Home-style Improvement
Melissa Neesham
Not Just For Vegetarians:
Delicious Homestyle Cooking, the Meatless Way
By Geraldine Hartman
172 pp., available at www.notjustforveg.com
Over a decade ago, before making the choice to eliminate meat from my diet, I felt slightly intimidated at the thought of going vegetarian. What would I eat? How could I, one of the few people on the planet who dislikes raw tomatoes, be a vegetarian? Of course, liking every vegetable is not a prerequisite to becoming a vegetarian. In fact, there are no prerequisites (except, of course, the bit about no meat). Going vegetarian, whether for a trial period or a lifetime, can be as easy as pie, particularly if you have a recipe book like Geraldine Hartman’s Not Just for Vegetarians: Delicious Homestyle Cooking the Meatless Way. The wide variety of straightforward, easy-to-prepare recipes contained in the book are not the least bit intimidating, and include ingredients that you’ve probably been cooking with all your life. If you’re looking to reduce or eliminate meat from your family’s diet, this cookbook will certainly help make the transition a great deal easier.
For many people, meat-eating is a part of family tradition. This can sometimes pose a challenge for non-vegetarians who perhaps have difficulty imagining what meals at home would be like without Mom’s meatloaf and other such popular traditional dishes. It seems Not Just for Vegetarians was written with such people in mind, as it contains many recipes for vegetarian versions of family favourites, dishes your whole family can enjoy. An entire chapter is devoted to “family-favorite redos” – meatloaf, lasagne, old-fashioned stew with dumplings, to name a few.
But if you’re ready to try something new or perhaps a little less traditional, the book also includes recipes such as, “Tofu Pasta Stir-fry” and “Hummus with a Twist” – two of my favourites from the cookbook. You’ll also find a couple recipes that call for TVP: textured vegetable protein. But have no fear! TVP is not only relatively inexpensive, it also can be easily found at your local natural food store, or even online at, for example, http://www.bobsredmill.com/. Some of the recipes in Not Just for Vegetarians are adaptable for vegans as well.
Finally, what home-style meal would be complete without dessert? In addition to recipes for muffins, breads, snacks, soups, salads, dressings, main dishes, quiches, and casseroles, you’ll find about thirty dessert recipes – definitely NOT Just for Vegetarians!
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