Still Life with Menu

Still Life with Menu is a cookbook focused on vegetarian menus and meal planning, written by Moosewood Collective co-founder Mollie Katzen. The book contains complete menus rather than standalone recipes, allowing readers to create cohesive vegetarian meals. The content includes hand-lettered recipes accompanied by Katzen's illustrations and watercolors throughout the pages. Each menu provides ingredient lists, preparation timelines, and notes about which components can be made ahead. The book features seasonal menu planning suggestions and nutritional information for each recipe. Recipe variations and substitutions are provided to accommodate different dietary needs and preferences. The work reflects broader themes of mindful eating and the artistry of meal preparation, positioning vegetarian cooking as both practical and aesthetically enriching.

Readers value this cookbook for its focus on complete vegetarian menus rather than isolated recipes. The hand-lettered text and watercolor illustrations receive frequent mentions in reviews. Likes: - Clear menu planning with timing tips - Reliable recipes that "always work out" - Nutritional information for each recipe - Mix-and-match menu suggestions Dislikes: - Some ingredients now seem dated (1980s style) - Several recipes require significant prep time - Print is small and hard to read - Some reviewers found the portion sizes too large Ratings: Goodreads: 4.1/5 (404 ratings) Amazon: 4.5/5 (43 ratings) Multiple reviewers noted success with the tofu marinades and salad dressings. Common criticism focuses on the book's physical format - the binding breaks easily and pages fall out over time. Several readers mentioned the recipes use more dairy than expected for a vegetarian cookbook. "The weekly menu planning charts saved my sanity," wrote one Amazon reviewer. "But I had to rewrite many recipes in larger text to actually use them in the kitchen."

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison This comprehensive collection presents vegetarian recipes with detailed techniques and ingredient notes in a similar teaching style to Katzen's work.

Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen The hand-lettered pages and illustrated recipes provide the same warm, accessible approach to vegetarian cooking found in Still Life with Menu.

The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen The recipe collection features similar hand-drawn illustrations and focuses on natural ingredients with global influences.

The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison, Edward Espe Brown The recipes emphasize fresh ingredients and careful techniques while providing context about ingredients and cooking methods.

The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without by Mollie Katzen The collection includes illustrations and recipes that showcase vegetables through simple preparation methods and clear instructions.

✦ Mollie Katzen hand-wrote and illustrated the entire book herself, including over 350 recipes and dozens of watercolor paintings, continuing the charming artistic style she established in her famous Moosewood Cookbook ✦ The book pioneered the concept of complete vegetarian menus for entertaining, offering 20 full dinner party plans with timing guides and advance preparation tips ✦ Each menu in the book is accompanied by detailed nutritional analysis, which was groundbreaking for a vegetarian cookbook when it was published in 1988 ✦ Before becoming a cookbook author, Katzen was a founding member of the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY, which Time magazine named one of America's top restaurants in 1978 ✦ The book's title references the artistic genre of "still life" paintings, particularly those depicting food and table settings, connecting Katzen's passions for both cooking and visual arts