"mollie katzen" news and stories

The cookbook shelf of a former vegetarian. Photo: emdot, Flickr.

Whether you're a full-fledged veg or a pro-greens protein fiend, vegetarian cookbooks are the door to a world where beans, greens and grains are celebrated. These books will introduce you to a whole new pantry of ingredients. Just as a meat eater might strive to make use of the entire animal, vegetarian cooks grab inspiration from far and wide and turn every bit of edible, natural earth into a grand culinary experience.

What follows after the jump are five vegetarian cookbooks that any veggie lover must have, covering the staples of meatless cookery -- secret recipes from restaurants, classic culinary bibles, respected names and haute vegetarian food. Which do you think will reign supreme?

There's no reason why a healthful meal cannot also be the most delicious meal. For example, check out the recently launched SMART menus program created by renowned cookbook author Mollie Katzen, and one of Oprah's favorite docs, Dr. Michael Roizen. They put together a series of recipes that show how you can can easily remake your favorite recipes without all of the unnecessary indulgences of high amounts of saturated fat and calories.

Mollie is best known for her classic Moosewood Cookbook and her more recent The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Her message is that "there's no dividing line between great-tasting and great for you." The SMART menus program makes it easy to create dishes that are both healthful and tasty. Some of my favorites are: curried walnut chicken, walnut carrot cake muffins, and the couscous walnut cherry salad. Check out these recipes and let us know which ones are your favorites.

The Enchanted Broccoli Forest comes to us from Mollie Katzen, the woman who kicked off her cookbook writing career with the classic Moosewood Cookbook. Like Moosewood, this book is also chock full of vegetarian recipes for Soups, Salads, Breads, Entrees and much more. My copy is an old one, from the original printing in 1982. Katzen has since updated it, changing the recipes slightly to make them lighter and easier to prepare. I can't speak for this new edition, but I've always loved this book and I can't imagine that a few updates would alter my feelings.

I bought my copy at a used bookstore while I was in college and you can tell that it was well loved before it came into my life. I've used it repeatedly and there are several pages that are slightly crunchy from splatters and splashes of food (to me that is the mark of a good cookbook). For those of you who are fans of the sprout, I particularly recommend the Brussels Sprouts Soup on page 43.

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Even when my kitchen is fairly bare, there are still certain things you can count on to be in my fridge or veggie bin. I always have milk, butter, flour, spices and onions. If you are like me and on any given day have these ingredients in your home, you can quickly whip up a pot of Cream of Onion Soup (from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest) for a weekend lunch or a hurried evening dinner. It's warming, cheap and can be ready in less than an hour. Pair it with a salad, or, if you're really down to the dregs, the last of that bag of frozen peas from the freezer or a perfect winter meal. The recipe is after the jump.

For some reason, when Mollie Katzen and her publishers revised Moosewood in the early1990's, they changed this recipe (yes, I have copies of the both editions. I don't think there's anything wrong with that). They included two recipes for Carrot Soup in the new edition, which are both similar to the original recipe, but not quite spot on. So I soldier on with my tattered copy of the old cookbook, leaving the shiny copy of the new one on the shelf, lonely and unloved. You just can't mess with my recipes like that!

There were mountains of carrots at the farmers market this past weekend, which is what got me thinking about this soup. It's a terrific recipe because it lasts up to a week in the fridge (especially if you don't add any dairy products until right before you serve it) and gets better over time. Coupled with a scoop of cottage cheese, a green salad or a slice of bread it is a yummy and filling meal. And as luck would have it, the recipe is after the jump.

(photo by Marisa McClellan)