No matter how long you’ve been vegan and how well you cook, there are probably still a few off-limits dishes that you remember fondly from childhood – or last year. If this sounds like you, and you’re ready to try making vegan versions of meaty meals, Veganize This! is just the cookbook for you.
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If you’re looking for healthy and easy vegan recipes, Amanda Grant’s Fresh and Fast Vegan might be just the ticket. This reissue of The New Vegan (originally published in 1999) includes 140 simple recipes divided into just five chapters.
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If you’re getting bored with your raw diet, it might be time to start traveling – with Ani’s Raw Food Asia. This cookbook will amaze you with raw versions of classic dishes from China, Hawaii, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam as well as the author’s inventive East-West fusion recipes.
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There are now so many vegans and, more importantly, vegan cookbooks that authors are branching out into other specialties. Appetite for Reduction delves into food that is not only free of meat and animal products, but also low in saturated fat and sugar. But not to worry, there is no corresponding loss in variety or flavor.
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Veganopolis Cafeteria was a vegan restaurant in Portland, Oregan until street crime forced its closure. But many of the recipes survive in The Veganopolis Cookbook.
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Established in 1983 by Jo Kaucher and Mickey Hornick, The Chicago Diner is a vegetarian jewel in a traditionally meat-loving city. Most of the recipes in The Chicago Diner Cookbook are vegan, though a few dairy products show up here and there.
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While it isn’t a meatless cookbook, The Art of Simple Food is based on something that is entirely compatible with vegetarianism: eating fresh, local, seasonal, sustainable food. As Alice Waters has been demonstrating for decades at her restaurant Chez Panisse, if you start with excellent ingredients, you don’t need to spend hours making complicated recipes; you can quickly prepare a simple but delectable meal.
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You might think that there’s a direct correlation between how much time you spend in the kitchen, and how good the fruits of your labors will be. In fact, it’s entirely possible to prepare a delicious and healthy meal without cooking for hours. Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay provide recipes and tips in their cookbook 15-Minute Vegetarian.
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Asian cuisine is sometimes very elaborate, which can be a turn-off for anyone who doesn’t want to spend all day in the kitchen. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming to cook good, vegan, Asian food, especially if you have a copy of The 30-Minute Vegan’s Taste of the East, which features classic and creative recipes from all over Asia.
I’ll never understand people who don’t like garlic. It’s an essential ingredient in so many cuisines, from Cajun to Italian to Thai. Sure, it makes your breath smell, but that’s what toothpaste and mouthwash are for, so why deny yourself the wonderful flavors of garlic? Though not a vegetarian cookbook, Sarina Jacobson’s Garlic includes plenty of excellent meat-free recipes, and many of the others can serve as inspiration for vegetarian adaptations.
