Vegetarian cookery books

 One thing that most of you won't know about me is that I have been vegetarian since the age of 6. I simply came home from school one day and informed my mother that I wasn't going to eat meat anymore. I'd always had very clear moral standpoints on things (or been stubborn as my parents put it), but this must have come as quite a shock to her considering that nobody else in the family was vegetarian, and nor were any of my friends at the time. I was lucky in that they were very supportive, and in fact my parents often choose the vegetarian dishes in restaurants now! Along the way I have met a lot of people who assume that because I'm vegetarian I'm of the militant variety and want to 'convert' them, which is not my style. I might encourage them to try vegetarian food, but only to prove that it can be every bit as tasty, and, if I'm honest, to show off my cooking skills.

Anyway, as National Vegetarian Week draws to a close, I thought I'd let you in on some of the best cookery books I've found, ideal for having a try or for ideas to feed to those guests you don't know how to cater for!



This book is amazing! Being Good Housekeeping every recipe works perfectly, and it's full of useful advice. Don't be deceived by the title, the recipes are good for adults too, just scale up the portion sizes a bit. Especially good are the toffee pie and bean and parsnip pie.



Another brilliant book of veggie recipes. This book has lots of great ideas for entertaining, perfect for non vegetarians suddenly faced with veggies to cater for at a dinner party! Try the raspberry and mascarpone sponge. Scrummy.



This is probably my pick of the bunch. An all rounder that has meals on a budget, baking, and entertaining ideas, all in a really easy to use format. Vegetarian cookery is a great deal cheaper than cooking with meat, and my non veggie university housemates were thrilled with this book, which got used nearly every day. Too many good recipes to choose from, you'll have to buy it and pick your own!