No Meat Please: Vegetarian Cookbooks

October 1st is World Vegetarian Day, and I get to celebrate it this year! In March my husband and I decided to become vegetarians, for a variety of reasons, and we haven’t looked back since. I get asked all the time, “So how IS it being a vegetarian???” Let me tell you, my carnivorous friends, it’s really not that bad. I thought I would crave burgers and chicken, but not really. The only thing I really miss is… bacon! It’s my trigger word.

When we made the decision to go veggie, I took out a LOT of vegetarian cookbooks and looked through them. Many of them have rather unusual, and frankly weird ingredients that my husband and I just aren’t ready for (some of these things you need to ease into). And tofu will never be a part of our diet. No matter how it’s prepared, it always tastes like a pencil eraser to me. But to each their own.

Whether you decided to be, or already are a vegetarian, or just like meatless cooking options, here are a few vegetarian cookbooks we have added to our collection this year:

Small Planet, Small Plates

Small Planet, Small Plates: Earth-Friendly Vegetarian Recipes by Troth Wells. There are over 100 recipes from all around the world in this cookbook, dishes ranging from Africa, Latin-America, and the Middle East. Wells is a firm believer in low-impact eating and moving towards a vegetable-based diet as a sustainable method for our planet to survive. Picture with each recipe.
French Market Cookbook
The French Market Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes From My Parisian Kitchen by Clotide Dusoulier. Dusoulier is the blogger behind the popular blog ChocolateandZucchini.com and is not a vegetarian. But like a lot of people, she has chosen to eat fewer meat dishes. She includes 82 recipes using fresh, in season, and ripe ingredients that do not have a lot of cheeses, creams, or dairy.
Meatless
Meatless: More Than 200 Of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes by Martha Stewart. Meatless has over 200 recipes, all with pictures, that are for the vegetarian and meat-eater alike. What is cool about this book is a guide on how to stock a vegetarian pantry, with essentials like beans, vegetable stock, and pastas.
Simply Satisfying
Simply Satisfying: Over 200 Vegetarian Recipes You’ll Want To Make Again and Again by Jeanne Lemlin. This is a reinvention of Lemlin’s first cookbook, published more than 25 years ago as Vegetarian Pleasures: A Menu Cookbook. In this new cookbook, Lemlin’s first in more than 10 years, she uses fresh, easily available (key in my book), and robust flavors. One recipes that sounds to die for is fragrant vegetable stew with corn dumplings. YUM!
Welcome To Claire’s
Welcome to Claire’s: 35 Years of Recipes and Reflections From the Landmark Vegetarian Restaurant by Claire Criscuolo. We are lucky enough to live within a half and hour of Claire’s Corner Copia and hope to make it there soon. If you’ve been to Claire’s before, you’ve likely tried her Lithuanian Coffee Cake. The recipe is included here!