Saturday, February 18, 2012

Weekend Cooking: How to cook everything vegetarian by Mark Bittman

No I am not going to talk about a cookbook today, but about an app for the iPhone. This book was on my wishlist for some time now because it is THE cookbook to have if you are vegetarian. However a Dutch version of this book costs about 50 euro. And even though this cookbook is almost 1000 pages thick, I just don't have that much money to spend on one cookbook. So when Chinoiseries tipped me there was an iPhone app from the book for just $4,99, I went for it.


The app contains every single recipe from the book and all the tips. In the start screen you can browse recipes, view kitchen basics, view most popular recipes (people can vote on recipes) and see a featured recipe and menu ideas. You can also search by ingredient, quick or advanced. The app has four types of recipes: Fast, Make ahead, vegan and essential.


A recipe is build up in several section that you can browse through. The first page contains number of servings, the basics, the time it takes to make and related content. The second tab contains all the ingredients, the third takes your through the steps of cooking and the forth shows the variations you can make.

You can also easily share recipes on twitter, facebook and email. You can also print them, save it to your favorites and add items to your grocery list. I have to say that I love this app! I made two recipes so far and they were both good and will appear on the menu more often. However because there are so many recipes, everything does get a bit overwhelming and it will take me a good while to have read everything in this app. Surely this app is money well spend and I will be using it a lot. I can recommend it to everyone with an iPhone. The two recipes I made were both soups. I shared the Cream of Broccoli Soup earlier and today I will share the Potato-Leek soup with you. I made the variation that is pureed.


Potato-Leek Soup: (serves 4 )
- 30 grams butter
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3 leeks, white and light green parts only, washed and sliced in rings
- 900 ml vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
- 250 ml sour cream or yoghurt
- Fresh chives, in rings

Put the butter in a large deep saucepan over medium heat. When the butter melts add the vegetables. Sprinkel with salt and pepper and cook while stirring for about 2-3 minutes. Add the broth and cook for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are very tender. Puree the soup with a handheld blender. Stir in the sour cream or yoghurt. Garnish with the chives and serve.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Make sure you check out the other participants for wonderful food inspiration!

12 comments:

  1. it must be soup day!

    that is a great bargain as compared to the book! you have to love those apps.

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  2. I love soup! And wow what a great app. I may be breaking down for iPhone or iPad soon. LOL.

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  3. Sounds like a great app! I will link to your post from mine....:)

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  4. My fourth son(!) Alex just announced he is going. Vegan as part of a challenge he learned about at Whole Foods. I will definitely get this app as I have been a bit worried about him because he is already 6'1" and about 140 lbs and it would be a shame if he starved to death!

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  5. Great app! I don't have the vegetarian version but I have the other one. Will have to look at this one, I like using cookbooks on the iphone and the ipad, very convenient. The soup looks delicious!

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  6. Another great iPhone app.... may have to get one soon!

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  7. I am looking forward to you sharing more recipes from this app!

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  8. I may just have to get an iPhone so I can get this app :). Mmmm, soup!

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  9. I don't have an iPhone but the book looks appealing.

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  10. This sounds like a terrific app. Better than a book in a lot of ways. I may have to get this for my iPad.
    Joy's Book Blog

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  11. I am loving all the soup recipes posted for this weekend cooking edition, plus another great iphone app.

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