This cookbook is designed to help one to eat healthy, good tasting food.  Included are 100 recipes, many of which look delicious.  Some of the tasty ideas include Matcha Chia Pudding Parfait, Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts, Almond and Eggplant Babaganoush,  Cauliflower Gratin and, Hoisin Glazed Tofu with Stir Fried Vegetables. Whether you are a vegetarian or you are looking for a side dish or change of pace, this cookbook is worht a look.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks so much to Callisto Publishing for a look at this cookbook and here are my thoughts!

So you can tell by the cover that this book is filled with delicious recipes that follow a low carb vegetarian plan. This is a low carb...not a no carb recipe plan. Many different recipes from many different cultures span the pages but they all promise a delicious taste.

What did I like? I love to eat vegan...vegetarian... and flexitarian dishes so the recipes themselves have to really wow me to get me to eat out of my comfort zone. The authors give you how many the recipe serves... for me that’s leftovers and only a few recipes discussed how to freeze. Prep time...cook time, which tells you how quickly you can throw this together. The recipes were not really in depth, didn’t really go into what you could prep maybe a day or two ahead. The description of the recipe was a nice idea, it gave you a visual in words. Ingredient lists let me get a visual idea of what goes in a recipe, I have most of the pantry list the book describes but the ingredient list went much deeper. Over half the ingredients I don’t have on hand so I would have to shop. I’d have to freeze a lot more fresh to keep most of this on hand. Tips on the end of the recipe for just about anything to enhance the flavor. The last part was what I really enjoyed. Calorie count... author gives you calories per serving taking the guesswork out for you. This can be important for anyone looking to stay under a certain calorie count. Other than that there was a splash of pictures but enough for me to be satisfied.

Would I recommend or buy? The recipes themselves were a little out of my zone. I’m not a big fan of eggplant or tofu.....or curry so I mainly just browsed. I really liked the recipe to make zucchini noodles and will probably try that. If your looking for low carb with a vegetarian then you can try this out. I won’t be adding it to my collection just because the recipes were a majority of things I won’t eat. I have to have a certain knowledge of how things should taste, so I’m looking for a cookbook with a more easy cooking approach. Tofu, eggplant, mushrooms, and a variety of other things...just not in my normal cooking list.

Thoughts for the authors? Congratulations on your new release! Thanks to Rockridge Press for a sneak peak. Vegetarians will enjoy this.

You had me at compost stock.

You lost me at page after page of recipes with no visual representations. When it comes to recreating recipes I have zero room for imagination, I require complete presentations of finished meals or I won't make it.

Do not mistake me, I did enjoy bits of this new release. It has everything it suggests from the title (Veggie BIbimbap!!! I mean should be an instant winner) and so much more- except photography. If you need visuals for cookbooks, steer clear of this one, the lack of photos is shameful.

Includes meal plan.

This book focuses on vegetarian meals with low carbohydrates (or at least only healthy carbs). The first part of the book attempts to educate the reader on what is included in a low carb diet, and provides suggestions for substitutions for your favorite high-carb foods. It also contains a sample 14-day meal plan using recipes found in the book. There are lots of interesting recipes from many different cuisines. I was intrigued by the Muffuletta Salad and the Deviled Tomatoes--different takes on recipes I know, as well as the Sun Dried Tomato and Zucchini Frittata. My only complaint is the lack of photos. The ones included are very appetizing and made me want to make the dishes, but it's hard to visualize a dish without a photo.

This cookbook didn't appeal to me as much as I expected. I cook low-carb (gluten free) and vegetarian but we also limit dairy and there's a fair amount of dairy in most of the recipes. Some recipes are vegan, but they didn't appeal to me or they used purchased vegan cheeses and things like that. I prefer to cook from scratch and avoid imitation foods. Nutritional information is provided for each recipes, but there are few photos. Typical ingredients are almond flour, cauliflower heads (usually riced or sliced), cheese, chia seeds, portobello mushrooms, coconut milk, tomatoes and squash. The sugar substitute with an e is used a lot too (I can never remember how to spell it, but it's stevia's cooler cousin), especially with the desserts.

Example recipes:

kohlrabi tabbouleh
muffaletta salad
stewed okra and tomatoes
cauliflower gratin
giant jackfruit nachos
vegan sausage and roasted cabbage
chilled berry soup

I've read a handful of keto (the ultimate in low carb) vegan and vegetarian books lately that did appeal to me, so I don't know what it is about this compilation that fell flat, but it's likely to appeal to other palates just fine.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

LOVE THIS COOKBOOK!! I just received it and made up two different meals already with it. They are easy to follow and so utterly delicious! Get this book ASAP!!

Thank you #NetGalley for the complimentary review copy of #LowCarbVegetarianCookbook

The introduction to this book explains that it's low-carb, not no-carb, emphasizing the importance of balance rather than deprivation, and that carbs can still be part of a healthy diet or that it's ok to indulge an occasional craving. The first chapter starts with a brief introduction addressing things like the history of diet trends and how low-carb fits into that, nutritional needs and macronutrient quality, general food swaps or pantry staples, time-saving tips, basic carb stats for the recipes in the book, and a 2-week meal plan (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) from the recipes in the book.

The rest of the chapters are just the recipes, which include the basics (ingredients, steps) as well as an introductory sentence or two explaining what the meal goes well with and at the end there's a tip about specifics for shopping, ideas for substitute ingredients, etc. The book includes recipes from a very wide variety of international cultures/cuisines, and the recipes are all unique and different enough from each other that I didn't get any feeling of redundancy or repetition.

There are some delicious-looking photographs in the introduction section but for the rest of the chapters there is just one recipe photo before the chapter starts. I really would have liked images for each recipe, both to know whether I made it correctly and to get some ideas for presentation.

The recipes all sound great and I think this book is great for anyone, regardless of whether you're vegetarian or eat low-carb.

Low-Carb Vegetarian Cookbook is a new low carb (but not no-carb) plant based cooking and recipe collection by Amy Lawrence and Justin Fox Burks. Released 17th March 2020 by Callisto on their Rockridge Press imprint, it's 180 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

The book follows a logical and easy format. Chapters 1-2 cover the background of ingredient selection and meal planning (including a pantry staples lists of protein rich vegetables, fats, and tips) as well as a very general beginner-accessible discussion of the time-saving and streamlining techniques. The author also includes some logical pointers ingredients, and supplies along with a 14 day interactive meal plans with linked recipes. The recipe chapters are arranged thematically: breakfasts, salads, snacks and appetizers, soups and sides, mains, and desserts. Nutritional information is included in the footer at the end of the recipes and includes calories, fat (incl. saturated fats), carbs, fiber, protein, and sodium. Special dietary information is not specifically included (gluten-free, nut-free, dairy, etc).

The recipe chapters include a surprisingly varied selection of different world cuisines: Eastern European, American, Asian, Southwestern, and more.

The recipes have their ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar. Measurements are given in US standard only. Special tools and ingredients are also listed, along with yields and cooking directions. Most, but not all, of the ingredients are easily sourced at any moderately well stocked grocery store (monk fruit sweetener, Bragg liquid aminos, etc?). The book also includes short author bios, and a metric conversion chart, but lacks any index or general ingredients index.

My one quibble with the book is that the recipes are mostly not photographed. There are some photos, and they're clear and attractive, but they only represent about 5% of the recipes included in the book.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This cookbook gives a brief history of low-carb eating and how it’s gone wrong in the past. It also emphasizes that no food is bad but some should be eaten in moderation. I would have liked more pictures of the recipes.