Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant

Somerville, executive chef at San Francisco's famed vegetarian restaurant, here compiles a useful, if unexceptional, array of meat- and fish-free recipes based mainly on fresh and varied produce, and following in the footsteps of the bestselling Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison. Notable is the chapter on salads, where each combination of greens, vegetables, grains or beans (``corn and bulgur salad with cilantro and lime'' and ``winter greens with pears, walnuts and warm Roquefort croutons'') is conveniently accompanied by its own dressing recipe. Vegetable stews and curries are enlivened with chilies, citrus and fresh ginger, while most pizzas, like that with artichokes, red onions and thyme, are devoid of tomato sauce. Tarts, savory pancakes, including ``spinach cakes with shiitake mushrooms and goat cheese,'' companion dishes and frittatas and omelettes are prepared with a fairly light-handed apportioning of calorie-laden cheese and heavy cream. Three basic stocks (vegetable, mushroom and corn) offer flavorful starts for soups. Framed with an introduction about organic gardening at nearby Green Gulch farm and a glossary on produce, the recipes emphasize simplicity of preparation and clarity of taste. Nutritional analyses are not provided. (Apr.)