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Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons may not be the most useful vegetarian cookbook you'll ever own, but it probably will be the most creative. The book is broken down into 22 sections, half of which are devoted to different types of main dishes. As well as the expected chapters on side dishes, breads and salads, there are also sections on breakfast dishes, appetizers, soups, and an entire 20 pages on salad dressings. Throughout Vegetarian Planet are sections with information on everything from mushrooms and vinegar to grains and legumes, along with descriptions, helpful hints, and even cooking instructions. These are some of the most helpful parts of the entire book, and will be as useful for the long-time vegetarian who may not know the difference between arborio and sushi rice, as for the novice cook who needs to learn how long to cook lentils. Vegan cooks, however, unless they truly enjoy adapting lacto-ovo recipes, will not find much of use in this cookbook. Emmons declares herself to be an ex-vegan, but almost all of her recipes contain some animal products, and at least three use fish sauce. In fact, one of the desserts identified as vegan (an Orange-Almond Cake which contains no orange) calls for honey. Interestingly enough, however, the sidebar on eating calcium-rich foods recommends against too many dairy products, despite their overwhelming presence in the book. Occasionally Emmons seems to contradict herself. At one point she reinforces the old myth of combining proteins, wrongly claiming that complementary proteins must be eaten during the same day. Later on in the book, she correctly states that most Americans, even vegetarians, get far more protein than necessary in their diet. The recipes for the most part could be described as California cuisine, even though Emmons herself resides and cooks in Boston, with dishes like rabe-stuffed tomatoes and apple-chipotle salsa far outnumbering more commonplace ones like her American pot pie. Some of the recipes sound good, but are not likely to be made often. How many people would be willing to work for over an hour making mango ketchup? And are five different versions of lassi (a cold yogurt drink) really necessary? Asparagus with curry butter may be delicious, but the butter recipe makes twice as much as the asparagus calls for, leaving one with the unenviable task of disposing of half a stick worth of curried butter. At the end of the book is a section entitled "Menus for occasions big and small" and it is this chapter which shows the book's true strengths. Emmons puts her recipes together into complete menus for just about every possible type of event throughout the year. While you may not pull this cookbook out to make dinner after a hard day's work, the next time you want to impress some friends with your fennel risotto followed by lemon curd dip or lavender rice pudding, Vegetarian Planet is definitely the place to turn. Elena Perez is an animal activist
who lives in Sacramento, California.
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