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Food/Recipes

Vegetarian Cookbook - any recommendations

16 replies

coorong · 06/07/2013 10:31

Hello, I want to expand my veggie diet - eating too much meat. Most of my veggie recipes involve lots of carbs (particularly pasta). Can anyone recommend a Veggie Recipe book that a. doesn't rely on pasta, and b. doesn't have too many obscure ingredients - I'm thinking of HFW "veggie everyday" - is it any good?

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 06/07/2013 21:46

I hate the HFW one tbh = but I have been vegetarian for more than half of my life now and have found my own uber=versions of things like veggie chilli etc, so I don't need HFW's recipe. And I certainly don't need to know how to make poached eggs on toast, or cheese on toast. I wouldn't recommend it at all but lots of people on here love it.

My favourite is Madhur J's World Vegetarian, but it does have some 'obscure' ingredients. Otherwise, some of Rose Elliot's recent ones have been a bit less old fashioned than her previous stuff.

Oh and for basic and v v easy with straightforward ingredients, it might be worth looking at Sam Stern's veggie one.

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Drladybird · 07/07/2013 21:08

I'm a bit of a fan of the HFW book. I've been veggie for over 20 years but still like some of recipes that he suggests- they are simple and tasty. I also really like the Delia Smith vegetarian book.
I'd also suggest looking at blogs- there are lots of brilliant recipes online. I put my veggie recipes up here: Broccoli and ricecakes
and there are lots of great veggie recipe blogs listed on the vegetarian society

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AndMiffyWentToSleep · 09/07/2013 11:59

I like Good Housekeeping Step by Step. Though it does have a pasta chapter though.

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pregnantpause · 09/07/2013 12:51

The cookbook club is covering hfw veg this month- check the thread for what everyone has cooked and see if anything appeals. I really like it, but I do know that alot of vegetarians see it as veggie for dummies.
Yotam Ottolenghis plenty is wonderful and seems yo appeal to real vegetarians as well as meat eaters who want to eat less meat, but it is pricy.

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misscph1973 · 09/07/2013 13:02

Agree with Lemus, Madhur Jaffreys World Vegetarian is excellent, I used it when I was a vegetarian and now I eat Paleo and I still use it. It is also a fantastic read, lots of anecdotes and history about food.

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 09/07/2013 17:46

Lemus? :)

Plenty is gorgeous. I just got it from the library and am cooking the black pepper tofu tonight as my first try from it. I want to try nearly everything in there. Will report back.

MissC - what do you most rate from World Vegetarian? I don't follow recipes from it much but use it a lot for indulgent reading and ideas. The only thing I don't like about it is that she doesn't always say if things are a starter, a light meal etc. Some things are clearly sides, or designed to be eaten in a meal with lots of other things.

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Drladybird · 09/07/2013 20:27

Yes, I like plenty too but the recipes did seem to take a while...Remus I recently tried the black pepper tofu and although we didn't have all the ingredients it was a big hit.

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 09/07/2013 20:30

We've just had it. It was utterly gorgeous, though a cut back a lot on the amount of chilli and pepper and butter. It's really, really lovely.

Recipe here Oh and I only used one kind of soy sauce.

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 09/07/2013 20:34

I cut back, not a cut back.

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DameFanny · 09/07/2013 20:52

I love the HFW, but have never made a recipe from the Madhur Jaffrey - even the simplest recipe I never seemed to have all the ingredients for, so I stopped picking it up.

Otoh I've got a ton of middle eastern cookbooks that I'm happy to ignore the meat and fish chapters in.

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Dilidali · 09/07/2013 20:55

The Cranks Bible. Absolutely brilliant. Been cooking from it for about 11 years now.

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TiredyCustards · 09/07/2013 21:15

Meat free Mondays is great: a breakfast, packed lunch, lunch, dinner, side and pudding for every week of the year.

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theidsalright · 12/07/2013 13:27

Cranks bible

Ottolenghi Plenty

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LindaDonahue · 19/07/2013 14:04

u have many options. below mentioned are two of them:
vegweb.com/
www.101cookbooks.com/vegetarian_recipes/

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JamNan · 19/07/2013 21:27

Try this website for Turkish veggie recipes. Especially nice and refreshing in this hot weather. link here

Not seen World Vegetarian - must look it up and put it on my Crimble List.

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MoogDroog · 19/07/2013 22:18

Ooh, my kind of thread. Been veggie all my life. I have the following and lots more besides
HFW Veg - I like it a lot. Some of the recipes are a bit basic yes, but there's some crackers in there. His magic dough recipe is ace in all it's forms and the kids love Macaroni Peas...
Madhur's World Veg - have cooked a few things, but don't often pick it up. The pilafs in there are great though. I have a couple of her other books that I use (eastern veg?? I think)
The Leiths veg bible is pretty good, if a little old school.
Ottolenghi's Plenty is excellent, even if some of the ingredients are a bit obscure. His first book is great too, albeit meatier and full of cake recipes that I keep attempting
But, my absolute favourite of the moment is the Prashad book. I'm a Gujarati food demon, recently moved out to the sticks and away from my favourite guj restaurant, and everything I've tried is amazingly authentic and devilishly spicy. Buy it, everyone, now! Grin

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