Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi

Love the book. Not cheap looking reprint . Great recipes , photos. Easy to read

The recipes that you can manage to make taste great. Distinctive and tasting like you were at a superb vegetarian restaurant. But the preparation of the dishes is not easy. That specifically refers to my wife and I, who lack culinary skills and only have a small galley kitchen. We don't want to purchase a large quantity of some rare herb or other ingredient that has little chance of ever being used again. That's why we ended up making only 3 dishes since we purchased the cookbook 6 months ago. You'll need more culinary skills than our novice level to prepare most fair. I read through many of the recipes and they all sound great if you're a vegetarian you'll likely be exceptionally pleased. One recipe we did make was an outstanding was a fig and goat cheese salad with arugula and balsamic dressing. We were lucky we had pomegranate molasses syrup that I purchased on a whim at a farmers market years ago for $16 and never used. But it would have made little sense to go and seek a bottle, if I could even find one, just to use 1 Tsp. in the salad dressing. But it was a great salad and we made it 3 times before fig season ended. We still have almost a full bottle of the syrup. So not economical and the same appears to be true for several recipes. However, to be fair, more people are likely to have a greater array of the required ingredients than we do, as well as a larger kitchen. When I say we are novices it almost comedic how green we are at cooking. But I'm determined to eat more vegetarian cuisine and this book is treasure trove of what sounds like delectable recipes. Lenhgi has lots of cookbooks. My buddy told me this was easiest of them, so it's all relative. We're going to have to find a book that's simpler to make headway with our dietary plans. We only cook for 2 and just about everything from ingredients to preparation is geared for at least 4 servings.

After borrowing from the local library, I finally bit the bullet and ordered Plenty for myself. I am so happy that I did!Here are some pointers about Plenty,and hopefully that will address some concerns about the book:1) Yotam Ottlenghi and his partner, Sammi, are from the Middle East/Levant. So, while vegetables, legumes and grains are the center of the cuisines, they are not vegetarian, and state this very clearly in both The Guardian columns and in the opening of the book itself- he can only be true to himself and his own background. Many of the spices, herbs and ingredients have a Middle Eastern background- and part of the adventure of this book is seeking them out. Many major cities ( and hey! Amazon!) have Middle Eastern spice mixtures and ingredients for sale now! And because this book goes by the central ingredient, this book should be enjoyed with whatever is in season at the produce market ( although there are veggies that are frozen and will be wonderful with these recipes.)2) With that, these recipes will contain a fair amount of dairy and fat from cream, nut oil and olive oil. A more seasoned vegetarian will know how to cut fat and amount of dairy.3) If you are a committed vegan and/or looking to cut overall fat from your diet, and do not feel secure in your cooking abilities, this is not the book for you. It's unfortunate that Ottamlenghi is listed under health and fitness, because this is not a 'clean eating' or weight reduction style of cookbook. This is a celebration of veggies, using very rich ingredients, and yes, despite what so many have been told, the Meditterean diet does include dairy, eggs and fats from oils.4) For those of us undertaking Lent in a few days, this will be a great addition for Sunday dinners or for gatherings!Edited 2/22/2013: I have done about 9 recipes for Lent- including the shakshuka, the eggplant with buttermilk sauce and pomegranate seeds (pictured on the cover) and the brilliant hummus with ful. All wonderful, all delicious,- but take care with amount sizes! This is big food, and when you are eating mostly vegetarian, you are often eat two or more dishes. So beware- the portion sizes are generous per dish, so you may have to cut back OR add more people to the dinner table, which seems to be the deal with many Mediterrean dishes!

Only downfall is recipes have a lot of ingredients making it expensive.