📖 Overview
The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook presents recipes and techniques for plant-based cooking developed at The Farm, an intentional community in Tennessee. The book serves as a guide for creating meat and dairy alternatives using soybeans, wheat protein, and other natural ingredients.
The cookbook contains step-by-step instructions for making staples like tempeh, tofu, and soymilk from scratch. It features over 300 recipes spanning breakfast dishes, main courses, desserts, and condiments, with a focus on wholesome ingredients and traditional cooking methods.
The recipes are accompanied by nutritional information and tips for transitioning to a vegetarian diet. Black and white photographs and illustrations demonstrate key techniques throughout the book.
This cookbook reflects the early development of modern vegetarian cuisine in America and documents the intersection of counterculture movements with sustainable food practices. The emphasis on self-sufficiency and whole foods preparation remains relevant to contemporary discussions about food systems and environmental impact.
👀 Reviews
Readers value this cookbook for its reliable recipes that helped introduce many to vegetarian cooking in the 1970s and 80s. The detailed instructions for making seitan, tempeh, and soy products from scratch remain relevant for modern cooks.
Likes:
- Clear explanations of unfamiliar ingredients
- Basic recipes that work as building blocks
- Affordable, simple ingredients
- Practical tips for transitioning to vegetarian diet
Dislikes:
- Dated design and lack of photos
- Heavy emphasis on soy products
- Some recipes rely on processed ingredients
- Basic recipes requiring significant time commitment
"The seitan recipe alone is worth the price" appears in multiple reviews. Several note the recipes helped them learn vegetarian cooking despite having no prior experience.
Ratings:
Goodreads: 4.04/5 (243 ratings)
Amazon: 4.5/5 (185 ratings)
Thriftbooks: 4.5/5 (29 ratings)
📚 Similar books
Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson
This cookbook presents plant-based recipes designed for slow cookers, with ingredients and techniques that match the simplicity found in The New Farm.
Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero The recipes focus on whole food ingredients and traditional cooking methods that align with The New Farm's natural food preparation approach.
The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen This collection contains vegetarian recipes developed in a community kitchen setting, reflecting The New Farm's roots in communal living and cooking.
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman The book offers fundamental techniques and basic recipes that build cooking knowledge in the same educational style as The New Farm.
The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook by Louise Hagler This earlier edition shares the same spiritual community origins and focus on soy-based protein alternatives as The New Farm.
Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero The recipes focus on whole food ingredients and traditional cooking methods that align with The New Farm's natural food preparation approach.
The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen This collection contains vegetarian recipes developed in a community kitchen setting, reflecting The New Farm's roots in communal living and cooking.
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman The book offers fundamental techniques and basic recipes that build cooking knowledge in the same educational style as The New Farm.
The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook by Louise Hagler This earlier edition shares the same spiritual community origins and focus on soy-based protein alternatives as The New Farm.
🤔 Interesting facts
🌱 The book, first published in 1975, was one of the earliest comprehensive guides for meat alternatives and helped popularize tempeh in Western cooking
📚 Authors Louise Hagler and Dorothy R. Bates developed these recipes while cooking at The Farm, one of America's largest and longest-running intentional communities, located in Tennessee
🥜 Many of the book's recipes were revolutionary for their time, introducing techniques like making dairy-free cheese from nutritional yeast and creating meat substitutes from soybeans
🌿 The cookbook emerged during a significant cultural shift in American eating habits, as the natural foods movement gained momentum in the 1970s
👩🍳 Louise Hagler went on to write several other influential vegetarian cookbooks, including "Tofu Cookery" and "Soyfoods Cookery," establishing herself as a pioneer in plant-based cuisine