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I was a vegetarian for about five or six years after college, and the best thing I did was buy cookbooks, lots of cookbooks, because although eating mac & cheese 7 days a week is technically vegetarian, it's not exactly healthy, and I needed ideas. A good friend bought me Vegetarian Planet, which I highly recommend. It has tons of good recipes plus helpful information throughout, like sidebars on how to cook something differently, or a two-page spread on the different kinds of legumes. The author also has a little story about each recipe, which is fun. The other book I really liked was The Starving Students' Vegetarian Cookbook, which is not just for broke college students. It's also useful for times when you just don't have a lot of time or energy to cook and need something fast. I highly recommend the stroganoff recipe. Yum! While I'm no longer a vegetarian, those are a few of the vegetarian cookbooks I kept anyways, because there's just good stuff in them.

I think exploring different kinds of cuisines is a great resource.

Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Indian. You can find vegetarian options at these restaurants pretty easily and you can stock a pretty exciting pantry from their grocery stores.

Think: Vietnamese spring rolls, fresh salads with napa cabbage, carrots, cilantro, chilies,

Thai hot and sour soup with tofu, lemongrass, straw mushrooms, Pad thai with tofu,

Chinese style stir fried veggies like spicy long beans, crispy tofu, pea pod leaves with garlic sauce, jasmine rice,

Indian curries with sweet potatoes, pumpkin, chickpeas, couscous, spicy lentils, pappadams.

When my wife was vegetarian (the first few years we were together) I ate and cooked mostly vegetarian as well. I think it was the wide range of "fun" ingredients and textures that made it exciting. It's also a lot of fun to walk into ethnic markets and look at the diversity of the products.

Also, if you decide to be flexible and choose to eat fish and or fish products you will have more options.

I usually prefer recipes that let vegetables, beans or whole grains or even tofu shine, instead of trying to make something taste like meat when it's not. I just find them more satisfying. Although, I do like to experiment with tofu and sauces traditionally used with meat - like Buffalo and barbecue sauce.

I love Mark Bittman's suggestion to make a big batch of brown rice, or black beans or some other versatile meal element, and then use it in different recipes throughout the week.

And my favorite site for brilliantly simple vegetarian recipes is 101 Cookbooks. Not exactly a secret, I know, but a great resource for recipes that won't make you feel like you're giving anything up.

I really like the moosewood cookbook. I'm not a vegetarian, but eat several meatless meals a week. Beans will be your new best friend.

Deborah Madison designed this cookbook to be the "Joy of Cooking for vegetarians" it is fantastic, I don't think I will ever see vegetables in quite the same way again. With around 140 of 170 five star ratings on amazon, I'm not the only one who feels this way. Here is a link.



http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Cooking-Everyone-Deborah-Madison/dp/0767927478/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204672298&sr=8-1

Happyfoody.com is a great resource! She also gives tips to raising a vegetarian child. Check out her blog :)

I would highly recommend Mark Bittman's new How to Cook Everything Vegetarian book. It really is a one stop reference for all things vegetarian and was a great gateway book for my wife and I when we transitioned into vegetarians this past December. Honestly, I don't think we've come across a bad recipe yet. I'm sure you could check it out from the library, but it is well worth purchasing and really a steal for how many recipes you get.

Okay, you've got me interested. What's the top middle picture from? A recipe I need to try? Stock photo? Do share!

Mollie Katzen, author of the original Moosewood Cookbook, has a great site with lots of seasonal, vegetarian recipes
http://www.molliekatzen.com/

squidlette, I just added links to the recipes from the top photos. The middle one is of skillet sweet potatoes - they're very easy and good. You can also make them with caramelized onions added in - these are to die for!

Heidi Swanson has a fabulous food blog, www.101cookbooks.com, and all her recipes are vegetarian. She also has a great cookbook called "Super Natural Cooking" which is definitely worth checking out. Even though I'm not a vegetarian, her recipes have made me pay more attention to cooking with natural rather than processed ingredients. It's also made me realize how varied and nuanced vegetarian dishes can be!

My 4 favorite cookbooks:
A Beautiful Bowl of Soup
Vegan Planet
Vegetarian and Vegetarian Cooking
Real Vegetarian Thai (which, btw, has THE BEST peanut sauce known to man)

I also find a ton of recipes at Eating Well, Vegetarian Times, Orangette, and Simply Recipes, though not all the websites are pure vegetarian so I have to pick through them to find the no-meat ones.

Yes, invest in some good cookbooks.

My favorites include:
Entertaining Vegetarians, New Vegetarian, and World Vegetarian Classics, all by Celia Brooks Brown.

Also, I would recommend avoiding "fake meat" at first. I found veg. 'bacon' and 'ground round' totally gross when I first stopped eating meat because they don't taste or feel like meat. Now I like them, but it took a while...

You said you're not going vegan, but Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a great resource for flavorful and delicious dishes. You could adjust them to be vegetarian if you wanted, too.

(Faith! Thank you so much! That's one meal in the meatless direction!)

Merrill, good for you! Welcome to the wonderful world of vegetarianism. You are smart to do some research before you get started. I know a few people who tried going veggie (by cutting meat out of their diets and keeping everything else the same). It didn't last long. There is a lot to know if you want to be a happy, healthly vegetarian.

The Moosewood Cookbook is a classic, and it has lots of ideas to get you started.

Art's suggestion about ethnic food is great for restaurants, too. If you are eating dairy, Mexican and Italian will have lots of choices as well.

There is plenty of vegetarian junk food, but whole grains, veggies, and legumes are key to feeling energetic. If you can steer clear of bleached wheat flour and high fructose corn syrup, you'll be getting a lot more nutrition per calorie.Think of it a premium fuel for your body. Some good nutrient dense foods are spinach, avocado, cashew butter, mushrooms, yams and quinoa. Yogurt is a good portable snack.

Also, check out some convenient frozen meals like the Amy's brand. Veggie burgers are great to bring to a BBQ, but brands vary wildly, so try a few until you find a brand you like.

I'm not advocating convenience foods and restaurants all the time, but when your first starting out, it helps to have some easy options until your inner chef perfects all your new recipes. Best of luck to you and have fun with it. Listen to your body and find what's right for you.

second the mollie katzen vote! she's awesome.

I second the Bittman book. I bought it last month and have loved everything I've made from it. The recipes are simple, and there are a ton of handy tables and tips that help you turn left-overs into new dishes. So not only has the book helped us reduce our meat intake, but it's also helped us waste less, because leftovers that might have sat in the fridge for too long to stay good are now turned into something new within a day or so.

all of you fabulous ATTK readers are awesome! thanks so much for the pointers and encouragement. i'll head out to pick up some cookbooks this weekend - I started down the vegetarian path about 1.5 weeks ago and already feel that it's opening up many different culinary horizons.

seriously, really appreciate all the thoughts here. you all have a wonderful day, y'hear?

- merrill (aka berkeleydaisy)

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Welcome, fellow veghead!
I have been a veggie for 17 years, and a total vegan for 6 years and I feel fabulous in mind, body and spirit! The best commitment I have ever made to myself and this planet.
I highly recommend the cookbooks by Sarah Kramer for all types of vegetarians...
How it all Vegan, Garden of Vegan, and La Dolce Vegan
She rocks my vegan world. Here's her site:
http://govegan.net/splash.html

The books are chock full of total goodness... yummy, yummy recipes! Even my carnivore companions love her recipes! Good luck to you... and congrats on making the best decision you have ever made. :)

Betty Crocker's vegetarian cookbook saved my life in college when I had to cook for my entire meat-eating family - they loved the recipe, and it's easy to adapt for both vegetarians and carnivores.

http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Vegetarian-Cooking-Meatless/dp/0028622618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204727858&sr=8-1

The recipes are basic interpretations of classic meals, and all the ones I tried were delicious.

the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has great guides up here:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/index.html

also, it's okay if you take time to transition- it took me a few months to completely cut meat out of my diet.

the cookbooks I used most as a new vegetarian were mollie katzen's moosewood cookbook and deborah madison's veg. cooking for everyone; the walnut green bean pate (tastes just like chop liver) helped me become vegetarian; that way I didn't have to give up one of my favorite "food"/tastes.

the hardest part is eating out- restaurants put chicken broth in *everything*

also- focus on eating whole foods- we stock our house with brown rice and whole-wheat pasta (bionaturae and whole foods house brand are both good).

remember to eat healthy, and include some fat and protein with each meal.

welcome to vegetarianism! we're happy to have you

This is so timely. I've also stopped eating meat and I'm currently weaning myself from dairy. I got Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz from the library last night and so far I like it. I've read through it once but I haven't tried anything in it yet. Tonight is my first experiment.

My problem is this: my husband is a meat eater. My reasons for not eating meat are rooted in a personal obligation that will also keep me from purchasing and preparing animal products and I'm the food procurer and preparer. He is really supportive and says he's fine with meatless meals at home but that he will probably eat meat when we go out.

Who else has been in the situation? How did it work?

(And Faith, your oatmeal with dates and coconut have saved me much lunchtime angst over the past few days. Thank you.)

i second the mark bittman and heidi swanson suggestions. blogs helped me a lot when i became a vegetarian. there are a lot of vegan blogs that are full of great recipes (i know you're not going vegan, but nothing wrong with a vegan meal here or there).

i thought of it as a new way toexplore food as opposed to a limitation. i would try new grains, legumes and vegetables that are less common each week to keep things exciting (at least where i came from); i.e. quinoa, fava beans, couscous, various types of mushrooms, soy beans, leeks, varieties of squash, etc. there is more to vegetarianism than pasta.

swan - i too am near vegan (maybe have dairy once a week) and have a meat eating boyfriend. we don't have meat in the house, and he's cool with that. he eats meat at lunch during the week, and when we go out i'd say half the time he orders meat, but i like to split things with him so he's understanding. it's worked out fine with us. i'm lucky, vegetarian meals can satisfy him for the most part. i'd love him to be vegetarian, but it's not my decision.

skinny bitch is a great resource for tons of reasons why one should not consume meat or animal products. whether you choose to do what is preached in that book or not, it's still a great guide to understanding your body and what you put into it. it might be motivating.

In addition to Asian food, take a look at Spanish/Mediterranean tapas/mezze for some inspiration.

I think the best way to go veg is to learn how to prepare different vegetables...just choose one-a-week and find some basic recipes for that one vegetable. Lentils, sweet potatos, cauliflower, spinach. Within 2-months you'll have greatly expanded your cooking repertoire.

And almost every vegetable tastes great roasted with some olive oil, salt and pepper and maybe tossed with some minced garlic.

I agree with sally599. A Deborah Madison book would be a great place to start.

I can't say enough about Deborah Madison - there are a lot of really wonderful cookbooks, blogs, and websites that I use frequently, but what I have been turning to for five years over and over again is Debbie's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone." Even if you think you can't cook, just follow her wonderfully clear instructions - you will never be disappointed. My meat-eating friends love her recipes too!

I agree with JenPDX that exploring different vegetables is a great way to enjoy being vegetarian. As a vegetarian for 10 years and a vegan for two I have to say that I have found vegan cookbooks by far the most innovative and interesting. My cooking and interest in food have really improved since switching to a completely plant-based diet. I eat a MUCH wider range of foods - new vegetables, a range of whole grains etc - than when I was vegetarian, when I was stuck in a pasta-and-dairy rut. Vegans are much more aware of nutrition, I think, and this seems to make them more prone to seek out a wide range of foods. I have loved eating this way and would recommend it to anyone concerned with animal welfare, their health and also needing a push into a more varied and interesting diet. I actually find it weird that people perceive veganism as a restrictive way of eating - when I cook for myself as a vegan I eat so much better than I ever have before.

Swan, I am vegan with a meat-eating husband and it is AWFUL! I LOVE to cook and he likes Hamburger Helper and ramen noodles. At dinner, I feel like I've prepared a feast for myself. My favorite way to cope is to frequently invite dinner guests. If he sees other omnivores enjoying my "rabbit food" then he is more likely to give it a try. Funny thing is, he usually likes it. It's just getting him to figure that out that is the trick.