Vegetarian Cookbooks

Factual Questions
1

This may be more of a Cafe Society thing, but I’ll leave that to the mods.

In order to lower weight and, more importantly, cholesterol, I want to add a lot more vegetarian meals to my diet. I come from a long line of carnivores (we stop just short of eading sidemeat in Cheerios) so I almost don’t know where to begin.

What vegetarian cookbooks (or web sites) would you recommend for a newbie? Are there any you wouldn’t recommend? (I’d like to avoid dairy as well, not for ethical reasons but strictly for cholesterol purposes).

2

I’m in exactly the same boat as you. A book I’ve found very helpful is Student’s Vegetarian Cookbook by Caroline Raymond. Simple, no-nonsense recipes that don’t require a degree in tofu husbandry, and the “Meat is Murder!” polemics are refreshingly absent. She’s clearly writing to guys like me who have minmal cooking experience, too.

3

The Moosewood series of cookbooks is held in high esteem by numerous vegetarians I have met.

4

I looooove my new copy of *World Vegetarian, * by Madhur Jaffrey. Too many vegetarian cookbooks have very minimal variety in the kinds of ingredients, espeically spices, that they use. This book has tons of variety, so you don’t get sick of eating the same vegetarian chili or tofu recipe all the time. I could eat out of this book for years, and I’m not even a vegetarian, just a vegephile who likes trying different cuisines.

5

I second Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian . That’s a great cookbook. drools

The Moosewood cookbooks are very good too. I especially like Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home because it mostly uses “basic” ingredients you would have around rather than strange vegetables and spices that you’d have to buy specifically for that recipe.

My sister (a vegetarian and great collector of cookbooks) also likes Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone by Deborah Madison.

6

Eat More, Weigh Less by Dr. Dean Ornish. Vegetarian cooking designed with what you’re looking for.

Written by a nutter, but it has good receipes The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen

7

Vegetarian meals are not necessarily more healthy than meat. You can get just as much calories and fat from fried tofu as from steak, depending on how much of it you eat. I think you want to reduce the portion size of your meat and carbohydrates[1], and increase the size or number of vegetable dishes. You don’t need vegetarian cookbooks - most cookbooks have good selections of vegetable dishes.

[1] I don’t mean an Atkins diet. I’m talking one slice of bread instead of two.