Plants Taste Better

Plants do taste better! I really enjoyed this book and had the chance to try Celeriac soup and Lentil pate. They both came out as winners. Even my 4 year old loved the Celeriac soup.
Some of the recipes are not very easy; but the results look mouthwatering even for the non-vegans. We are not a vegan household but we are trying to eat healthily so some recipes in this book will definitely find place permanently in our kitchen.
I loved the soup and mains, Salads are a bit tricky (considering they're salads -seen as sides )would expect more easier recipes. There are some interesting combinations in Deserts section worth a try.
If you love nuts, olives, and of course vegetables, this book is definitely a go-to for a healthy meal idea.

British chef Richard Buckley has, with this book, continued the trend towards high concept, gourmet vegan cuisine. Too often, plant-based diets are seen with a reductive and backwards-facing condescension, and people's minds are closed off to how delicious these foods can be simply because they are labeled vegan. In Plants Taste Better, Buckley lets nature be the real star. Missing from this cookbook is substitute meat, processed soy-based cheese product--no, this is a cookbook where high quality produce, spices and oil work together to provide glorious meat/animal-product free options. From rye bread to homemade pastas and mushroom pate, Plants Taste Better offers myriad elevated vegan food options satisfying for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike. And it looks pretty doing it, too.

Wide variety of tasty looking and unique recipes - all plant based!

As I read through this cookbook words like elegant, refined and sophisticated were whirling through my head. It's a really beautiful cookbook with many amazing looking recipes. Some of them seem a bit time consuming, but that's not always a bad thing. I did notice a good many ingredients that you just don't see in the US commonly like cavolo nero and rooster or maris piper potatoes. What I found most appealing were the great many recipes for broths, pickling and flavored oils.

I never like to post a review for a cookbook if I haven't at least tried some of the recipes. I am in New York, it is March and we have had four nor'easters since the beginning of the month. That will probably tell you why I was drawn to Plants Taste Better. The only thing keeping me positive this month is the fact that I grow my own vegetables and everywhere I look there are seeds germinating and plants growing all hoping that April is the month for spring to arrive. As the author/chef suggested, I try to use seasonal produce, however, I wouldn't eat many plants if I wasn't willing to buy some items out of season.
That being said, there are numerous recipes I plan to try once the growing season begins, however, I did make the Everyday Bread, Sweet Potato & Aubergine with spiced peanut sauce and kimchi, the Mushroom and Fennel Stock, Risotto Milanese and the Butternut Moose. All were excellent and definitely improved the meals I served over the weekend. This is a really good book if you want to focus on less meat in your diet. Lovely pictures, a nice introduction and some good tips(how to make Aquafaba was one which was an ingredient in the Butternut Moose).The only thing missing for me was nutritional information. A member of my household is on a low sodium diet, so while I can look up recipe ingredients to figure out what substitutions I need to make, I always appreciate seeing the nutritional values with the recipe.
Thank you, Richard Buckley, Quarto Publishing Group-Jacqui Small, and NetGalley for a digital copy to read and review. The vegetables I grow this season are going to get some recipe makeovers this coming season and I couldn't be more excited to elevate my cooking.

Plants Taste Better delivers everything you'd expect from a cookbook focused on a plant based diet. The photography is gorgeous, featuring earthy and rustic photos of a variety of vegetables and fruits. The recipes are kept somewhat simple to let the vegetables flavor and texture remain the focus without being bombarded by too many additional ingredients.

Recipe Highlights:

The Butternut Mousse recipe is a classic with a gourmet twist that is quick and easy to make but will wow those eating it. The Roasted Donkey Carrots is a fun take on a traditionally plain food that even my young children enjoyed saying as much as eating. Finally the Parsnip Barley Risotto is a brilliant collection of two underrated and underappreciated ingredients: Pearl Barley and Parsnips, the combination in this savory dish is sure to boost the popularity of both.

Not only is this a fabulous vegetable cookbook, but the presentation and photos would make it a very beautiful addition to the table top collection.
This wonderful book explains the use of the whole vegetable base or root to plant matter and final fruit. The recipes are very easy to follow, with some really good step by step instructions for some techniques. The presentation is mouth watering and with some effort does not look to difficult to achieve.
All in all, a very inspirational book celebrating the not so humble vegetable, from snacks, pates, soups lunches, salads, mains dessert and bread. This book will not disappoint

This is not an introduction to vegan cookery. These are not the kind of meals you dish up for your kids on a school night. These are recipes for ambitious amateurs; the sorts of things you’d make if you were entering a Vegan Masterchef competition. They look beautiful on the plate – check out the Rich Mushroom Parfait (with port glaze and a pea and shallot salad) – gorgeous, but just finding the ingredients would be challenging enough for me.
This kind of cookery is out of my league. But on further examination I realised that this book does deserve a place on my shelf.
Some of the advice given, while basic to some, is actually useful to me. (The section on salt particularly so.) And although I may not make any of the dishes as given, there are ideas to be extracted on cooking methods, flavour combinations and food presentation.
An aspirational cookbook.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing/ Jacqui Small for this review copy.
https://mypertopinions.blogspot.co.uk/

The author begins by mentioning why we eat the parts of a plant that we do, and how different types of plants are in the same family.
The instructions for the recipes are thorough yet they inform you as to what the food is supposed to look or feel like, such as the words “beginning to soften”, and “soft and translucent”, which helps you what the food should be like. This method of communication is very helpful to an experienced as well as a novice cook!
You will find recipes for hummus, pistachio pate, gazpacho, sweetcorn soup, and split pea soup in the snacks and soup sections.
There are recipes with strange names, such as “roasted donkey carrots with cashew cheese and seeded buckwheat”, and fermented foods, such as sauerkraut and kimchee.
The recipes encourage you to use the parts of a plant that you may normally not use for garnishes and added flavors.
The recipe for potato gnocchi tells you exactly how to mix, form and cook the gnocchi, so your dish should turn out well if you follow the directions exactly.
There is a recipe for burnt peaches with prosecco sorbet and almond biscotti that looks delicious as well as giving your taste buds an awesome treat!
What an amazing cookbook, it contains recipes that are interesting, flavorful and doable as the directions are so thorough - enjoy!

Really liked some sections of this book including risottos, breads and soups. I thought alot of the meals would be suitable for a celebration dinner with likeminded friends or family. Some of the recipes I definitely would cook but that can be said of most cookbooks.

Overall lovely photographs, clear instructions but too fancy for everyday meals

Very well done vegetarian cookbook. Stunning images. Excellent recipes. Only disappointing part is that it felt short but I'll take the good recipes in exchange.

I love this book! It has a refreshing and exciting spin on vegetarian cooking. Every recipe excited me and it deserves a worthy place on ones bookshelf. I can’t wait to cook from this book

To preface: I am an omnivore, but eat plant-based as much as possible, so this book is the perfect accompaniment to my lifestyle. There are so many fantastic recipes I can't wait to tråy (I'm pretty sure I've bookmarked the entire "Desserts" section!) The pictures are gorgeous and the recipes clean. My only complaint to the formatting of the book is that the descriptions of the recipes are above even the name of the recipe, so the flow of information isn't ideal, but it's enough for me to overlook and give five stars to!

It may be that the mojo is strong right now, or perhaps I've just been lucky with selections, but I have reviewed some great cookbooks recently. Richard Buckley's "Plants Taste Better" stands out even among those. Before I continue with what this book is, I should perhaps spend a moment explaining what it is not, from my perspective as someone who loves spending time in the kitchen and is always eager to try new recipes. This book is not for cooks who prefer to spend as little prep time as possible. Yes, there are a few recipes that will accommodate you, but the majority will seem like frustrating exercises to you. Buckley features quite a few recipes whose individual parts must be made in advance, and even though that means up to days in advance, I realize a good number of casual or busy cooks won't want to bother.
So, who is "Plants Taste Better" for? Anyone who enjoys recipes that feature commonplace ingredients with a twist and beautiful garnish. Cooks and gourmands who love to tickle the taste buds and don't mind a little extra effort. One refreshing feature of the recipes is that the ingredient lists are generally relatively short to moderate.

Buckley begins by offering a bunch of no-nonsense, down to earth advice on cooking, combining flavors, and choosing and buying produce. Unlike most other chefs, he offers a word of wisdom on using salt and cayenne pepper properly, as well. He spends some time explaining what exactly 'umami' is and how one can achieve it when cooking. Finally, he goes over essential and nice-to-have kitchen equipment.

The book is divided into Snacks; Soups, Pates, and Light Lunches; Salads; Mains; Desserts; and Breads. The recipes are frequently amended by helpful hints. Nothing is left to chance for those who enjoy stocking their pantry, fridge, and freezer with homemade essentials: From making stocks and pickles, a variety of garnishes like spiced nuts and dukkah, to making pasta (with photos to help with more complicated shapes like tortelloni and an entire section on making perfect gnocchi), oils, butters, and milks, the options are virtually endless. I was particularly impressed with the fact that the Breads chapter begins with a sourdough rye bread, something I have tried to find in our area for ages.

So, is this a must-have? If you feel about food and its preparation as I do, then definitely. More timid cooks may be happy to know that every recipe is featured in a photo, as well.

Cooking plants carefully and with skill is what Plants Taste Better is all about. Because most of your food dishes receive their flavor from plants, it’s important to know them and prepare them properly.

In the introduction, the author explains the philosophy of cooking with plants and understanding plants. In the Craft Of Plant-Based Cooking section, choosing ingredients, flavors, taste, seasonings, etc. are discussed.

Also included in the same section is a list of required or recommended equipment. While strictly speaking a knife is all that is required, these extra items may make life easier.

Recipe categories include:

Snacks
Soups, Pates & Light Lunches
Salad
Mains
Desserts
Bread

Each of the recipes includes an introduction to the vegetable, plant, used as the main ingredient. Serving sizes are also included as well as in some cases serving suggestions.

Tips are also sprinkled throughout the book, giving information on using various ingredients to the best advantage. Most of the recipes also offer a lovely photograph of the finished product. While several of the recipes are displayed in combination photograph it does not detract from the usefulness of the picture.

Unique And Timely

So many of us are trying to be more healthful these days, a plant-based diet can help with that. These recipes will help you introduce more variety into the plant-based flavors in your diet.

The recipes are all very attractive offerings. Several of them, however, many involve recipes within recipes, so we’re not for the quick easy meal. These are for the meals that you want to take your time over and savor.

See the full review and the recipe for Tomato Chutney at The RecipesNow! Reviews And Recipes Magazine. This review is written in response to a complimentary copy of the book provided by the publisher in hopes of an honest review.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
This is an incredible cookbook! The photos are beautiful and the recipes are inspired. Although I'm not vegan, there are many wonderful ideas and techniques that might help me explore cooking more plant based food. That being said, many of the recipes are very involved with lots of ingredients. I am a little intimidated by some of them, but I would really like to give most of them a try! The pâtés look really cool (might be the only pâté I'm interested in trying!) and many of the pastas look do-able. Definitely a keeper.

I judge cookbooks on three things: clear theme, easy to understand recipes, and good photos. This book had all of those in excellent quantity and quality. While I did roll my eyes a little at the title (because taste is subjective and while I might agree I still think it is a bit silly) overall I rather liked the theme. I find a lot of vegan and vegetarian cookbooks are preachy, this one is all about the art of cooking just with only plants rather than a mix, so that got the book my respect.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes cookbooks and wants plant based recipes and likes cookbooks where pretty much every recipe is represented with a picture of the finished dish. Now, if you excuse me I want to go make that Pistachio Pate!

I really enjoyed this book and had the chance to try Celeriac soup and Lentil pate. . Vegan recipes are often the best for me, this is why I was happy to read this cookbook. Some of the recipes are a bit complex and looks difficult to recreate.

Plants Taste Better is a really good cook book to show you can cook a wide variety of meals with only plants and it can be delicious. In the days of leaning towards a healthier diet, everybody should give more place to plant based meals more than before.
In the book, there are many recipes divided into sections. It starts by telling what to use while cooking plants. Then, there are categories like snacks, soups, mains, deserts, etc.
I really liked the snacks, soups, sauces part especially. There was a lot of variety, and there were interesting things that I would try. I wish there would be more salads and a bit more variety than pasta oriented meals in the mains section.
But, overall I really liked the book and the recipes. The pictures were very appetizing and elegant. I would definitely recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for granting a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a stunningly beautiful book filled with some delicious looking plant based recipes. I can see myself attempting a few of the easier recipes, though many of them seem for a more experienced chef. The pictures looked lovely, and I would love to taste all of the recipes but I wouldn't be willing to actually cook them myself. A wonderful gift for someone whos already quite comfortable in the kitchen, and not a less experienced person.

I have received a much appreciated digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

While we don't eat vegetarian meals this is a good resource book with some great recipe ideas even for side dishes.

Not your one-pot fast meal family veggie cookbook, this is a sophisticated, beautifully presented vegetable cookbook which doesn't use any dairy products. The author's restaurant will apparently be one of the handful of vegan restaurants to feature in the Michelin Guide for 2018 and it shows.
Recipes are not speedy in general, but are fully explained and presented as small works of art.
Dishes are provided with the extra bits that often make the difference between home and restaurant cooking. So sweet corn soup comes with charred sweet corn and curried popcorn. Delicious!
Many dishes are multi-stage (with a sizeable number starting preparation a day or so before) and will take some time, but not all.
I am looking forward to not only trying Richard Buckley's versions of everyday foods, such as hummus, risotto Milanese (with peas and pine nuts) and leek and potato soup (with the added leek and potato cakes), but to attempting some of the more fiddly dishes, such as seared calabrese broccoli (with spelt grain, smoked almond emulsion and candied almonds).
This is top-notch grown up restaurant cooking, gorgeously presented.
Many thank to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with a copy of this excellent cookbook in exchange for a fair review.

Found some really good recipes in here, and super easy to follow. There is something for everyone, and bonus it's good for you.

What a great title! I am not a vegetarian, but I am a keen cook who has an extensive vegetable garden, so I am always on the look out for recipe books that give me interesting ideas for cooking with vegetables, and this book was perfect for me.

It is a beautiful book with superb photos. The short introduction included a brief, yet interesting discussion on umami and the use of cayenne pepper.

This is not a recipe book for a beginner cook, or for someone who wants to whip up a quick meal. Whilst there are some simple, quick recipes (for example, the fried Spanish almonds were delicious), the author does not shy away from recipes which will require time and planning in the preparation.

Most of the recipes are made up of multiple parts. So the soups are in themselves quite simple recipes, but it is the accompaniments and garnishes that set them apart – making them look good, but most importantly adding interest in flavor and texture. The various components of the dishes are superb – and enable a creative cook to extract parts to combine differently to make new recipes. I liked the various sections on purees, pickles etc which give ideas to create interesting accompaniments and garnishes.

It’s asparagus season as I write this, so I tried the charred asparagus with a cannellini bean and onion puree. It was a tasty and interesting combination. The fig chutney had a punch of chilli and loads of flavour and the mushroom risotto was rich and tasty. Very successful recipes, and lots more I have bookmarked to try

Plants Taste Better is a vibrant cookery book full of recipes that use plants, be it vegetables, herbs, seeds or fruits. The book also provides some recipes that use the whole plant, such as using the cauliflower heart or taking seeds from a fennel and using them instead of just throwing both away, something that I'm certainly guilty of!

This book contains eight chapters, starting with an Introduction and The Craft of Plant-Based Cooking. The remaining six chapters are dedicated at Snacks, Soups, pâtés & light lunches, Salads, Mains, Desserts and Breads.

The Introduction chapter provides an oversight to understanding plants, using the whole plant and explaining which characteristics means a plant is from the same family. The Craft covers choosing the plant be it from your supermarket or your local farmers market and questions to consider when looking at organic producers, explaining taste & flavour, seasoning with salt and adding cayenne pepper. It explains a term I've not come across before: umami - what natural chemicals gives food the 'yum factor'! It provides insight into texture and colour along with recommended equipment.

The Snacks chapter includes tasty looking and sounding recipes using cashew nuts, kale, crisps using alternatives to potatoes, plus more.I

Soups, Pâtés & Light lunches include 11 soups, stocks and pickles, pâtés and moose, and other interesting light snacks. Salads is much more than the humble lettuce, cucumber and tomato. It uses ingredients such as chicory, pan frying a cauliflower, roasting beetroot and much more.

Mains has a number of recipes using homemade pasta, with excellent instructions and pictures to accompany the making and the shaping of your own. There is a similar helpful bit on making your own gnocchi. Plus there is a section on making purées to compliment a dish.

The Desserts chapter has wonderful hot and cold puddings, I did note that each pudding is not quickly whipped up, either a sorbet needs freezing time or baking a biscotti or moist cake.

Finally breads are 'raised' in the book. There are four bread recipes, one which requires a starter over 5 days, and a couple of cracker type breads. Also at the end of the chapter is a number of infused oils, butters and milks.

Each recipe comes with a beautiful colour photograph, an introduction, easy to follow steps and measurements in both metric and imperial. Throughout the book are boxes of useful information on things such as preparing your deep fat fryer or tinned versus dried beans.

I love the idea that this book provides exact measurements for seasoning, especially salt or recommending that it is added as you go along, as it can be quite difficult to get right at times when recipes just recommend a pinch.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

Plants Taste Better offers 70 vegan recipes that look at using as much – if not all – of the plant you can and, whilst not a vegan myself (I’m a vegetarian), I have to say I am intrigued by the idea of cutting more animal-based products out of my diet. My main problem when it comes to this is, though, how dull a lot of the recipes I look up online seem. Not any more.
Not only is Plants Taste Better one of the most gorgeous cookbooks I have come across in a while, with pictures of food that made my mouth water, it is also one of the most interesting, from Buckley’s philosophy that put vegetables front and centre, to the range of recipes on offer. I feel like if I did decide to become a vegan, I wouldn’t be bored with the range of options available.
The book covers snacks like hummus (easy to make and much better than the store bought varieties) and sauces like pesto (which unfortunately used up all my fresh basil – not that I’m complaining) before going onto soups, light lunches, salads, mains, deserts and breads. There are 70 recipes in all and there aren’t any that I don’t think I could give a go to.
One of the things I love about the book is how simple they make even the most complicated looking dishes seem to make. Instructions are clear and simple and don’t run into pages and pages. Where you might need help (like in how to make gnocchi) there are pictorials to make your life easier. This is one of the next ones on my list to make and I’m pretty sure I will be staring intently at the page when I do.
Probably the only thing that looks out of my skill range right now is the bread, which I have been struggling to make well, but then maybe this is the book that will help me fulfil my new years resolution of making a good, tasty, loaf from scratch? Either way, when I build up the courage I will be giving it a try because I am not sure I can keep away from this book.

Beautifully designed book. Recipes are laid out nicely; Easy to follow and lots of pictures. Lots of variety. I didn’t know you could do so many things with vegetables. I did notice quite a few ingredients I had never heard of and that aren’t available in the stores around me. They would be quite difficult to find. This is kind of a deterrent for me. But if you have access to these ingredients the recipes look fabulous. Definitely good for a dinner party!

What a marvelous book! "Plants Taste Better" will definitely influence those who have preferred meat over plants. The book has fantastic pictures and content. Author Richard Buckley clearly knows how to make plants taste better and to help the reader do so as well! I will recommend this book (highly) to my plant-based Facebook groups and friends who tell me they don't like eating vegetables!

#PlantsTasteBetter #NetGalley #Vegan4Life #Vegan

This is a gold collection of vegan recipes from the famous chef Richard Buckley. The advice and the instructions are easy to follow and the results are incredible.

As a vegan I found this book absolutely wonderful, great plant based recipes with lovely ingredients and beautiful pictures to compliment the book.. I will definitely want to buy the hardcopy just to browse over at leisure.
thanks for the arc Netgalley.

This book is proof that a lot of what makes food appealing is presentation. The photos included amongst its pages are superb, but the recipes themselves are amazing. The book starts off with snacks, moves on to soups and light lunches (all of which sound fanstastic!), the salads look and sound equally scrumptious, the main dishes include and explanation--with photos--on how to make your own pasta, and let's not get started on the desserts.

I need this book in my kitchen where it will provide hours of culinary ecstasy!

To me (with my middling-level cooking skills), this has a lot of advanced recipes that I am likely to mess up (although others are within my skill range). I'm not sure where to find some of the ingredients, but will keep an eye out for them when I go to different grocery stores.

I am unable to review this book as I could not get the file downloaded before it was archived, every time I tried my laptop was unable to finish the download and I'm not sure why. Apologies for this. From what I've seen it looks like a great book