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Vegetariana: A Rich Harvest of Wit, Lore, & Recipes
First published in 1984, Vegetariana was one of the quirkiest entries in the field of hand-illustrated cookbooks. Publishers Weekly’s review predicted: “This book should prove itself a classic.” Now in its fourth edition and for the first time entirely vegan, Vegetariana is here for new readers to enjoy and original fans to rediscover. While more than 170 easy recipes are at the heart of its pages, Vegetariana is much more than a cookbook; it’s a sampler of literary quotations, folk wisdom, botanical lore, and historical anecdotes. So even if you don’t like to cook, this is a cookbook to read in bed! Taking her cues from her subjects, Nava Atlas animates the pages with whimsical pencil illustrations to create an unforgettable visual experience that will delight food lovers of all culinary persuasions. Vegetariana’s quirky art and design tap into a nostalgia both for beautifully illustrated books and simple, hearty food. While it may not have the lush photography and jazzed-up cuisine of contemporary cookbooks, it does have a kind of soul and wit that appealed to its first generation of fans and will surely appeal to new readers.
216 pages, Hardcover
Published November 20, 2021
About the author
Nava Atlas
39 books122 followersNava Atlas is the author and illustrator of many well-known vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including 5-Ingredient Vegan, Wild About Greens, Vegan Holiday Kitchen, and many others. Her first book was Vegetariana, now considered a classic in its field. In addition, she has published two books of satire, including Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife. Her latest nonfiction book is The Literary Ladies' Guide to the Writing Life (https://www.literaryladiesguide.com), an exploration of what it means to create a writer's life, through the first-person narratives of twelve classic authors of the past.
Nava is also a visual artist, specializing in limited edition artist’s books and text-driven objects and installations. Her work has been shown nationally in museums, galleries, and alternative art spaces. Her limited edition books are housed in numerous collections of artist’s books, including the special collections libraries of The Museum of Modern Art (NY), National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC), National Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Brooklyn Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and dozens of academic collections. Learn more about Nava’s work at TheVeganAtlas.com and navaatlasart.com.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 28, 2023
A beautiful and fun cookbook with unique facts and quotes. It’s illustrated beautifully! Some of the recipes are a bit outdated but others I’m looking forward to trying.
November 14, 2020
Why do I keep my cookbooks? I don’t use them. Not only are there more recipes on the internet than I could ever find in a cookbook, I never really used my cookbooks even before the internet. But whenever I think about going Marie Kondo on my bookshelves, I give my cookbooks a free pass. And I think I know why. These books tell a story about me. They tell the story of me and food.
I became a vegetarian in the late 80s. It was shortly after I got my own apartment and started cooking for myself full-time. One day I was at Hunter College and I saw some anti-vivisection posters and pamphlets. This led me to read Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. I learned about factory farming from Singer’s book. But it wasn’t any argument that persuaded me to become a vegetarian. It was those photos of animal suffering that did it.
Since I was new to cooking there was no difficulty in immediately adopting my new diet. I had been a finicky eater since childhood and had no particular fondness for meat. Add to that my squeamishness around raw meat and it seemed like vegetarianism was the perfect diet for me.
This was all before the spate of meat-substitutes we see in supermarket freezers today. This was a time when tofu and tempeh were considered meat-substitutes. In other words, it was a good time to be a vegetarian. I learned to eat fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, and seeds. I drank soy milk and subscribed to Vegetarian Times magazine.
Naturally I bought a few cookbooks and received others as gifts. They were all fun to flip through, but the recipes were usually too complicated for me. I had no real interest in cooking and my tastes were simple. Why would I want to hunt down ten exotic ingredients to make a gourmet dinner out of the Moosewood Cookbook, when I could just make a pot of brown rice and steam some veggies?
Beans were a staple in vegetarian cooking, so The Brilliant Bean also made it into my library. Although not a vegetarian cookbook, most of the recipes could be made without meat. I considered it one of my essential cookbooks even though I never once made a recipe from it. Its main value to me was the information about soaking and cooking a variety of beans. It did give me some ideas and inspirations, but the recipes were complicated and would not have pleased me any more than good old rice and beans.
Another of my never-used but essential cookbooks was The Tofu Book. The cover had the same design as the Nasoya tofu packaging. Not surprising since it was co-written by one of the founders of Nasoya Foods. I love that it has instructions for making soy milk and tofu. Were I to have followed those instructions, I wouldn’t have needed to buy Nasoya tofu anymore. But Nasoya Foods had nothing to worry about. True to form, not only did I not make my own tofu, I also ignored the recipes and just threw cubed tofu into my pan of sautéed veggies.
The most useful of my cookbooks was Fresh Produce. Created by the editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine, it was actually more of a reference book on fruit and vegetables than a cookbook. But it was just what I needed. For each fruit or vegetable, there are color photos and basic methods of storage and preparation. The information is simple and straightforward.
And finally there is my favorite cookbook, Vegetariana. I can’t say I made any of the recipes in this one either, but it’s full of historical anecdotes, quotations from classic literature, and whimsical illustrations. How many other cookbooks have names like Lewis Carroll, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Percy Bysshe Shelley in their bibliographies?
As I thumb through these old yellowed books, most of which I haven’t opened in twenty years, I realize something: My cookbook library doesn’t just tell a story about my relationship with food. It also tells a story about my relationship with my vegetarianism.
In the 80s, my diet was often regarded as unusual. I frequently fielded the incredulous question – “What do you eat?” – posed by people who imagined a dinner plate with a baked potato, a piece of broccoli, and a big empty space where the meat ought to be.
While I’m grateful to see tofu and soy milk and many other vegetarian options in even the most mainstream supermarkets, I am not pleased at all with the highly-processed mock meats. I started out as an ethical vegetarian, but over the years I have evolved into a health-conscious vegetarian as well.
So my cookbooks stay on my shelves. As I reminisce about my vegetarian journey, I come to suspect that these books influenced me more than I thought. My cooking may be simple, but it satisfies me. If I am in need of inspiration, these books will keep me grounded to my old-school vegetarian roots.
I became a vegetarian in the late 80s. It was shortly after I got my own apartment and started cooking for myself full-time. One day I was at Hunter College and I saw some anti-vivisection posters and pamphlets. This led me to read Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. I learned about factory farming from Singer’s book. But it wasn’t any argument that persuaded me to become a vegetarian. It was those photos of animal suffering that did it.
Since I was new to cooking there was no difficulty in immediately adopting my new diet. I had been a finicky eater since childhood and had no particular fondness for meat. Add to that my squeamishness around raw meat and it seemed like vegetarianism was the perfect diet for me.
This was all before the spate of meat-substitutes we see in supermarket freezers today. This was a time when tofu and tempeh were considered meat-substitutes. In other words, it was a good time to be a vegetarian. I learned to eat fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, and seeds. I drank soy milk and subscribed to Vegetarian Times magazine.
Naturally I bought a few cookbooks and received others as gifts. They were all fun to flip through, but the recipes were usually too complicated for me. I had no real interest in cooking and my tastes were simple. Why would I want to hunt down ten exotic ingredients to make a gourmet dinner out of the Moosewood Cookbook, when I could just make a pot of brown rice and steam some veggies?
Beans were a staple in vegetarian cooking, so The Brilliant Bean also made it into my library. Although not a vegetarian cookbook, most of the recipes could be made without meat. I considered it one of my essential cookbooks even though I never once made a recipe from it. Its main value to me was the information about soaking and cooking a variety of beans. It did give me some ideas and inspirations, but the recipes were complicated and would not have pleased me any more than good old rice and beans.
Another of my never-used but essential cookbooks was The Tofu Book. The cover had the same design as the Nasoya tofu packaging. Not surprising since it was co-written by one of the founders of Nasoya Foods. I love that it has instructions for making soy milk and tofu. Were I to have followed those instructions, I wouldn’t have needed to buy Nasoya tofu anymore. But Nasoya Foods had nothing to worry about. True to form, not only did I not make my own tofu, I also ignored the recipes and just threw cubed tofu into my pan of sautéed veggies.
The most useful of my cookbooks was Fresh Produce. Created by the editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine, it was actually more of a reference book on fruit and vegetables than a cookbook. But it was just what I needed. For each fruit or vegetable, there are color photos and basic methods of storage and preparation. The information is simple and straightforward.
And finally there is my favorite cookbook, Vegetariana. I can’t say I made any of the recipes in this one either, but it’s full of historical anecdotes, quotations from classic literature, and whimsical illustrations. How many other cookbooks have names like Lewis Carroll, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Percy Bysshe Shelley in their bibliographies?
As I thumb through these old yellowed books, most of which I haven’t opened in twenty years, I realize something: My cookbook library doesn’t just tell a story about my relationship with food. It also tells a story about my relationship with my vegetarianism.
In the 80s, my diet was often regarded as unusual. I frequently fielded the incredulous question – “What do you eat?” – posed by people who imagined a dinner plate with a baked potato, a piece of broccoli, and a big empty space where the meat ought to be.
While I’m grateful to see tofu and soy milk and many other vegetarian options in even the most mainstream supermarkets, I am not pleased at all with the highly-processed mock meats. I started out as an ethical vegetarian, but over the years I have evolved into a health-conscious vegetarian as well.
So my cookbooks stay on my shelves. As I reminisce about my vegetarian journey, I come to suspect that these books influenced me more than I thought. My cooking may be simple, but it satisfies me. If I am in need of inspiration, these books will keep me grounded to my old-school vegetarian roots.
April 3, 2020
Neat book, great recipes, the tidbits & sketches make it more fun.
April 29, 2020
I bought this book in the early 1990s and have recently rediscovered it. I love the lentil salad recipe and I made it yesterday. I'm glad I kept this gem.
June 27, 2007
This is really an awesome cookbook. It is a little dated, my copy has actually fallen apart and is in a neat little stack in my kitchen. There are some really rich, filling recipes, and there are some very clearly artery-clogging recipes. There are many dishes with a bit of a Jewish background, and I tell ya, I love Jewish cooking. A lot of these recipes are easy to make on a budget as well. The downside is really just that it's slightly dated material. But another upside to it is that there's little tofu in the book at all - so folks like me who like more variety in their diets, it's a pretty good pick.
October 12, 2007
This is one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks. When I was a vegetarian (for 7 years), I used it constantly. The recipes are not absurdly complicated, but they are intersting with comples flavors. The tidbits of information and humor scattered through the book are mildly amusing, and the wealth of general information about cooking methods, spices, etc, was really appreciated.
December 31, 2025
If you want the best version of "Vegetariana", for heaven's sake try and find the original,* which was published in 1984. This 2021 reinvention is not half as good, even though it is vegan, which I would generally consider a positive quality. The problem is with the author having gone full-bore man-hating, which she openly admits is the reason she excised (the best humorous) quotations by male authors from the original 1984 version. If you are a fan of hard-left feminist politics, this 2021 version is the book for you.
The pages are shiny and the illustrations hard to see. Just about everything is light gray. No need for shiny pages when you don't have any color photos! Why didn't the publisher tell her this.
*There are plenty of the 1984 book available from abebooks for anywhere from $7-$10. LOL.
The pages are shiny and the illustrations hard to see. Just about everything is light gray. No need for shiny pages when you don't have any color photos! Why didn't the publisher tell her this.
*There are plenty of the 1984 book available from abebooks for anywhere from $7-$10. LOL.
January 28, 2023
I received this recipe book completely free from Goodreads Giveaways.
I made several of the soup recipes since it’s been so cold once receiving this in the mail. They were absolutely delicious! Recipes were straightforward and easy to follow.
I would loved this book even more if it had color photos of the recipes. However, the illustrations were whimsical.
This book is not only vegetarian, but also 100% vegan. This book will definitely become a favorite reference for making dinners for me.
I made several of the soup recipes since it’s been so cold once receiving this in the mail. They were absolutely delicious! Recipes were straightforward and easy to follow.
I would loved this book even more if it had color photos of the recipes. However, the illustrations were whimsical.
This book is not only vegetarian, but also 100% vegan. This book will definitely become a favorite reference for making dinners for me.
February 15, 2022
Nava Atlas has refined her excellent recipes to be all out Vegan. Personally not there yet, have the old vegetarian version. The 2021 Vegetariana is a wonderful book for Vegans. Love her recipes, illustrations, history comments.
December 16, 2025
I love this book for its recipes as well as the commentary.
Background from the research would make a great reading list on its own.
Background from the research would make a great reading list on its own.
February 10, 2010
a "classic" vegetarian cookbook. Just about everything is quick, casserole and buttered. It's what I go to when I need a big comfort food fix. I think it's a good cookbook for non vegetarians who like to cook for their vegetarian friends and family. Most of the ingredients are VERY EASY to find.
Read
April 21, 2023Original published in 1984, I won this book which is a re-edition published in 2021. Absolutely fabulous in reading, recipes and pictures. Also book was signed by author. This is a Vegetarian bkok with lots of wit and folk lore and illustrations.
October 3, 2008
My First Veg Cookbook!
Read
January 22, 2009641.5 Atl
August 6, 2009
Fun little book full of interesting tidbits, although I could have lived without the "aphrodisiac" type quotes and stuff . . .
April 11, 2012
This is a fun collection of recipes in folk tradition.
August 12, 2016
almost too much going on, the quotes and illustrations crowd out the recipes which are billed as uick (30 minutes) and look very tasty
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews