New Vegetarian Grill: 250 Flame-Kissed Recipes for Fresh, Inspired Meals

I am new to grilling. I've been a vegetarian for 23 years and never ate stuff off grills that had been used for meat. But, now I have a house and a grill I can dedicate to vegetarian stuff only. I wanted some kind of guide book though, since I really don't know anything about using a grill. This is the one I bought. I really have mixed feelings about it.I gave it a high rating because the food, once finished, is quite good. I've made four recipes from this book so far, and there hasn't been a one that wasn't delicious. There are many recipes that appeal to me (I skip all the mushrooms, though, but if you are a fan of mushrooms you will get a lot out of this book) and you can do something inspired by nearly any kind of ethnic cuisine you might want (Indian, Middle Eastern, various east Asian countries, etc.).There are some good tricks in this book that can be applied to other areas of cooking, as well. There is one recipe for simple grilled potato wedges (don't have the book with me at the moment so don't remember the title) where you mix butter and hot sauce and just coat the potatoes with it before cooking. It never would've occurred to me to do that, but it was amazing. Also, there is a falafel recipe using canned chickpeas; you put whole wheat bread crumbs in there to help the patties stay together (since usually you need to use dried chickpeas or have your falafel fall apart, as I have learned from past attempts). I am totally going to use the bread crumbs in other patty-like recipes I make. That was super useful. So anyway, I expect there are probably other tricks that I will learn as I further explore the book. I very much like that aspect.Another thing I really like about this book is that it is opening me up to some lower fat recipes. I am counting calories this year (have lost more than 30 pounds so far) and I feel that I need to eat some bulk in the form of fiber to keep full. So I am essentially on a high carb, low fat diet. This book is great for someone like me. (There are not going to be too many vegetarians on low carb diets anyway.) Some of the recipes lack protein and/or balanced macronutrients, but that is probably OK on occasion. Most of the recipes serve four people but of course they are easy to double or cut in half, depending on your needs.But, here are my two chief complaints.(1) The recipes seem simple but almost all of them require an elaborate sauce. The falafel recipe requires TWO elaborate sauces. The sauce can take more time to prepare than the rest of the food. These sauces make the recipes impossible for weeknights or anytime you are pressed for time. (Some of the sauces do not refrigerate well, either. There is a tahini "dipping" sauce for a tofu recipe that solidifies and becomes more of a spread when refrigerated, for example.) I don't think the author must have much else to do with her time because she actually suggests firing up the grill to make a "quick" grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. As if. (A quick grilled cheese sandwich for me is done on my George Foreman grill because I can cook it from both sides at once without flipping...) Anyway, my suggestion here is to work your way through some of the recipes on a weekend when you have more time and you will figure out what you can simplify. For example, next time I do the falafel patties, I will just mince some garlic and grind some black pepper into plain yogurt and there, sauce in less than five minutes. The other thing is, you will often end up throwing half the sauce away -- you are given directions to make way too much. So, you can probably cut the sauce recipes in half.(2) I am not sure I agree with the author about cooking potatoes. I've tried two different recipes of hers with potatoes and they were undercooked both times. There was an Indian-inspired (tandoori-style) recipe with potatoes, cauliflower, and carrots. You were supposed to parboil the vegetables before skewering them. When followed exactly, the cauliflower and carrots were OK (well, the carrots could've been a bit softer, but you can eat both cauliflower and carrots raw, too), but the potatoes were hard. (I was using metal skewers, for what it's worth. Bamboo skewers would've broken when you tried to drive them through the parboiled carrots...) I would've parboiled the carrots and potatoes for longer. Also, cauliflower is hard to skewer because it falls apart, so I suggest one of those aluminum drip pans or a vegetable grill plate instead. Anyway, just watch the directions about potatoes and parboil them for longer than recommended in the book before grilling (probably goes for any root vegetable, to be honest).This book is definitely not vegan, although you could probably make some alterations to some of the recipes to turn them vegan (like, just use agave nectar instead of honey in some of the glazes, etc.). There are also some vegan dishes in here, but since I am not a vegan, I didn't really look at the proportions. This will also naturally have gluten free recipes (watch the sauce ingredients, of course, but you can get by without wheat for a lot of these).In the end, I do like this book a lot. I am finding out just how much I love eating food off the grill, and how much more versatile it is than as a simple tool for cooking veggie burgers. I do like a lot of the recipes and have found several I would make again (though I would simplify the sauces). Just remember that, in the end, vegetarian grilling involves a lot more chopping and such than meat grilling, and that it will take more time. (Also, invest in a vegetable grill plate. You can get a good one from Weber for fifteen bucks here on Amazon. So much easier than skewers. And definitely called for with this book.)

I recently started using an indoor grill and as a mostly vegetarian cook, needed some guidance on what to grill and how to do it. This cookbook is perfect for grilling recipes and how to grill almost anything. I am amazed at how many items can be grilled and I have been using it as a guide for most meals. Of course, most of the recipes assume an outdoor grill with a flame, but I have found it very useful, This summer I will use it with a little charcoal grill as well. But for the winter, the recipes have been easy to adapt for the flameless indoor grill that we are now enjoying very often.

An excellent resource for a wide variety of grilled vegetarian meals. Think:goat cheese, pasta, and grilled summer vegetablesgrilled pizzaspattypan squash towersblack bean burritosgrilled veggie burgers with onion and blue cheeserefried bean tacosgoat cheese and olive paninitomato basil paniniegg in a nest with cheeseherbed summer squash chipslittle mushroom bitesgrilled pita chipsholiday chestnut-mushroom pate...and tons more!and pasta salads, side dishes, marinades, sauces...there is not only a wide variety of tastes from asian to southwestern to italian to good ol homestyle American, but excellent tips on how to grill as well.This is most assuredly a keeper for great summer meals.Negatives: no photos, no nutritional information

I have to disagree with the one reviewer about being "too elaborate"....I have grilled burritos and quesedilla for years and if it is done correctly-especially with a true grill that produces smoke flavor of some type-it does make a difference in flavor. The recipes in this book are a whole new door being opened-and mind you -I have been a veg for several years, and subscribe to both Eating Well and Vegetarian Times-yet this book is a whole new group of ideas. I tend to use my grill often and I tend to hang with others who do also-so coming up with new creative vegetarian recipes for the grill has been a constant quest. (Honestly I have been glad to be a veg in these cases -many people eat the same old slab of animal meat over and over- veggie stuff opens up a huge variety of food to try that no one thinks of)....this book rocks....

love this book

This book contains many great recipes and unique ideas for things to grill .. including vegetables, main dishes, and even some really awesome desserts. I always get asked, "what the heck do you barbecue if you don't eat meat?!" .. this book increased the list of answers I can provide ten-fold. :) Highly recommended, for vegetarians and meat-eaters, too!

I got this as a gift for my brother and sister in law. They really like it and have found several recipes in it to try.

Some good recipes. Not alot of hard to find ingredients, which is good. What I don't like is the printing. May have been my mistake, but the book that arrived was printed in large print. There are also no pictures. While pictures are not needed for a cookbook, I do enjoy seeing what the finished product will look like.

excellent reference on grilling vegetablesAlready, the book is well used