Product Description
After years of research, scientists declared that the Mediterranean diet was the best one for overall good health-and the exciting news was that it tasted great, too.

With recipes for everything from nutritious appetizers to dairy-free desserts, this unique Mediterranean vegan cookbook is ideal for vegetarians, those with a lactose intolerance, and anyone who wants to make gloriously delicious dishes without meat, eggs, or dairy. Dishes include:

¥ Sicilian Eggplant Relish
¥ Catalan Grilled Vegetables with Almond Sauce
¥ Classic Italian Minestrone
¥ Moroccan Fresh Tomato Salad
¥ Black Olive Bread
¥ Zucchini-Lemon Couscous
¥ Greek Currant Cake
¥ Braised Pears in Red Wine
¥ and more

Amazon.com Review
The medical world has been touting the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet for decades. In The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, Donna Klein provides more than 300 recipes suited to anyone who wants to eat a healthful diet free of animal products. Unlike many vegetarian or vegan cookbooks that simply take the meat or dairy products out of a recipe--or even worse, use tasteless substitutes--this book includes only recipes that actually exist in Mediterranean cuisine. You won't find any grainy cheese substitutes or spongy meat imposters here.

In chapters on every course from appetizers to desserts, the author presents recipe upon recipe for flavorful and healthy dishes--all without meat, dairy, or eggs. Appetizers like Mushrooms Stuffed with Bread Crumbs, Parsley, and Garlic--given a sweet and nutty zing from the addition of a fortified wine--or Baked Black Olives with Herbes de Provence and Anise are so full flavored they certainly don't need the richness of animal products. The Poor Man's Pesto (so named because of the absence of cheese) that tops fluffy Potato Gnocchi proves that fruity green olive oil is the heart and garden-fresh basil is the soul of a good pesto. Desserts don't disappoint either. Relying on fresh fruits for flavor, they are just the sort of sweet and rich concoctions we expect from the Mediterranean. Baked Pears are stuffed with a rich blend of bread crumbs, toasted almonds, and chocolate and baked in a flavorful mixture of marsala, white wine, and pear or apple juice.

An extremely helpful Meals in Minutes section offers menu suggestions for those whose schedules allow only an hour or less for meal preparation, and the nutritional information provided for each dish is a welcome bonus for health-conscious cooks. --Robin Donovan

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 85 reviews)

no more cheese please!

I'm a vegetarian TOTALLY SICK OF CHEESE! I love cheese, but found myself putting cheese on everything as a meat substitute. I switched to toasted almonds, but this got boring too. Being not too enthusiastic about tofu, and recently going to a vegetarian restaurant which tried to re-create meat dishes with minimal success, this is a much better to approach to yummy vegetarian food...I don't miss the meat or cheese. Also, it's easy to substitute things. I often use almonds instead of pine nuts, or leave out a spice or two I don't have...makes little difference. Overall, a great book perfect for the bored vegetarian, and through making these dishes I've actually learned a lot about flavor profiles and combinations. All hail to the olive oil!
October 04, 2008

The best cookbook I have come across

I recieved this cookbook as a gift a year or two ago after hungering after it for a very long time. What really intrigued me was that she uses real authentic recipes, that were already vegan. I'm not into "meat" subs and such things, and this cookbook is free of them. This cookbook has some of the most tasty dishes that i've made. They're very simple recipes, no "weird" ingredients. This really is my favourite cookbook. The rosemary focaccia is the simplest and tastiest bread recipe ever.
I reccomend this to vegans and non-vegans alike. :]]
July 01, 2008

Fantastic for "what should I eat tonight"

My mom bought me this book last summer while I was breastfeeding my daughter who had allergies to soy and dairy. As a vegetarian (who loves cheese), it was hard for me to cut out dairy and most vegan cookbooks heavily use soy in some form. I went back to this cookbook again and again. It's filled with recipes that I could prepare primarily from staples I have on hand in my pantry (admittedly, I have a fairly stocked pantry which includes dried porcini mushrooms, an abundance of beans, canned tomatoes, different kinds of pasta, stone ground polenta (not instant)). I usually just needed to figure out what vegetables I had available and would have most of the other ingredients available. A number of the recipes could be prepared in 30-45 minutes total, and even more required additional cooking time, but only 30-45 minutes hands-on time.

Even now that I'm able to eat soy and dairy again, I still turn to this cookbook over and over again. I find the recipes easy to follow (and amenable to changes as some do seem to call for more olive oil or salt than necessary, not to say the extra oil or salt hurts the flavor of the dish). There are lasagana recipes, multiple recipes for pesto, paella any many other dishes that I never thought of making when I couldn't have cheese, many of these I now prefer to my previous versions. Overall, we have yet to find a recipe that we haven't liked enough to fix again (and for many of them, we do fix them over and over).
June 18, 2008

Delicious and Healthy

I was given this book as a gift when I was looking for recipes to feed my diabetic husband who also suffers from high cholesterol and is an incredibly picky eater. This book was - and is! - a godsend.

Every recipe I've tried has been tasty and simple to prepare. What's more, the nutritional information listed with each recipe helps me keep track of how it's going to influence my husband's blood sugar levels.

No, we're not vegans. We're not even vegetarians. What does that matter? This is a great cookbook any way you slice it. Whether you are interested in this book for philosophic concerns, health reasons, or simply because you love good Mediterranian food, this book is a clear winner.
March 11, 2008

Really, really good!

I'm not vegan, so I originally bought this book for some healthy side-dish ideas. Since purchasing, I find myself preparing entire vegan meals at least a few times a week. The recipes are absolutely delicious. My faves so far are the ribollita, salsa romesco, and the walnut sauce-well worth buying the book even just for these three recipes alone.
March 07, 2008

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