OK, So Now You're a Vegetarian: Advice and 100 Recipes from One Vegetarian to Another (Paperback)

by Lauren Butts (Author) "Most days, all you need to eat before school is a breakfast bar or a bowl of cereal, but if you want more, this chapter..." (more)
Key Phrases: Wicked Hot Chili, Pad Thai, Cheese Date Dip

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
When Lauren Butts became a vegetarian, she had a hard time finding recipes and information to suit her needs. Sure, there were plenty of vegetarian cookbooks on the market, but they just weren't for her. Why? Because, like many new vegetarians, she was a teenager and didn't have the cooking skills, patience, or inclination to prepare fancy vegetarian meals for herself. What Butts really craved was quite simple: vegetarian versions of her standby favorites--burgers, lasagna, tacos, and stir-fries. While still in high school, she started researching her nutritional needs and how to meet them without meat. In OK, So Now You're a Vegetarian, she provides 100 recipes for simple, satisfying, and nourishing food that any teenager would love, rescuing teenage vegetarians everywhere from night after night of steamed veggies and rice. Meals such as Veggie Quesadillas, Vegetarian Potpie, and Tasty Flatbread Pizza with Olives and Artichoke Hearts should appeal to teenage vegetarians everywhere. Most of the dishes are made with ingredients easily found in any supermarket, and many rely on standard ingredients normally found in most family kitchens.

Perhaps most importantly, Butts helps teenage vegetarians navigate the sometimes bumpy road from a meat-based diet to a plant-based one. She provides definitions of the different types of vegetarians (ovo-lacto vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian, vegan, etc.), a food-guide pyramid for vegetarians, and a glossary of ingredients. Best of all, each recipe includes a complete nutritional analysis that lists quantities of such important nutrients as protein, iron, calcium, vitamin B-12, and zinc. While there aren't a whole lot of recipes in the book for vegans (those who eschew all meat and animal products, including eggs and milk products), people who are semivegetarian, ovo-lacto vegetarian, or lacto-vegetarian are sure to find plenty here to keep them as happy and well-nourished as a growing teenager ought to be. --Robin Donovan

Review
“The first vegetarian cookbook by a teen for teens.” —Time magazine

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076790527X
• ISBN-13: 978-0767905275
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #211,675 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful Cookbook for Ovo Lacto Vegetarians, January 10, 2001

By	"carolyn5000" (NY United States) - See all my reviews

Though I am 23, older than the intended audience, my Mom bought me this book as a present. I was thrilled with it. Lauren Butts has created a fun and easy cookbook for anyone. I love the layout of the cookbook, it is divided into sections, and I enjoyed her nutritional info in the front of the book. Maybe it will inspire more teens to go veg.I found this cookbook full of great meatless recipes. I must warn strict vegetarians and vegans however, that most recipes contain dairy products, or eggs. There is a great recipe for "Nathan's Blueberry Breakfast Cupcakes", that is easy to make and tastes like store bought. However when I tried to get my three year old neighbor to eat one, he refused in horror. Other recipes that I have enjoyed making include: apricot chimichangas, Thai tofu Veggie Wrap-yum, Burrito Roll up, Veggie Pitas (Tastes the same as Wendy's veggie pita), Layered Nacho Salad, Mock Caesar Salad (in case you didn't know, Caesar Salad dressing is typically made with ANCHOVIES-fish=meat), Chilled Berry Soup-this is a fabulous recipe I made last summer when berries were plentiful, it is totally tasty and makes a great meal, TASTY FLATBREAD PIZZA WITH ARTICHOKE HEARTS!! This pizza was so unbelievably tasty, I have always been a bit wary of artichoke hearts, they just look kind of disgusting you know, but I was so shocked to discover their delicious taste!! Veggie Quesadillas were also fabulous. SPAGHETTI PIE is indeed a great dish, and I like to make it when serving non-vegetarians. It has been a hit with everyone so far. Tofu McNuggets are the absolute bomb. These recipes are only a fraction of the great ones in this book. I would highly recommend it to parents of new young vegetarians, or college students like myself who don't have that much time to cook. Some have opined that this book is full of recipes that are fattening, but I think most know, that us vegetarians are a mostly lean lot, and I can personally attest that the recipes aren't fattening. Thanks Lauren for creating a great book, it is indeed an oasis as far as Veg cookbooks go. Its great to have a cookbook that isn't full of really long, hard to find, expensive ingredients!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy for beginners, flavourful for the more demanding cooks, January 23, 2004

By A Customer

I am 13 and although I did not purchase this book from Amazon (I got it from my local boarders), I couldn't resist sharing how great it is with you. As I have it sitting next to me I'll mention some of the best recipes. (By the way I am about to become an ovo-lacto vegetarian but wanted to try some of the recipes 1st)
~First of all, my first one, brown butter ravioli w/ portobello mushrooms. I could not find pesto ravioli so I supstituted garlic and something or other (meatless of course!). They were delicious I must say.
~I have only recently had thai food where I got chicken pad thai (as I said I am not yet veggie) although they had vegetarian. Well, I loved it so imagine my delight when veggie pad thai was in this book (no thai food places near me :( I was at my cousin's)!
~Lastly, breakfast in your pocket, I have yet to try but very much want to- also I have been thinking of trying this on a croissant.

Also: Nathan's Blueberry Breakfast Cupcakes- I wanted to give them to the 5 year old I babysit for but he is allergic to like EVERYTHING so I'm afraid lol.

Overall, I love this book- A must for anyone- even non-vegetarians!
(I am an ok cook so be aware that some recipes require cooking skill)
sorry for rambling on- just so much to say

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential for New Vegetarians, June 6, 2006

By	Margie - See all my reviews

...especially young ones. I have now been a vegetarian for five years and rarely use this book any more but it was GREAT when I was first starting out. Lauren Butts was sixteen when she published this book and the recipes are all geared towards kids in that age group - both in simplicity and taste.
When I bought this book it was getting a lot of buzz because it had just been published by such a young author. Judging by the date of the last review, I'm guessing it has fallen off the radar. I, however, would still recommend this book to any teenage vegetarian.