Cook Without a Book

I'm a big fan of Pam Anderson's How to Cook Without a Book. She focuses on teaching fundamentals and then explains how you can modify recipes to your taste. The idea is to help cooks learn to cook more on their own, rather than feeling like they have to follow a recipe every time. Anderson has a new version of this cookbook coming out toward the end of October: Cook Without a Book: Meatless Meals. Although I'm not a vegetarian, I'm trying to cut back on meat, but I'm always at a loss as to what to make besides the good old standby, spaghetti. So, I'm always on the lookout for a really good vegetarian cookbook.

The recipes in Anderson's latest are simple and healthy. She provides a "master formula" for each recipe, and rather than specifying a certain ingredient, provides suggestions for ingredients to pick from. I like this because it lets you choose the ingredients you enjoy and shows how easily ingredients can be substituted. This is a great cookbook for beginning cooks, new vegetarians, or anyone who enjoys experimenting with ingredients.