cookbook review: fresh

it's time for another cookbook review!  this time we're looking at the latest cookbook release of 4 from fresh restaurant, fresh: new vegetarian and vegan recipes from fresh restaurants by ruth tal & jennifer houston.  this book was gifted to me from my super thoughtful father in law who has no doubt heard me mention going to fresh time and time again.

i love fresh and i love having the recipes to the dishes they serve up at their 3 {soon to be 5!} toronto locations.  being that i live 4 hours north of toronto i'm not at fresh all that often, but when m and i do make it there it is always busy.  always.  as in every table is full.  so obviously giving away their not-so-secret recipes is not putting a damper on business.

{source}

i've always considered fresh to be a vegan restaurant - which it almost is, but not quite.  they offer a few cheeses on their menu as 'add-ins' which although not for me, is probably liked by many of their omni/vegetarian clientele.  this cookbook also includes a handful of recipes that call for cheese {a few salads and a few sandwiches} making this cookbook a little more accessible perhaps for those who are not yet vegan or those who are transitioning to veganism.  for example, their greek pita lists both vegetarian and vegan alternatives {store-bought tatziki & dairy feta as well as recipes to make your own vegan tatziki & cauliflower feta}.

there are lots of familiar favourites from the restaurant in this book and like thier others, entire chapters dedicated to juices, power shakes & smoothies.  sounded like a good starting point for me!

{heads up: i chose recipes that were new to me, ones that i haven't yet tried at the restaurant, so i can't offer any comparisons to the 'real deal'.}

the first recipe i made was the chi-spa power shake.  i already love putting chia seeds in my smoothies, but i've never put dates in my smoothie!  yowza!  talk about a sinfully sweet breakfast!  it was delicious and if anything, just a wee bit too sweet.  i'd make this again but next time i'd cut the dates in half.

{chi-spa}

next up i went for the eat your greens! salad with the green dressing.  i had to improvise for the salad as i was all out of cucumber, peas, sprouts and avocado {pretty much the entire salad} but i still filled the bowls with the greens i did have on hand: cabbage, spinach, broccoli & edamame.  done and done, yum and yum.  if i'm being completely honest though, neither m nor i were really that into the dressing.  it was way too sweet {again} for us and this was with only a quarter of the agave the recipe called for.  but i do really like the idea of blending over a cup of fresh herbs into a salad dressing!  giddy up.

{eat your greens!}

maybe a few months early, but yesterday we had a little pancake tuesday action in the house.  i couldn't wait to try the pineapple flax pancakes and even made a special trip to the corner store for a can of diced pineapple {something i never buy}.  so how were they?  let's just say i'll probably be purchasing a few more cans of pineapple to keep on hand in the pantry.  they were light and fluffy and every bite came with a sweet, juicy bite of fruit.

{pineapple flax pancakes}

okay, and the last 'recipe' if you can call it that, that i've tried so far was for instant turtles - do you remember turtles?  you know those nutty, chocolate caramels that were popular in the 80s? well, you can really recreate the same flavour by stuffing a medjool with a couple other pantry staples and popping it all in your mouth at once.  i kid you not, it tastes just like i remember them!  i was amazed.  so i ate 2.

{instant turtles}

the recipes in this latest fresh cookbook are for good, wholesome, casual food.  what you won't find in this book are recipes worthy of a fancy dinner party.  but what you will find are recipes that can become new staples in your everyday kitchen.  the highlights for me are the endless possibilities of mixing and matching dressings & sauces with salads, noodles & sandwiches. 

there are many more recipes in this cookbook that i'm looking forward to trying including the curry laksa & the tofu ricotta fritters and - wait for it - the recipe for their quinoa onion rings!  and though i'll be creating more of these recipes myself, i'm not going to lie - i'll also be back to fresh and let them do the cooking too.