Berkeley Parents Network: Vegetarian Cookbooks

Berkeley Parents Network

Vegetarian Cookbooks

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Eating > Vegetarian Cookbooks

Healthy vegetarian cookbook for kids?

March 2007

my 5 year old has announced he wants to be a vegetarian and i'm trying to find things which have protein but not too much salt and/or fat (ie not too much cheese!) for him--is there a cookbook out there for things that he or we can make with/for him that take the place of the lean meats and fish that he doesn't want to eat anymore? more generally a recommendation for a kids' cookbook that isn't only for super salty/sweet/rich things kids like to eat but also things that are good for them? thanks! jc

I don't think you really need a cookbook, Albertsons.com has lots of recipes, for cooking with kids and vegetarian, just sort of mix and match ingredients between the two sections and invent your own family favorites. My daughter and I eat vegetarian most days, mainly because I am too lazy to deal with meat. We just throw together whatever vegetables are on sale that week with a grain/starch and have beans or eggs or nuts on the side. -- no stress dinner

I didn't see your original post so I don't know how old your daughter is, but if she's 8 and up, try Honest Pretzels by Mollie Katzen (who wrote Moosewood Cookbook). If she's younger, check out Pretend Soup, as well as Salad People. Have fun cooking together! Happy Cooker

Quick and easy vegetarian cookbook?

March 2005

Can anyone recommend a great vegetarian cookbook that would be useful in getting my family to eat more fruit, veggies and soy products? Ideally the recipes would be tasty AND quick. Thanks! Hungry for veggies

I cook a lot and have been a vegetarian for many years. Two of the quickest and easiest books I've come across are written by Jeanne Lemlin. The first is Simple Vegetarian Pleasures and the second is Quick Vegetarian Pleasures. The recipes are indeed quick and simple, and delicious! I have a few of her other books as well. Another book I've used when in a hurry is The 15-Minute Gourmet: Vegetarian, written by Paulette Mitchell. Good luck! anon

My absolute favorite easy vegetarian cookbook is the Garden of Vegan. The recipies are simple and quick. The ingredients are available at most stores. It is so easy that many recipes even work for a college dorm room with a microwave and hotplate. Also, Millennium's first cookbook is good, but can be a little complicated. But some of the recipes in there are to die for. Online, there are so many places for vegetarian and vegan recipes too. http://vegweb.com/recipes/ www.vegcooking.com are a couple of them. al30sh

I have recently discovered a fabulous vegetarian cookbook. Every recipe I have made has been a hit with my non-vegetarian husband! They are easy and have simple ingredients put together in interesting ways. It is called 1,001 Low-fat Vegetarian recipes by Sue Spitler Diana

I highly recommend the ''Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home.'' There are many Moosewood cookbooks so make sure to get the Cooks At Home one. They are all easy, nutritious, kid-friendly meals. Some of our favorites are Winter Vegetable Stew, Curried Chickpeas and Tofu, and Red/Gold/Black & Green Chili. I hate to cook anything complicated and these are easy (aside from lots of vegetable chopping) but at the same time tasty and interesting. Vegetarian Mama

Here's the name of a vegetarian cookbook I've been using for a few years: ''Better Homes and Gardens Vegetarian Recipes: Cooking For Today.'' Nancy

There are already good recommendations on the BPN website, but one book that's not mentioned, and that I like a lot, is 'The Accidental Vegan' by Devra Gartenstein. It's got lots of very easy and tasty recipes. So far, everything I've tried has been good. IC

Jeanne Lemlin has a series of vegetarian cookbooks - Vegetarian Pleasures, Quick Vegetarian Pleasures, and Simple Vegetarian Pleasures. All are just amazing cookbooks - I use them almost every day and have given them frequently as gifts. The recipes are simple, well written, and always reliable. Lemlin makes good use of vegetarian ingredients, like beans, tofu, and tempeh, but the recipes for baked goods and desserts are also wonderful. Lemlin presents a well balanced diet of natural foods, where the occasional slice of chocolate cake is okay. The dishes are not always low-fat or vegan, but that probably increases the odds that kids will enjoy them. Kristen

One of my favorite cookbooks is ''Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home''. Many of the recipes are very simple and are ones that I use again and again. I can't wait to see what other suggestions you get - I am on the prowl for good, easy to use cookbooks myself. Nanu

Kid-friendly Vegetarian Cookbook

Jan 2004

I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a cookbook(s) with good recipes for kids (can be a cookbook for kids palates exclusively or not) that is vegetarian friendly (in other words, some meat recipes are OK, but has to have lots of veg recipes too). Its been awhile since I've last looked and maybe there are some new ones out there. Thanks. Hilary

Check out ''Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes - A Cookbook for Preschoolers & Up'' By Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson. It's a great book to have in your kitchen and makes a great gift. There are step by step instructions in text and pictures. Jeanne

A lot depends on whether your kids are adventorous eaters or not. We have had consistently good luck with the Moosewood cookbooks, in particular the Moosewood Cooks at Home. Recipes that seem as though the kids would like, they generally do. My kids particularly love the potato-cheese soup, which you can "lighten" quite a bit. Another cookbook that is fun for cooking WITH your kids is Honest Pretzel, which is a cookbook for 8-12-ish age kids. It's vegi, the recipes are totally kid friendly, and the recipes are not difficult. A surprisingly fun hit in our house was popovers. Good Luck.

The Whole Foods Cookbook has a chapter on kids' food, that has been surprisingly well-received by my kids. It has a recipe for home-made chicken ''nuggets'' with dipping sauces. All the things I have made from this cookbook have been very tasty. eve

I missed the original post, but you may like Whole Foods for the Whole Family, by La Leche League. They also have Whole Foods from the Whole World. Don't worry, none of the recipes contain breastmilk!!! ;) hope this helps

Great Vegetarian Cookbook?

Jan 2000

Does anyone have a recommendation for a great vegetarian cookbook? I'm looking for easy, simple, lowfat, delicious recipes, using minimal milk, cheese and eggs. And I'm especially interested in ways to use greens (collard, bok choy, kale, mustard greens, etc.). Thanks. Susan

My all-time favorite cookbook is Laurel's Kitchen (and the New Laurel's Kitchen). While many of the recipes include dairy and eggs, many do not, and many (or most?) of the recipes are low in fat (though if you're not eating, meat, dairy, eggs and junk food you may need to make an effort to eat enough fat!). For a non-dairy and egg cookbook, I also like The Book of Whole Meals, by Anne-Marie Colbin. This cookbook has some interesting ideas for cooking greens. And on the subject of greens, we often sautee chopped fresh greens (kale, collards, etc.) with garlic, olive oil, herbs and other veggies (sweet bell and hot peppers, mushrooms, etc.) and serve them over or tossed with pasta (and lots of parmesan). Happy cooking and eating!

Moosewood LowFat Cookbook It's great and all the things you asked for!
Maia

I just have to add, since no one did, that Maddhur Jaffrey's cookbooks are excellent. She has one called Asian Vegetarian and a new one, that I haven't tried, called World Vegetarian cooking. There are a lot of wonderful vegetarian recipes and even whole vegetarian cuisines out there that are easy to make with ingredients that can be purchased at the Berkeley Bowl and any of the small ethnic markets in the east bay. Bon Appetit!
Rachel

The first book I recommend these days is Deborah Madison's The Savory Way. It's full of delicious, straightforward, relatively simple recipes which do not rely too heavily on dairy. Her recent-ish follow-up, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, is much larger and fairly expensive but similarly useful, and both books are pretty good on using greens. I am also a pretty big fan of the cookbooks put out by Moosewood Restaurant, including Moosewood Cooks at Home and a newer one, called something like Moosewood's Daily Specials. And Mollie Katzen's books are pretty good, too, although they just don't really stack up against Deborah Madison, IMHO.
Wendy

I'm very fond of the Moosewood Restaurant's Low Fat Favorites. It's emphasis is on low fat cooking which some of the other Moosewood's are not. There are a ton of high fiber low fat vegi recipes that are not annoying to make. I like also Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison, although the recipes can be higher fat, I can usually adjust for lower fat. I found the 1001 Lowfat Vegi recipes far less successful since they seem to want a lot of fake ingredients which I think just don't taste good. Green's cookbook has good recipes but halfway through some of the recipes you figure out that you are making homemade tortillas and as delicious as they are, it's not worth the time in my opinion... And they are often fairly high fat.

I've been eyeing the Millenium Cookbook which actually would be good, since the restaurant is so great, but might include a lot of not readily available ingredients and difficult techniques.
Myriam

Any of the Moosewood cookbooks are excellent. The first cookbook now includes more lowfat options and is still easy to use (no mortar and pestle stuff). My favorite is probably "Sundays at Moosewood", which is all different ethnic foods, including several Asian countries represented (for greens recipes). Moosewood fits the bill best for what you are asking for.
Sharon

"Feeding the Whole Family" is a great vegetarian cookbook with good ideas for making food appealing to children, packing lunchboxes, etc. It's by Cynthia Lair; there's a website for ordering called www.feedingfamily.com
Alexandra

I have a ton of vegetarian cookbooks, and here are some of my favorites: Vegetarian Planet, Didi Emmons; The Millennium Cookbook, Eric Tucker (one of the fancier ones); Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison (has complicated AND simple); Eat More Weigh Less, Dean Ornish; Verdura, Viana La Place (not veg specifically,but mostly); Vegetable Heaven, Mollie Katzen; Recipes for an Ecological Kitchen, Lorna Sass. Also, I would recommend either subscribing to Vegetarian Times, or getting any of their recipe compendium books. They tend to be nice and simple.
Hilary

Deborah Madison's books are great. The Savory Way is a little shmancier than Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, but they are both wonderful.
GS

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