes before serving, to allow the pasta to soak up the sauce. This worked well. The recipe also calls for a breadcrumb topping made from sauteing breadcrumbs with olive oil, garlic, chopped hazelnuts, and fresh thyme. The direction to "strip in the thyme leaves" from the three sprigs of fresh thyme did not go well for me, because the force required to remove the thyme leaf from the stem was greater than the force required to pull the stem apart, so I ended up with many pieces of small stem that I had to fish out. I tried doing this while the breadcrumbs were already in the pan over a flame, and I got a very hot arm and I got really annoyed really fast, and the breadcrumbs ended up a bit darker than I intended. Maybe Jamie has some superior method for stripping thyme leaves that I am unaware of. I confess that I generally get annoyed with recipes that ask me to saute breadcrumbs, it feels like such a fussy and extra step, but I'm glad I did it with this one, it really did enhance the flavor and texture.
Asparagus Quiche and Soup This tasted AWESOME but it took for fucking ever to make, and that was not at all clear from the start. That's on me, though, because the recipe DOES say "1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling" and I missed that. The time is all in the quiche. It was 20-30 minutes to make the dough, then 30 minutes to chill, then 20-30 minutes to roll it out, 20 minutes to bake the shell, a minute or two to pour in the filling, and 40 minutes to bake the quiche. That's two and a half hours. A far cry from "1 hour 15 minutes." The "chill" time was used to chop everything up and have it ready to go, so I think it should be part of the total recipe time. So, I liked this recipe because it tasted great, but I don't like eating at 9 pm because dinner took so long to make. ... Also, I'm only just noticing NOW that the recipe calls for a "heaping" 3/4 c white flour and whole wheat flour for the dough - wtf is that? Why not just call for 1 cup? (Because I'm thinking a "heaping" 3/4 c measure is going to end up being a bit more than 1 level cup) This might explain why I couldn't roll my dough out big enough to fully drape over the edges of the pie plate (and yes I used a pie plate, because I do not have a "loose bottomed tart pan" handy - I don't even know what that is, is it like a shallow cheesecake pan?).
Silky Zucchini Bow-Ties - I like the idea of shredded zucchini with pasta, garlic, and cream, but I would change everything else about this recipe. Add butter, get rid of the rosé and use either a citrusy white wine or lemon juice, get rid of the fennel and red chili, maybe add red pepper flakes. Basically, this was not a good recipe.
Summer Tagliatelle - I only halfway followed this recipe, so it's perhaps not fair to rate the book based on my results. Why did I only half follow this recipe? Because this is how it starts:
Pick most of the basil leaves into a pestle and mortar and bash to a paste with a pinch of sea salt. Peel and bash in the garlic, then pound in the almonds until fine. Muddle in 1/4 cup of oil, finely grate in the Parmesan, then squeeze in the lemon juice. Season to perfection, and tweak to your liking.
He really likes his verbs, right? I think they kept a thesaurus at hand while writing this cookbook, because "add," "stir," and "mix" are just too pedestrian. But that's not my real sticking point here, it's the mortar and pestle. Who owns a mortar and pestle? I don't. I make my pesto in the food processor, because I am not insane. The recipe says "20 minutes" total, but no way in heckity heck you get your pesto made in just 20 minutes if you're muddling away by hand. I said hell no, and bought some freshly prepared basil pesto at my supermarket deli; it's not as good as my homemade pesto, but it's really good, and it's too early in the season for me to have enough basil grown to make pesto myself. I've been making a variation on this recipe for a long time now: pasta boiled w/ potato, green bean, and maybe add snow peas at the end, toss with pesto & chopped tomatoes & parmesan, it's delicious. And my version is better than what was in this cookbook. (Although I did like the tagliatelle.) Thumbs down to this recipe.
I got fed up after these fussy recipes that weren't even great, I no longer wanted to try any others.
April 12, 2020
Some delicious recipes in here but a lot with cheese so will be dinners for just The adults for now
August 26, 2019
There's some appealing recipes here, the first few in the book, I felt had a bit of a 70s vibe to them, weirdly. The pasta recipes all sound delicious though. Unfortunately from my view point, most recipes have a long list of ingredients and can be quite complicated. That said, I'm sure there's much to enjoy here.
September 5, 2019
As always with Jamie, the beautiful design and down-to-earth writing style makes for a collection of craveable recipes. Definitely leaning towards vegetarian and not vegan (though there are some vegan recipes here). I can’t wait to try sooooo many of these veggie focused dishes.
January 22, 2020
Finished this yesterday at my friends. We were enjoying looking through the recipes over coffee yesterday !
Read
May 23, 2020A gorgeous collection of photographs that will get one salivating, supporting easy-to-follow recipes. Perhaps not the best book for a vegan, as there are many recipes requiring eggs or dairy. But Jamie does acknowledge it and offer variations at the back of the book. I do appreciate the nutritional breakdown beneath each recipe. It is helpful, especially when working out how much protein one is getting.
I will make that mushroom stroganoff at some point - when I figure out vegan crème fraîche - oh, and when the government allows us to buy alcohol again.
I will make that mushroom stroganoff at some point - when I figure out vegan crème fraîche - oh, and when the government allows us to buy alcohol again.
April 21, 2024
My first Jamie Oliver cookbook… gumbo = best thing ever. Nothing else I tried turned out too well…. Don’t want to blame the book entirely but fairly bland.
May 7, 2025
No ha sido de mis favoritos, no he hecho ni una receta.
February 10, 2020
I feel guilty about this review because this book was sent to me by my friend Charlie Heathcote because he had two copies of it. I only review cookbooks once I’ve tried all of the recipes that I want to try, and it only took me a week or so to do that here because there weren’t too many that I particularly wanted to try.
To be fair, the reason for that is that a lot of the recipes here are pretty basic, and so I didn’t feel the need to test them out. For example, I already have a pretty good houmous recipe, so I figure there’s no need for me to try out a new one.
Then there’s the fact that this is a vegetarian cookbook and I’m vegan. Again, to be fair, Oliver includes some supplementary information at the end about the different plant-based alternatives that are out there, and it was also easy enough to modify most of the recipes. There were just one or two that were egg curries or other weird things that I couldn’t have adapted, but then they sounded kind of vile anyway.
What I will say is that I think this would make for a pretty good cookbook to get started with if you’re just starting out with cooking and stuff. My issue is more that I feel I’ve mastered the basics and wanted something a little more advanced. There are a few fairly innovative recipes I guess, but they weren’t ones that particularly excited me. Some of them flat out sounded as though they wouldn’t work.
So would I recommend it? I mean I guess, if you can get it kind of cheap. But I wouldn’t say that it’s worth going out of your way for.
To be fair, the reason for that is that a lot of the recipes here are pretty basic, and so I didn’t feel the need to test them out. For example, I already have a pretty good houmous recipe, so I figure there’s no need for me to try out a new one.
Then there’s the fact that this is a vegetarian cookbook and I’m vegan. Again, to be fair, Oliver includes some supplementary information at the end about the different plant-based alternatives that are out there, and it was also easy enough to modify most of the recipes. There were just one or two that were egg curries or other weird things that I couldn’t have adapted, but then they sounded kind of vile anyway.
What I will say is that I think this would make for a pretty good cookbook to get started with if you’re just starting out with cooking and stuff. My issue is more that I feel I’ve mastered the basics and wanted something a little more advanced. There are a few fairly innovative recipes I guess, but they weren’t ones that particularly excited me. Some of them flat out sounded as though they wouldn’t work.
So would I recommend it? I mean I guess, if you can get it kind of cheap. But I wouldn’t say that it’s worth going out of your way for.
January 13, 2022
A helpful book filled with ideas and tips to start any veggie-centric health kick.
Jamie Oliver often frustrates me with his meh attitude to quantities (ie, a mug of this and roughly a handful of that or more) and his lackadaisical definition of methods (ie, "bang bang it your fist" and "puff it up with gusto"). So I tend to call his cookbook entries ideas rather than recipes because if there’s anything I’ve learned from the naked chef, it’s the art of eyeballing to temper to your taste. His ideas tend to work for novice and busy cooks, though.
Unlike other more respected cookbooks where you buy a full tin of some strange ingredient you will use a fifth of and forget beyond its expiry date, this cookbook is fairly easy to follow and the stuff you need are quite “average pantry"-friendly. So overall, a welcome addition to the cook-shelves, especially if you're entertaining non-fussy vegetarians around.
Jamie Oliver often frustrates me with his meh attitude to quantities (ie, a mug of this and roughly a handful of that or more) and his lackadaisical definition of methods (ie, "bang bang it your fist" and "puff it up with gusto"). So I tend to call his cookbook entries ideas rather than recipes because if there’s anything I’ve learned from the naked chef, it’s the art of eyeballing to temper to your taste. His ideas tend to work for novice and busy cooks, though.
Unlike other more respected cookbooks where you buy a full tin of some strange ingredient you will use a fifth of and forget beyond its expiry date, this cookbook is fairly easy to follow and the stuff you need are quite “average pantry"-friendly. So overall, a welcome addition to the cook-shelves, especially if you're entertaining non-fussy vegetarians around.
September 15, 2019
This is my new favourite cook book. I've been veggie for over 30 years, and didn't think there would be much new, but this book is great. The recipes are clear and straightforward, and work really well. The allotment garden pie is our new best family meal. So many recipes would please all the family, and I think they are easy to do. Recommended.
September 8, 2020
A load of recipes that are adequate, but not exciting. None of these recipes feel like vegetarian wins, they honestly feel like they're lacking, like someone has cooked for you their normal meal without meat. Less than inspiring.
May 10, 2021
Look at all the pretty dishes I will never make 😂
February 19, 2020
This book contains a lot of great recipes! As a vegetarian myself, this book is great to discover new vegetable combinations and variations. But this is also a great book to start with if you want to eat less meat.
February 26, 2020
I can’t believe I just read a cookbook. I expected to flag only a few of the actual recipes, but I ran out of flags after 25. Can’t wait to try them out!
Disclaimer: If the title/description/photo wasn’t appetizing to me, I didn’t actually read that one. Surprisingly, there weren’t many.
Disclaimer: If the title/description/photo wasn’t appetizing to me, I didn’t actually read that one. Surprisingly, there weren’t many.
August 23, 2020
Loved the information in this book - I got lucky and found it for a good deal! Not sure if cookbook style books "count" on books read on Goodreads, but I've been pleased finding these types of books are more than just cookbooks with photos and recipes. The authors have included stories and so much valuable and entertaining information as well!
October 21, 2020
I didn’t find a single thing to try in this. But I’m SUPER picky, so take it with a grain of salt. :)
September 28, 2021
A lovely book from a terrific and fun chef. Mostly vegetarian vs. vegan, but still some delicious looking and unusual recipes to try.
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