Almost Meatless: Recipes That Are Better for Your Health and the Planet

This is one of four cookbooks I bought a couple of weeks ago to try to make some healthy changes in the way we eat - and though Sandra Woodruff's  The Good Carb Cookbook : Secrets of Eating Low on the Glycemic Index  is probably my favorite - better for suggestions on making changes to our current diet, this book runs a close second. The recipes require some ingredients not available in small-town West Virginia, but nothing so exotic I can't use them in other things (dried porcini mushrooms, tamarind, etc.). These and pretty much anything else I need are available on Amazon, and since I cook gluten-free, I'm used to buying supplies that way (and am probably getting a better deal than I would in most stores - or so other reviewers say). When I've tried substitutes (e.g., for asafetida) I've found by Googling instead of ordering an ingredient, the recipes from this book have still turned out well.The recipes are easy to follow, with lots of good advice and tips for working with ingredients. I already have shelves and shelves of cookbooks and donate armloads to the public library once or twice a year - so what I'm looking for now is recipes that are a little different without being too spicy-hot or too far out for my husband (who's a fairly adventurous eater) to enjoy. This book's a keeper.

I purchased this cookbook with the hopes it would give me some better ideas of what to do with beads, and vegies that we don't normally use. I ended up with a cookbook that had a few recipes that looked interesting, but none of them were appealing enough to actually make- the few I was interested in, my boyfriend was extremely not.I ended up hosting a giveaway on my blog, and just sent this cookbook to the winner of the giveaway this afternoon. I hope she finds good use for it and can enjoy it more than we did. I really wish I could comment on how some of the recipes tasted, but we never got that far with it.

My husband refuses to go vegan or even to do many vegetarian type of dishes. I believe that we eat too much meat and need to incorporate more vegetables into our diets. I bought this book as a compromise for us both. I have made 3 or 4 recipes and really liked them all. My favorite so far is the vegetable/sausage sandwiches. The flavor of the sauce is amazing. It uses fennel which I've been afraid to try, I bought a very small head and tasted it raw... hmmm not bad... not even really noticeable in the mix of vegetables because they all work together so well. We LOVED that recipe!

I am picky about my cookbooks - they should be easy to follow (layout, index, etc.); have beautiful, color pictures; and creative recipes with ingredients that are not hard to find. Almost Meatless has all three. I have been trying one or two recipes each week, and so far they have all turned out wonderfully.

Because of the title, I was expecting much less meat here! I was really disappointed with this cookbook. These recipes are far from almost meatless--all contain meat (or meat stock) or fish, except for the egg recipes. Even though the authors include vegetables, tofu, grains and legumes, the main component of every recipe is meat. The authors advocate using organic ingredients, which is good, but I'm confused as to how the meals in this cookbook promote more healthful eating that is also better for the planet.

I like to have veggies be the main focus of dinner, not the protein. This book give you recipes for using just a little beef, chicken, pork etc. with other grains, veggies or beans to make healthly dinners.

The recipes are fine, but there are barely any photos, which is a huge disappointment. The photos that are in the book are extremely generic—a close-up photo of a single ingredient—rather than a photo from that specific recipe. Overall, a very big letdown. Don't let the cover fool you.

The recipes in this book are both easy and mouthwatering. To be clear, it's NOT a vegetarian cookbook (the title implies that, no?), but a cookbook for those of us who love meat but don't want it to be the centerpiece of our eating. Less meat stretches a buck, and Desmond and Manning introduce us to some great grains that delight and satisfy. A winner!

Nice book. Doesnt have pictures for every recipe which I consider a must. Recipes are alright. I dont regret the purchase but I might not make it twice.