Cookbook: The Meat Lover’s Meatless Celebrations

You may remember that, over 2 years ago (!) I fell in love with Kim O’Donnel’s The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores Will Devour.  Kim’s book inspired me to make tempeh for the first time and I’ve had success with everything I’ve made out of that book.

This year for Christmas my sister bought me Kim’s follow up volume, The Meat Lover’s Meatless Celebrations: Year-Round Vegetarian Feasts (You Can Really Sink Your Teeth Into).  I was really excited to receive it because I was so pleased with her first book.  Over the past few months, I’ve had the chance to test drive a few of the recipes.

New Year’s: Black-Eyed Pea Paella

I don’t have photos of this dish, but it was pretty awesome.  For the past few years I’ve been making black-eyed peas for New Year’s Eve/Day (I’m never sure which is correct, so we usually have it for both) and this recipe met my expectations.  I’ll definitely be making it again.

Easter:  Greek Patty with Feta-Yogurt Sauce

This recipe was one of the few times I made bean cakes that didn’t fall apart when I cooked them.  I was shocked (as was Brian).  These patties kept just the right amount of moisture, despite additional time in the oven after pan roasting.  We got 2 hearty, filling meals out of this recipe and the feta-yogurt sauce was awesome.  I also – mostly successfully – made pita bread for the first time (from a Mark Bittman recipe), which I felt pretty awesome about.

Tonight (because Friday is a special occasion!): Spanako-Barley

I made a couple minor alterations to this recipe: I only used 5 ounces of spinach (because a pound sounded like so much…it’s not) and substituted 2 tablespoons dried dill instead of fresh.  Certainly this photo isn’t going to win any awards, but looks can be deceiving.  I loved the flavor of this dish—spinach, dill, lemon, feta.  Definitely more exciting than the average barley side I tend to make. We may have polished off the entire batch in one sitting–it was amazing.  Even better: it only took one cutting board and one pot to make. 

The recipes in this book are designed for “celebrations” and therefore make multiple servings, but I am a big, big fan of leftovers so I don’t mind in the least.  There’s a range of complexity levels and time requirements in the recipes, which I kind of like in a cookbook.  The book itself has really nice photos, though not ever recipe is illustrated.  I appreciate that it’s organized by season/occasion because it makes cooking seasonally even easier.

Other recipes I’m looking forward to trying: Stromboli, Cajun Blackened Tofu, Quinoa-Walnut Brownies, Vanilla-Honey Frozen Yogurt…

There are a lot of impressive options listed in Meatless Celebrations.  If you’re interested in trying creative vegetarian recipes that will satisfy, it’s well worth checking out.

Disclaimer: I received this book as a gift.  I have no affiliation with Kim O’Donnel or Lifelong Books.  The post includes affiliate links to Amazon, through which I will receive a fraction of any purchases made.