Just in time for produce season, publishers are showering cookbook enthusiasts with vegetarian options.
Here are three of the latest:
• Vegetarian Times Fast and Easy: Great Food You Can Make in Minutes by the editors of the Vegetarian Times (Wiley Paper, $19.95). This book from the longtime veggie-devotees' publication Vegetarian Times includes more than 250 recipes that clock in at 15 to 45 minutes. Make eggplant and portobello schnitzel with a lemon-caper sauce in 45 minutes or whip up some easy black bean chili in a mere 15. Includes nutritional information for each dish and a section on kid-friendly recipes. Vegan recipes are specially noted.
• The New Vegetarian Grill: 250 Flame-Kissed Recipes for Fresh, Inspired Meals by Andrea Chesman (Harvard Common, $16.95). Find some exciting meat-free options for grilling season with this book, updated for its 10th anniversary. The book includes a guide to indoor and outdoor grills and chart listing cooking times and special preparations for grilling vegetables. Sadly, photos are limited to the cover, but recipes for mixed smoked vegetable lasagna and minty couscous salad with grilled asparagus paint a pretty picture.
• Vegan Express by Nava Atlas (Broadway, $18.95). From Hudson Valley vegetarian cookbook guru Nava Atlas, this collection features 160 quick-and-easy vegan recipes. A guide to produce to keep on hand and items to keep in the pantry will help the new vegan or vegetarian get off to a good start. Atlas offers nutritional information with her recipes, which range from nearly instant Thai coconut corn soup to tempeh and green beans with shiitake-miso gravy.
