Kitchen

[author]

Love Vegetarian Epicure. Excellent recipes, easy to do, then create and experiment using basic cooking techniques and ingredients you like.

[boby]

If you really want a "101" cookbook, the "Everything" series of cookbooks publishes one for vegetarian cooking.

[vickie25]

I think you need to decide what kind of vegetarian you want to be. I'm been everything from vegan, to ovo-lacto, to ovo-lacto-pescetarian. I currently follow a Mediterranean Diet though I tried to eat more vegetarian. My suggestion is to pick up the current copy of Vegetarian Times which you can find at Barnes & Noble, most grocery stores, and Target. It has a lot of seasonal receipes, does Vegetarian book reviews, and is what I used when I was moving from a Carnivoure diet. For me, while I will eat edamame and some tofu, I don't eat seitan or tempeh, or any kind of "vegeterian" version of chicken, or beef, etc. So I try to stay away from cookbooks that feature a lot of those ingredients. That's why the Vegetarian Times magazine is a good place to start. You can try some receipes in the magazine, and go online and find more, and discover what your tastes are so you will know what kind of cookbook would be best. Like another reviewer, one of my first cookbooks was one of the Moosewood Restaurante's book.

I will post a couple of receipes for you to try.

[vickie25]

Cannellini-Kale-Veggie Stew - serves 4-6

I adapted this from Giada's Cannellini-Sausage stew receipe. Basically just left out the turkey sausage, and added some more veggies which she said you could do anyway.

1. Pre-heat over to 375

2. Dice 2 fennel bulbs

3. Dice 1 large yellow onion

4. Put the fennel and onion in a dutch oven, or casserole dish on the stove, on medium, with a little olive oil, salt and about 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes for a little kick, so it starts wilting down.

5. Chop one bunch of Tuscan Kale (this variety has smaller leaves and tender ribs. If you can't find it can use the curly Kale - remove the stem, or swiss chard). Add to pot with a little more salt.

6. Add 1 can, drained and rinsed cannellini beans to add some creaminess to the stew.

7. Stir the pot good then add 1 26oz can of chopped tomatoes.

8. Add 1c each of diced carrots and celery to pot

9. Add 1c. vegetable broth and stir well

10. Roast in oven, with lid on dutch oven or casserole dish, for 30 min or until veggies are tender

This is good for a cold winter's night. Just add a simple salad and some crusty bread.

Variation: Sometimes I add 1c of diced butternut squash. When using that, I add the squash first to the pot and cook that for about 5 minutes, since it is a harder vegetable and I want to ensure it will be cooked when it reaches the oven. Then I follow the rest of the directions. Feel free to add any other vegetable you like. It's a nice rich stew.

[vickie25]

Roasted Cauliflower Sandwich w/ Watercress Salad from The Sandwich King - serves 4

1. Preheat oven to 450

2. Slice cauliflower (can use white, green or purple) into 4 1" thick slices ( think like you are slicing a steak)

3. Mix together the following to baste the cauliflower with:

1/4c olive oil, 2 tsp. dried mustard, 2 tsp. smoked paprika

4. Place cauliflower on a sheet pan, and using a pastry brush, brush on the marinade on the top only.

5. Roast in oven for 10 min. Take out pan, flip over the cauliflower, repeat basting, and put back in the oven for another 10 min.

6. Prepare honey-mustard sauce for sandwich

Mix together 1/4c yellow mustard, 1T. stone ground mustard, 1T. honey, salt and pepper to taste

7. Prepare Watercress side salad

4c. Watercress, 2T. chopped fresh dill, 1 or 2 sliced radishes

Dressing: juice from 1/2 lemon, 2T. olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Sandwich King said this acidic salad would balance out the flavors in the sandwich

8. Shred 1c. provolone cheese and thinly slice a pear (bosc, bartlet, doesn't matter). Can use an apple instead. This will be added to the sandwich.

9. The Sandwich King used lavosh bread, which is a flat bread, but said you can use regular bread. I usually use wheat or multi-grain bread.

10. To assemble sandwich:

Spread the honey-mustard dressing on the bread, add sliced pears, add shredded provolone, add roasted cauliflower "steak", add finish with more shredded provolone

11. Grill sandwich (can use a George Forman grill if you have one) for about a minute or until cheese melts. Server with watercress salad.

I would have never thought to make a cauliflower sandwich because A) cauliflower is one of my least favorite vegetables and B) it just sounds weird. But I thought the marinade would mask the taste and it does. I have meat-lovers who like this sandwich. They don't know they are eating cauliflower. I make it with the cheese for them so I am sure that helps too.

I make this without the cheese as I am trying to cut down as it is my weakness. If you decide to do this, toast the bread first in the grill so it gets "smooshed" with nice grill marks to give the bread some structure, then assemble the sandwich and eat.

Variation: I work from home but attend art fairs or other outdoor activities and try to bring food with me. I put the sandwich in a pita pocket, wrap in plastic wrap, and put the salad in a lock n' lock container and eat it cold/room temperature, and I am set. I find it is less messy and easier to eat when out this way. If you bring this to work for lunch and use the cheese, you could microwave it for 30-45 seconds, to melt the cheese.