Old Standby Updated

The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
While revisiting some of the pioneering works in the area of vegetarian cookery, I was redirected to The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by a former professor and friend who caught my interest with his description of a cream of tomato soup in the above mentioned book. I can only give this book three stars just yet because I've only tried one recipe and so can't really comment on the quality of the others. I can say that while Katzen's tastes and my own aren't always in sync (and really, who ever likes all the recipes in any cookbook?), she goes to great pains to provide variations within the recipes for cooks to try.

I tried the second variation on the tomato soup recipe and was very pleased, although I did use my immersion blender to puree the soup and incorporate the cream cheese(!). Also, I think I may use dried rather than fresh rosemary, or use a sprig of rosemary which I will later remove, to keep from getting ahold of little bits of it as I eat the soup.

It is important to point out that this book was originally published in 1982 by Ten Speed Press, and features Katzen's own drawings and hand printed recipes on non-glossy paper. There are some color photographs, including on of the Enchanted Broccoli Forest with upright broccoli heads standing in veggie pride in a bed of herbed rice pilaf. I am particularly interested in the soups in this book, but wait until you get to the desserts. More later on this book.


View all my reviews.