Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe

Vegetarian Baby and Child, Jan-Feb, 2003 by Amy O'Neill Houck

By Mollie Katzen, Hyperion (hardback 2002), 302 pages, $29.95.

A far cry from the earthy homespun look of The Moosewood Cookbook, Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe is a beautifully produced book with original art by the author and interesting mini-articles at the beginning of each section. (Katzen also has nice introductions and incidental notes within the articles that make them fun to read.) Many recipes include variations that make the book full of possible recipes and combinations. I especially liked the two introductory chapters about breakfast: "Make Room in your Life for Breakfast," which includes a short look at breakfast around the world, and "Breakfast for Metabolic Health," which discusses how breakfast contributes to our overall diet. The book contains over 300 recipes with sections on breakfast beverages, "Vegetables for Breakfast" and a delicious-looking chapter on "Potatoes, Beans, Tempeh & Hashes." Katzen states that most of the recipes take less than 30 minutes to prepare, and many take less than fifteen.

Unfortunately, there is no nutritional information with the recipes, and only 3 1/2 pages on menu planning at the back of the book. Sunlight Cafe is also obviously designed for Iacto-ovo vegetarians as it relies heavily on dairy and eggs, and many recipes are not suitable for vegan substitutions, although Katzen says you can always substitute soymilk for cow's milk. While there are vegan recipes in the book, they're not labeled, so vegans get the not unpleasant chore of wandering through the chapters soaking in all the interesting tidbits while picking out recipes to prepare.