Monday, April 6, 2009

My Favorite Vegetarian Cookbooks

The combination of my love for cooking and my love for books has given me quite an extensive cookbook collection. My vegetarian cookbook collection is by far the largest on my bookshelf, not only because I am a vegetarian, but because like some of my others I can't say I have a tried and true book I refer to often. I have several though that each have a few I cook meals from often.



Oddly enough my very favorite, isn't even vegetarian per say, but it has plenty of meatless meals that it is one that gets lots of use around here and that is Extending The Table. I love this one because the ingredients are simple, lots of grains and beans, and the recipes all have an international flair. The book is also full of stories from missionaries around the world sharing how the poor are so often so generous and giving. Even non-Christians would enjoy these stories if like me they love reading about other cultures.

One series of cookbooks I recommend to new vegetarians is the Moosewood Series. All of these have a wide variety of recipes that will appeal to many. The Cooks at Home has an awesome Pad Thai recipe!



The very first vegetarian cookbook I ever bought still gets used often. A few of the recipes I have posted here in the past are from this book, The Vegetarian Epicure 2. While a favorite, I will have to admit a few of these are a bit more time consuming then the other books I am recommending, but I wouldn't feel right not mentioning this one as this was the beginning of my vegetarian journey so many years ago.



I really enjoyed Vegan with a Vengence and Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan but while there were some truly great recipes I still often make, there weren't enough to justify buying so I checked these out from the library and copied the recipes I enjoyed most. The Tamari Roasted Chick Peas in Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan are to die for! I use them in my stir-fries, in my rice noodle soup, on top of salads and just to snack on.

If you have children or are a working mom or dad who packs your own lunch, The Vegan Lunchbox is a must! This has all sorts of kid pleasing lunchbox ideas. My favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins that I have posted here in the past came from this book.




The library is a great resource when investigating books of any kind. With the online inter-library loan system I can pick out a book from anywhere within my county and some surrounding and have it delivered to my library free of charge within a matter of days!


Happy Cooking!


1 comments:

The Cooking Lady said...

So many of these I want to purchase, but unless I find them at a garage sale or the withdrawn table at the library, they will have to wait.

I recently found a great buy at West Palm Beach with a $.50 buy of Vegetarians Best Recipes. Wow! And How it all Vegan, what a great book.