Heaven's Banquet: Vegetarian Cooking for Lifelong Health the Ayurveda Way

Rating:
Summary: I love this cookbook
Review: This cookbook is a wonderful addition to anyone's library, regardless of whether you are interested in Ayurveda or not. The recipes are varied and interesting, and the book is wonderfully written. It is a pleasure to browse, even when I am not planning a menu! It is not pretentious, and it is very accessible. I've made many recipes from this book, and I look forward to making many more. A great find and a beautiful book!

Rating:
Summary: I love this cookbook
Review: This cookbook is a wonderful addition to anyone's library, regardless of whether you are interested in Ayurveda or not. The recipes are varied and interesting, and the book is wonderfully written. It is a pleasure to browse, even when I am not planning a menu! It is not pretentious, and it is very accessible. I've made many recipes from this book, and I look forward to making many more. A great find and a beautiful book!

Rating:
Summary: The "Joy of Cooking" for the 21st Century
Review: This is no ordinary cookbook! In addition to giving hundreds of scrumptious-sounding (yet easy to prepare, thank God!) recipes , it provides interesting and very useful information about such things as how to store and prepare various beans, grains, vegetables, herbs, etc., fascinating histories about various foods, what types of cookware are best, etc. etc. And it is so entertainingly written (including quotes about food from the famous and others sprinkled throughout), I find myself sometimes sitting down with it like a favorite novel. What makes it really stand out the most, however, is its description of the ancient science of health, Ayurveda. Finally, there is a system that defines "health food" as something more than "fat-free"! The beginning of the book includes the comprehensive but simple Ayurvedic system of body types and what foods are good for each. It also points out that other factors like how fresh the food is, how happy the cook is, and how settled you are when you eat also affect how healthy the food is for you. This cookbook should be the bible of every cook (and non-cook!) who wants to enjoy food that is both yummy and healthy.

Rating:
Summary: Classic, all-purpose cookbook for everyone
Review: This will be the classic, all-purpose cookbook I will give my friends for their bridal showers, father's day, birthdays, and graduation. I can't think of an occasion for which it wouldn't be suitable. The world desperately needs to be nourished in mind, body, and soul. It is as complete as Joy of Cooking, the old standard, but more relevant to today's more health conscious and environmentally aware cooks. It is wise and wonderful, the story of good food told with wit and timeless experience. Try the artichoke-filo pie or light-as-air eggless cakes flavored with ayurvedic coffee. The instructions are clear, easy to follow even for the novice, and the results are, well, heavenly. I read cookbooks the way detective story buffs read mysteries. This is a thriller, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating -these are some spicey meatballs! If you are more of an egg head than an egg beater, this is a treasure of rare quotes and eternal verities, a scholars tome of our cultural heritage.