Healthy Living Books Books

Rating: - simple, easy and delicious
If you're bored of mashed potato or boiled carrots, this book will provide you with plenty of ideas on how to prepare vegetables in a new, original way. I have tried many lovely dishes from this book; my favourites are the carrots boiled in cream and basil (absolutely delicious), the layered potato and tomato pie, celery risotto, chard and mushroom fettucine (I've never liked chard very much and I loved this dish!), the orange and fennel salad, lentil soup with butternut squash and fennel, the pear, parmesan and celery salad, and many more. All ingredients are easy to find in your local shop and rely on good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar to bring out the tatste of the vegetables rather than soaking them in tons of mayonnaise or salad dressing. I give this book 4 stars rather than 5 because there have been 2 or 3 recipes that were complete failures - such as the marinated raw courgettes, but perhaps Italian sun-drenched courgettes straight from the market taste better than ours? However, despite the occasional recipes which I found less successful, the majority have been absolute winners and I'd recommend the book to anyone who loves their vegetables.

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Rating: - A true taste of Italy
I have about 3000 cookbooks and this is in my top 10. I'm not a vegetarian but reading this, I wonder why I ever eat anything other than vegetables? Viana's recipes were a revelation in their simplicity and vibrant flavours. The raw pasta sauces transformed my summer eating; Spaghetti alla Trapanese, where pasta with a fiery chilli tomato sauce is punctuated by shots of hot, crisp little squares of roast potato is just genius. And for the lover of Italy and how one eats there, this book is sheer poetry...'this satisfying salad is like a tableau of Italian country life. One can imagine the ingredients casually arranged on a rough-hewn kitchen table waiting to be gathered into a salad: freshly cooked garbanzo and borlotti beans in earthenware dishes: tender green beans, luscious tomatoes and a small bouquet of parsley and basil all just picked from the garden; and potatoes from the cellar, still caked with fresh soil. Outside, the sky blazes a brilliant blue and the fields are alive with vines and orchards.' I just love that: forget it, Easyjet, I'm there already!

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Rating: - An inspiration
I've been a vegetarian since 1985 and have phases of being pretty tired of the food I eat because of the "same-oldness" of vegetarian cookery writing, where everybody seems to copy everybody elses's recipes with small variations. This book is different. It's not written from the point of view of offering veggie recipes but from the point of view of how Italians use vegetables. The recipes I have tried have been delicious and inspiring and have got me using vegetables and combinations I'd never really have thought of using before. I'd recommend it to anyone, veggie or not, who wants to find yummy ways of eating vegetables, and absolutely to anyone who adores Italian food.