Every so often we'll bring you a review of some of our favorite vegetarian cookbooks to help you with your meatless options. First up, we wanted to highlight Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison, a book that is like the Joy of Cooking for vegetarians. If you're struggling to find a simple vegetarian recipe for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, this cookbook is a standard for your shelf. We have a decent collection of cookbooks - some of them focus on specific cuisines, some of them are vegan, some for desserts (okay, okay, a bunch for desserts), and some are from specific vegetarian or vegan restaurants we've loved. This cookbook is probably one of the most used of them all. The recipes are simple to cook but tasty and the ingredients can be easily found even in our small town with its standard, non-foodie grocery stores. Since it's a basics cookbook, she covers sauces and condiments, appetizers, sandwiches, salads, soups and stews, casseroles, beans, veggies, pastas, pies, grains, eggs, soy, breakfast, breads, and desserts. Whew!

Here's a very simple recipe that is a hit with everyone in our family:

Lentils and Rice with Fried Onions (Mujadarrah)

Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 very large onion, sliced into rounds 1/4 inch thick (we like the onions so much that we usually do 2 onions)
1 1/4 cups green or brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
salt and pepper
3/4 cup white or brown long-grain rice

Directions: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it's a rich, dark brown, about 12 minutes. Meanwhile, put the lentils in a saucepan with 1 quart water and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add the rice, plenty of pepper, and, if needed, additional water to cover. Cover and cook over low heat until the rice is done, about 15 minutes. Stir in half the onions, then cover and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes. Spoon the lentil-rice mixture onto plates or a platter and cover with the remaining onions.

Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone is a great kitchen resource featuring a wide variety of dishes and food categories. We highly recommend it!