Great Vegetarian/vegetable-intense cookbook?

[kristenk]

I would love to find a way to add more vegetable main dishes into our diet. And, different vegetable sides, too, now that I think of it. Does anyone have a veg. cookbook to recommend?

I'm not interested in a lot of recipes that use tofu or soy crumbles or anything like that as a meat substitute, b/c we do eat beef, poultry, etc.

[citymama]

World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey is my absolute favorite! I am vegetarian and have a number of veg cookbooks, but use Jaffrey's books the most, by far.

[tylersmama]

I do not have them, but I've heard nothing but rave reviews for the Moosewood series of cookbooks. I have several friends who are vegetarians and they love the Moosewood books!

[kristenk]

World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey is my absolute favorite! I am vegetarian and have a number of veg cookbooks, but use Jaffrey's books the most, by far.

Do you have any favorite recipes? I know that my library has that cookbook and I even checked it out once. I was so overwhelmed by the size of it, though, (if it's the one I'm thinking about), that I glanced through it and then put it away.

If you can tell me a few of your favorite recipes, I can look those up in the book at the library and give them a try.

[kristenk]

I do not have them, but I've heard nothing but rave reviews for the Moosewood series of cookbooks. I have several friends who are vegetarians and they love the Moosewood books!

I've heard of the Moosewood cookbooks. I didn't realize that they were all vegetarian cookbooks. Thanks! I'll check those out, too!

[citymama]

Do you have any favorite recipes? I know that my library has that cookbook and I even checked it out once. I was so overwhelmed by the size of it, though, (if it's the one I'm thinking about), that I glanced through it and then put it away.

If you can tell me a few of your favorite recipes, I can look those up in the book at the library and give them a try.

Sure - my favorites are the Indian/Middle Eastern recipes. My sister has my copy of WV right now, so I'll rattle off a few from my copy of Madhur Jaffrey's "Eastern vegetarian cooking" (also very good, but World Veg has many of these recipes):
Japanese eggplant with miso (she calls it "Aubergine" the british word for eggplant), Indian Cauliflower and Potatoes (aloo gobi), Kuwaiti Okra with tomatoes (I'm weird, I love okra and so does my family), Middle Eastern fava beans and tomatoes (fool maddamas), diced potatoes with spinach (yum!), sambar (lentils), fried rice with egg and vegetables, lots of great one-dish vegetables and rice crockpot style recipes, tempura...

Now I'm hungry!

[caheinz]

I've heard of the Moosewood cookbooks. I didn't realize that they were all vegetarian cookbooks. Thanks! I'll check those out, too!

Moosewood is a vegetarian collective that runs a restaurant in Ithaca, NY.

The Moosewood Cookbook is by Mollie Katzen, a former member. The other cookbooks with Moosewood in the title are all from the collective. Some of the books do contain fish recipes, but that's the only meat I've seen in them.

[brittone2]

I'm a former veg and always liked Moosewood, and some of Mollie Katzen's other cookbooks, etc. I don't like doing a lot of soy in general, but there are still some great ideas.

We have Fresh From the Vegetarian Slowcooker (crockpot veggie cookbook).

[anamika]

We're vegetarian too. One author I didn't see mentioned was Deborah Madison.
Love, love, love her cookbooks. I have the Savory way and Vegetarian Cooking for everyone.
I love almost all her recipes especially the soups and pastas.
I have the Moosewood books too and they are great too.

[kristenk]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I borrowed a couple of cookbooks from the library and will add the other authors to my list. So far, I've made a couple of recipes from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. I really like the cookbook. My favorite thing is that it has menu suggestions for each recipe. That helps a whole lot. I'm still somewhat struggling with not having a meat as the central menu item, so menu suggestions are very helpful.

I haven't made anything out of World Vegetarian, yet. I was just flipping through and noticed it also had serving suggestions. I think my problem is that the book is so BIG. I'm intimidated. I'll get over it, though.

[jent]

As a "semi vegetarian" & the wife of a vegetarian I have to add my $0.02. I'm glad you found the Moosewood Cooks at Home, it's the one I go to all the time-- favorites are the chili & the stews (esp. Stifado and Eggplant Mykonos).

Definitely take a close look at Deborah Madison' Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone-- it's big & intimidating but has great instructions & has become my vegetarian "Bible".

[fauve01]

we eat meat/poultry but are trying to increase veggies and have meat be the side dish. OP, see if you can find this book at your library:

The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446674524/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance


Lots of good recipes in there IMO!

Anne

[egoldber]

I have and love Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.

[anamika]

I have and love Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.
Hey Beth,
Would you mind sharing what recipes you like best from this book?
We bought a slow-cooker and borrowed this book from the library but none of the recipes have grabbed me yet.
Thanks,

[egoldber]

Well, I'm a terrible recipe follower :) I use most cookbooks as places just to get ideas. I got this one as a gift. But some things I have liked/adapted:

Lentil soup with Kale
Moroccan Style Lentil and Chickpea (this was REALLY good)
Split Pea and Parsnip
Winter Squash and Sweet Potato soup
Pesto Potato Soup (again VERY good)

I like their basic bean cooking instructions and stock recipes as well.

[anamika]

Hi Beth,
That sounds like me. I don't think I have ever actually followed a recipe either!
Thanks - I'll try those out.
DH made one of the curry ones - cauliflower something and it was quite good. He does follow the recipe to the letter.

[egoldber]

LOL! My DH is a recipe stickler. My cooking style drives him crazy. But alas, he does not like curry.