32 Comments

Laurel’s Kitchen and Moosewood really take me back. I love The Vegetarian Epicure. I saw Frances Moore Lappé speak last year - gotta give a shout out to Diet for a Small Planet. Not so much the recipes but the mindset. Thanks for helping me appreciate these authors and books all over again.

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I would have died! Diet For A Small Planer deserves a whole newsletter itself. What an impact

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Diet for a Small Planet, along with Small is Beautiful (other-than-food), changed my life forever. I really respect Frances Moore Lappe AND her daughter for their tireless activism on behalf of land use. I got educated big time from her book because prior to that I had never given a thought to global agricultural practices. Thank you for honoring these wonderful cookbooks.

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I am so glad you gave that shout out to Isa. I love her and her books, every one.

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Oh man, Vegan with a Vengeance is so great! We just made the Italian baked tofu last night. Love her books. Her new one, Fake Meat, is also highly recommended!

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I love Vegan with a Vengeance. It was one of my first vegan cookbooks as well. So many good recipes in there.

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These books are the best!! One hippie cook to another <3 I feel really seen here <3

I would add Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons too

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Veganomicon got me started on this journey and I still make those potato/kale enchiladas. My wife got me an Italian vegan cookbook and I’m in love with it!

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We have her Veganomicon... nom nom nom ☺️

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I love that one too

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My very first vegetarian cookbook was a gift from my husband when we were dating - The Vegetarian Feast by Martha Rose Shulman. It’s a groovy 70s style cookbook but it has some really delicious recipes that have become family favorites. I also still use my battered copies of Moosewood and Vegan with a Vengeance.

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Three of these books have been my go to’s for decades. Happy to see I’m not the only one that appreciates Laurels Kitchen. I can relate to your comments, and as a new vegetarian in the early 80’s this was my bible. Thanks for the affirmation.

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Vegan with a Vengeance was also my first vegan cookbook when I made the change in 2015. Yours was the second! Isa is a genius, and her restaurant is also amazing!

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“How It All Vegan” and “Garden Of Vegan” by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer got me into cooking from scratch when I went veggie way back in 2003.

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Awww we went vegan the same year!

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I love that I have all of these cookbooks in my library too! I did my PhD at Cornell University and Moosewood was the meeting place of "the gang" <3

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Clearly we’re twins.

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I'm down with all of these and would like to add TEN TALENTS by Frank J. Hurd, D.C. AND ROSALIE HURD, B.S., the "Bible" of the vegan diet, copywrite 1968. It was essential in my journey around the corner to totally plant based way back in 1987 when I had babies to feed. Still use it today.

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Some oldies but goodies are Wings of Life, Julie Jordan, Anne Seranne’s Good Food. Without Meat, and The Vegetarian Epicure, Anna Thomas. All beginnings to a vegan voyage for me

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Love The Vegetarian Epicure! This list could have easily been 5x as long

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The college vegetarian cookbook. I could pour hours into that one. It literally got me through college. Also later the Chicago Diner cookbook was a fucking game changer.

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Oh man, the cheesecake recipe from Chicago Diner was so crazy popular. What a throw back

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The revelation that I could make my own seitan was mind-blowing! Also that cheesecake recipe was a banger.

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Great list, here’s another one which was formative for me back in the 70’s:

Tassajara Cooking

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Yes! I have a collection of 60s and 70s hippie cookbooks and I cherish all of them. Vegetarian Epicure almost made the list

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Vegetarian Epicure is what got me started! I still have both original copies on my cookbook shelf!

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That and Tassajara Bread Book! But they are by Edward Espe Brown- so they don’t fit the women’s cookbook criteria. Greens by Deborah Madison!

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I love Vegetable Literacy by Madison. Gorgeous book and such a great resource

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