Narrowing it all down

Hello, my name is Michelle and I'm a cookbook-aholic. Don't judge.

Some that are waiting for a new bookshelf home.

These are my most frequented books.

The trouble with this addiction is not that it's too many books, I don't believe that should be classified as a problem. The trouble is that there are not enough meals in the day to actually COOK from all of these books. So this means a lot of these books never actually get used....save for the inspiration they give. To me, that is good enough.

Books that I do use, over and over again? The very first vegan cookbook we ever had, How It All Vegan! has the best zucchini bread recipe. Use that and adapt from that all the time. Veganomicon, for the chickpea cutlets, eggplant rollatini and so many more. The Real Food Daily Vegetarian Cookbook for the cashew cheddar, tofu ricotta, and lots of the finger food. Yellow Rose Recipes (published by Herbivore) for the vegan parm, the soups, the dips! And the very best pancakes in the world are from The New Farm Cookbook, a classic cookbook that screams it's hippie roots from the cover. There are lots more I use and love, but those are the dirtiest in my kitchen.

Often when I'm talking about cookbooks with customers at Herbivore, they ask me what is the ONE BEST cookbook to start out with when you're vegan. Ugh, that is tough to answer, because it depends on so many things. Do you know how to cook at all? What do you like to eat? Do you have lots of time and interest in cooking? So I find myself doing a short interview before I answer, since I don't want to just sell a book, but I genuinely want to make this person successful in their vegan life. That's my reward.

And here's the thing I've finally figured out; the very best book, that ONE BOOK, is whichever book they buy. AS LONG AS THEY USE IT! Just Cook! Cook simple, vegan food - or complicated vegan food...just get to know ingredients and follow the recipe, and use that vegan cookbook.