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• Louie, Elaine

A collection of delicious vegetarian recipes for people who like to dine meatless all the time--or just every now and then. The Occasional Vegetarian is a collection of Elaine Louie's pieces from her New York Times column "The Temporary Vegetarian," which features savory vegetarian dishes from a wide variety of chefs. You don't have to be a full-time vegetarian in order to enjoy meat-free dishes several times a week, and she provides delicious and easy-to-pull-together meals that work well for families.

The table of contents lists the dishes from A to Z; each dish is filed under its principal vegetable ingredient, and there is also a section on Noodles, which includes both Asian and Mediterranean dishes that use any kind of noodle, from cellophane to pasta. Recipes include: Vignarola with Asparagus and Artichokes; Cranberry Bean and Kale Soup; Hungarian Cabbage Strudel; Mushroom and Daikon Soup; Chana Punjabi; Batata Harra (Spicy Potatoes); and Soybeans With Garlic and Dill. Contributing chefs include Matteo Bergamini of SD26; Gabriel Kreuther of The Modern; Andre Heimann of Andre’s Cafe; Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Spice Market; Anita Lo of Annisa; and Phillippe G. Massoud of Ilili.

Louie proves that cooking meat-free is not only easy, but so satisfying that The Occasional Vegetarian may turn part-time adopters into full-time vegetarians.