It has been over thirty years since I bought my first Anna Thomas cookbook. Vegetarian Epicure, published in 1972 when the author was still in college, was my first cookbook when I was in college. My signature dish, macaroni and cheese, comes from this cookbook, and while many women in America may have had Julia Childs teach them to make a bechamel sauce, Anna Thomas taught me. Vegetarian Epicure and The Moosewood Cookbook are two cookbooks from my youth that still receive active use today, along with my 1975 edition of The Joy of Cooking. So it was with great anticipation that I opened this cookbook.
I have been making soup on a regular basis over the past decade, and recently make one to two a week--it is my usual lunch, along with a salad. I have focused heavily on grain, bean, and vegetable soups, and benefited greatly from my spouse's passion for making stock. My favorite two soup cookbooks are Deborah Madison's 'Vegetable Soups' and Moosewood's 'Daily Specials'. I have sought out another resource and rejected several, including some by highly regarded authors, be cause they do not augment what I already have.
This cookbook is a perfect addition to make a threesome--it has menu suggestions (like the 'Daily Specials' cookbook) and the focus is on healthy soups--there are a number of soups here that are intriguing and not present in my other two favorites--pictured here is the mung bean soup. I have had dried mung beans in my pantry for decades, but used them only to make sprouts. Thomas' recipe include details on how to cook them, as well as how they should appear. The only thing missing from this that I would add is pictures. I include a picture of the heirloom tomato salad--it represents the simple approach to soup and salad encompassed in this welcome new soup cookbook.
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