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> Has anyone got any suggestions for books / resources they'd be prepared to
> share with us?


Well, I'm a strict vegetarian (vegan - i.e., no meat, dairy, or other animal
derived products), so most of my cookbooks are geared toward that type of
eating. However, Bryanna Clark Grogan has some cookbooks that I think would
satisfy the palette of anyone from vegan to omnivore. I highly recommend
her books "Authentic Chinese Cuisine" and "Nonna's Italian Kitchen" as
viable options to liven up your menu. Just the other day I had made the
Stir-Fried "Chicken" and Mushrooms in Vegetarian "Oyster" Sauce from her
Chinese cookbook. It's basically a stir fry tofu dish. It turned out
great, even my omnivorous mother liked it, practically stood there and ate
it out of the wok. There are plenty of great vegetable dishes, and if you
are so inclined, her recipe books will carry you into the exciting world of
mock meats (e.g., seitan, TVP, etc.). So you could make that chicken
casserole with mock chicken instead. )

Another cookbook that I've been playing around with recently is from a
restaurant that I had the pleasure of dining at while in Southern
California. It's called "The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook." It's also
a vegan cookbook, but this is another example of a cookbook where the lack
of animal products does not distract at all from the absolute tastiness of
the food. While at the restaurant I had the Philly Peppersteak (awesome!),
the chili cheez fries (oh my! so goooood), and a slice of their vegan
cheesecake (Oh my giddy aunt! That was some of the best cheesecake that
I've ever had vegan or otherwise.) The cookbook actually has the recipe for
the cheesecake, which is superb. I've served it to omnivores who raved
about it, then went back for seconds. You can take a look at the restaurant
menu online at www.nativefoods.com. The cookbook has enough recipes for you
to be able to make just about anything on their menu. And no, I'm not in any
way affiliated with that restaurant. I just like good food ;o)

Also if you have the time, there are some really good recipe websites out
there to help you bring more variety to a vegetarian table. Here are a few
that I've used:

VegWeb - http://vegweb.com/ (Probably one of the most exhaustive sources of
vegetarian/vegan recipes on the web. If anyone knows of a website that
beats this site in sheer number of available vegetarian/vegan recipes please
share.)

International Vegetarian Union - http://www.ivu.org/recipes/ (Actually, this
site might come close to VegWeb. I've never taken count. But another
really good site for vegetarian cuisine.)

Kate's Vegan Cookery Site - http://www.earth.li/~kake/cookery/

Recipe Goldmine - http://www.recipegoldmine.com/meatless/meatless.html (This
is the vegetarian section, but there are plenty of convertible meat recipes
on this website which you might want to try, especially if you decide to use
mock meats.)

PETA - http://www.petaeats.com/recipe.html (People may not agree with their
politics or tactics, but from my own experience, there is no denying that
they have some tasty recipes on their website. If you go to the advanced
recipe search, you can look up recipes according to meal, cuisine or food
type.)

Hope that helps.


Lorraine