What is the best vegetarian cookbook?

I have recently discovered a cookbook I think is really excellent: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. Everything I make from there is simple to prepare and delicious. I also really like The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook. It's not veggie, but they have a lot of veggie dishes and they're really brilliant in their testing of recipes until they're at that maximum efficiency.

Epicurious.com is great. Not a cookbook, but if you type in "vegetarian" into the search you get 2000 recipies. and the comments/ratings are really helpful.

The Vegetarian Epicure is one of my favorites - it's right up there with all of the Moosewood cookbooks on my shelf... Also, there's a new-ish Moosewood book called "Simple Suppers" - it's all the recipes the Moosewood cooks make for their families at home - if you haven't seen it yet, you should check it out - definitely my favorite of all the Moosewoods so far...

I want to second the recommendation of Moosewood cookbooks. They are all pretty great and all vegetarian.

I second Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. It's excellent, and really easy to follow.

Try also http://vegweb.com/veglinks/ - recipes are rated by normal cooks...4 spoons is the highest, I think.

i forget the name of the book, but the author is "crescent dragonwagon." no joke.

The veggie cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon is called Passionate Vegitarian. It's pretty good. I don't love it because a lot of the recipes are a little too "granola" for my tastes, but it does have a lot of recipes!

Oh yeah! Also, check out Cooking Light Magazine online, as well as their annual compendiums of vegetarian recipes on Amazon or at your independant, local bookseller ; ) They have great vegetarian recipes, and I find that because they try to make them healthier, they subsitute fats with more sophisticated ingredients. I've had some excellent results with their recipes.

Has anyone tried The Great American Detox Diet? It's the book written by SuperSize Me's star's girlfriend. I think it's vegan. Haven't seen it or tried any of the recipes, but would be curious to hear from anyone who does.

Everyday Greens. I think it's also by Deborah Madison et al.

the whole foods cookbook has a lot of great veggie (or easy-to-make-veggie) recipes.

while maybe not the best veggie cookbook, i also learned a LOT from the 'how it all vegan' and 'garden of vegan' books. i often make the recipes with dairy and use other substitutes (if you're vegetarian and not vegan), but they have a lot of great ideas.

Yes to Deborah Madison. Laurel's Kitchen is an old standard too, with lots of information on nutrition.

word on the deborah madison. let me know if you want to borrow it, I'm you're neighbor now : )

I've read Laurel's Kitchen and Moosewood books, but I have yet to find a good cookbook on techniques. Any of these other recommended books cover 'how to cook' basics, rather than chock full of readymade recipes? I know how to cook meat and some veggies, but I'd like a similar database about basic meal-building.

Try Cook's Illustrated cookbook, or their website (which has some free stuff although it's a pay site). But what you might want to do is watch some cooking shows (Cook's has some video at their site as well). Watching someone make something is the best way to pick up all sorts of little tricks and techniques.

cucumber salad

cucumbers, tomatoes, maybe some avocado and red onions (the onion might be a little harsh but it tastes good when you are feeling better) in a marinade of red wine vinegar/ apple cider vinegar/ or lemon juice and olive oil with salt and pepper and basil

also fresh apples and citrus
fresh ginger- in a juice or veg. stirfry
a fresh fruit smoothie
mint tea, green tea

this is what feels right for me. fresh and raw fruits and veg. nothing with dairy or refined grains or sugars.

I think The Joy of Cooking is one of the best books on cooking techniques out there. Vegetarian cooking is not that different from omnivorous cooking in some regards: just ignore the chapters on meat, and substitute meat-based stock and oils with vegetable-based stock and oils.

And aside from that, I enthusiastically second the recommendations for the Moosewood Cookbook and Laurel’s Kitchen; I’m not a vegetarian myself, but those two are cookbooks I go to often.

Drag your mouse over to 101 Cookbooks, http://www.101cookbooks.com/ .

1. Moosewood Cookbook
2. The Tassajara Recipe Book