I like food. I like making it, I like the history attached to it, I like serving it to friends. Some corners of EA have an odd attachment to thinking of food purely as fuel, and I think this is bad for vibes but a little bit bad in general as many people like food and if you make delicious vegetarian food your example might be more persuasive to them than if you drink a rebranded SlimFast for dinner, not that there's anything wrong with that.
So for the sake of other EAs that like food: What are your favourite cookbooks or recipes? For fairly obvious reasons, I'm most interested in vegan, vegetarian, or low-meat recipes.
I'll go first: I think the best way to get tasty no or low-meat food is to find books or recipes from food cultures that have a deep tradition of such food. My biggest wins have been mining recipes from Chinese (Fuchsia Dunlop writes good recipe books here), Indian, or Jewish ("dairy" recipes) cuisine. I also like the Ottolenghi books.
First up, "Plenty" by Yotam Ottolenghi. This book is a game-changer for veggie and low-meat options. His recipes are packed with flavor and creativity – seriously, you won't miss the meat.
Then there's "Thug Kitchen" – these folks keep it real with their vegan eats and no-nonsense approach. It's all about good food that's easy to make and even easier to enjoy.
And hey, speaking of recipes, I recently stumbled upon the pico de gallo recipe. It's a simple mix of fresh ingredients that adds a burst of flavor to any dish. Trust me, once you try it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.