Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure

The media could not be loaded.  I worked as a chef. I have tried 50 of the recipes from Lorna J Sass’s “Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure”. This is my favorite cookbook and most used. I test these recipes against other cookbook to find recipes I would use in a restaurant. This is a wonderful cookbook. Some of our family favorites are in here. I ordered a second copy to replace my destroyed copy.I have made these 54:1) Chickpea Soup Italian - LOVED IT! 5 stars out of 5. A+++++. I made this for a family reunion. Everyone wanted the recipe. I would serve it in a restaurant. Family favorite.2) Garlic Lover’s Lentil Soup. LOVED IT! A+++ 5 stars out of 5. Family favorite.3) Soup Au Pistou - A- LOVED IT very good.4) Herbed Cauliflower Tomato Soup - A 5 stars out of 5.5)Asian Vegetable Stock - LOVED IT! A+ 5 stars. I used this in a soup and it got me over my cold in 24 hours.6) Garlic Potatoes- Yummy. A 5 stars7) Basic Casserole Brown Rice - A 5 stars. I did cook it on high pressure for 35 minutes with a natural release.8) Caribbean Rice and Beans - LOVED IT - A+ 5 stars. Family favorite9) Basic Wild Rice - A, 5 stars10) Basic White Basmati rice, A, 5 stars.11) Basic casserole steamed white rice , A , 5 stars12) basic bulgur, A - 5 stars13) Whole Grain Tabbouleh Salad - LOVED IT! 5 stars A+ Weekly made. Family favorite!14) Ginger Adzuki Squash Stew - FAIL as is the recipe is an epic fail flavor wise. BUT With adjustment and addition of a few tablespoons of MISO paste LOVED IT! New score A . 5 stars. The next day it does not taste great. By day three I had to flush it down the toilet.15) Baby Limas with Spinach and Dill - LOVED IT! 5 stars. Serve at Saint Patrick’s Day!16) Black Bean Chili - LOVED IT! A+++++ I tested this against 8 other black bean vegan chili recipes. I tested it with 10 taste testers. This is hands down the BEST. Family favorite and what I use in our church chili potlucks.17) Cuban black beans - as is bland. With addition of 2 jalapeños it’s A+.18) basic vegetable stock - yes. A+ 5 out of 5 stars19) Last Minute Black Eyed pea chili- LOVED IT! 5 stars. A++20) Split Pea Hummus (Indian flavors), A , 5 stars21) All-Purpose Bean Salad - LOVED IT! 5 stars. So easy and versatile!22) Asian Vegetable Stock - LOVED IT! A+ 5 stars23) Basic brown rice with flame tammer. LOVED IT! A +++++ 5 stars out of 5. I cooked it on high pressure for 35 minutes with natural release.24) basic casserole brown rice LOVED IT! A+ I cooked it 35 minutes on high pressure with natural release.25) Revisionist Boston Brown Bread p222. LOVE IT! Wow bread pressure cooker? Yes. A- 41/2 stars. It does turn hard as a rock two days later. RYE FLOUR was $10 for a small bag with 4 cups of flour so I probably will not make it again due to food inflation costs.26) Twelve brean soup with African spices - C- Not good. Flushed it down the toilet.27) Twelve Bean soup with Mediterranean flavors - B- yep b minus. I wouldn’t make it again.28) Armenian red lentil soup with apricot- B-. My husband like this. I found it bland and slightly sweet. Not a fan.29) Herb Scented Lima Bean Soup : C-30) New Mexican Pinto Bean Soup : My family gives it an A or 5 stars. I give it 3 stars before heat adjustment. I added 2 jalapeños and then I bumped my rating up to 5 stars.31) Split Pea soup with herbs de province - B+ or 4 1/2 stars. Really good for vegan.32) Curried Split Pea Soup - Use a curry powder your family likes. I used Lorna’s blend and my family didn’t like it and gave it an epic fail. I remade it with a curry powder blend I purchased and my family liked it.33) Quinoa Vegetable Soup : My family gave this 4 stars. I give it 3 stars or a C grade. Not a favorite and I haven’t made it again.34) Dilled Cabbage Soup: Healthy. grade, B. Good. I haven’t made this again. It’s good. But usually I only remake the As.35) creamy apple squash soup : B good.36) Carrot Tsimmes - FAIL disgusting37) garlic potatoes: A yes38) Potatoes paprikash - Fail disgusting.39) Sweet and Sour Zucchini: C+ Average40) Armenian Vegetable Stew: C-41) Risotto with Kale and gremolata ; B42) Middle Eastern Potato Salad with Bulgur : A- good.43) Thai Chickpeas: B+ (use a flame tammer or you will burn them).44) Lentil Stew with Spicy Greens : C 3 stars out of 5. Bland.45) Louisiana Red Beans : 0 stars FAIL46) Tuscan White Beans with Sage: C or 3 stars out of 5.47) Blueberry Pudding Cake; I give this 0 stars. But my family gave it 4 out of 5 stars.48) Crimson Beet salad: B+49) Paella Vegetarian; C+: 31/2 stars out of 5.50) Hearty Tomato Vegetable Sauce : C, 3 stars out of 5.51) Pasta E Fagoli LOVED IT!!!!!!! 5 out of 5 stars. I never had pasta e fagoli before so I did a recipe cook off with 4 other recipes from vegan no oil recipes. I made a video. Lorna Sass’s which won hands down first place. I made Isa Moskowitz’s “Appetite for Reduction “ Pasta e fagoli with spinach. Hers got a C+ or 3 out of 5 stars. I made Fresh From the Vegan Slow Cooker by Robin Robinson’s version on page 141 it got 4.5 stars out of 5 stars or an A- which was 2nd place. I tested two pasta e fagoli recipes from Crockpot the original slow cooker vegetarian recipes page 99 and page 20 both epically failed 0 stars. Lorna Sass’s Pasta e Fagoli was the first place winner for my entire family!52) Hijiki with pasta and olives p110. Okay. 2.75 stars out of 5 stars. C-. For Halloween I made this. I LOVE seaweed so hijiki made with Italian flavors was interesting. I am used to Japanese and Korean food with seaweed. So this fusion of Italian did not work dor my family.53) Boston Baked Beans - Good. 4 stars out of 5 stars.54) Rissotto with winter squash - LOVED IT! 5 stars out of 5 stars. This is restaurant quality. All Italians approve. Yum! 5 minutes instead of 30 minutes. YES!Get this book. I just ordered a back up to replace my well used copy.

I've made several recipes now (maybe 6 or 7) and am very happy with the book. My favorite recipes are Thai Chickpeas (which have proven very popular in my extended family and three potlucks) and the spinach lima bean one. (Can't remember the actual name.) One recipe that just glides down is the Vegetable Paella. Oh, oh my!I like the cooking charts, and that they are put on the inside cover. The charts are more complete than other charts I have seen on the web. However, that is not a reason to buy this book. Instead, buy it for the wonderful recipes, the hand-holding for beginners, and the really nice call out boxes.Hand holding?: Every recipe reminds you to tilt the lid away from you when first opening it. Being a beginner in pressure cooking, that is the kind of detail I might forget in my excitement of seeing what happened. It is nice that every recipe reminds us of this important safety step. I appreciate this kind of detail and thoughtfulness.Call out boxes?: I just love that she gives us a recipe for making our own coconut milk, how to roast red peppers, etc. I've done those two boxes already and was so pleased with myself and the results.I actually wish I could give this book 4.5 stars. It is really a great book, but I think it could use some updating and improvements. I hope that Lorna Sass will release an updated version with these changes:1) pictures - this book has none2) paperback - I'd like to save a little money3) recipe placement - make sure the ingredients and directions are either on the same page, or if they don't fit, then on opposing pages. Having to turn the page back and forth with messy fingers is time consuming and not great for the book.4) modernize - for example, when all or part of a dish needs to go in a blender, the book could suggest using an immersion blender instead of pulling out the jar blender and dirtying it. Also, the book could include Lorna's website instead of a mail address. (not that someone couldn't do a search for it now. The point is to modernize.)5) update references - ideas for mail order places etc could be updated. One that I looked up no longer carries the item in question.6) a few more recipes - there are really lots of recipes in the book already. However, with the years gone by, I'm sure a few more could be included, especially for ingredients that are more commonly used today, for example tempeh.Really, these are minor suggestions. Despite the price of the book, I would definitely recommend it to others. And I like it so much, if an updated version was published with the suggestions listed above, I'd even buy another copy.

I just bought my first pressure cooker and, having no experience of using them, I needed a cookbook so bought this one. I'm a vegan so tend to eat lots of pulses and grains. I have loads of recipe books and find that I usually only try a few recipes from each book - most of the good vegan recipe books are American and sometimes the ingredients are difficult to find. However, this book is the exception. There are no hard-to-obtain ingredients, and alternatives are suggested for some ingredients. The recipes are not complex and the actual cooking instructions are clear and foolproof. So far I've tried 3 recipes and all have turned out perfectly - not bad for a total beginner - which I'm sure is down to the instructions and advice in this book. I'm certain I will be trying most of the recipes over the coming years.As well as the recipes, the book has useful cooking time tables inside the front and back covers for beans and grains (good idea to place them here!) and lots of advice on shopping for and storing ingredients. There are no photos - but I've got loads of recipe books with photos and never found them essential.As a Brit, it would have been nice to see a translation of quantities (US "cups" used for measurement) but it's easy to find this info out and I've finally decided to buy myself a set of US cup measures anyway. Another useful feature would have been a list of the UK names of beans - Lima beans (US) are Butter beans (UK) - but really this is a minor quibble as this is a US publication.I'd go so far as to say that if you're a vegetarian with a pressure cooker, this is the one book you should buy. In fact the recipes are so good even non-vegetarians would enjoy them (off to eat some more of my Lousiana Red Beans now!)

I try to eat mainly vegetarian food for health reasons and this book is wonderful; so many meals with wholesome pulses and grains and lovely flavours.The ingredients lists are simple, nothing too weird or hard to find and no fake meats which is a refreshing change from some vegan and vegetarian cookbooks. There aren't a lot of ingredients which makes it less time consuming to prepare. Beware though, as this book is American and things are measured in cups. This is not a problem as almost all cookshops and large supermarkets sell cup measures. They are very rough measurements anyway and I find that a bit more or less doesn't affect the end product too much.Each recipe has an introduction, followed by the ingredients list in order of usage. There are additional garnishes listed too and I recommend you use them as they make what seems like an ordinary dish really special. The instructions are really clear. Some meals have info on the side on how to vary the recipe and there are extra techniques and tips for many of them. There are no photos but I don't mind that as I choose by title, not picture. The book contains several charts for cooking times of grains and veg which is useful for reference. The beginning of the book has lots of practical information on how pressure cooking works, which is great if you are new to it.Everything is easy to make, quick, tasty and healthy, using wholegrains and lots of vegetables. I haven't tried everything yet but the meals I've made are good. I will never make risotto the old fashioned way again, I can do it in about 5 minutes in a pressure cooker and it tastes even better. Sass's casserole brown rice method is so good that I have converted my husband, he usually hates brown rice but now states that I can 'make it again anytime!' This was one of the first pressure cook books I bought and have since accumulated many more, but this is my favourite and I refer to this often. When I had to leave my home due to a flood I took this book and my pressure cooker to my mother in law's house!My only small complaint is that sometimes the beans are a little underdone to my taste but that might be more to do with my particular cooker (Tower). When this happens I make a note on the side to add on a minute or two to the cooking time. Most of the recipes have turned out well though and I am keen to try more. This week I am making the black bean chilli and the Leb Lebi.

This book has no photos. Do I care? Not a jot. I'm a Brit and this book is American so all the measurements are in cups and the like. Do I care? Not a jot. Why? Because this book is brilliant.The recipes are fantastic. There are perhaps only one or two I will never make, and that's because I don't like okra. All the others look very good and the ones I've made so far have been a complete success. Easy and very tasty.As for the reviewer who complains about coconut milk, every single recipe featuring coconut milk refers the reader to Sass's method for making coconut milk. Don't let this complaint put you off the book: it's a marvel.

This is one of my favourite cooking books, it's vegan as well as veggie, occasionally there is a suggestion to put parmesan on top as an option, other than that no animal products are used. My hardback copy has the handy charts printed inside the covers, really cool, makes it feel like a 'bible' of pressure cooking. There are tons of recipes in this one. I love it.

Not crazy about too many of the types of recipes, but the charts are good. I'd say this book is really better for people with older pressure cookers. I just got an electric Instantpot and was looking for recipes that worked with that... I'd send it back but it would cost more than it's worth.