Review: Simply Vegetarian Thai Cooking

I was happy to receive a copy of Nancie McDermott’s latest book Simply Vegetarian Thai Cooking: 125 Real Thai Recipes, since I have met Nancie in person and she is delightful. I didn’t realize she lived for three years in Thailand as a Peace Corps worker, so this book embodies her experience of living in Thailand while updating recipes for vegetarians and vegans. I adore Thai food and only wished I’d had this book back when I could still eat this way.

Layout and design:

The book is organized into the following chapters: appetizers and snacks, salads, soups, curries, stir-fries and other main dishes, rice and noodles, sweets and drinks, basic recipes. Back matter includes suggested menus, glossary, resources, and the index. The layout is user-friendly, with recipes including numbered steps as well as special equipment you might need listed at the top, and tips in a sidebar.

Photography:

Two sections of color photographs produced by the publisher are included. These sections include stock photography in addition to the recipe photographs.

Recipes:

Recipes include vegetable curry puffs, pickled cabbage, lemongrass soup with rice and basil chez sovan, red curry with red sweet peppers snow peas and tofu, spinach in sweet-sour tamarind sauce, tofu and shiitakes hidden in curried rice with crispy shallots, maengluk basil seeds in coconut milk, and Asian vegetable stock.

What I liked about the book:

Clear layout, knowledgeable recipe development to create vegan and vegetarian versions of traditional Thai recipes.

I wasn’t so keen on:

Recipes were not coded for special diets; nutritional analysis is not provided, which would be helpful for low-sodium eaters.

Recommended for:

vegans and vegetarians. Celiacs and gluten-free eaters can use this cookbook if you are very comfortable knowing your GF ingredients.

Not recommended for:

Migraine, paleo, or low-sodium diets

A note about my cookbook reviews: In the past, I tested at least three recipes from each book, took photos, and described my experience. Due to my dietary limitations (extremely-low-sodium for my Meniere’s Disease and trigger-free foods for migraine relief), it is no longer possible for me to test the recipes and do them justice.

Required FTC disclosure: I received one copy of this book from the publisher for the giveaway on October 29th, 2015.
Here’s the book if you want to see more:

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Cookbook review: Simply Vegetarian Thai Cooking by Nancie McDermott