Best vegetarian cooking books according to redditors
We found 72 Reddit comments discussing the best vegetarian cooking books. We ranked the 43 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
4. Living among Meat Eaters: The Vegetarian's Survival Handbook
3 mentions
Used Book in Good Condition
In terms of greenhouse gases emitted by sector (page 9), you'd be better off installing solar panels, and either working from home or cycling to work at a workplace that turns out the lights at night than you would stopping eating meat.
If you just want to be healthier then cutting down on red meat, eating a balanced diet, getting more exercise and stopping smoking will likely do you more good than just stopping eating meat.
Not saying you shouldn't be vegetarian or vegan†, but if your goal is either a healthier lifestyle or reducing greenhouse gas emissions then eating vegan is only one of a number of things you can do: It's not a magic ethical bullet.
† If you are, may I recommend Rose Elliott's "New Complete Vegetarian".
Learn to make seitan. It's quite easy and saves you a lot of money over buying it pre-made, and it can go in so many different recipes. You need vital wheat gluten, which you can buy on Amazon. (Don't be afraid to order some things, since they'll probably last you quite a while once they come. Nutritional yeast is another thing worth ordering; it comes up in a lot of recipes.) Here is one recipe, though there are many out there on the interwebs: http://www.theppk.com/2009/11/homemade-seitan/
It freezes well, so you can make it once a week or so and take out a portion every time you need to make a meal. It basically takes the place of meat in most recipes.
You need to eat legumes too—soy or other kinds of beans. I'm a big tofu eater myself. If you think you don't like tofu, make sure you're cooking it right, and that needs to start with pressing it. (To me, unpressed tofu tastes nasty and watery, and pressed tofu is totally dreamy.) There are as many ways to do that as there are cooks, but here's one guide: http://www.veggiebelly.com/2011/04/how-to-press-tofu.html
Then marinade it and bake, or stir-fry with some kind of sauce. You can save money by making your own marinades or time by buying premade ones.
Normally I would recommend buying beans and grains from bulk bins, but it sounds like that may not be an option where you live. Beans are still hella cheap (especially if you buy them dry) and there's a reason rice and beans are a dietary staple for so many people. I loooove grains, but some of them (e.g. quinoa) are not all that affordable. But see what you can find: barley and couscous, for example, can be really satisfying.
If you like hummus, you can make your own in a blender and save money over buying it premade.
I am a big cookbook fan and learned to cook from vegan cookbooks. The Post Punk Kitchen is relatively simple and delicious. There are a lot of recipes on the web site (http://www.theppk.com/), and Isa has some fantastic cookbooks out as well, with my favorite being Vegan With a Vengeance. Vegan Yum Yum is a bit more advanced, but has some of the most delicious food I've ever eaten, and that too has both a book and a web site (http://veganyumyum.com/). Vegan Dad (http://vegandad.blogspot.com/) can get complicated but is singularly wonderful: try the hot wings some time! If all that is too much to get started with, don't worry, you'll feel better soon, and look for recipes aimed at teenagers and college students. My family has taken a lot of recipes from The Teen's Vegetarian Cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Teens-Vegetarian-Cookbook-Judy-Krizmanic/dp/0140385061), which offers vegan substitutions for all the recipes. I should reiterate that there are a huge number of recipes available online, if you don't want to drop cash on cookbooks!
I hope some of that was helpful. I've been transitioning away from premade foods myself, and also shopping on a budget, so let me know if you have any other questions. (I do have good grocery options, so my tips may falter on that front.) Good luck and enjoy!
I know nothing of 90's skate style, BUT you could do a book on horror cinema maybe a Lovecraft Calendar or search unsolved mysteries in books and you find a bunch. I also searched horror cookbook and there were a few results.
Or you could try and find like a spooky spatula or something. But hopefully this helps. Also my Amazon recommendations are totally busted after these searches but oh well.
My wife has this and has worn it out https://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Cooking-Everyone-Deborah-Madison/dp/0767900146/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1541270743&sr=1-4&keywords=deborah+madison+cookbooks and there is an updated version https://www.amazon.com/New-Vegetarian-Cooking-Everyone/dp/1607745534/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1541270743&sr=1-1&keywords=deborah+madison+cookbooks
She goes vegetarian occasionally and this is her favorite cookbook for vegetarian dishes.
Start by having meat free days. Start with 2 meat free days a week, do it for a couple of weeks, increase to 4, again for a couple of weeks, then crank right up to 7 days.
Take the time to learn vegetarian recipes, there are loads out there. Get a basic soup, casserole/stew, salad, burger, curry and pasta sauce learnt and practised, then you can make anything from them.
If you can't cook already, you will need to learn. I find that most prepared vegetarian foods are a bit crap. I only ever use one brand of vege sausages and mince.
I really like Rose Elliot's Complete Vegetarian and the River Cottage Veg Everyday. I realise you probably don't live in the UK, but there may be translations available in your country.
There is also the BBC Good Food website, which has, as of this post, 2153 vegetarian recipes.
Good luck, if you need help, ask away, I'm sure there are plenty of people here who can help!
Re: SO
I have found that our loved ones are often fighting themselves, not us, when it comes to something as central to identity as veganism. (After all, if you do something three times a day 365 days a year, that's going to start correlating very heavily to who you are!) So sometimes, our loved ones are not really interested in engaging with the facts to be found in outside reality. If they were, I'm sure your SO would have found out himself that not only do vegans regularly get equivalent protein to nonvegans, but also a plant-based diet is almost uniformly agreed among registered dietitians to be the most nutrient-rich diet of all. Nonvegans who impose their view on their loved vegan ones may do so because they feel threatened by change. Their loved vegan ones are turning their backs to what society says it right, what will happen next - will she turn her back on me? Not only that, their own meat-eating habits are suddenly slid under the microscope of their consciousness.
It sounds like you are doing a great job with your SO so far: you are using an approach of compassion. Please continue to do so, for he will be in great discomfort and fear for the next month. He is already feeling strong discomfort with his own diet whenever he criticizes yours, and every time you mention your switch to veganism he feels his own terror at the knowledge of an alternative diet, one that involves so much less suffering for the world.
The fact that your SO reacts so strongly to your decision is actually quite promising. He would not be "so convinced" if he did not feel the need to first convince himself. After all, once he gives in and agrees that veganism is for the best, he will have to change his own behavior accordingly to align with veganism! And the one thing people are scared of the most is change!
The only way to pierce his bubble is to walk the talk. Do not waste valuable time in argument, if he starts talking about veganism with the clear angle of wanting to argue, you can simply say calmly "I don't want to discuss this further" and repeat as necessary. Should he resort to petty emotional manipulation, the question has shifted away from veganism altogether - veganism is now just a platform for a power play between the two of you. If this happens, you can say this as soon as you notice it, and direct the dialogue instead to how his words are making you feel: I feel unworthy and unloved because of your tone, I feel untrusted when you say that, etc. No SO wants to make you feel these things!
Your best argument will be your body. I wish you the best of luck in your vegan journey. Be patient, be joyful, and your efforts will pay off manifold. If you maintain complete or near-complete veganism this month, then your very presence will be a stronger argument than any words can make. Your own renewed health, your rejuvenated looks, your vitality in movement, will help open your SO's eyes to the truth.
If what I say sounds interesting, then may I suggest the ultimate primer on handling a meat-eating society and the conversations that can arise within them, [Living Among Meat Eaters] (http://www.amazon.com/Living-Among-Meat-Eaters-Vegetarians/dp/1590561163).
Re: Fullness
Bread is good. Fullness might relate to emotional memories of "fullness". Do you have good childhood memories of a relative preparing meat or cheese based dishes? You might then have the same memories about toasty bread with butter. That's easy to accomplish with SmartBalance.
On that note, heat really changes your perception of a meal. If you bring in an equal number of hot dishes, and try eating these frozen meals right after reheating, you'll get a feeling of fullness a cold meal (eg: tossed salad) cannot replicate.
Dried fruit is good. Dried mango and persimmon are high in carbs. Dried whole persimmon in particular is delicious when chilled.
Hope that helps and please do not hesitate if you have any further questions about veganism. I do not claim to be an expert but I can provide advice and tips to the best of my ability. Most of all, lots of love and happiness as you sail the path of compassion!
Would you suggest the original 2002 or the new one 2013?
Asian food is your friend!
There are so many curries and dishes from india that are vegetarian as around a third of their country doesn't eat meat. A personal favourite is a vegetable dhansak. There are so many options from just india, it just depends what interests you and what you feel comfortable trying to cook.
Other curry recipes that I really like are, tarka dahl, anda bhurji, and Mutter paneer.
Dont be worried if you/your partner doesn't like chilli when you make the curries yourself you can control the chilli.
Another good simple asian dish is the humble stir fry. It is as easy if not easier than pasta and in my opinion much nicer. Just do a stirfry as you would normally for a dish with meat but instead of meat you have a few options.
Quorn is a personal taste thing so if he likes it then try it. Eggs are amazing and go really well in thai dishes. Tofu and beancurd work well in chinese or thai. I dont have a specific recipe for these as it depends what veg i have in my fridge. This video however does cover the general idea well.
There are a wide variety of soy based products from asia, they can be hard to find unless you have a large asian population/supermarket nearby.
While not asian another cuisine that can work quite well and can be easy to cook is mexican. My father has a really good recipe for burritos where he makes his own salsa, guac, roasts veggies etc and then you just make like 3 burritos over the course of the meal.
If you are still stuck for ideas google and reddit really are your friends! I have a massive bookmarked folder of things I want to try cooking/making at somepoint.
If you are really new to cooking in general I would suggest looking at both a student cookbook vegetarian or not, I personally like these two.
Sorted food are also very easy to follow and are great for ideas both veg and non veg.
/u/PT2423 said "Plants", which isn't that helpful even if I agree. A whole-food, plant-based diet will do wonders for your health. As you're looking for meals/and or snacks, I will recommend books to get you going:
I'm a veggie student studying in Canterbury and, if you are living on University of Kent campus, Sainsbury's supermarket will probably be your closest supermarket although there are buses to Asda which is another large supermarket and - as someone else mentioned - there is the Goodshed store which is a food market type store next to Canterbury West railway station. For a veg-friendly shopping experience, there is also [Green Pea Wholefoods store](
http://www.greenpeawholefoods.co.uk/) where they have a cafe as well.
As a note, many students do online deliveries so you don't have to carry heavy shopping nor waste too much time shopping if you are busy with essays etc. I doesn't cost much and you can book delivery slots.
All foods sold here that are vegetarian friendly are labelled properly with a protected stamp so you can guarantee no meat products or derivatives are in your food; you just need to find the label or 'suitable for vegetarian' title on the packaging.
Generally, I have found the supermarket's own vegetarian food very nice and affordable (some supermarket product links below). Quorn is available quite readily here with their mince a favourite of mine for Spaghetti Bolognese, Lasagna and Cottage Pie plus their sausages for a good Toad in the Hole. A brand called Linda McCartney is also delicious as well.
Fruit and vegetables are quite affordable and easily available so shop around and take what you fancy; my favourite snacks are dried fruits generally in addition to apples and bananas. Baked beans are also cheap and make a great quick breakfast/lunch. Vegetables already cut up into stir-fry vegetables makes a nice quick dinner as well and aren't too pricey.
I'd recommend grabbing a student vegetarian cookbook so you can keep making tasty interesting food and they often have a fair few British recipes. They are more than affordable as well - Example.
There is a food store on Kent's campus but it is has over-priced food, is not that veg-friendly food-wise and the fresh food is never of that good quality so I wouldn't recommend shopping there, as someone else mentioned.
If you have any other questions, feel free to message/comment reply back.
Check out Rose Elliots's New Complete Vegetarian. If you have a Waterstones nearby they might have it and you can flip through it to see if you like the recipes but it is a lot of British favourites. Not exactly pub favourites but the type of food that you can get all the ingredients from a supermarket easily and don't worry,there is only one section on salad.
I just looked and there is 7 variations of lasagne in there :)
The book is in sections like soups/pastas/grains/beans/pastries/pudding etc. Here's a link to it on Amazon but I like to look through recipes books before buying them which is why I mentioned checking waterstones (The preview on amazon only shows the soup section :/ ). There's also used copies for way cheaper on there and the book I linked is a revised copy of an older book called Complete Vegetarian by the same author which you can get for a couple of quid from ebay.
Cooking on a Bootstrap has some pretty good recipes as well which are useful as they tell you the approximate price.The beans and lentils section on the blog will help if you're worried about protein
Also check your local library or charity shops for older vegetarian cookbooks. They are less likely to have 'trendy' ingredients and more likely to be based on their 'wholesome' meat counterparts.
You obviously have more than enough individual suggestions already, so I'll just recommend three books instead in case you're a cookbook collector like me!
I'm also an omnivorous meat-eater but I'm happy to endorse these excellent, full-on vegan cookbooks by Isa Chandra Moskowitz:
Veganomicon. This is one of those comprehensive, encyclopedic things that could be—if you were a vegan—the only cookbook you own. It just covers everything, and I've never made anything from it that wasn't great. It's a manageable 336 pages, but they're dense; it's a book where every page has two or three recipes, not one where every dish gets a photo. Highly recommended.
Isa Does It. So this is like the sandwich-shop version of Veganomicon. Isa Does It (get it?) is vegan on easy-mode: here are sloppy joes and mac and cheese and, generally, all the casual vegan meals you could ever eat. Vegans over at /r/mealprepsundays should mass-produce burger patties from it. Not recommended quite as highly, but highly recommended for what it is.
Isa is just a really good cook, so her flavors and vegetable & grain choices have always been on point for me. My favorite thing about her writing, and what keeps me coming back to her as a meat-eater, is that she's never interested in creating meat substitutes. The vegetables are the point, after all, so she's making dishes where the vegetables are the showstopper. When she makes a burger it always feels just a little halfhearted compared to her rock-star vegetable dishes, which is why "Isa Does It" falls just short of "Veganomicon" for me. But it's still great.
For a really great chef who does somersaults to simulate meat dishes—burgers and chili and Thanksgiving turkey—it is well worth your while to pick up The Chicago Diner Cookbook by Jo Kaucher. I could tell stories about some large-scale orphan Thanksgivings I've helped to host, where we served a hundred people over two days with meat and vegan options flying everywhere. We practically scripted the vegetarian (vegan) half of these meals from the Diner cookbook. Here is what I know: a ton of starving Chicago artists of varying omnivore, vegetarian and vegan status absolutely destroyed Jo Kaucher's tofurkey year after year after year, while my SO's actual-turkey, which is damned fucking good, always took second place and became leftovers. Shit, I prefer Jo's tofurkey to real turkey and I'm the kind of guy who makes laap from scratch at home, which means I'll spend an hour mincing intestines on a cutting board that you wet with pig blood while you chop. That is, I don't go out of my way for tofu and still I adore Jo's tofurkey.
Anyway, I hope those are fun suggestions that might be useful. :)
Yeah ofc. Most of the stuff I make is super fast and easy. Get a lot of good use out of my rice cooker, wok, skillet, and large pot. If you are looking for recipes, check out the china study cookbook
For pasta I often sautee some zucchini+mushrooms, maybe vegan sausage for a bit in olive oil. Once that's halfway done, start cooking the pasta. Drain it and put it back in the pot, along with tomato sauce, the veggies, and some raw spinach (it will wilt in the pot) and mix it all together. Add nutritional yeast, red+black pepper, salt.
Also there's like a million easy variations on rice and beans, probably my fav is caribbean rice and beans cooked in coconut milk. I don't really follow the recipe that closely, I typically lightly sautee onion, garlic, and chopped habeneros or something then add 2 cans of beans (drained) and 2 cups of rice (w/ ricecooker cup, not actual cup) and coconut milk and water, then whatever spices. Often smoked paprika, cinnamon, whatever. On the side with that, I like doing greens (esp collard greens) sauteed in coconut oil with a ton of chopped walnuts and cinnamon or something.
Finally this is the best chili, trader joes has spicy vegan chorizo. So good
PlantPure Nation is my fav cookbook - mostly because recipes are plant-based and almost all recipes have pictures.
Sarah's vegan kitchen on youtube is good too.
Are you going for a whole-foods plant-based diet or simply vegan? Have you read Greger's How Not To Die?
Do you like Hummus? Can find it at most grocery stores these days. Cut up some carrots, celery, and/or broccoli to dip in it. This is the recipe I used if you want to try to make it yourself.
I found most things in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone to be pretty easy to make. There are a couple cheap used copies on Amazon but it's worth checking your local library first to see if you like it.
Here's some amazon links for some that I own:
The last two are particularly gourmet, but interesting reads if you want to attempt some mind-blowing meals. I wouldn't list them as beginner though.
>Cancer freaks me out!
Me too!!
If you have become afflicted with Achalasia, the research states you have a much higher occurrence for cancers in the esophagus and intestines. Surgery or not!!!
I do a few things to help mitigate the risks of cancer... Here they are with links to research -- consult your doc before you jump into any of these and also do your research!!!!!!:
​
The original entitled " The China Study Cookbook" is the one I always use. The variations are also good, but I've had most success with the original. I feel they used their best recipes for the original book.
https://www.amazon.com/China-Study-Cookbook-Plant-Based-Recipes/dp/1937856755/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473179374&sr=1-1&keywords=china+study+cookbook
En el mismo documental Food Choices hablan del libro "The China Study" que contiene en detalle toda la información científica al respecto (aún no lo termino de leer, pero es muy interesante):
https://www.amazon.com/China-Study-Comprehensive-Nutrition-Implications/dp/1932100660
También existe un acompañamiento a ese libro con recetas, este no lo he leído todavía, me he puesto a cocinar recetas que encuentro en internet:
https://www.amazon.com/China-Study-Cookbook-Plant-Based-Recipes/dp/1937856755
Sólo comencé a no comprar nada animal y arreglármelas con lo que tengo en el refrigerador. Llevo como 2 meses siguiendo esta dieta (casi 2 años sin comer carne) y no he consultado con ningún nutricionista. Al final uno termina comiendo mejor que antes, evitando todas las tentaciones (McDonald's, Castaño, etc.). Para la vitamina B12 compro una leche de almendras que venden en el Lider/Jumbo que la contiene.
As a vegetarian for about 6 years now, I can report no problems with vitamin deficiencies. I was a bit worried at first coming from a meat and potatoes childhood. I did get tested about a year after for vitamins B6, B12 and Iron (it requires a simple blood test) and all was normal.
Like other posters have mentioned, it's important to eat a variety of vegetables and legumes to stay healthy. I like to think of it as eating a lot of colors (bell pepper, eggplant, spinach).
As a vegetarian in a social meal setting, I have found it helps keep the critics at bay by filling your plate. Don't allow it to be assumed that you're missing out on something, that your meal is incomplete without meat. But at the same time, the critic has never been something I've ever responded to with hostility. I usually just smile and tell people if they ask, "I don't care what you eat, you can make your own choices but for me, I'm vegetarian for the following reasons (environmental, animal rights, health etc.) ." If you want a nice resource to back up what you say I would recommend the book Food Revolution
Finally, I have purchased this for every vegetarian and vegan I know. The nutritional chart used to be 5 dollars...ha ha ha. Anyway, it's a handy reference.
Good luck!
I would check out some cookbooks written by/for Hare Krishnas for ideas. For religious reasons they eat a vegetarian diet free of onion, garlic and eggs and they've come up with some amazing ways to get around the flavor problem. A lot of the food draws heavily on indian spices, including asofetida. Kurma is one of the better known Hare Krishna cookbook writers. My mother is a Hare Krishna and this and this were our family's go-to cookbooks growing up.
Coincidentally, PlantPure Nation Cookbook was just released and I just got it today. There is a hint about substituting chia seeds in place of xanthan gum to thicken an oil-free Italian dressing. I haven't had a chance to try any of the recipes, of course, but it looks like a great cookbook. Usually when I get a new cookbook, there are just a few recipes that catch my interest. But just about every recipe in this book looks like one I want to try.
While I'm sure the Hare Krishnas would appreciate it, the uber modern person in me suggests alternative methods:
I have this one. I like it.
The Higher Taste
I just wrote a vegan cook book for the kindle with over 100 original photos illustrations that focuses more on learning how to cook rather than recipes (although there are many recipes, including vegan chocolate cheesecake).
I am selling it through a site I run here as a pdf which is the best option in terms of formatting.
It is also available through the kindle store here although it cost about a dollar more.
I took out an ad on reddit this past week, but it didn't generate enough sales to be viable.
I'm currently reading through this and it is pretty good so far. It might be worth reading yourself in showing you how best to react to your mom.
https://www.amazon.com/Living-among-Meat-Eaters-Vegetarians/dp/1590561163
Teen's Vegetarian Cookbook
I got this book from a friend in my early years of being vegetarian. There are easy recipes in here and lots of ideas to diversify your food. I'm 23 and I still use it!
John Robbins, son of Baskin-Robbins' co-founder Irv Robbins, advocates a vegan diet and has been writing popular plant-based nutrition books since the 1980s. It's safe to say John is the black sheep of the family and does not approve of the family business, much less the Heath bar shake.
John Robbins wrote the foreward to The China Study and authored:
If you can still find it somewhere: http://www.amazon.com/The-Vegetarian-Student-Cookbook/dp/0600612414/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1404805574&sr=8-13
Deborah Madison vegetarian cooking for everyone
That's cool. If you don't have this vegetarian cook book then you need to get it right away. I use it all the time.
Speak with her and tell her that what she said was insensitive. Regardless if what she said were true it had absolutely NO PLACE in the context of what you were asking her. Document what she said and if she says it again then document it again. If she does it frequently then go to your boss, report her and show him the documented incidents.
Theres absolutely no need to get all passive aggressive about this. Be intelligent, stand up for yourself and feel good about yourself.
Also, I'm a vegetarian and have been looking for good alternatives. Heres a good cookbook
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Cooking-Everyone-Deborah-Madison/dp/0767900146
I would also highly suggest you learn to cook asian food. granted, a lot of the soups are meat based but REAL asian food (not necessarily restaurant food) is usually really healthy, balanced and beef, chicken and pork can easily be substituted with fish or tofu.
good luck and sorry for your boyfriend. make sure to feed him A LOT of meat when he recovers from his treatment. he's going to need it for his strength.
Read this!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azolla_event
http://www.amazon.com/Azolla-Cooking-Cultivation-Project-ebook/dp/B009YX4BD6/ which is more an art project, though it contains useful information.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576508000519
Plenty of info on https://www.google.com/search?q=duckweed+food
How about this one:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Zen-Monastery-Cookbook-Stories/dp/0961475471
No not yet, but I've seen some food resources you might like if that's what you're into! Like this cookbook or this cookbook or this blogger's Hannibal-themed dessert and main course recipes.
Do you drive a Taxi in the Vancouver region? Some Hare Krishna fanatic was driving me around and gave me a book you mentioned, The Higher Taste (This one exactly). Good recipes in there actually! However, I did not appreciate his preaching, considering I was paying him for a service. Is it normal that you try and convert or suggest to people the ways of Hare Krishna whenever you see them?
I <3 Daft Punk.
The reason I became a vegetarian has nothing to do with moral reasons, in fact I recently went on a fishing trip with my friend and ran around clubbing fish to death with a bat. I converted to vegetarianism because of its health benefits. It'll probably be hard to find good information online because most of the vegetarians making blogs and such are the moral ones who whine about eating things with faces, but I highly recommend getting a book or two on it. There's a lot of stuff im sure you'll be happy to find out in this book. Its what convinced me to make the change.
I like "The Accidental Vegetarian" by Simon Rimmer. I'm definitely someone who grew up with meat as the star protein in every dish but the recipes in this book are super satisfying.
https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Vegetarian-Delicious-Food-without/dp/1845335554
edit:included correct link
I suggest finding vegan support wherever you can. Check out Carol Adam's Living Among Meat Eaters: The Vegetarian's Survival Handbook. There are some good vegan podcasts like Midwest Vegan Radio, too.
If they are at all approachable, you could try to ask them to read something short or watch something to get them thinking. Present it as a way for them to understand why you've made the decision to be vegan, rather than an attempt to persuade them. I suggest a website that lists quick reasons to be vegan, the book Please Don't Eat the Animals, or the documentary Vegucated.