10 Cookbooks for People Who Love the Planet
#EcoList of Things We Love
These days we need good sustenance of all kinds — including what we eat. And how we eat is a fairly straightforward way to align our actions with our values.
Drawn from the bookshelves of the staff of the Center for Biological Diversity, here are 10 cookbooks for people who love the planet.
1. Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, & Southern Flavors Remixed by Bryant Terry. Ingredients and classic dishes of the African diaspora are reworked into new and truly fun vegan combinations.
2. An Everlasting Meal: Cooking With Economy & Grace by Tamar Adler. Philosophy and instruction are combined into lessons on how to cook — and how to live — with economy and grace. Chapter titles reveal the poetry of Adler’s prose: “How to Boil Water,” “How to Have Balance” and “How to Drink with Saints.” Recommended for when you need to rediscover the dignity of the everyday.
3. The Homemade Vegan Pantry by Miyoko Schinner. This comprehensive guide shows how to make vegan staples at home, allowing you to avoid the processed stuff. We also love Schinner’s Artisan Vegan Cheese, a guide to making vegan cheese that actually tastes good — even to non-vegans.
4. Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé and Anna Lappé. In 1971 Frances Moore Lappé published the classic Diet for a Small Planet. Her follow-up, Hope’s Edge, published in 2003 and co-written with her daughter Anna, narrates their travels through Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe in search of solutions to one of the most urgent issues of our time: rampant capitalism.
5. The Insect Cookbook: Food for a Sustainable Planet by Arnold van Huis, Henk van Gurp and Marcel Dicke. With 40 tons of them for each human, insects could help solve world hunger. Through interviews and recipes, two entomologists and a chef make the case for insects as a sustainable source of protein for humans and a necessary part of our future diet.
6. The New Fast Food by Jill Nussinow. Let this book be your guide to preparing vegetarian fare with a pressure cooker. Pressure cooking uses less energy than most other cooking methods, which makes it undeniably good for the planet.
7. The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. This encyclopedic, essential, contemporary classic is recommended for beginners and experienced cooks alike. It ranges from rock-bottom basics (how to boil an egg) to recipes for complex, full-bodied dishes (like winter squash galette and soba with hijiki and stir-fried vegetables). The 2014 version includes more vegan recipes and vegan adaptations.
8. The Restore-Our-Planet Diet: Food Choices, Our Environment, and Our Health by Patricia Tallman, Ph.D. Recipes here are presented with side-by-side comparisons of the nutritional and ecological benefits of plant-based versions over animal-based versions. This is a great resource for when you need the facts on your side.
9. Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck. Full of swear words, this vegan cookbook is a favorite among feisty Center for Biological Diversity staff. Recipes include roasted beer and lime cauliflower tacos, pumpkin chili and really f*cking good grilled peach salsa.
10. Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. This tome offers a variety of some of the best vegan recipes we know, information about vegan ingredients, and tips on substituting plant-based proteins into dishes. From Moskowitz, we also rely on Isa Does It for super-easy weeknight meals, and Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for dessert. Which is the perfect way to end our list of cookbooks for the planet.
Flotsam is a list of things we think are cool. Send us your ideas at flotsam@biologicaldiversity.org.
