Real Fast Vegetarian Food - Ursula Ferrigno

The title of this book is certainly a misnomer. There is nothing "fast" about a lot of these recipes, as many of them involve numerous steps. The Southern Italian Layered Potato Pie sounded great on paper. It's chock full of mozzarella, potatoes, onions and mushrooms. But you have to chop about a billion onions, and then cook everything separately, before smashing the potatoes into oblivion and then layering everything into a baking pan. In the end, you basically get glorified mashed potatoes and I really didn't see the need to bake the whole thing when you could just as easily just stir it all together. The Beetroot Salad however, was fast, very simple, and incredibly delicious. The longest step for this recipe was boiling the beets, which let's face it, doesn't exactly take a whole lot of attention or effort. After that you add some chopped onions, basil, parsley and a little oil and vinegar and salt and pepper. I also made Parmesan Potato Pancakes (glorified hashbrowns) and a Wild Mushroom and Basil Tart, which, while not fast, was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. So I don't know, I'll probably hold onto this one for the time being and do a little more exploration in it once I'm through the first round of all my books. It may end up being one of those that I only pull a couple of recipes out of and then dump the rest. We shall see.