Saturday, November 10, 2012

Book Review: The Meat Free Monday Cookbook

Because I got the Dutch version of this book for review, I will write this post in English and Dutch, so Dutch readers who can't read English that well have better access to this review.

Title / titel: The Meat Free Monday Cookbook / Het Meat Free Monday Kookboek
Author / schrijver: Annie Riggs, Paul, Stella and Mary McCartney,
Publisher / uitgever: Fontaine Uitgevers BV (Dutch edition)
Release date / verschijningsdatum: March 2012 (English edition)  / Oktober 2012 (Dutch edition)
Length / lengte: 240 pages (English edition) / 208 pagina's (Dutch edition)
I got this book / ik kreeg dit boek: from the publishers for review / van de uitgever om te recenseren.

Summary:
From Goodreads:
"In 2009, Paul, Stella and Mary McCartney launched the Meat Free Monday campaign as a simple and straightforward idea to show everyone the value of eating less meat - and to make it easier for us all to do so. "The Meat Free Monday Cookbook" is for everyone who shares the campaign's aims and consists of menus for each of the 52 weeks of the year. Packed with recipes such as Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes, Basil and Mushroom Tart, Pilau Rice with Cashews and Watermelon Granita, as well as vibrant spring soups, inventive summer salads, appetising autumn bakes and comforting winter stews, it includes contributions from Paul, Stella and Mary McCartney and celebrity and chef supporters of the campaign such as Skye Gyngell, Giorgio Locatelli, Theo Randall, Yotam Ottolenghi, Kevin Spacey and Vivienne Westwood."

Samenvatting:
Van Bol.com:
"Dit boek maakt het voor iedereen makkelijk om de stap naar één vegetarische dag per week te maken. Paul en zijn dochters hebben recepten verzameld voor alle 52 weken van het jaar – with a little help from their friends, want o.a. Jamie Oliver, Giorgio Locatelli, Bryan Adams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Koons, Joanna Lumley, Kevin Spacey, Sheryl Crow en vele anderen leverden hun favoriete recepten en tips. Het Meat Free Monday kookboek bevat maar liefst 104 recepten: voor elke week van het jaar een voor- en hoofdgerecht óf een hoofd- en nagerecht. Dit boek is ideaal voor iedereen die zich zorgen maakt over het milieu en graag wat minder vlees wil eten, maar daarbij wel wat inspiratie nodig heeft. Meat Free Monday is een door Paul McCartney en zijn twee dochters Mary en Stella gelanceerde campagne om mensen aan te moedigen een rol te spelen in het verlagen van onze ‘CO2-voetafdruk’, en om aan te tonen dat een kleine verandering in onze manier van leven al een enorme positieve uitwerking heeft op de aarde."

Personal opinion:
First of all, I am very enthousiastic about this book. The book has one complete menu each week for one meat free day, including breakfast, 2 kinds of lunch, snacks, dinner and dessert. I don't cook a whole menu like that myself because I am a vegetarian already, but it does give many options. It is also divided by season so it is also easy to cook with seasonal veggies. I use the book in 2 ways: Or I choose a recipe and buy the veggies, or I already have vegetables from my vegetable bag and search for a recipe to match my veggies. This book is very suitable for both ways of cooking and therefore I was able to cook from it a lot already. The recipes I made include: Vegetable stir-fry and noodles, Mac and cheese with cauliflower, black eyed bean stew with cilantro, warm apple and raddish salad with halloumi cheese and eggplant, potato and bell pepper stew. And there are a lot more recipes I want to try!

Persoonlijke mening:
Laten we voorop stellen dat ik erg enthousiast ben over dit boek. Het boek heeft per week van het jaar een menu samengesteld voor 1 vleesvrije dag, waarbij ontbijt, 2 soorten lunch, snacks, avondeten en dessert aan bod komen. Nu gebruik ik het boek niet als dusdanig dat ik dat hele menu ga nakoken, want ik eet tenslotte alle dagen al vegetarisch. Maar het geeft hierdoor heel veel opties. Verder is het dus ingedeeld per seizoen zodat je ook nog met seizoensgroenten aan de gang gaat. Ik gebruik het boek op twee manieren: Of ik kies een recept dat ik wil maken en haal daar de groenten bij, of ik heb al groenten uit mijn groentetas en kies daar een recept bij uit het boek. Voor beide manieren is dit boek erg geschikt en hierdoor heb ik er al veel uit gekookt. Recepten die ik al gemaakt heb zijn: Roerbak van voorjaarsgroenten en noedels, knapperige bloemkool en macaroni, stoofpot van zwartoogboontjes met koriander, warme appel-radijssalade met halloumi en stoofpot van aubergine, aardappel en paprika. Er zijn nog veel meer recepten die ik wil uitproberen!

Normally I always share a recipe with a post, but because this post is so long already, I will share a recipe from this book tomorrow in a seperate post.

Normaal deel ik altijd een recept uit het boek, maar omdat deze post al zo lang is, zal ik dit morgen doen in een aparte post.

Purchase links / aankoop links: The Book Depository (English edition), Bol.com (Dutch and English editions)
Challenges: Foodie Reading Challenge, Cookbook Challenge
Other reviews: None yet.
If you have reviewed this book and want your link here, please leave a comment with the link, and I will add it :)

This post is part of Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Please hop over to see what other people have been up to.

Also part of the Cookbook Challenge, hosted by myself. Please look in the left sidebar for more info.


15 comments:

  1. I enjoy Linda's MacCartney's book and have several other veggie cookbooks we cook quite a bit from. The basil mushroom tart would be great...especially today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been very curious about this book. I usually like books divided by season.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love cookbooks that include menus to help with meal planning, and I love ones that are based on eating seasonally, too. Sounds like a good book to check out! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have this one and enjoy it, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. some of those dishes sound delicious..even if I am a meat eater. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have Mary McCartney's Food, which is surprisingly (for me, a non-vegetarian) well thought-out and inviting. This book also seems interesting - though I have to admit I've been having meat-less days (not necessarily Mondays) for a number of years now, which I really enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'll look into this one, I'm obsessed with vegetarian cookbooks lately. Looking forward to the recipe you post tomorrow! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. That sounds like fun! I'm also a big fan of cookbooks organized by seasons.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sounds like a nice Christmas gift for my son's new girlfriend who is a vegan!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This one sounds great. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've been wanting to check this book out...and now even more so. Sounds great!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I like books divided by seasons too; that is really how I cook, so it makes sense. I'd love to get my family to participate in Meatless Mondays, maybe I'll have to sneak it in.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm the sort person who buys an ingredient and then looks for recipes to fit it, so this might be a good cookbook from that perspective. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I really like the concept of this book. As a whole, I think that most meat eaters, consume way too much meat protein. One day a week without meat is a good idea. While I would prefer much less meat, the carnivors in my family disagree. This approach of the occasional meatless meal works for all of us.

    ReplyDelete