I feel like I am forever cooking. While I enjoy the task, there are (a lot of) times when I lose inspiration and cannot come up with meals to prep.
My favorite way to pique my interests again is to go through
cookbooks. I have a few that I reach for
quite a bit. I like to keep weekday meal
preparations to a minimum, so I do plan ahead.
I pick 3-5 items for the week that I make a list and shop for all at
once. That way, I am not running out to
the store last minute. All the ingredients
are on hand.
All of the cooking I do is Vegetarian and a lot of times
Vegan, which usually comes down to omitting the cheese in a recipe or we will
serve it on the side. Here are three of
my favorite cookbooks:
True Food Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure (2012) by Andrew Weil MD and Sam Fox with Michael Stebner. This book was written by the creators of True Food Kitchen restaurants. The recipes span from breakfast to desserts. The focus is healthy eating at home. Throughout the book are short essays discussing food habits, cooking tips, proper portions and seasonally cooking. There are several recipes we enjoy. We love the Asian Cauliflower recipe. This can be a great side dish or served over brown rice (which is what we do) for a complete meal. Another favorite is the Fettucine with Kale Pesto. It is so simple to make and so delicious. True Food is not a vegetarian cookbook, there are several seafood and poultry recipes as well.
Super Natural Cooking, five ways to incorporate whole and natural ingredients into your cooking(2007) by Heidi Swanson is another go to for healthy, clean cooking. This cookbook is written by a popular healthy eating blogger. She helps the reader transform their pantry. The photos in this book are so vibrant and soothing. Food in its truest form. She suggests ways to move toward a whole-grain, whole foods healthier way of eating, without being too preachy. She has been featured in the Washington Post, Vegetarian Times Magazine and on NPR.com. The Sprouted Garbanzo Burgers are amazing and can be made gluten-free if you use GF bread to make bread crumbs. But the burger actually becomes the bun and you put your fillings inside. Chunky Lentil Soup is a tasty cold weather meal. Not only does this contain protein filled lentils, it also has butternut squash. It is so hearty and filling. Perfect meal when paired with a green salad. She also has some great breakfast ideas and a tasty Power Bar recipe.
Lucky Peach presents Power Vegetables! (2016) by Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach This has an ”in your face” kind of feel to cooking with vegetables. Some of you might be familiar with the Lucky Peach magazine or newsletter. The text and recipes are very powerful. This is a cookbook that makes vegetables the center of the meal. The photos are vibrant and energetic. It is very inspiring and makes you say, “YES!!” I can do this! I have only had this book for a few weeks, but I have made the Ribollita (bean soup) and it was easy and quick when you use canned beans. The Falafel recipe is my next goal. With only 8 ingredients, it seems like a pretty easy recipe to make. This is a great cookbook for Meatless Mondays! You will not leave the table hungry.
