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Vegetarian Recipe Books

Vegetarian recipes and books reviews with easy to make healthy meals:

Vegetarian Recipe Books provide a wonderful range for those following this lifestyle choice ranging from simple, easy and healthy meals. Those below are colourful, practical and inspire the use of vegetables, fruit, pulses, cereals, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, milk, cheese and eggs, into an everyday diet. Most embrace global cultures and cooking, offering you a wide range.

The French Market Cookbook

Many think that France is usually associated with hearty meat filled dishes and Clotilde Dusoulier Dusoulier helps to dispel this myth by providing 100 colourful vegetarian meals, many of which are gluten and dairy free. She begins by describing the best way to shop and store the produce needed for her collection of delights. Then she sensibility breaks chapters into sections of seasons so that dishes can be enjoyed when nature intended her harvest to be enjoyed.

We love the poetry of The French Market Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes from My Parisian Kitchen with her charming descriptions that introduce each section. For example for spring she begins:

“As tender greens and waxy pods pile up on market stalls, all I want to do is prop my basket open and let young and sprightly things tumble in.”

Who cannot fail to be inspired by such prose. Reading this will inspire you to cook her crunchy lentil and watercress salad, radish top pasta, poor man’s bouillabaisse or strawberry tartlets with Breton shortbread crust.

She recognises that summer is a time for quick and simple meals when you would rather be enjoying the sun and not cooking for any length in the kitchen. So she brings us goat cheese and rosemary sables, green bean, red rice and almond salad, tomato and tarragon bread soup, ratatouille tian or peach, almond and cardamom clafoutis. The photographs within, most of which accompany each page, must have been taken during the Parisian sunshine because they are so bright and encouraging. You can almost reach out and give the food a bite. A lot of thought and time has gone into them making this, along with the fantastic meal suggestions that make this one of the best cookbooks to grace our kitchen table this year.

The Drummer Boy is my latest novel about the ghost of a Gordon Highlander Drummer Boy from the Battle of Waterloo who haunts a modern day army nurse.

Chapters take place in modern day Aberdeen, at the Noose & Monkey bar and restaurant as well as His Majesty’s Theatre and Garthdee. Other scenes take place at Tidworth and during the Napoleonic War.

Read the first three chapters for free on most devices.

For autumn she brings “soul warming dishes” of leeks vinaigrette, Corsican turnovers with winter squash, baked apples with prunes and almonds or old fashioned walnut and chocolate macarons.

There is no gloomy winter for Clotilde or her readers as she brightens up the dullest day with filling curried leek tart tatin, mushroom and chive quiche, cauliflower gratin with turmeric and hazelnuts, lentil croquettes and a real heart-warming hug in a plate French apple tart.

Our new Christmas treat is her chocolate berawecka loaf full of nuts, dried fruits and candied citrus with her chocolate twist.

She finishes with ways to make stock and essential items like olive oil tart dough or classic and honey lemon vinaigrette.

Clotilde Dusoulier has proved that baking and cooking for the non-meat eater can be adventurous, tasty, nutritious and satisfying. Go buy!

2013 by Random House Intl Inc Potter.

If you need a gift idea for the cook in your life then visit the Christmas page for ideas:

Classic Vegetarian Recipes

Classic Vegetarian Recipes is a collection of 75 meals by well-known writer Rose Elliot and is part of the Hamlyn Classic Recipes series range. She has collected her favourite signature dishes from previous releases. She has written over 50 vegetarian cook books and this compact edition is ever so handy to hold as you prepare and cook your food, unlike other cumbersome volumes. Combine this with the photos of the colourful dishes and the lists of easily bought ingredients and step by step instructions then you have the perfect addition to your kitchen.

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Rose Elliot begins with an overview of the types of foods that a kitchen pantry should contain, making this ideal for those who have recently changed to this diet. There is useful information for vegans such as how to choose cheese that does not contain gelatine which is made from the bones and hooves of animals. Further tips for vegans wishing to avoid eggs, dairy products and honey are included so that they can easily adapt her pages.

The photo below is of her Mushroom Pate en Croute:

It is realistic when it comes to ingredients: all can be easily found in a local supermarket and health store. We like the way that Rose Elliot introduces each one with a few sentences of her opinion about it or ways to serve it. For example tasty lemon glazed and seared haloumi cheese reads:

This could be an emergency meal - you could probably find all the ingredients in your local shop - but it's elegant and delicious. Try it with the Herby Couscous with Red Chilli on page 128.

It is conveniently broken down into five sections of soups, starters and snacks, salads, vegetables and accompaniments and puddings and cakes.

The picture below is Chunky Bean Vegetable Soup:

So proving that they can be just as tasty, if not more so, than traditional meat and two veg readers will find soups such as red lentil and roasted pepper soup. Starters include twice baked individual souffles whilst snacks include mushroom tempura with aioli.

Most are accompanied by some stunning photographs by photographer Noel Murphy, serving numbers, suggested garnish or serving accompaniments, tips, hints and easy to follow instructions.

There is a wide range of everyday meals with most being quick recipes that require little preparation and cooking. Examples of these simple vegetarian recipes include quick Thai curry with jasmine rice, Mediterranean stuffed peppers, grilled polenta and roasted tomatoes and leek and parsley risotto.

More complex, but still easy vegetarian recipes, can be found in the meals for special occasions section and includes mushroom and spinach filo parcels, roasted butternut squash, spinach lasagne, crisp tofu with spicy sambal, white nut roast with herb stuffing and creamy cashew korma.

The photograph below is of Mushroom Spinach Filo Parcels:

Side dishes can be found in the salads, vegetables and accompaniments pages and include quinoa and red grape salad, super Caesar salad, ratatouille, roasted asparagus with wasabi, braised baby carrots and fennel, crisp roasted parsnips with sage and roast potatoes with balsamic vinegar.

For those with a sweet tooth there is a puddings and cakes section which includes rhubarb crumble, wholemeal treacle tart, chocolate pecan brownies and lemon and almond drizzle cake.

This is a wonderful collection of easy to make vegetarian dishes that is a must, especially for those looking for some healthy recipes.

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