The essential cookbooks

I'm extremely surprised that there aren't more copies of Laurel's Kitchen or The Moosewood Cookbook shared among all of us. I consider both of these my core books that everything else revolves around, even if I don't use them a lot anymore.

In addition, I can't imagine my collection complete without my Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking.

What books do you consider are your core and/or essential cookbooks?

Unfortunately my collection does not have many cookbooks in it yet. I have one raw cookbook but that is about it. I joined this forum to get some ideas. Thank you.

I have to make the guilty confession that I don't use my cookery books much any more, though I don't think I have many.

One that I would recommend though is Linda McCartney on Tour: I've cooked several things from this book, and each has been a tasty success. The aubergine gateau is particularly good.

I have 60 books tagged "vegetarian," but I don't have any of those. I have plenty of general vegetarian cookbooks, so most of what I've acquired these last few years has been niche vegetarian - pizza, ethnic, kids', etc. I'll definitely check out LKC though.

For me it's The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. In pre-vegan days I didn't think I could get by without cheese.

Normally, I don't use cookbooks for much except drooling over the pretty pictures. But I do have two in my library that I've put to use many times in recent months. One is Dining with Friends: The Art of North American Vegan Cuisine and the other is Vegan with a Vengeance. I especially recommend the former for the upcoming holidays. There are many festive recipes with simple ingredients like Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Green Beans with Almonds, and Apple Crisp. The holidays are a wonderful opportunity to share great tasting vegan food with friends and family.

I agree with the previous poster. Those are my favorite 2 cookbooks as well. The recipes from Dining with Friends: The Art of North American Vegan Cuisine always seem like they're meant for the holidays or other special meals. Additionaly there are 2 vegan cookooks filled with spectacular dessert recipes - Sinfully Vegan: Over 140 Decadent Desserts to Satisfy Every Vegan's Sweet Tooth and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

I would have to agree that Vegan with a Vengeance is by far my favorite vegan cookbook that I own. Although I do have to admit that both The Compassionate Cook and Vegan Vittles have a few great recipes but I definately don't use them as much as Vegan with a Vengeance.

I'm very partial to Vegan With a Vengeance (could be because I wrote the foreword).

Really, though, it's definitely one of the best and I've made far more recipes from it than any other cookbook I have.

Other favorites include Vive Le Vegan! and ... oh hell, let me just link to my collection.

Hmmm...Vegan with a Vengeance looks good. Personally, I love How it All Vegan, The Garden of Vegan, and La Dolce Vegan. They're especially good for new vegans or people still in the transitional phase, because they have a lot of recipes for "regular" food with simple (and usually cheap) ingredients. (But they're also really good.)

I feel like Vegan w/a Vengeance is a bit more complex than I want to mess w/most of the time on a weekday evening. Some of the ingredients are a bit obscure, too (pomegranate molasses???). Mind you, I've enjoyed what I've cooked from there, but I haven't cooked as much from there as I might've otherwise.

And I don't shy away from complicated recipes--I use Crescent Dragonwagon's Passionate Vegetarian a lot, & also The Voluptuous Vegan. But for some reason, most times I consider cooking something from VwaV, it just seems like more effort than I want to invest.

My absolute favourite cookbook is Madhur Jaffrey's World Of The East Vegetarian Cooking. My copy is so worn and falling apart in the way that only a well used and loved cookbook can be.

Vegan Lunch Box by Jennifer McCann

here's her daily blog:
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

now, if only I lived in a part of the country that sold these things...anyone else feel like they're speaking greek when in a store? even in the local health-food stores, I get blank looks when I ask for something "vegan"..grr...

Diffuse, that's funny that you mention pomegranate molasses, because I couldn't find those either. But I just used a mixture of pomegranate juice and molasses and it worked!

I've also loved the meals I've had from Voluptuous Vegan-- but they were all made by somebody else, so I can't attest to their level of difficulty. I can attest to their level of YUM, though!

Green Seasons cookbook

One of my favourite cookbooks. Fab recipes and good explanations of seasonal vegetables.

charbutton - I looked up that one on the internet, but I can't find it for sale in the U.S.

What timing! I had just picked out the BBQ Pomegranate Tofu recipe to make this week and couldn't find pomegranate molasses (or syrup) at Whole Foods. Unfortunately, I think I used the last of the blackstrap molasses making "The Best Pumpkin Muffins" (also from Vegan with a Vengeance). I do have pomegranate juice leftover from last week's "Chocolate Cherry Crème Cupcakes" (Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World). I guess February has been one long Isa love-fest.

You can get pomegranate molasses at Middle Eastern groceries. The brand we have is Cortas from Lebanon, which they all have around here (Boston).

You can also get it from amazon.com, but really, if you are near a city of any size the trip to the store is so much more fun. And it'll be a lot cheaper than Whole Foods.

Now is a particularly good time if the market is run by or caters to Christians, because there are lots of Lenten specialties that are vegetarian or vegan, substituting lentils or peanut butter or things like that for meat. So Armenian is a good choice if there is a community near you.

hi chanale

you can buy the book from:
http://www.vegetariancookeryschool.com/cookbooks/

Not sure what they charge to send the book outside the UK

The Green World one is excellent too.

Japanese Vegetarian Cooking is the most comprehensive Japanese cookbook I've found and explains all the techniques and equipment involved as well as recipes.
My all time favorite cookbook is World Vegetarian. Every recipe I've tried of hers has been fantastic and different from my other cookbooks.

I just got Vegan with a Vengeance, since I have seen so many recipe that look good, and there are so many positive reviews for that book. I haven't made anything yet, but I plan to soon.

I also really like Nava Atlas' Vegetarian Family Cookbook. It is not explicitly vegan, but a lot of the recipes have vegan substitutes for non-vegan ingredients, and Atlas explains that her family is moving towards veganism. I have earmarked a lot of recipes from that book. I've only tried 3 or 4 so far, but they were awesome!

I just joined up with this group and was reading this older topic and love all the suggestions of cookbooks. I agree with the original post person (whatever the term is) that Laurel's Kitchen and Moosewood Cookbook are essentials...

One that has not been listed that I have used quite often for the past twenty plus years would be Tofu cookery by Louise Hagler. It was out of print for a while, then came back in 1991 and I think is still available. This book has relatively simple recipes, very tasty, and covers everything from sauces to desserts, including a section on how to make your own tofu... it doesn't look too hard to do... maybe someday.

Anyway, thanks for all the great suggestions, now I have more books on my list to buy.