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Product Description:

The ultimate one-stop vegetarian cookbook-from the author of the classic How to Cook Everything

Hailed as "a more hip Joy of Cooking" by the Washington Post, Mark Bittman's award-winning book How to Cook Everything has become the bible for a new generation of home cooks, and the series has more than 1 million copies in print. Now, with How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian, Bittman has written the definitive guide to meatless meals-a book that will appeal to everyone who wants to cook simple but delicious meatless dishes, from health-conscious omnivores to passionate vegetarians.

How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian includes more than 2,000 recipes and variations-far more than any other vegetarian cookbook. As always, Bittman's recipes are refreshingly straightforward, resolutely unfussy, and unfailingly delicious-producing dishes that home cooks can prepare with ease and serve with confidence. The book covers the whole spectrum of meatless cooking-including salads, soups, eggs and dairy, vegetables and fruit, pasta, grains, legumes, tofu and other meat substitutes, breads, condiments, desserts, and beverages. Special icons identify recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less and in advance, as well as those that are vegan. Illustrated throughout with handsome line illustrations and brimming with Bittman's lucid, opinionated advice on everything from selecting vegetables to preparing pad Thai, How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian truly makes meatless cooking more accessible than ever.

Praise for How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

"Mark Bittman's category lock on definitive, massive food tomes continues with this well-thought-out ode to the garden and beyond. Combining deep research, tasty information, and delicious easy-to-cook recipes is Mark's forte and everything I want to cook is in here, from chickpea fries to cheese soufflés."
—Mario Batali, chef, author, and entrepreneur

"How do you make an avid meat eater (like me) fall in love with vegetarian cooking? Make Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian part of your culinary library."
—Bobby Flay, chef/owner of Mesa Grill and Bar Americain and author of the Mesa Grill Cookbook

"Recipes that taste this good aren't supposed to be so healthy. Mark Bittman makes being a vegetarian fun."
—Dr. Mehmet Oz, Professor of Surgery, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center and coauthor of You: The Owner's Manual

Amazon.com:

Author of a dozen bestselling cookbooks and beloved columnist for The New York Times ("The Minimalist"), Chef Mark Bittman bookends his award-winning modern classic, How to Cook Everything, with How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian the ultimate one-stop resource for meatless meals. Refreshingly straightforward and filled with illustrated recipes, this is a book that puts vegetarian cuisine within the reach of every home cook. You'll want to spend countless days in the kitchen with Bittman's latest culinary treasure.

A: What motivated me--several years ago--was seeing the handwriting on the wall: That although being a principled, all-or-nothing vegetarian was not a course of action that would ever likely inspire the majority of Americans, the days of all-meat-all-the-time (or, to be slightly less extreme, of a diet heavily dependent on meat) could not go on. Averaging a consumption of two pounds a week or more of meat (as Americans do) is not sustainable, either for the earth or our planet. And, as more and more of us realize this, I thought it was important to develop a cookbook along the lines of How to Cook Everything, but without meat, fish, or poultry. Needless to say, there’s plenty of material.

Q: In the course of writing How to Cook Everything Vegetarian did your approach to food shopping, cooking or dining change significantly?

A: Completely. The more I tried new ways of cooking with vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, the more I enjoyed them. I probably eat sixty or seventy percent fewer animal products than I did three years ago.

Q: Because meatless cooking isn't limited to a single cuisine, your recipes introduce the flavors and techniques of many different cultures and cuisines. How did you manage to cover so much ground? Seems like a daunting task.

A: It’s what I do.

Q: Out of the more than 2,000 recipes in the cookbook do you have a favorite dish or dessert that you turn to again and again?

A: No. There are hundreds I wish I could cook all the time, but one can only cook and eat so much. But in the last week, for example, I’ve made Fava Bean and Mint Salad with Asparagus; Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes; Cornbread Salad; and Red Lentils with Chaat Masala.

Q: Why is simplicity so important in cooking? What does the novice home cook need to know to cook and eat well?

A: Simplicity is only important because it’s the way to learn to cook; it’s very difficult to start cooking with complex dishes. For people to learn to cook, they must start simply--the way everyone used to cook. And, for most of us--including me--there’s no reason to carry things much further. Even the simplest cooking is rewarding, enjoyable, and--obviously--the healthiest and best way to eat.

An Exclusive Recipe from Mark Bittman


Crunchy Corn Guacamole
Here's a new twist on the traditional guacamole (which you can find in the form of the first variation). The fresh corn kernels add texture and flavor without taking away from that of the avocado.

Serves 4
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
--1 lime
--1 cup corn kernels, preferably just stripped from the cobs, but thawed frozen is acceptable
--1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
--1/2 cup chopped scallion
--1 serrano or jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced (optional)
--2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
--1/4 cup roughly chopped toasted pumpkin seeds
--3 medium ripe avocados, preferably Hass --salt

1. Grate the lime zest (or use a zester to make long strands) and reserve; cut the lime into wedges. Put the lime zest, corn, and garlic in a food processor; squeeze in half of the lime wedges and pulse to make a chunky purée.
2. Put the corn mixture along with the scallion, chile, and a large pinch of salt into a medium bowl and mash until the mixture is well combined. Add the cilantro and pumpkin seeds and mash a few more times.
3. Cut the avocados in half and reserve the pits if you will not be serving the guacamole right away. Scoop the flesh into the bowl and mash, leaving a few chunks of avocado. Squeeze in lime juice from the reserved lime wedges to taste.
4. Season with salt to taste and serve or tuck the pits back into the mixture and cover the surface with plastic wrap (this will help keep the guacamole from turning brown), then refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Remove the pits before serving.

Minimalist Guacamole More traditional: Omit the corn kernels and pumpkin seeds. Add the zest and garlic to the scallion in Step 2 and proceed with the recipe.

Guacamole with Tomatillos. The tomatillos add a nice hit of acidity: Substitute 1/2 cup chopped tomatillo for the corn and pumpkins seeds if you like. Skip Step 1 and add the tomatillos to Step 2.

Avocado and Goat Cheese Spread or Dip. Spread this on bread and layer with grilled vegetables for a fantastic sandwich: Omit the garlic, chile, cilantro, and pumpkin seeds. Substitute lemon for the lime and 3/4 cup goat cheese for the corn. Put everything in a food processor if you want a smooth spread; for a chunkier spread, just use a potato masher or fork.

Pea Spread or Dip. Great on Crostini: Instead of the corn and the avocados, use 1 pound lightly steamed fresh or frozen peas. Omit the chile and pumpkin seeds. Use lemon instead of lime and process all the peas as you would the corn in Step 1. Substitute fresh mint leaves for the cilantro. If you like, thin the consistency a bit by adding a little cream, yogurt, or silken tofu.

Asparagus Spread or Dip. A great low-calorie alternative to traditional guacamole: Follow the variation for Pea Spread or Dip, but use 1 pound lightly steamed asparagus instead of the peas. Pat it dry, slice it into manageable pieces, and proceed with the recipe.

Customer Reviews:

Rating:
Date: 2008-07-07
In constant use
I love this cookbook. I accidentally became a vegetarian cook (I eat meat out sometimes, but never cook it at home) because of my vegetarian spouse. For the last two years I've been eating what I used to eat, minus the meat. I never had a heavily meat-based diet, but my pallet of vegetarian possibilities was limited.

This book has opened up the world of cooking to me again, and made me adventurous again. I've cooked some things from this cookbook and hated them, and had other things simply not work. But, mostly, things come out well, and I always learn something from a recipe. I absolutely adore the huge number of variations that Bittman puts at the end of many of the recipes.

I literally go to the farmer's market, buy things that look good, and then use the index to find recipes that use them (title ingredients in the variations show up in the index). I've been able to find a recipe that I can make, maybe with a little bit of substitution of ancillary ingredients, for everything I've bought in the last two months. For example, I had no idea what to do with eggplant (despite looking in the Joy of Cooking several times and trying a few things), and now I'm buying it every week (it's eggplant season!) and doing something different with it.

I've improved some of my old stand-by dishes with tips in this cookbook, started making soups again, entered the world of home-made veggie-burgers, and more than tripled my list of good stand-by recipes. If you like vegetarian food, but are stuck in a rut or simply have trouble being creative, you should buy this book.

Rating:
Date: 2008-07-06
You must buy this book
This is one of the best cookbooks I own. I refer to it all the time. It's full of great recipes, useful tips, and detailed explanations. It's the bible of vegetarian cooking. Even though I am vegan, I find this book to be extremely useful as it contains many vegan recipes (or recipes that can easily be veganized).

Rating:
Date: 2008-07-04
A must for your CSA box
As a vegetarian and a cookbook lover, I always love it when these two interests cross paths. And while I usually don't really like huge cooking compendiums (no pictures! too hard to pick something to eat! gems get lost in the shuffle!) I love this cookbook.

The recipes are nicely organized. I really like that so many recipes have cute little lists after them with names like "10 things you can add to your scrambled eggs" (that kind of makes up for the fact that his scrambled egg recipe takes 40 minutes... my blood sugar doesn't have that much patience in the morning!) or suggestions of what to serve with the dish. Unlike most cookbooks, where the variations are really recipes unto themselves, Bittman's variations are usually cooking lessons unto themselves: how can you change one ingredient to make this a totally different dish? What tastes traditionally compliment eachother?

But this cookbooks REALLY came into its own when I started receiving my CSA shares this summer. Deborah Madison's "Local Flavors" cookbook should be the go-to, but I find her recipes pretty bland, and decent side-dishes but not all that filling. "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" is just esoteric and the stuff is far too hippyish for my meat-and-potatoes husband. "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," on the other hand, has not let me down once. Very good, basic, filling recipes for every ingredient that I've have to throw at it. So hearty that the afore-mentioned meat and potatoes husband doesn't even bother to make his own meat side dishes when he sees this cookbook in the cookbook stand.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-30
Is it absolutely perfct? No. Is it an essential cookbook to own? YES.
From the interviews I've heard with Bittman he didn't intend this book to be a preachy vegetarian bible. He sees the writing on the wall that the world can ill afford to eat as much meat as we do now. With oil/feed prices going up meat will become more expensive and more and more people will include vegetarian meals as part of their diet. The book is 900+ pages and at that size it has something of everyone and perhaps something to offend nearly everyone too. It's for both long time vegetarians and those looking to include more vegetarian meals in their meat-inclusive diets. Don't like the hundreds of recipes with fats or cheese or eggs? Then use the hundreds of recipes without. Lots of vegan and non-vegan recipes as well. I particularly like that it doesn't ry to make traditional meat dishes vegetarian by using faux-meats. It's just a great collection of recipes that happen to be vegetarian. But on top of the countless recipes there are lots of charts, tables, and other resources to help you in the kitchen. Are there some mistakes? Yup. It's 900+ pages. Bound to be a few. Will it please everyone? Nope. Some people are bound to complain. But this book is an essential cookbook to have in your kitchen. It's not the only book you'll ever need but it's one you can't afford to be without.

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-27
The Only Vegetarian Cookbook You Will Ever Need
This is the quintessential vegetarian cookbook. It is in fact much more than a cookbook. Bittman provides tremendous amounts of information about all ingredients. Recipes should really be used as guides with a lot of room for substitutions and alterations - Bittman provides many suggested alternatives for every recipe.

I'm an advanced cook and bought this for a friend but ended up keeping it for myself. It's just a wealth of information and ideas. It will change the way you think about food and cooking - in a very positive way. For folks who are intimidated by cooking or feel like they just don't have the skills or know how - this book would be invaluable.

In addition to the fact that this is the best vegetarian cookbook in existence, it is a tremendous value. The book is HUGE and packed with information. You'd have to buy many, many books to even come close to the quantity of recipes, ideas and information contained in this book.

You will love this book more than you realize.