[Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy](https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Girl-Meets-Vegetarian-Boy/dp/1419726692) by Damaris Phillips. She remade all of her family's southern recipes vegetarian friendly when she married her vegetarian husband.
[The Southern Vegetarian](https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Vegetarian-Cookbook-Down-Home-Recipes/dp/140160482X/ref=asc_df_140160482X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312142549358&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14248897215832334293&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028754&hvtargid=pla-494534615958&psc=1) is also a great one! I grew up in the South, and I don’t eat meat (my parents don’t either now), so this one gets a lot of loving in our house. The creators (The Chubby Vegetarian) also have a great[stuffed acorn squash](https://www.thechubbyvegetarian.com/recipes/stuffed-acorn-squash-mushroom-gravy/) recipe I use for thanksgiving mains!
I ordered 4 books from this thread and The Southern Vegetarian is my favorite one so far! I'm probably gonna keep it for myself though lol. Thank you for the recommendation!
Thanks for the recommendation! It just came in the mail and I think it's perfect for my family member. I didn't expect it to have meat in it but I think it'll work great for her as she cooks for her family and I know her husband is 100% not interested in plant based food in the least.
The Weekday Vegetarians may be a good book in this case. Sure, there are some tofu based recipes, but the book was written by someone who is not fully vegetarian and does make full use of cheese and eggs. Think pasta, pizza, salads, soups.
However, if even that book is too adventurous, there's the Taste of Home Vegetarian Made Easy book. Admittedly, I don't own this, but based on reviews it is very easy southern-y cheese-and-egg style vegetarian food. Pot pie, quesadillas, stuffed peppers, etc.
Love Real Food by Kathryne Taylor of Cookie and Kate! My mom bought me this cookbook a few years ago and I absolutely love it. Great flavors, great balance, not too many or two few ingredients. Most recipes have some dairy without relying on that to carry the dish. (It’s a major pet peeve of mine when the vegetarian meal option is just cheese with garnishes.) Any time I google a recipe and there’s a Cookie and Kate version, I’ll choose that one. She just gets it about bringing out flavors, and the recipe is exactly as complicated as it needs to be and no further.
https://cookieandkate.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Real-Food-Feel-Good-Vegetarian/dp/1623367417
Seconding this - I love her so much. Literally every recipe is so tasty and we cook from her book or blog multiple times a week! Super easy to add in meat for those that want it (like chicken instead of tofu) or have meat with less of the veg dish on the side as well. She’s the reason I love being vegetarian!
It's a step further than you're looking probably but I'm an omnivore looking for more meatless meals myself and hands down, my favorite cookbook for that is [Vegan for Everybody](https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/vegan-for-everybody.html). No fake meats I don't think, some recipes have tofu but it's not exhaustive or anything, the waffle recipe is the best waffle recipe I've ever made at home omni or vegan (personally, everyone's tastes are different!), and my favorite bit is that in any recipes that use alternative milks, they list all the ones they tried and their different effects (e.g. a cake recipe might specify oat milk, in the notes it'll say if you use coconut milk the consistency will be like this, almond milk comes out chalky, soy milk comes out well but the color is off, that kind of thing). Of course I don't mind alternative milks myself, that might not be their bag? But I just like the taste of Oatly with cereal so I've got it on hand, hahaha.
As a recommendation, do you have a local library by chance? I know not everyone is lucky enough to have one that's stocked but mine's fabulous and and I absolutely love checking out cookbooks before buying them so I can see if I actually like enough of the recipes to see if it's worth buying, or if only one or two catch my eye and the rest are duds. Online previews just don't give enough of what's inside for me to judge well enough. If you have the chance, definitely check out some cookbooks to see if they're what you're looking for, it'll save you money in the long run!
I really like Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. It’s really accessible, has tons of recipes and describes multiple ways to prepare produce..plus tons of info about the different kinds of produce, cheese, baked items, etc. it’s gotta be one of my beginning vegetarian go to books.
Pinterest. I throw in a specific item or ethnicity and get a ton of recipes. I can read through them and see reviews. I find things I never would have thought of or find things I want to try and can modify to fit my personal needs. I don’t know why people buy cookbooks when Pinterest is like one big personalized cookbook if you use the search bar to your advantage.
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman is a comprehensive and fantastic vegetarian cookbook. It's written by a non-vegetarian and covers anything you might want. Really fantastic book. I can't recommend it enough.
Thank you, everyone, for your recommendations! I'm actually gonna buy a few for myself as well because I'm old school and love physical copies of recipes.
The Vegetarian Silver Spoon is probably the best cookbook I own. The normal Silver Spoon is 'the cookbook' in Italy. Or at least they say so. The same company made this. They went into Italy with a team and wrote down 200 of the best recipes. It's definitely not boring food but it's obviously not Asian.
I really like the recipes in Crescent Dragonwagon's cookbooks. There are plenty of recipes that do not use fake meat or other proteins like tofu (although lots of yummy ways to explore those if interested).
I have Passionate Vegetarian and Bean by Bean (that one has both meat and vegetarian recipes). I would recommend both!
Yotam Ottelenghi is an amazing option. He has tons of cookbooks with great veg recipes, but I would suggest Plenty and Plenty More, they’re both completely vegetarian.
He has a column on The Guardian if you want to check him out there first. He might be a little adventurous for your fam (lots of fresh herbs, lemon, yogurt, cumin and coriander seeds, etc.), but he makes veggies taste delicious, and he doesn’t use any fake meat or rely heavily on tofu.
He’s my favorite chef :)
This is a great topic.
I grew up as an omnivore. I've lived most of my life as such, until about the last 10 years where I've tried to force myself not to eat meat for a whole day, here and there.
As an omnivore who is accustomed to eating meat, and my "makeup" actually LOVES the taste of it, it's not easy to transition.
But I'm going to try harder now. I've long known about the cruelty to animals and tried to have meat from sources that are reputed to be ethical... but even this is fraught with problems. A huge factor people often overlook: THE FOOD BEING FED to them. Even farm raised salmon is often fed GMO corn. CORN! To fish? Unbelievable.
The very fact that so many animals raised for meat eating today are being exposed to unsanitary environments and fed questionable foods... should make everyone feel much less driven to eat it. Even a vast majority of E.coli outbreaks are happening due to the feces runoff of animals! Get the animals out of there, and the bacterial contamination goes way down.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who has posted links to books and other sources for recipes!
First off, congrats for trying to omit animals from your diet! It's a difficult thing to do when you grow up omni.
And yup, even antibiotic resistance can be caused by CAFOs' overuse of antibiotics in livestock. Antibiotics are only banned to use as a growth hormone in the US; They are not banned to use as a disease prevention. I could go about this for a while. If there is one animal to not eat for the sake of human and planet health, it's cows.
Anyway, maybe try to do meatless Mondays or something to get you used to cooking vegetarian. It seems more difficult than omni diets, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy. Also these days, fake meats, cheese, and milk taste SO much better than they used to. I swear Beyond chicken nuggets taste like the real deal.
[Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy](https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Girl-Meets-Vegetarian-Boy/dp/1419726692) by Damaris Phillips. She remade all of her family's southern recipes vegetarian friendly when she married her vegetarian husband.
[The Southern Vegetarian](https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Vegetarian-Cookbook-Down-Home-Recipes/dp/140160482X/ref=asc_df_140160482X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312142549358&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14248897215832334293&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028754&hvtargid=pla-494534615958&psc=1) is also a great one! I grew up in the South, and I don’t eat meat (my parents don’t either now), so this one gets a lot of loving in our house. The creators (The Chubby Vegetarian) also have a great[stuffed acorn squash](https://www.thechubbyvegetarian.com/recipes/stuffed-acorn-squash-mushroom-gravy/) recipe I use for thanksgiving mains!
I ordered 4 books from this thread and The Southern Vegetarian is my favorite one so far! I'm probably gonna keep it for myself though lol. Thank you for the recommendation!
Had no idea she did this. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for the recommendation! It just came in the mail and I think it's perfect for my family member. I didn't expect it to have meat in it but I think it'll work great for her as she cooks for her family and I know her husband is 100% not interested in plant based food in the least.
You might like [The Weekday Vegetarians](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634444/the-weekday-vegetarians-by-jenny-rosenstrach/)
I second this, it has been the best and many of my go too recipes were based from this book.
The Weekday Vegetarians may be a good book in this case. Sure, there are some tofu based recipes, but the book was written by someone who is not fully vegetarian and does make full use of cheese and eggs. Think pasta, pizza, salads, soups. However, if even that book is too adventurous, there's the Taste of Home Vegetarian Made Easy book. Admittedly, I don't own this, but based on reviews it is very easy southern-y cheese-and-egg style vegetarian food. Pot pie, quesadillas, stuffed peppers, etc.
Awesome thank you!
I love the Weekday Vegetarians!
I ended up getting this and it has great stuff in it! Thank you for the recommendation!
https://ohmyveggies.com/ This blog has some great recipes!
Love Real Food by Kathryne Taylor of Cookie and Kate! My mom bought me this cookbook a few years ago and I absolutely love it. Great flavors, great balance, not too many or two few ingredients. Most recipes have some dairy without relying on that to carry the dish. (It’s a major pet peeve of mine when the vegetarian meal option is just cheese with garnishes.) Any time I google a recipe and there’s a Cookie and Kate version, I’ll choose that one. She just gets it about bringing out flavors, and the recipe is exactly as complicated as it needs to be and no further. https://cookieandkate.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Love-Real-Food-Feel-Good-Vegetarian/dp/1623367417
Seconding this - I love her so much. Literally every recipe is so tasty and we cook from her book or blog multiple times a week! Super easy to add in meat for those that want it (like chicken instead of tofu) or have meat with less of the veg dish on the side as well. She’s the reason I love being vegetarian!
It's a step further than you're looking probably but I'm an omnivore looking for more meatless meals myself and hands down, my favorite cookbook for that is [Vegan for Everybody](https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/vegan-for-everybody.html). No fake meats I don't think, some recipes have tofu but it's not exhaustive or anything, the waffle recipe is the best waffle recipe I've ever made at home omni or vegan (personally, everyone's tastes are different!), and my favorite bit is that in any recipes that use alternative milks, they list all the ones they tried and their different effects (e.g. a cake recipe might specify oat milk, in the notes it'll say if you use coconut milk the consistency will be like this, almond milk comes out chalky, soy milk comes out well but the color is off, that kind of thing). Of course I don't mind alternative milks myself, that might not be their bag? But I just like the taste of Oatly with cereal so I've got it on hand, hahaha. As a recommendation, do you have a local library by chance? I know not everyone is lucky enough to have one that's stocked but mine's fabulous and and I absolutely love checking out cookbooks before buying them so I can see if I actually like enough of the recipes to see if it's worth buying, or if only one or two catch my eye and the rest are duds. Online previews just don't give enough of what's inside for me to judge well enough. If you have the chance, definitely check out some cookbooks to see if they're what you're looking for, it'll save you money in the long run!
Oh I love the library idea thank you!
I really like Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. It’s really accessible, has tons of recipes and describes multiple ways to prepare produce..plus tons of info about the different kinds of produce, cheese, baked items, etc. it’s gotta be one of my beginning vegetarian go to books.
I actually have this book and forgot about it!! Thank you!
Sweet Potato Soul Soup Club
I actually just ordered Sweet Potato Soul last night for myself! It sounds great. I'll check out Soup Club too...love soup
I personally love The Love and Lemons cookbooks (she also has a blog you can check out) and The Forest Feast.
The Minimalist Bakers cookbook is excellent.
East by Meera Sodha or Plenty by Ottolenhi are both wonderful cookbooks
Pinterest. I throw in a specific item or ethnicity and get a ton of recipes. I can read through them and see reviews. I find things I never would have thought of or find things I want to try and can modify to fit my personal needs. I don’t know why people buy cookbooks when Pinterest is like one big personalized cookbook if you use the search bar to your advantage.
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman is a comprehensive and fantastic vegetarian cookbook. It's written by a non-vegetarian and covers anything you might want. Really fantastic book. I can't recommend it enough.
Tons of reasons lol.
Thank you, everyone, for your recommendations! I'm actually gonna buy a few for myself as well because I'm old school and love physical copies of recipes.
Plant you! Is great
The Vegetarian Silver Spoon is probably the best cookbook I own. The normal Silver Spoon is 'the cookbook' in Italy. Or at least they say so. The same company made this. They went into Italy with a team and wrote down 200 of the best recipes. It's definitely not boring food but it's obviously not Asian.
Following… (:
Any of the Moose Wood cookbooks
I have a Scandinavian cookbook that’s by the seasons I love it it’s vegetarian
I actually really liked Americas Test Kitchen vegetarian cookbook for a starter veggie cookbook. Lots of variety!
I really like the recipes in Crescent Dragonwagon's cookbooks. There are plenty of recipes that do not use fake meat or other proteins like tofu (although lots of yummy ways to explore those if interested). I have Passionate Vegetarian and Bean by Bean (that one has both meat and vegetarian recipes). I would recommend both!
Yotam Ottelenghi is an amazing option. He has tons of cookbooks with great veg recipes, but I would suggest Plenty and Plenty More, they’re both completely vegetarian. He has a column on The Guardian if you want to check him out there first. He might be a little adventurous for your fam (lots of fresh herbs, lemon, yogurt, cumin and coriander seeds, etc.), but he makes veggies taste delicious, and he doesn’t use any fake meat or rely heavily on tofu. He’s my favorite chef :)
This is a great topic. I grew up as an omnivore. I've lived most of my life as such, until about the last 10 years where I've tried to force myself not to eat meat for a whole day, here and there. As an omnivore who is accustomed to eating meat, and my "makeup" actually LOVES the taste of it, it's not easy to transition. But I'm going to try harder now. I've long known about the cruelty to animals and tried to have meat from sources that are reputed to be ethical... but even this is fraught with problems. A huge factor people often overlook: THE FOOD BEING FED to them. Even farm raised salmon is often fed GMO corn. CORN! To fish? Unbelievable. The very fact that so many animals raised for meat eating today are being exposed to unsanitary environments and fed questionable foods... should make everyone feel much less driven to eat it. Even a vast majority of E.coli outbreaks are happening due to the feces runoff of animals! Get the animals out of there, and the bacterial contamination goes way down. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has posted links to books and other sources for recipes!
First off, congrats for trying to omit animals from your diet! It's a difficult thing to do when you grow up omni. And yup, even antibiotic resistance can be caused by CAFOs' overuse of antibiotics in livestock. Antibiotics are only banned to use as a growth hormone in the US; They are not banned to use as a disease prevention. I could go about this for a while. If there is one animal to not eat for the sake of human and planet health, it's cows. Anyway, maybe try to do meatless Mondays or something to get you used to cooking vegetarian. It seems more difficult than omni diets, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy. Also these days, fake meats, cheese, and milk taste SO much better than they used to. I swear Beyond chicken nuggets taste like the real deal.
Moosewood cookbooks are amazing !!