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”
Oh wow, this book looks great. I’m vegetarian but haven’t bought a new cookbook in a long time as it seems they all have the same recipes as thosecI already have. This book looks like I can have some fun. I’d love to try making my own burgers and sauces too. Yum!
This book is definitely going on my list. Thanks 🙂
YUM! These dishes look wonderfully tasty and healthy too. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Enjoy your long weekend, Anne.
Ah! I’m trying to move us to a more veggie-based diet, this would be invaluable
Always loved veggies, our daughter is vegetarian and branching out trying all sorts of new things. So proud and this would be a great help
I want to try out your ciambotta recipe! I am always on the lookout for interesting vegetable dishes, and I really need to start preparing more meals using legumes as the source of protein. Please put my name in the hat!
I would love to learn how to make a good vegetarian lentil soup.
I am ready to improve my risotto – with interesting add-ins. The pictures look so beautiful and edible!
Cassoulet!
I’ve been vegetarian for years, but have yet to figure out how to make a decent veggie burger that will hold together the right way when I cook it. I really need to remedy that. The book looks great, would love to own a copy.
I would really like to find a fabulous roasted pumpkin recipe. Something that shows me how to make what I imagine must be a great possiblity, but that I have not yet seen in print.
I really want to try some veggie curries! They always look so good!
I would love to know how to make those eggplant roll-ups. Also, some new ideas for the MANY butternut squash in our garden this year.
Cooking our way thru this cookbook. So far: AWESOME.
Here’s my hat [toss!]. I’m at that same stage of cooking from the garden! Maybe the book has lots of ideas for cucumbers…….
This cookbook looks awesome! I am a vegan, so I’m pretty well acquainted with cooking terrific plant-based meals, but still, I’m always looking for new sources of inspiration, and it looks like I’d find plenty of it in this book!
I had created a great veggie burger recipe that we loved (both the taste and texture were perfect!), but it’s now off the list of possibilities for me since it made use of gluten, which I can’t eat anymore. So a new veggie burger recipe that’d be as good as my old one *and* gluten-free would be a nice addition to my culinary repertoire. 🙂
Lovely book!
I am a CSA and farmers’ market addict – no place for a vegetable garden here. I’d love some new ways to use the bounty, including in the winter CSA I have.
Looks like a great book! I’m in great need of help in this area… 🙂
I already eat a lot of vegetable-based dishes, but I think it would be nice to start adding more grains-barley and quinoa, for example
Looks like a great reference book.
I’ve always eaten and ejoyed a large range of vegetables. This year I decided to go mainly vegetarian and limit my meat consumption to fish and chicken twice a eek. This cookbook would be a great aid to finding and trying a bigger selection of vegetarain dishes.
Oh my, what a beautiful book. I would really like to join you in finding good veggie burger recipes.
Gorgeous book! I’m on a quest for a wonderful veggie burger recipe…I bet this book has one!! Fantastic give-away!
What beautiful pictures of scrumptious vegetables. The garden is producing prolifically now and I would love some new ideas. I grew egg plant for the first time this year after seeing your success and found out I do like it, but would love new ideas for it. My husband would love the Puerta Rican-style Red Beans! Thank you CIA and Anne for sharing.
This book looks gorgeous! I’m currently loving quinoa and would love to learn some new ways to prepare it. I’m also hoping to go to culinary school next fall so this would be a wonderful book to add to my collection. Thank you for the opportunity to perhaps win.
Thanks for the review of that great book. I stopped eating meat 5 years ago & never looked back. I have found so many ways to cook tasty vegetarian meals that my meat eating family also enjoy. I would love to learn to make my own pasta.
I want to learn to make the burger substitutes and good pasta. Mostly I want to get this for my son and his girlfriend who have become vegetarian but dont really know any recipes.
That book looks fantastic. I’ve been wanting to move toward a vegetarian diet, but fear the bland. Thank you for running this give-away, and I would really appreciate your adding my name to the hat.
That book looks amazing! I didn’t know about the CIA at home series, but I’m certainly going to look it up!
I was a vegetarian for a good while and the move to NZ has opened me up to meat again, but I still am a rabbit through and through and always looking for new and delicious ways to use all the produce at the farmers market.
I’m going to go ahead and be brave and say that I want to learn to make my own tempeh. In Seattle I used to get a wonderful 5 grain one and I still am sad about it, the regular tempeh I’ve bought here was not as nice as any that I’ve had and I miss cooking with the stuff!
I enjoy vegetarian dishes from time to time and should eat that way more often. I’d love to get a copy of this book–it looks quite amazing! Thanks Anne! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!
I would love to own this book! I cook with a lot of vegetables but would like to do more interesting things with them. My daughter could very easily omit meat…so could I!!
Thanks Anne!
I’d love to be able to make a few more vegetarian veggie soups. Also I’m interested in learning more about high protein foods.
Great idea. Thanks, Anne
P. S. I’m so looking forward to seeing the Rose and Wasp (or wasp and rose) shawl finished and blocked. It is beautiful.
I’d love to learn to make a vegetarian lasagne that wasn’t all cheese & pasta sheets. I know there are some great options out there – I guess I just need to get brave & give it a go.
Many thanks for the great veggie cookbook tip! I’ll be sure to look out for it.
It sounds like a wonderful book and one I would use a lot. I’d like to learn to make a fabulous veggie burger and to make veggie loafs.
I’m cooking more black beans and saving the soaking liquid for dyeing. I’m also growing eggplant in pots on my deck and have cooked them Mexicanish, Italianish, and Indianish depending on my mood.
These photos look just like the photos of your fabulous dinners!
What a beautiful looking book! And perfect timing… We started meatless Mondays last year with the kids with great success. Most recently we wanted to incorporate more ‘meatless’ items. Thank you so much for the peak and the giveaway.
Thanks for this post. Vegetarian food can be beautiful, delicious, and satisfying, but how many dishes of pasta with fresh chopped tomatoes and herbs can two people eat. A lot, but . . .
I didn’t know about this title. We are buried under tomatoes and cucumbers at the moment, with delicata squash and potatoes coming on strong:), so all new ideas are welcome.
Since none of the stores I frequent carry my favorite veggie burgers any more, I would love to find a good home recipe.
Another vegetarian (with vegan options) book I have some across that I like is Herbivoracious, from a blog of the same name.
Kathleen
My family is plant-strong. Love the CIA series. I’m looking for more ways to prepare and serve tempeh, sauces that add flavor to plain dishes, and ideas for spices and herbs to use with veggies. Pictures look so tempting! THanks.
I would LOVE to learn how to make my own veggie burgers!
What a beautiful book – perfect for some fall inspiration! I would love to find more ways to make eggplant.
I’ve been wanting to make more vegetarian dishes for my family and this collection might be just the ticket. I’d love to win a copy.
Mmmm. Everything looks so tasty. I would love to start cooking more vegetarian meals. My current quest it to perfect my potato/zucchini cakes to a point where even my picky husband will eat them.
I don’t have a particular dish….but rather a vegetable I would like to cook more of….eggplant.
This summer’s heat had me cooking very little this summer, mainly making dishes with quinoa. I do need to add to my collection of recipes using this and other grains. And I’d love to make some of the curries you mention in your blog. Would love to have this beautiful book!
I’d like to make a better ratatouille!
We’ve been enjoying veggies from our CSA all summer, and I’m always looking for new recipes. This book looks great!
I would love to have a go to gazpacho recipe.
I would love to learn how to make a delicious veggie burger. This book looks wonderful!
I’d love to learn to make tofu flavorful. I’m getting a bit better marinating slices, then sauteing them for a crispy outside. But there’s room for improvement. Is the book vegan? Now that would really be an amazing item coming from the CIA.
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