12 best vegetarian cooking books

Product features

Interpreting the Language of Ayurveda

Ayurveda is the indigenous medical system of India that views health through an all-encompassing lens, looking at the body-mind-spirit in relationship to nature. Become fluent in the language of Ayurveda and engage in self-enquiry to determine how to cultivate harmony between the body, mind, senses, and soul.

Balancing the Body & Mind

Now that you know the language of the elements, the doshas, and the gunas, you can start to identify imbalances as they arise. Changes of environment, whether the natural shifting of the seasons or long-distance travel; changes to our routine; improper diet; stress; and overstimulation of our senses can all affect the balance of the doshas.

Seasonal, Lunar & Daily Cycles

Nature has rhythms and cycles influenced by the earth, sun, moon, and stars. These laws of nature impact our own internal rhythms. In our modern world today, we need extra support in this regard. Stimulated by artificial light, electronic devices, and almost instant access to anything and everything we desire, urban living has nearly disconnected us from our innate wisdom of nature.

The Ayurveda & Yoga Connection

Yoga is considered to be Ayurveda’s sister science, with a similar timeline of development. Many know yoga in the modern West as a physical practice, a workout for staying in shape. However, until recently, yoga was primarily a practice for spiritual liberation, only outlining a handful of postures for meditation. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that yoga became a more embodied practice and started to merge with Ayurveda as a means of supporting the body, mind, and spirit as an interconnected whole.

How to Use This Book

This book is your companion to living a vibrantly rich and well-nourished life. Guiding you through an arc of a year, you’ll learn you how to stay in harmony with the different cycles of the day, the moon, and the seasons. Within each seasonal chapter, you’ll explore different yoga practices, rituals, and recipes that support the dominant dosha of the season.

Recipe for a Daily Practice

Setting the tone for your personal practice starts with creating a sacred space that you will nourish and, in turn, nourish you. One of Ayurveda’s most powerful tools is dinacharya, the outline for a daily self-care routine. This daily routine gives you tools for caring for your body and mind.

Kitchen Wisdom

How do you eat well when you have a busy schedule? The simple answer: be prepared and organized. It makes all the difference to have the right tools and ingredients ready to use in your kitchen. Here, I share my favorite cooking tools, pantry essentials, and prep tips to set you up for a year of joyful home cooking.

All-Season Recipe Staples

Find recipes for pantry essentials like Ghee, Mantra Milk, and Nut & Seed Butters. Instant Chai Powder, CCF Tea, and Digestive Lassi aid in proper year long digestive health while favorite foods like Basic Kitchari, Dosa, and Chapati are appropriate year round.

Spring

To move out of winter’s sleepy hibernation, your spring practice might include more active movement; breathing practices that bring heat and boost circulation; and lighter foods to energize the body and mind:

• Energizing Spring Asana
• Spring Equinox Cleanse
• Women's Lunar Ritual
• Cleansing Burdock Tea
• Spiced Amaranth Porridge with Warm Fruit Compote
• Lemon Ginger Dal
• Spring Barley Risotto

Summer

As you move through summer, try these soothing yoga and pranayama sequences, rituals that get you under the cool moonlight and enjoying the outdoors, and recipes that work with nature’s juicy flavors.

• Soothing Summer Asana
• Summer Pranayama
• Lunar Bathing
• Hibiscus Sun Tea
• Coconut Chia Breakfast Bowl
• Shaved Fennel Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
• Creamy Coconut Curry Bowl
• Rustic Fig Galette

Fall

Explore these restorative yoga practices, warming, recipes and grounding rituals that celebrate the abundance of fall’s harvests with more soups, stews, and roasted vegetables.

• Grounding Fall Asana
• Fall Equinox Cleanse
• Warm Cinnamon Date Shake
• Butternut Buckwheat Porridge
• Delicata, Wild Rice & Pomegranate Salad
• Pumpkin Empanadas with Cashew Crema
• Fall Harvest Muffins with Whipped Cinnamon Butter

Winter

In this section, you’ll find warming, grounding, and richer foods to stay balanced in the coldest months and rituals to offer a time for quiet inward reflection.

• Nourishing Winter Asana
• Bhramari Winter Pranayama
• Solstice Silent Retreat
• Black Sesame Latte
• Golden Milk Oats
• Braised Winter Greens
• Savory Beet Tartlets
• Mushroom & Lentil Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
• Chocolate Date Scone with Maple Tahini Drizzle

Product features

An intro to vegetarian cooking

Learn more about vegetarian kitchen essentials and cooking techniques for preparing easy, flavorful, and nutritious meals at home.

Convenient dietary labels

Find recipe labels for vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, oil-free, nut-free, and soy-free meals to help accommodate food allergies and dietary preferences.

Recipe-specific suggestions

Get serving pointers, ingredient substitution suggestions, and cooking tips and tricks for making the recipes even better.

Product features

Apple-Quinoa Porridge from Instant Pot Miracle Vegetarian

Think of this recipe as a starting point for a variety of different fruit and flavor combinations to make your morning porridge something to look forward to. Be sure to rinse the quinoa ahead of time to get rid of any bitterness.

FUNCTION: Manual (High)

RELEASE: Quick

Directions

1. In the Instant Pot, combine the quinoa and water; stir to combine. Scatter the apples over the top (do not stir).

2. Secure the lid on the pot. Close the pressure-release valve. Select MANUAL and set the pot at HIGH pressure for 1 minute. At the end of the cooking time, use a quick release to depressurize.

3. Stir in the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and apple pie spice.

4. Add the walnuts, if using. Serve hot immediately or chill and serve. (If you chill it, the porridge may thicken and you may need to add a little milk just before serving.)

NOTE: If you are using the nuts, you can either add them just as they are or saute them in a pan with a little butter or Ghee before adding to the finished porridge.

Product features

The recipes are so darn good and versatile that you'll forget they are meat free.” —the Washington Post

Our goal with this book was to develop foolproof recipes for all kinds of cooks—whether you’re a committed vegetarian or simply trying to steer your diet in a healthier direction and want recipes that are more than glorified side dishes. The result is a fresh approach to vegetarian cooking that offers inventive, kitchen-tested strategies to build bold flavor using simple techniques and a host of readily available ingredients.

Trendy Soup Relies on Surprising Ingredient

Our Super Greens Soup with Lemon-Tarragon Cream combines healthy appeal with something you’ll actually want to eat. To build flavor, we caramelize onions and mushrooms before cooking the greens.

Bolognese Made with Meaty-Tasting Mushrooms

We discovered that meaty, umami-rich mushrooms make an authentic-tasting Bolognese without the meat. A combination of cremini and dried porcini sauteed with butter, carrot, and onion lends complexity.

Crowd-Pleasing Enchiladas

This simple recipe was a big hit in the test kitchen. We roasted fresh poblanos until charred and made a quick enchilada sauce with canned tomatillos (their quality is consistently good, not so with fresh tomatillos, which varied season to season).

Not Your Average Caprese Salad

To maximize the flavor of our Tomato and Burrata Salad with Pangrattato and Basil, we salt a mixture of standard tomatoes and sweet cherry tomatoes to draw out their juice and intensify the tomato flavor.