So You're Now A Vegetarian What exactly are you supposed to eat? If you're anything like sixteen-year-old author Lauren Butts, you don't want to wade through your parents' cookbooks or resort to eating boring plates of steamed veggies. You probably just crave vegetarian versions of the foods you already love: burgers, wraps, tacos, lasagna, and stir-fries. So that's what Lauren gives you in OK, So Now You're a Vegetarian. Not only does she provide 100 mouth-watering recipes for everything from a Breakfast Burrito and Thai Tofu-Veggie Wrap to the Fake-Steak Burger and Death-by-Chocolate Brownies, she also deciphers vegetarian jargon and gives nutritional advice on maintaining a healthy diet. You'll even find helpful cooking tips, in case you slept your way through Home Ec. In OK, So Now You're a Vegetarian Lauren has written, expressly for teenagers, the unique, invaluable, and fun-to-use cookbook that both you, and your parents, have been waiting for.
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
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Essential for New Vegetarians:
...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,... more info
The Best Vegetarian Guide on the Market!:
This was the only book that interested me at the bookstore. There wasn't much selection for Vegetarian kids and I bought this book after 5 minutes of looking at it. I loved everything Lauren Butts wrote in this book, and I love the easy recipes. It was an awesome book and now I'm a vegetarian!
Easy for beginners, flavourful for the more demanding cooks:
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... more info
Useful Cookbook for Ovo Lacto Vegetarians:
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... more info