8 Plant-Forward Cookbooks You’ll Actually Use

Best guess is that you now buy way fewer cookbooks than you did a few years ago. Searching for a recipe that uses that perfect butternut squash you picked up at the market, or discovering a new, wowza dinner party dish, is often easier to do on-line. And yet. There’s something about the creativity, photography, personal and food narratives found between the covers of an A+ cookbook that keep me returning to the Cookbooks section of my local bookstore. But the bar has been raised.

Here’s a fun fact I recently learned: On average, people make two recipes from a cookbook. That’s a lot of wasted paper, ink, and author effort. This shocking statistic led me to count the cookbooks standing sentry on my kitchen bookshelves. 99!

My well-used cookbook

It was time for a Cookbook Audit. How many of these books do I actually use, and how often? I sorted my books into three piles:

1. Never use
2. Rarely use (make 1-4 recipes, a few times a year)
3. Use constantly (lots of dog-eared, formerly wet, shriveled pages, some with bits of food still stuck on them).

This year, instead of touting the new, shiny cookbooks of the year (yes, I’ve bought a couple), I’m gifting you with a list of books you’ll go back to again and again. The oldest book on my list, Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, celebrates its 35th birthday this year and is vegetarian, not 100% plant-based. The newest, Plants for You, was published this year and continues to rack up awards.

I can say with confidence that each of these books makes life in the kitchen more delicious, satisfying, and fun — for you, and for your fortunate friends and family members, when you give them as gifts. It’s doubtful any will sell as many (75 million!) as Betty Crocker, the best-selling cookbook author of all time. But the authors of my favorite books, unlike Betty Crocker, are real people. General Mills created “Betty Crocker,” a fictitious woman, to teach American wives how to excel at being homemakers.

8 Plant-Forward Cookbooks For Every Type of Home Cook:

For Vegan/Vegan-Curious Eaters: Plants for You, by Diana Goldman. Diana whets your appetite by first addressing — in an approachable, easily understood, non-judgmental way, issues like how and why she plunged into plant-based living, cold turkey; how to entertain when some of your guests are plant-based and others are not; the link between food and climate change. She uses familiar, healthy, whole foods to create recipes that are simple enough for the beginning home cook and sophisticated enough to wow guests. The photography is gorgeous (tasteful, rather than food pornographic). My favorite repeater recipes: Chocolate Mousse with Raspberries, and Kale & Quinoa Salad with Mango and Black Beans.

For Spice Lovers: Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen, by Richa Hingle. Veggie curries, dals, one-pot meals and casseroles, Indian breads — Richa teaches those of us not fortunate enough to have an Indian mother how to make a healthier version (i.e., no butter or cream!) of Indian restaurant favorites. My favorite repeater recipes: Makhani Vegetable Pot Pie, and Vegetables in Smoky Tomato Sauce.

For Soup and Salad Folks: Love Real Food, by Kathryn Taylor. This is my go-to cookbook for nights I want a lighter soup and/or salad supper, typically when I’m repenting for a day (or two) of not-so-healthy eating. My favorite repeater recipes: Black Bean Tortilla Soup with Sweet Potatoes, and West African Peanut Soup.

For Starter Home Cooks: Isa Does It, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. This was the first cookbook a friend gave me when I transitioned from vegetarian to 100% plant-based. I spent an entire summer cooking only out of this book – which means I’ve made most of the recipes in it. Many are part of my weekly meal rotation, and are my go-to entrees for dinner parties. Isa’s writing is breezy and fun, her recipes easy to follow, hearty, and delicious. My favorite repeater recipes: Tempeh Meatballs and Spaghetti, and Butternut Bisque with a Coconut Swirl.

For Asian Cuisine: East, by Meera Sodha. Sodha, a frequent contributor to The Guardian, and not-frequent-enough contributor to New York Times Cooking, is one of my all-time favorite recipe creators. (And she’s not even plant-based!). Meera released this cookbook in the thick of COVID lockdown, and yes, it’s another one I cooked all of (see Isa Does It, above). My favorite repeater recipes: Eggplant Katsu Curry, and Honey, Soy, and Ginger Braised Tofu.

For Adventurous Tasters: Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, by The Moosewood Collective. My copy of this book is at least 25 years old, and falling apart. When my husband saw me looking at it while writing this post he suggested I buy a new copy. NO! I love that some of the pieces of food stuck to the pages could be decades old. (See turmeric-stained pages, above). This book opened my world to spices and cuisines of the world: Africa, the Caribbean, Mexico, and more. And for that I thank the entire Moosewood Collective. My favorite repeater recipes: Ethiopian Lentil Stew with Berber Spice, and Black Bean Tostadas.

For Eco-Friendly Eaters: Perfectly Good Food, by Margaret and Irene Li. The Li sisters are Boston local legends for their dumplings. Operating a restaurant taught them how not to waste anything. They share what they learned in this book. When you live in a country (America!) where 40% of all food is wasted, about 325 pounds per person per year, this book should be required reading. The Li sisters provide strategies for zero-waste cooking, and recipes, too. Favorite tips that have changed my life: Why everyone needs to compost, and how to freeze what I don’t eat, rather than automatically throwing it out.

For Ambitious Home Chefs: Big Vegan Flavor, by Nisha Vora. At over 600 pages, this is certainly the heaviest book in my collection. As a devotee of Nisha’s website, rainbowplantlife.com, I pre-ordered this book, and waited with bated breath for it to arrive. Yet, when it did, I let it sit for weeks before tackling any recipes. Everything I felt drawn to required an ingredient I didn’t have. Urfa biber. Fresh galangal. Umeboshi paste. Here’s the thing about Nisha: Although I’ve never met her, I’m quite certain she’s a Type-A perfectionist. Which, as it turns out, are qualities that make for an excellent recipe developer. Yes, her recipes tend to be on the laborious side. And yes, they’re worth the effort. I now have 5 recipes from this book under my belt, and I can say with confidence it’s a winner. My favorite repeater recipes (so far): Creamy Baked Wild Rice with Carrots, and Maple-Roasted Squash & Chickpeas with Mint-Pistachio Pesto. (I still have not bought urba biber, fresh galangal, or umeboshi paste).