i don’t know about you, but at this time of the summer, i usually start hunting around for new ways to use vegetables from the garden (for others, it could be the farmer’s market or CSA).
on the one hand, we don’t want to waste even a bite of that great summer flavor, but on the other . . . if we have to eat green beans (squash, tomatoes, peppers—you name it) fixed the usual way one more time, we just might question our good fortune.
enter another terrific book in the CIA at home series—vegetarian cooking at home with the culinary institute of america.
now, i know that the word “vegetarian” often conjures up all manner of negative connotations—the most scurrilous being that one will be be forced to choke down tofurkey with some sort of stringy, greenish-gray mass of goo on the side, all in the name of “dinner”.
uh . . . NOT.
think back to all those meals you’ve watched me cook and asked for recipes to make yourself—did you see any meat? most people who eat in our home don’t even realize they are enjoying meat-free meals.
and truly, there is no reason on earth that eating vegetarian should involve foods that are any less delicious, nutritious, or attractive than those containing meat. i wasn’t raised in a vegetarian household, but because my mom is italian, we enjoyed a whole repertoire of dishes that are vegetable based—childhood favorites that we continue to cook and share. we never thought of them as foods from the fringe—just what was for dinner. and the fact that these dishes are often more economical is an added bonus.
i guess what i’m trying to do is set the scene—if you’ve been looking to expand your horizons, add new levels of texture and taste to your diet, and/or eat from a more healthy selection of choices, get ready to be wowed.
as with other books in the CIA at home series, this one is not merely a collection of recipes. i think that’s especially important in a vegetarian guide, because great meatless meals rely on a certain chemistry for success, both in flavor and in nutritional value. not that getting it right is difficult—it isn’t. but knowing a few key pointers about cooking and combining various food types will go a long way to bringing out the fullest flavor of each dish, while ensuring proper balance and complete protein.
the book is divided into sections according to meal components and food groups—starters, soups, main dishes, grains, vegetables, sauces, and even condiments.
each section begins with some background information, pantry basics, and cooking fundamentals for that food type, followed by a series of tempting recipes through which to put that information into practice.
a handy and guide to making soup stocks and which one goes best with which soup segues right into some awesome soup recipes
taking advantage both of the fruits of summer
and the warmer, richer flavors of winter.
now, soups and vegetables and grain dishes aren’t the jurisdiction only of vegetarians—just about any cook might have use of a book that offers both tasty vegetable recipes and some guidance to making them the best they can be.
i just love that the book has a section on making pasta. i do have at least four or five other books that contain pasta recipes, but i know i will use this one a lot because it has the information and the recipe right there
alongside sauce recipes i might be making or vegetable preparations i might be using in the same meal. making my kitchen life a little easier was very smart.
while it’s true that preparing vegetarian meals might entail a little more prep than say, slapping a steak on the grill and opening a bag of peas, the book does a good job of showing one how to get from A to B efficiently and effectively,
whether you are tackling one of the fancier, fussier dishes designed to impress
or a more humble and hearty meal in a pot.
all of the reasons listed above are good ones for considering this book, whether you intend to go full-on vegetarian or not. but what if you ARE curious about meat alternatives, such as soy, tempeh, or seitan?
no worries—it’s in there.
the section on cooking with high protein meat alternatives is quite informative and even contains a guide to making these products at home, should you want to try it.
while we enjoy eating these products as ingredients in a number of our favorite dishes, i had never thought about making them at home before. however, i may do it after reading up on it more. i’m not sure i’m well set up for it in our current situation, but i’ll find out if i decide to experiment, haha.
i do think it would be great to make our own burger substitutes for instance—we both like the idea (and the convenience, once in a while) of veggie burgers, but have yet to find a packaged brand that is nutritionally sound and really knocks our socks off.
i have great hopes for the recipes here . . .
another bonus section contained in the book is the one on condiments. because many vegetable based recipes may come from unfamiliar cuisines, learning a little about the condiments associated with them can widen the appeal of a new dish by allowing eaters to customize the spiciness or flavoring.
salsas, relishes, chutneys, dressings, flavored vinegars, even ketchup are included and using them to add a layer of flavor to everything from soups to sandwiches is encouraged.
yeah, if i go to the trouble of creating our own homemade veggie burgers, i just might go the extra mile and make some ketchup to go with them. all the more likely if the recipe is right there where i can get my hands on it.
last but certainly not least—this book is simply gorgeous. it celebrates the mouthwatering beauty of vegetable dishes so that i can practically smell the food as i browse the pages—it makes me want to cook something right now. that’s the best advertisement for vegetables i can think of.
so, are you excited?? thinking already about rolling up your sleeves to get busy in the kitchen this weekend? well fortunately for us, our friends at the CIA are generously holding a signed copy of vegetarian cooking at home with the culinary institute of america for one lucky reader. want to throw your hat in the ring to win it?
leave a comment at the end of this post by 9 pm EDST on sunday, september 2nd naming a vegetable dish you want to learn to make better. we’ll announce a winner in the blog post following.
in the meantime, don’t hold back from getting started on some new vegetable dishes this weekend—the best of summer is upon us; time to get in the kitchen and enjoy what remains.
hope we all have happy labor day weekend with safe travels. for those who have asked, erica finally resurfaced this morning and i hear that baby knitspot will be making an appearance very soon—stay tuned!
293 thoughts on “veg out”
My husband and I both have heart problems and we love hamburgers. I too can’t find a vegetarian brand in the super market that is really good. I would love to learn how to make a really good vegetarian hamburger at home.
This book looks awesome! My husband is one who insists that you can’t get enough protein from a vegetarian diet, so even though I’d like to fix more vegetable-based meals (especially in the summer, when the farmers market is in full swing), I don’t do it as often as I’d like. This book definitely looks like it would push me in the right direction!
I would love to win that book! I don’t so much have one vegetable I’d like to cook better, but instead learn presentations of vegetables that will get them past my meat-loving Texan husband. The stuff wrapped in phyllo looked good, and was that tempura tofu? Frying anything helps disguise it, and fried food is always appealing. He already eats vegetable soups as long as I call it “soup” and not “vegetable soup”… the gorgeous pictures would make it easy to find things that would pass visual muster, I think, without that nasty ‘vegetarian’ word ever being uttered.
This book looks wonderful! I went to amazon to look at the table of contents because I couldn’t think of a vegetarian dish I wanted to learn to make off the top of my head, and I think I want to make all the recipes in the book. Mushroom strudel? Yum! And there’s a recipe for poblanos relleno! I’ve always loved chili rellenos – how great to make my own!
Wow what a beautiful book! I would love to win this, thanks for the chance!
The photos are indeed lovely! We’re not vegetarian but eat a lot of meatless meals. I’d like to do “main dishes” better. We eat tons of veggies year round, but replacing the hunk of meat on the plate with something inspiring that doesn’t take hours can be a challenge.
Ok, I have to admit that learning to make ANY vegetable dish might be a good plan for me. I have so few vegetables in my cooking repertoire. Mostly I forget that I should be eating them. ;>) I had a really good mushroom burger once and I’d love to try to make those. Seriously, though, any flavorful recipe would be better than what I do now.
I would love to win this book! My family needs a gentle push in the vegetarian direction.
I try to alternate meals made with meat and veggie ones, but I don’t have that many veggie ones to weave in! I would love some more, especially Indian-inspired, I love curry!
I just want to learn how to cook eggplants, fast and yummy. I love eggplant, but every recipe I liked seemes to complicatedd to me. Would love this book.
Just lovely! I would love to explore more ways to make veggie burgers.
Thanks for this opportunity!
I used to be vegetarian for years before children, and I need to get back to it. It’s so much healthier. This cookbook would be perfect!
What a gorgeous book. I love vegetables even though I live with a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I love soups and would love to know how to correctly make so many different ones. I would love to get this book. It looks like it really has a lot of basic information and I have been trying to make more dishes from scratch using fresh ingredients. I have loved watching all of your bounty from the garden and the knitting content is not bad either. Again, I would really love to receive this book. Thanks
ooh, yes! i’d love to learn how to make tempeh & seitan!
Oh yum, the photos make me soooo hungry. Every one looks delicious. I do love a hearty soup or bean dish and make a veggie stir-fry with whatever is available. I want to learn to make a killer risotto. My husband needs to eat gluten-free so we eat a lot of rice or potato or corn based dishes. I would love to have this cookbook.
We’ve been eating vegan for the last 10 months and have to say some of the food has phenomenal flavour. I thought I would miss meat and fish, but the thought of eating meat now does not appeal to me at all. Forks over knives, yeah!
I have a vegan daughter-in-law and granddaughter, and we try to eat vegetarian at least once a week for health reasons. This book looks like a great resource and I would love to win!
My husband has familial high cholesterol (not due to diet only) so finding better ways to prepare vegetarian meals would be awesome! Thanks for offering this give-away!
Tofu. I’d like to learn how to prepare tofu so it isn’t just a bland cube of protein in an otherwise tasty dish.
Looks delicious! We eat more veggies than meat around here too! You feel sooooo much better!
There really isn’t one specific dish that I want to learn to make. I just want to be able to have more variety in the way I make my vegetable dishes and how to do it right. I find that a lot of times my timing is off so that one thing ends up too soggy while something else hasn’t even finished cooking yet!
I have two dishes I want to improve upon. Spanish/Mexican rice and Chana Masala. The first is just bland every time. The second I don’t really have a good recipe to start from.
Wow, what a fabulous book! I would love to learn to make veggie burgers. Like you, I have tried the brands available and none have knocked my socks off. Fingers crossed that I win.
I love eggplant. And more eggplant. I’d love to expand my recipe base! Love your blog…I look forward to reading it.
Looks like a fantastic cookbook. I want to learn how to make that dish with the eggplant sliced wafer thin and wrapped around whatever it it that it’s wrapped around. Yuhhmm.
I would like to learn how to incorporate more vegetables into our dinners in general. We always seem to go with the same old plain veggies and it’s so boring. Looks like a fantastic book with plenty of “how-tos”.
I was just talking with my mom earlier this week about making homemade veg. burgers. I like them on a bun, but I also like them crumbled over a salad. Sadly, I have to *really* limit my soy intake, especially soy protein isolate (it doesn’t get along with my tummy), so most veg. burgers are off-limits.
Making them from scratch seems like a no-brainer, but where to even start? I’ll have to experiment! FOR SCIENCE!
I’d love any main dish meal that uses eggplant. It’s a great veg that I, currenlty, only know a few ways to prepare.
What a lovely cookbook. I would love to incorporate more veg into our meals, especially hearty soups and stews. It seems like these types of meals need to be bulked up with meat or potatoes and I would love to learn how to create the healthier veggie versions.
Thanks!
Because I’m being inundated with tomatoes right now, I’d love to have more recipes for yummy tomato-based dishes that I can make now to freeze for later one. I’d also like to learn more about those high-protein meat alternatives. Please throw my hat–the straw one I wear in the garden–into the ring!
I need to try to make homemade catsup and chili sauce. My mom and grandma used to make both and they’re so much better than what you get in the store.
Vegetarian cookbook wise, I’m quite fond of Rose Elliott’s Vegetarian Pasta – we’ve made quite a few of the recipes in that book. Over and over….
My kids are Italian, I would love pasta recipes that would incorporate complete protein ingredients! Thank you
I would love to own this book! My husband is allergic to casein, which makes our attempt to go veggie 3-4 times a week a challenge sometimes. I love seitan, and many of my vegetarian recipes are Japanese (I lived there a few years and fell in love with the cuisine) but I also enjoy tempeh and many other nationalities of food. This book would fit right in! Our goal is to gradually become greater than 90% vegetarian, for health reasons.
I have finally convinced my boyfriend that vegetarian meals are just as tasty as meat meals (this was done by just not telling him there was no meat) and when he said something was good I would let him no there was no meat in it. Now that I have him on-board it would be great to widen the horizens and try new things!
I really want to know what to do with squash. I love how it looks, but I don’t know anything to do with it but soup. There must be something more clever…
Try the “Amy’s” brand “Sonoma Burger.” She makes several burgers, but the ingredients in “Sonoma” are superior and the taste is outstanding. I serve them in a whole grain pita pocket stuffed with other great stuff like avocado, tomato, hummus, olives, salsa, peppers or anything else you like. (We avoid dairy, but obviously cheese would be yummy.) We grow our own organic tomatoes, peppers, squash, tomatillos, snow peas and numerous herbs.
i’ve been a vegetarian since 1990 and would love to learn to cook a really great vegetable curry. or some tasty asian dishes featuring vegetables…anything to add variety to the “same ‘ol, same ‘ol!”
I’ve been increasingly eating vegetarian meals — I have significantly lowered my blood sugars and even was able to reduce my insulin. I find that I crave fresh veggies and herbs and the texture and flavors that can be created. Tempeh is something I’m curious about. The texture and taste vary greatly when I’ve had it in restaurants, and I definitely like some versions more than others. I’d love to learn how to make tempeh at home, as well as more ways to prepare it. Thank you 🙂
I had just been thinking, “I wish Anne would write a cookbook of all the delicious-looking meals she shows us.” Since you’re probably a tad bit busy for that, I guess this would do. 🙂
I have only one knock-your-socks-off recipe for eggplant, so I wouldn’t mind finding another great dish for it. Now I guess I better share that recipe. http://www.elsacooks.com/2011/09/creamy-roasted-eggplant-pasta-with.html It is fantastic!
P.S. You could also make a coffee table book filled with pictures of your gorgeous garden and its beautiful bounty. You know, just in case you ever get bored. Ha!
Homemade ketchup is awesome-go for it! I would love more things to do with eggplant as they are growing maybe too well in our garden!
Such a beautiful book – makes me want to go into the kitchen right now.
The pictures in the book draw you in to try a new dish. I’ve been vegetarian for 35 years and tried many dishes but those dishes are very enticing. Yummy.
I cook a lot, sometimes for up to 300 people, but your food photos always tempt me. Now I know why your veggie dishes look so inspired – they are not an after thought. Having grown up in a farming/ranching family, we’ll never be meat free, but we are striving to have meat-free meals more often. And you had me at those various veggie stocks. Now, if I could learn how to make a good eggplant parm and a great veggie curry, life would be very good.
We cook a lot of vegetarian meals. I’ve always wanted to try eggplant rollatini and the gorgeous picture of the stuffed eggplant rolls reminded me to shop the farmer’s market this weekend for fresh eggplant and tomatoes – fortunately at the peak of the season here.
I have been vegetarian on and off over the years and have quite a few vegetarian cookbooks- but your description of this one – I may just have to chuck those old ones and get this one! I want to try my hand at using new to me grains in one pot meals. Out of default I always make one pot/pan meals in the winter – its a double win if all our vegies & protein requirements can be had in one container *grin* since I still short order cook for young kids.
I LOVE tofu and would like some varied recipes for not only cooking it, but making it myself.
I have recently thrown my hat (spoon?) into the vegetarian ring. I would love to learn how to cook eggplant so my husband would eat it. I am sure there is a techniques that I am missing. This book looks like just the thing to help me.
Looks like a great book!
I would like to find a tofu recipe that I would want to eat (thus far they have bombed)! The book looks wonderful.
I would love another vegetable chili recipe. It will be getting colder soon…that sounds like just the ticket!
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