Vegan/vegetarian cookbook recommendations?

[phoenix130]

I just switched to a vegetarian diet (may be more vegan as I get used to it) and was wondering if anyone had recommendations on good cookbooks for vegan/vegetarian meals?

[darine]

I am a vegetarian since 10 years and I almost exclusively only use these 3 books:
http://www.kurma.net/books/index.html

Favorite #1: Great vegetarian Dishes
#2: Cooking with Kurma
#3: Quick vegetarian Dishes

actually from the oldest to the newest.

Amazing use of spices for yummy flavors. I get so surprised how well the egg less mayonnaise taste or the scrambled tofu taste like eggs. The one thing I learned through this amazing cook is that spices can do magic.

I get compliments about all these dishes and they are pretty easy. Just need to get the spices. I cannot recommend these books more. I love them!

[Stephanie0523]

I'm in your same boat! I recently switched to a mostly vegetarian diet, and I am loving The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. She has some good recipes in there, and it's just a very good read. Makes me feel more devoted to this lifestyle... She promotes vegan lifestyle, so all of her recipes are vegan, but you could swap real dairy or real eggs wherever you like.

[phoenix130]

Darine:
Thanks for the great recommendations - I will definitely check them out!

Stephanie:
I have The Kind Diet too! I first decided to switch after reading Dr. Neal Barnard's book on reversing diabetes. The studies he performed showed great results with a vegan diet and I just decided once and for all to switch. I have never really liked meat or other things associated with it and was only eating it because I thought I had to in order to meet protein and iron levels. Now I know better. Have you tried the recipes - which ones do you like or recommend? A lot of them look really good but I haven't gotten around to them or I'm still looking for some ingredients.

[Stephanie0523]

I haven't tried the recipes... Well, I made the rice with lemon, basil and tomatoes. It was pretty yummy. I just like the variety she incorporates, though I will have to amend many of her recipes because I haven't heard of some of her ingredients... especially the sea vegetables. I am a little concerned about my protein levels, so I probably will rejoin Cathe's nutrition manager just to keep track of all of the essential vitamins, minerals and protein... Though I take a multi-vitamin.

I'm currently trying to decide if I want to go all out and try to stick to the Kind Diet's Superhero plan for awhile. I've never done a macrobiotic diet before, and it seems kind of extreme, but I can see that it really would detoxify the body. I'm considering trying to do it for a month or so...

[phoenix130]

I was looking for sea vegetables awhile back and couldn't figure out what it was until I realized that it is stuff like kelp, seaweed, nori and probably a lot more. It still seems to be hard to find in regular grocery stores (I know the one I usually go to used to have nori but no more it seems). I figured I'd check the natural food stores but they're farther away and not as convenient but it might be worth the trip at least once to try them out.

I've been eating vegetarian for the past 5 weeks and have felt so much better than I have in a long time. I ended up catching a cold this week and it didn't seem as bad as it usually would have been - except for the tiredness and not sleeping part. Let me know how it goes if you do try out the superhero plan!

The only thing I still have that isn't vegan/vegetarian is my whey protein powder. I was worried about protein, iron and B12 at first but when I tracked items with Cathe's nutrition program, I realized I was getting enough. Even without the protein powder, I'd still be in the mid-range so I figured I could use it to just keep track for awhile until I get used to it.

[Stephanie0523]

I'm starting to have second thought about starting the Superhero plan. I tend to jump in with both feet sometimes, and I need to back off and get used to vegetarian before I move toward vegan or vegan/macrobiotic. I don't want to turn into the way I was in my early 20s when I obsessed over EVERYTHING that I ate. I love my whey protein and I still have milk and cook with eggs... so I'll probably never be a vegan, but I am enjoying going sans meat... I will eat seafood from time to time, though. I have felt so good these past few weeks too! More peaceful even. Good luck with your journey! Maybe we should start a veggie check-in for those who are vegetarian/mostly vegetarian... etc.

[story1267]

Stephanie, I like your idea about a check-in for veggies. Perhaps a place for those of us who are trying it on or checking it out or re-applying ourselves to the lifestyle. For whatever reason.

And I think it would be nice to welcome semi-veggies too (like me) who are eating vegan meals most of the time with a steak or sushi roll every now and then.

There's an overwhelming amount of info out there and when you're just starting out it can be hard to figure out which substitutions are worth it, or what on earth is X ingredient in all these recipes.....

[phoenix130]

Stephanie:
I know what you mean about jumping in. I just started with some frozen veggie dinners and a few recipes. I still have my whey protein powder and I had the odd meal with meat at first. Now I'm transitioning to now meat but still not ready to give up the whey protein powder. Just do whatever feels right for you - if that's taking it easy, so be it.

Suzanne:
I like Stephanie's idea of the check-in too. I'm going to start one in this forum. There is a lot of information and it's hard to make sense of it so a check-in is a great idea. I'm going to create it now. Hope to see you both there!

[112toGuru]

Last night's black bean burritos I made from 366 Delicious ways to Cook Rice, Beans & Grains ( less the chipotles, didn't have those, added green pepper & a Jalapeno instead )

http://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Ways...2740502&sr=8-4

I like the instructional kinda of cookbooks, how to stock the pantry, pick, clean, prepare, store stuff. I never learned any of that before so mostly I read how to's. This cookbook is mostly veggie but has some salmon shrimp & chicken.

Linda