I keep a few cookbooks on my shelf for when I need some inspiration. For the most part, I either experiment or work from the recipe tradition handed down by my mother and grandmother, but it’s good to have some second opinions and supplements:

I am pretty obsessed with this cookbook, for several reasons. First, it’s a great cookbook to have for someone who has little or no cooking experience because it gives you a lot of insight into how to cook well on a budget. I think it provides a good base from which to then work and try more complex, gourmet recipes/cookbooks. Second, all of the recipes are pretty basic and the ingredients are cheap. Third, there are some ethnic foods which are easy to get acquainted with: German, Indian, African, Middle Eastern, etc. Many of the recipes, however, are Classic American, with a healthy twist. Finally, this book advocates using the most cost-effective and healthiest protein sources (ask they see it, split peas and lentils) and mixing ingredients to form complete proteins so that we are healthy, saving the environment, and saving money. It’s a Mennonite thing.
I was actually really skeptical about this cookbook at first and didn’t think it would be much help to me. At the time, I was trying to eat as many fresh vegetables and fruits as possible, but also wanted food that seemed familiar. Growing up in an Italian home, I thought this might be a good fit. The first couple recipes I tried I wasn’t thrilled with. I thought I’d had enough with this book. Then I realized the beauty of this book: it opens up space for ideas. When I want to make a pasta or fresh vegetable dish (or even a soup), I will look through this cookbook for some ideas and make some adaptations as necessary. It really makes someone who is used to cooking traditional Italian-American food try some new and daring things, which tend to lean more toward the Italian side than the American.
So, the moral of the story is: it’s a good cookbook, but because I have my own palate for Italian cuisine, I usually don’t follow the recipes closely.

Twelve Months of Monastery Salads: 200 Divine Recipes for All Seasons by Victor Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette

This book is comprised of mostly European-inspired vegetarian recipes, it includes a lot of root vegetables, herbs, mayonnaise, etc. What I like about this one is that it has recipes listed by months, so the vegetables are kind of seasonal. What I don’t like is that some of the vegetables are kind of hard to find no matter what the season. Either way, I think this is good for including more light meals into one’s diet, and I find it to be a good supplement to More-With-Less (see above), in that it gives more healthy earth-friendly recipes that can also be somewhat gourmet.