The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd

Book excerpt: Since 1973, Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York, has been famous for its innovative vegetarian cooking. Throughout the years, the Moosewood collective has been at the forefront of a movement that has had a profound impact on the American diet. Gone are the days when the phrase "I don't eat meat" brought a grimace from host or hostess and quizzical stares from fellow guests--vegetarian cooking is no longer a novelty. Vegetarian dishes are now a must at large social gatherings and catered events, and often a mainstay of menus at restaurants and institutions. Vegetarian cooks are increasingly called upon to produce favorite vegetarian fare in quantity. But the cooks at Moosewood Restaurant know that you can't always expand a recipe simply by multiplying the amount of each ingredient by six. Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd is the first vegetarian cookbook and menu-planning guide designed exclusively for quantity cooking. Each of its more than 250 recipes has been prepared in the Moosewood kitchen and savored in the Moosewood dining room. Whether you're entertaining in your home, planning a catered affair, or developing the menu for a large-scale restaurant, this groundbreaking cookbook will inspire anyone who enjoys cooking imaginative vegetarian meals for a crowd.# The past two decades have been marked by a steady and rapid increase in the demand for vegetarian and ethnic cuisine--in quantity--at parties, at catered events, and in restaurants of all descriptions. Responding to this demand has been particularly difficult--most vegetarian dishes are usually prepared in small quantities, ingredients can be hard to find, and the nutritional content of vegetarian dishes is quite different from that of conventional fare. After two decades of dedicated exploration, Moosewood Restaurant, in its singular fashion, has created a mostly vegetarian cookbook for large groups. This book combines Moosewood's legendary cuisine with the dietary and practical considerations important to foodservice professionals. Now you can create vegetarian meals in quantity, featuring restaurant-quality dishes that have already been proven to satisfy the most discriminating vegetarian palates. Many of the more than 250 recipes that fill these pages are Moosewood's most famous and most requested dishes. These include hearty stews, savory pastries, festive holiday fare, pasta dishes, and main-dish salads. Each dish is a delight in color, texture, and flavor, and all of the recipes have been prepared in quantity in the Moosewood kitchen. This book speaks directly to cooks--both amateur and professional--regardless of their familiarity with vegetarian cooking. The straightforward recipes are easy to follow, use simple procedures and equipment, and each one is accompanied by a comprehensive nutritional analysis. The book provides a number of suggestions for enhancing the flavor of reduced-fat meals, and the Guide to Ingredients is a valuable reference tool for anyone who wants to learn more about the basics of vegetarian and ethnic cuisine. This outstanding cookbook also provides Eight pages of color photos A menu planning section that discusses the quality and availability of ingredients you will need to create seasonal and ethnic menus Measurements of ingredients listed in both weight and volume A vegetarian pyramid that pairs vegetarian meals with nutritional needs A list of nondairy and vegetarian recipes