Welcome to Fix-It and Forget-It Vegetarian Cookbook
First, the Truth About Me
Folks, I am actively working at making and eating more meatless meals. This takes practice. This requires a new way of thinking about how to put a meal together.
I’m not giving up meat. But I am asking it to move aside. I’m upping the vegetables and grains that I eat – and cook – day-to-day.
You see, I wanted to do this Vegetarian Cookbook because I need a little help here. My life’s pretty full, so during the week when I don’t have a lot of time to think, I tend to drop back to the familiar. Often our evening meals are built around chicken that I can cook quickly or some beef that provides a flavorful center to our dinner.
But I want to form some new habits that have me thinking “Vegetable Variety” and “Whole Foods.”
I’ve told my helpers on our staff this. I told our home-cook recipe-contributors about my fresh resolve. I think of this Cookbook as representing a gentle uprising.
Phyllis Good
Tasty, Easy-to-Prepare, Non-Meat Recipes – Plus Companionship!
If you’re looking for some tasty, whole-food recipes without meat, they’re here.
If you’re also looking for some companionship as you move toward more meatless dishes in your cooking, you’ll find it here. (We’ve included some “bridge” recipes that point in the direction you want to go.)
If you want to cook confidently for your vegetarian friends or family, Fix-It and Forget-It Vegetarian Cookbook is full of tasty ideas.
Our First Hybrid
Ever since Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook (our first in the series) appeared, people have been asking for a Fix-It and Forget-It Vegetarian Cookbook. “My kids are vegetarians,” they tell me. Or “I want to eat more vegetables, but I need the convenience of my slow cooker to help me.”
Yes, beans and potatoes and carrots and lentils love a slow cooker’s low, moist heat. But not all vegetables do.
Plus, other cooking methods can highlight vegetables’ star qualities, making them irresistible to behold – and to eat. I couldn’t bear not to include recipes for roasting and stir-frying and steaming vegetables, as well as eating them raw in salads, in this Cookbook.
So you’re looking at our first hybrid cookbook – a collection of slow-cooker, stove-top, oven, and salad recipes. But true to our Fix-It and Forget-It style, all are easy to prepare and all are made with easy-to-find ingredients.
Fix-It and Forget-It Vegetarian Cookbook can meet all your meatless cooking needs, from appetizers to desserts. The whole meal is here.
Think of a vegetarian meal as several dishes of equal importance, rather than a main dish with side dishes built around it.
Not sure how all the parts of a vegetarian meal come together? Flip to the 50 menus in the Cookbook (see pages 6-15) to find well-balanced meals and tasty food combinations. Now you can confidently serve a nutritionally complete vegetarian meal for a weekday family supper, or a feast for a special day. These menus will get you started, or give you fresh inspiration.
No Apologies for Vegetables Here!
When my mother’s generation first discovered canned cream soups, they couldn’t believe the ease they brought to cooking. Then someone mixed the creamed soup into vegetables and felt almost French! With the appearance of processed cheese, vegetables receded further into the background flavor-wise.
Some of our kids think they want to eat only well-masked vegetables. But we’ve steered almost completely clear of this approach to vegetables here. We’re making vegetables and whole foods the leads, in as natural a state as possible.
Yes, your husband and your kids can get full when they eat a meatless meal. Yes, you might have to search a new aisle in the grocery store to find an ingredient you haven’t used before. Yes, you might need to think of yourself as an explorer.
Just remember that these recipes come from home cooks who’ve made them successfully and served them to happy friends and family. You’re joining great company when you try these recipes, whether you start with one meatless meal a week or eat only vegetarian dishes!
