Moosewood Restaurant celebrates Festive meal for holidays and special occasions

The Moosewood Collective and its Ithaca restaurant celebrate 30 years of good vegetarian cuisine this year. With the increased popularity in vegetarian cooking, Moosewood has grown and developed its style in its roster of popular cookbooks. This new volume covers festive occasions and holidays from weddings to Father's Day, Halloween to Kwanza, which are challenging for everyone and more so for the vegetarian cook or those with vegetarian guests. Divided by season and then by celebration, this volume offers for each occasion a menu with recipes and useful hints for timings and presentation. The dishes have a modern, international feel. From the Southwestern Dinner Party with its refreshing Avocado Citrus Salad that brightens the Winter section, to the luscious Chocolate Souffl? Cake that would happily grace any dessert buffet, most of the recipes are simple to produce. The ingredients are described fully in a very helpful glossary, and the recipes carefully explained and often finished with alternative variations. After three decades, this book shows how vegetarian cuisine has come of age and can be appropriate for any occasion. (Sept.) Forecast: This well-produced volume, timed with Moosewood's 30th anniversary, should prove successful as more people have switched to or included vegetarian dishes in their diet. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

It's hard to believe that Moosewood, the venerable vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, NY, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. In its tenth cookbook, the collective offers 35 menus for holidays and other festive occasions, organized by season, from Juneteenth and the Fourth of July to Passover and Cinco de Mayo. Some recipes include fish and thus are not strictly vegetarian, but substitutions are often suggested. There are both vegetarian and vegan menus for Thanksgiving-often a "problem holiday" for those who don't eat turkey-and a list of all the vegan recipes. An introductory section presents tips on entertaining, and make-ahead tips are included throughout. For most collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

ROASTED SQUASH WITH CORN & BEANS For centuries, native cultures in the Western Hemisphere survived on the interdependent cultivation of corn and beans. In the Iroquois tradition of upstate New York, corn, beans, and squash--known as the "three sisters"--were the staple source of food. Grown together, the beans wound their vines around the sturdy corn stalks and the squash leaves shaded the ground, keeping it cool, moist, and free of weeds. At Cornell University, the department of crop and soil sciences has been cultivating a demonstration garden of corn, beans, and squash to illustrate the caloric and protein advantage of the "three sisters" compared to crops of corn, beans, or squash alone. This garden is open to schools and visitors curious to learn about indigenous cropping systems. Serves 8 Total time: about 1 hour 5 to 6 cups butternut squash (bite-sized chunks) 2 cups coarsely chopped red onions 2 tablespoons minced or pressed garlic 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons olive or other vegetable oil 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves 2 teaspoons dried thyme (2 tablespoons fresh) 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels 1 1/2 cups frozen lima beans* 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (optional) *canned lima beans, rinsed and drained, are also fine. Preheat the oven to 450°. In a large bowl, combine the squash, red onions, garlic, and salt. Evenly coat the vegetables with 2 tablespoons of the oil and spread them on a large baking tray. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but crisp around the edges. When the squash has baked for about 1/2 hour, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet. Add the sage and thyme and simmer for just 4 to 5 seconds. Stir in the corn and lima beans and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, until tender. Cover and set aside. In a large serving bowl, toss together the roasted squash and red onions with the seasoned corn and beans. Add parsley, if desired, and serve immediately. This dish is fine to make ahead of time. Store it in a covered container in the refrigerator; then reheat just before serving. Excerpted from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates: Festive Meals for Holidays and Special Occasions by Moosewood Collective Staff All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.