Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

Although I own a lot of cookbooks, I rarely follow recipes as they are written, so I can't comment on how well any specific recipe worked or tasted. I can say that Madison's ideas vastly expanded my notions of soup. I am not a vegetarian, but as part of my evolving healthier quasi-Paleo eating style, I want to consume more vegetables in interesting ways. With winter coming, soup seems like a perfect fit. I make my own stock/broth from meat and bones, but learned a lot from Madison's guidance about making vegetable broths. In addition to some specific recipes, she gave excellent guidance on making broth from whatever vegetables and trimmings you hAppen to have on hand. I also appreciate that she defined some recipes as "restorative." If I catch a cold and there's no chicken broth in my home, i will definately turn to that chapter for guidance--a benefit is that a veggie broth can be prepared much quicker than bone broth. There are two recipes I will absolutely prepare as she wrote them, because their photos made me want to eat the page. One is the lovely soup shown on the book's cover. The other is a restorative soup containing ginger, cilantro, and mushrooms. Speaking of photos, not every recipe has a photo (maybe 1 out of 3 does, but the photos are stunningly beautiful. I own several of Madison's other cookbooks, but this is already my favorite because she spoke to me as a fellow cook, rather than a recipe-follower.

I have been cooking from this book for a few months and Deborah Madison has quickly become one of my favorite (if not my go-to) cookbook authors. I also have here Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Local Flavors, and Vegetarian Suppers (all of them will forever have a space on my large cookbook shelves - but hers stay on my counter usually and don't even get put on the bookcase downstairs because I cook from her books most often! I also use her books when I am in a rut and need to some menu planning inspiration).I have been making the shift to eat more vegetables and whole grains lately and couldn't have done it as deliciously if not for Ms. Madison. When you find an author who creates food with the depth of flavors as she does, and those happen to be flavors that make my taste buds immensely happy, you just buy whatever they publish.This did not disappoint. The recipes are arranged according to season which I find VERY helpful as I'm trying to eat more seasonally, the photos are gorgeous (though with any cookbook I wish there were photos with every recipe), the photos show soups served up in beautiful pottery, and the recipes that I have tried are very tasty and ones that I would make again. Last night I made the Cheddar and Broccoli Soup and it was wonderful. I am SO looking forward to leftovers for lunch today!There are wine/beer pairing suggestions for each soup as well. I found this to be helpful and fun!I look forward to cooking my way through this book!

Everything about this book is beautiful . . . from cover to cover, and soup to soup. The photographs are so amazing, this could be a coffee table book.However, that would certainly be a shame if all we did was look at the pictures. The recipes inside this book are as delicious as the photos are beautiful.Any "vegetable lover" worthy of the title should buy this book, and those who aren't should give these recipes a try. Deborah's collection of recipes is amazing, including many delicious soups made with grains, a wide variety of beans and greens, and vegetables from A to Z.If you read the introduction, you'll be able to keep the ingredients in your pantry which will enable you to create your own soups, using the principles you learned in the introductory chapter. Although not 15 minute or 5 ingredient soups, the recipes are moderately easy to make and the ingredients easy to find. Most make a large amount, which can be reheated for lunch the next day or frozen and saved for later meals.Although the nutritional data is not included, unless you're into counting calories and fats, you can pretty well speculate on the health benefits of each soup. Most are made with ingredients bestowing a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.So, do yourself a favor; buy this book, and make some soup. When you taste these recipes, you probably won't even miss the meat. Let's all make soup!Lynette Fleming, Coauthor of  Lunch Buddies : Buddy Up for a Better Diet

So pleased with this wonderfully written vegetarian soup cookbook, great beautiful photographs and excellent delicious recipes. Glad to have it. Highly recommend.

Based on other Amazon reviews I purchased this book. Have checked out the author's other books from the library and new her general style. What I have discovered after having tried three of the recipes is that Deborah Madison has a unique ability to pare unexpected food / flavor combinations for FANTASTIC effect. In a word, she knows how to mix things up! For instance, upon reading the recipe for peanut soup I was totally unconvinced by her statement that this was a "substantial" meal. I was thinking of what to serve with the soup to ensure a filling meal...should have listened to the chef! Somehow, the combination of peanut butter, coconut milk, and tomatoes comes together with her unique seasoning combination for a WONDERFUL FLAVORFUL and FILLING soup...go figure! My only caveat is I think her spice measurements tend to be too small for the amount of liquid...I upped the garlic and some spices on all the recipes I have have tried so far. This is one cookbook WELL worth its price...I will be using this one for years to come. One suggestion for anyone seeking to improve the calibre of their vegetarian cooking: Check out Jeanne Lemlin. She never gained the celebrity status of D.M. or Mollie Katzen, but her recipes are just as creative as Deborah Madison's and I find Jeanne Lemlin's recipes to be foolproof and in need of less tweaking. Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential and Easy Recipes for Every MealSimple Vegetarian Pleasures

I kept borrowing this one from my library, and then finally decided to buy it because there are so many soups I want to try.I've made several and have yet to find one I didn't like. I like that most of these are pretty easy and don't require exotic ingredients the home cook usually has trouble finding. Ms Madison relies on healthy doses of herbs & spices to make her soups richly flavourful, and though vegetarian I find them very satisfying - you don't miss the meat at all, and that's how it should be in a good vegetarian cookbook!Recipes I have tried and liked include:- Rustic lentil soup with spinach- Red lentil and colourful vegetable soup- Yellow pea and coconut milk soup- Lentil and chestnut soup with fennel- Roasted butternut squash soupSoups I'd like to try in the near future (but haven't made yet) include:- Black eyed peas with mustard greens and rice- Cream of barley soup with whole barley, leeks and mushrooms- Avocado soup with herbs, slivered radishes and pistachios- Potato and endive chowder, over gruyère cheese toasts- Spinach-sorrel soup with mushroom toastsThe only reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars is that it doesn't have pictures. I'm okay with that since I'm not someone who needs to "see" a dish to know whether I'll like it or not, but I know that's something that matters to a lot of cooks out there

Delicious soups. And so many recipes! I do not have 20 words to express this book because I am not a professional critic. I am just a normal vege loving eater and very pleased with this book. Thank you.

Not much content in this for the money.

I look forward to trying the recipes. Good variety of soups and broths. The book is nicely done with beautiful pictures and very different recipes

I borrowed this book from my local library and decided I should have a copy on hand because I loved it so much.