The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen: Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Dishes from the Healthiest Region Under the Sun:A Vegan Cookbook

She has an amazing variety of different ingredients combos that use the same types of ingredients but keep it interesting. Recipes we love from her book are Tuscan bread salad, marinated artichokes with mint on French bread, Ditali with cauliflower ( it's grown up spaghettios), raw tomato sauce with linguine, Lebanese bread salad, ligurian bread salad with vegetables, marinated lentils salad with crackers, spinach and mushroom calzones, salad of bitter greens and pine nuts with classic Italian vinaigrette, apples poached in white wine. The apples poached in white wine were so delicious it felt sinful. We have been cooking almost exclusively out of Donna Klein's cookbooks for months now. Even though I have an entire bookcase of vegan cookbooks. Almost anything I cook out of these books will not be "weird" vegan food and will be acceptable to an omni's pallette. I use her recipes for entertaining my discerning omni family members. Not everyone is down for tempeh, tofu, or homemade seitan. The fattoush and couscous went down well. I love that her recipes have calories, nutrition facts and serving sizes and most are very easy to accomplish on weeknights. Most recipes take no more than 30 minutes of active effort in the kitchen, and we are eating a larger variety of foods now. Something to be aware of, most of her recipes call for easily available fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley) rather than dried herbs as the main flavor agents. They really are necessary as she keeps many of her recipes very simple and they provide the majority of the flavors. My mom likes her PDQ vegetarian cookbook. The PDQ vegetarian is great for her, because she doesn't have the energy to do much cooking anymore, and even though she is tired she can make these recipes. Most of those involve opening a few cans or some frozen vegetables and adding some spices and a grain. I've seen reviews of the PDQ cookbook mentioned as good for people with chronic illnesses or disabilities because many of the recipes are so simple and fast. I've seen complaints from reviews that she has no pictures in her books, but most recipes are pretty self explanatory and don't need them. If you're beyond a very beginner chef, most of these recipes should be very easy for you to accomplish, no pictures necessary.

I purchased this cookbook about five or six years ago here on Amazon, probably used and I'm finally getting around to writing a review. My copy is now literally falling apart, covered in notes, and soiled from ingredients. To say I love this cookbook is an understatement. I mean, this is that cookbook that I would choose if I could only have one, ever, for the rest of my life. I have made nearly every recipe in it and with the exception of a few that I could count on one hand that aren't bad, we just don't prefer, they are all EXCEPTIONAL. They are all incredibly flavorful, beautiful to the eyes and the palate, gourmet, restaurant quality recipes that are vary from beyond simple to more advanced for the weekend hobbyist cook to prepare. I should mention that my husband is not at all vegan, and I'm more of a 6 days a week vegan. Also, my husband absolutely refuses to eat any fake meat type products. None of these recipes ever even hint at the stuff. Additionally, we have committed pretty thoroughly to the Blue Zone style of eating, which this cookbook is absolutely perfect for if you are living that lifestyle. I promise, you will never miss the meat while eating these recipes. We just feel like we are eating out way across France, Italy, Greece, and Morocco. It's a gourmet vacation in my kitchen every night. And that is saying a lot for us. We live in Portland, Oregon, arguably one of the finest food meccas in the USA, and have also travelled extensively, making a point of eating at the finest most coveted restaurants in the world... and that has made us picky and snobbish about food on an epic scale. My favorite feature is the meal plans in the back of the book. Use them!!! Klein offers full menu plans, by season no less (!), for four people and then another set (!) for six. Recently, I have started using these meal plans (I got sick of making my own and remembered these in the back of the book). I have started making these complete meals for my hubby and I every night and eating the leftovers for lunch the next day. The appetizer course is always delicious and gives me something to tide my hubby over while I'm making the rest of dinner so he doesn't start binge eating while I'm cooking. The desserts are easy to prepare and delicious. My hubby has a serious sweet tooth and grand finales to dinner really appease him. Not only are our meals truly outstanding, but I'm saving a ton of money by eating these seasonal menus. As soon as I'm done with the menu plans for 4, I'm going to start making the meal plans for 6 and freeze the extras. And to think that I was going to start paying for one of those services that plans your meals for you! My holdback was always that their menus seemed pretty lackluster. Now I am getting everything I want. Why did I wait to long to start using them?! Some cookbook authors tell you they are classically trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and then you make their recipes and wonder if they actually showed up to class or have destroyed their palates with heavy smoking or just think so little of their consumers that they don't trust us to actually appreciate their taste. Klein has used her ample talent to collect real, authentic regional recipes that just happen to be vegan and walks you through preparing them so they taste like they are supposed to. I read the negative reviews left: no pictures...and? I'm frequently guilty of taking pictures of her finished recipes and rubbing my friends noses in it on Facebook. Just follow read through the recipe before you get started, do all your prep work, and cook. Can't use for heart healthy diet....use the wet fry method and omit the salt. I've done it with several of her recipes and although the olive oil really adds something (it does with any dish, we are human, we love fat), if you have that health issue you will still be pleased with her recipes. Not sure how much more of a glowing review I can give. I've lived with this cookbook for a long time and I'm now going to order another copy, only this time I'm going to take it over to a print shop and have them laminate it and spiral bind it. It will be worth every stinking cent. I also own her Tropical Vegan book and again, all excellent recipes. If you are really broke and are living on beans and rice, this book will make you forget you are on a budget. But this one is my favorite, hands down. Now Donna, Dear, can you please do me the immense favor of coming up with a French version? I know it's asking a lot, because you know, the French and butter and heavy cream, but if anyone can do it, I believe it's you. And if you want a volunteer for photos of all your recipes, I'm your girl.

The recipes are appealing, delicious, and clearly explained. They should appeal to anyone who loves any of the Mediterranean cooking styles -- though buyers should be warned that the book leans heavily toward the Italian, with much less representation of Middle Eastern/North African cuisine. Two points that distinguish this from most vegan cookbooks: - Almost all the recipes use ingredients that can be obtained at grocery stores outside major cities. If you're tired of books that require you to dig up things like kanten (??) or teff (???), this will be a relief to you. - The recipes have all been eaten by actual people in actual traditional societies, a great guarantor of taste and quality.

After being vegetarian (and occasionally vegan) for four years, it never fails to amaze me that carnivores think that we herbivores are depriving ourselves of delicious foods. One need only flip through Donna Klein's "Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen" to revel in the astounding variety of appetizers, soups, salads, sides, breads and desserts, all of which are vegan (meat-free, dairy-free, and animal byproduct-free). As a pleasant side effect, many recipes are also gluten-free as well, making them ideal for those with Celiac disease or gluten intolerance (Donna Klein has written a new cookbook, The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen: Delicious and Nutritious Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Dishes , that focuses specifically on gluten-free vegetarian cuisine). And perhaps my favorite selling point: no soy analogs. No tofu, TVP crumbles, soy sausage, soy hamburgers, etc. That's great news for me, since I'm allergic to soy. These are purely Mediterranean recipes, allowing the glory of garden-fresh produce, hearty whole grains, olive oil, and herbs to shine through unadultered. There are offerings from France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, and Israel that are sure to make your mouth water, whether you're in the mood for a light snack (hummus, caponata, crostini with Tuscan bean spread), homemade Italian minestrone, exotic Moroccan feast, or a decadent dessert (numerous recipes for fruits poached in wine and other spirits). If you're interested in exploring Mediterranean vegetarian/ vegan dishes in-depth after trying the recipes in The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen , be sure to check out vegan Italian cuisine in Klein's Vegan Italiano: Meat-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free Dishes from Sun-Drenched Italy and Nonna's Italian Kitchen: Delicious Homestyle Vegan Cuisine (Healthy World Cuisine) . A fabulous look at Greek vegetarian cuisine can be found in Diane Kochilas' The Greek Vegetarian: More Than 100 Recipes Inspired by the Traditional Dishes and Flavors of Greece . For those watching their calories / fat / sodium, there are detailed nutritional analyses for each recipe. This may be the cookbook to make your carnivore friends realize what they've been missing!

I never buy a cookbook without pictures, but go t this one based on reviews. So far they are all good, but the nutritional information doesn’t math in many of the recipes. For example the Sicilian barley soup calls for 1 cup pearl barley (24 GM protein) broth, tomatoes and spices. Yet it claims to have 23 GM protein per serving and there are 4-6 servings. I’ve found other recipes that were suspicion so I did the math by hand. Again, super good food but if you’re counting calories/macros, do your own calculations.

I bought this book as part of a transition from being a lacto-ovo vegetarian to becoming a true vegan. After giving up meat four years ago I had become increasingly dependent on dairy as a regular part of my daily meals. This bothered me because I was not getting the full health benefits of a vegan diet and animals were still being mistreated to supply me with my daily fix of cheese. So I decided to bite the bullet and switch to veganism. The first couple of weeks were not easy. It was difficult to eat enough healthy food to not be hungry all the time and to fight my cravings for cheese and eggs. But then finally this book arrived (is it me or is Amazon's shipping getting slower?) and ever since I have been cooking from it almost on a daily basis. I probably cooked at least 10-12 different dishes from this book in the past three weeks and every one of them was satisfying and tasty. Preparation of most of the dishes is very straightforward and ingredients were easy to find (but then this is San Francisco). This is the first cookbook I have used where I have not had to adjust cooking times or amounts of ingredients to make the recipes work. It is really an excellent piece of work. One exception: I would recommend halving the amount of Harissa in the fabulous Tunesian Chick Pea Soup, since the Harissa drowns out other flavors in the recipe that is included in the book.

I truly cannot say enough good things about this cookbook. It is the first vegan cookbook I've seen that doesn't use "meat replacements" in its recipes. These are true, natural flavors and textures as they were meant to be consumed, not pre-packaged artificially-created I-just-need-to-think-I'm-eating-meat textures. The recipes in this book are designed around the vegan lifestyle. There are no "veggie hotdogs" or "veggie burgers", yet every recipe I have made with this book has come out wonderful, tasty, and unique. The recipes in this book, for the most part DO take a bit of work, but most recipes I have made are under 45 minutes, and I take my time when I cook, so I'm sure some stock-car-paced cooks could get them done in 30. This is not like some other vegetarian cookbooks where you have breakfasts as only muesli, lunches as bland salads, entrees as grain-sauce concotions and desserts as fruit only. This is not to say that meat replacers and standard vegan cookbooks are not on my shelves and used daily, but rather sometimes I just crave CLEAN, substaintial, healthy food in my-goodness-why-didn't-I-think-of-that easy combinations. All in all, this is one cookbook you cannot afford NOT to buy! You'd be missing out!!!

I love this cookbook. All the dishes are made from real food. I have other cookbooks that use tofu and other ingredients to "make up for" not using meat and dairy. It gets really old buying all the ingredients that they say are so good and when you try them you end up throwing them out because they are so awful. It is a real delight to open up a vegan cookbook and see normal good tasting foods in the recipes. It is wonderful to have recipes that you can really enjoy. If you want to eat vegan but you can't bring yourself to give up your favorite unhealthy dishes you can try the "fake" dishes that you usually see in vegan cookbooks, but there is a good chance that you won't like the recipes and you'll go back to your old eating habits. However, if you want to try new dishes which taste great and will replace your desire for the less healthy foods then buy this book. I have tried some recipes in this book that are great, others are okay. But even the okay ones have given me ideas and taught me things so that I can change the recipes just enough to make them more palatable to my own taste buds. If you are a tofu, miso, tahini person buy another book, but if not, this one is for you.

I have now completed over twenty recipes from this book and every one has worked perfectly and impressed several meat-eating friends. This is vegan cookery as it should be, based on natural fresh wholefoods with none of the meat, egg or dairy substitutes which make so many vegan recipes pale imitations. But it is also mediterranean cooking as it should be, displaying an abiding knowledge of how vegetables are used in the peasant dishes of dozens of local regions in Spain, Italy and the south of France. Each dish is based on classic mediterranean flavour combinations using only a limited number of herbs, flavourings and seasonings to complement the vegetables, pulses and grains being prepared. You'll know by now that there are no photographs, the measures are american cups and that the recipe steps are not numbered. However, there is more than enough detail in the description of the preparation to make the recipes straightforward if not always quick to prepare. While occasionally offering short-cuts, generally speaking, she expects you to prepare the food with care and with respect for the ingredients, although doing so is always worth it!

This is a great book if you love aubergine, tomatoes and capsicums, olives and capers. I don't and was hoping for more french so gave it to my daughter who appreciates these ingredients.

I have already ordered a copy for a friend. Useful book and refreshing to have no meat or cheese substitutes..

As a vegetarian with many vegetarian friends, I can't believe this book isn't better known. Donna Klein has combined here a fabulous selection of plant-based vegetarian dishes -- not only "meat-free, egg-free, dairy-free" as the cover advertises, but also soy-free. While I personally like soy products, it's nice to have a book that stays clear of soy for when I'm cooking for those who eschew the food. This book is simple and understated, but definitely worth a try. The Egyptian-Style Lentil Soup is a delicious and easy one-pot meal. The Red Kidney Bean and Mixed Green Salad has become a staple in my house, as has the Bulgur Pilaf with Dried Fruits. For main dishes, a must-try is the Quick Farmer's Paella, which has converted many a skeptic. The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen would make a great gateway cookbook for anyone who is interested in vegan cooking but still feels a bit trepidatious.

If someone told me that I would be passionately trying recipe after recipe from the book that suggests meat-free, dairy-free, egg-free cousine on its cover, I would laugh out loud. But this is true! My family doesn't want to go to eat out anymore. They ask for hummus with red peppers and rice risotto, including my 15 y.o. picky eater. And yes, you can bake potatoes in better way than dull traditional way served with sour cream. Donna Klein will tell you how :) I use her recipe ans substitute potato for yams, and it is delicious too. Don't get discouraged by list of ingredients or lack of pictures. You will use lemon juice and herbs a lot, and cut your sodium. You will get about 10 commonly used ingredients ( chick peas, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, cilantro etc), open the book at any page and confidently cook a delicious meal. This Christmas was the first one in my life when I did not gain a pound. I cooked everything from this book - even though it is not a weight loss book, the combination of ingredients leaves us full, satisfied, energized after we leave the dinner table. People who eat meat brought their meats and ate my meals on the side. Our colleagues are jealous to see the leftovers of our dinners that we bring for lunch.