Savvy Vegetarian Vegan Cookbooks Review:

Vegan Soup Recipes for All Seasons

By Nava Atlas, cookbook author, publisher, and producer of In A Vegetarian Kitchen, one of the web's best vegetarian sites

Nava Atlas's revised and updated edition of Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons: Now completely vegan, with 20 new recipes, low fat, and delightfully illustrated by Nava herself. I’m full of admiration for Nava Atlas's talents and creative energy. This is the latest of nine vegetarian cookbooks, which she wrote and self-published, while raising children, establishing her popular vegetarian website In A Vegetarian Kitchen, putting out a huge monthly newsletter, and studying for a master's degree in studio art – all done with confidence, expertise, generosity, humor, and energy.

Something I love about Nava's vegetarian cookbooks: She's committed to taste and nutrition, but also to simplicity and speed of preparation – being the busy person she is. She doesn't hesitate to include ready made ingredients if the alternative takes too long, and the choice is between eating something delicious, and just giving up and living on sandwiches.

The Vegetarian Family Cookbook and The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet, Nava Atlas's recent cookbooks, are classics, and Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons follows in her personal tradition of excellence. I'm already a frequent soup eater, but Nava makes me want to eat soup every day of the year. I have to say that, up until now I haven't been tempted by summer soups. But, who could resist the delightful Cool as a Cucumber Soup, or Classic Gazpacho? Many of Nava's recipes have an oriental or macrobiotic flavor. Try her easy and tasty rendition of the Asian restaurant classic, Chinese Cabbage and Tofu Soup.

For me, the winter soups are the most tempting. As Nava says, 'Winter is the very best time for hearty soups and stews – nothing offers better comfort to body and spirit when coming in from the cold. What a perfect time to make thick soups of grains and legumes. Teamed with bread and salad, most of the soups in this section make satisfying meals in and of themselves.' But spring is springing (she said optimistically), and I'm tempted by the Japanese Soba Noodle Soup with Tofu and Spring Greens.

A big bonus with Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons is the last chapter, Accompaniments, 'a selection of quick breads, muffins, scones, and such, to accompany your soups. Simple to prepare, these can be made while the soup is simmering, then served fresh and warm.' Each recipe also includes a handy nutrition summary, for those who need to quantify their food.

In her latest newsletter, Nava Atlas said she was about to finish her graduate degree in art, and planned to focus more on art, but assured her readers that she wasn't going to be done with food for a while yet. Let's all breathe a sigh of relief about that!

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