Beyond Rice Cakes and Ramen

Quiz time! Vegetarianism is:

A) strictly for humorless health nuts.
B) fine if you actually like brown rice. I guess.
C) what? I wasn't sleeping, I was resting my eyes. Can you repeat the question?
D) just kind of . . . normal.

You answered D, right? Meatless eating is healthy, inexpensive, ecologically friendly, and even hip. What's not to like?

But it's not always easy being green. The salad bar can get pretty uninspiring after a while, and you don't even want to know how much salt lurks in that can of tomato soup.

Enter the Carle sisters: Megan (the long-time vegetarian) and Jill (the skeptical carnivore) are the dietary divas of yummy, doable dishes for teens and young adults. In this new book (their fourth), they offer the tips, tricks, and tasty recipes they use to feed themselves and their friends in style--veggie style.

The Carles make cooking easy for cash-strapped, kitchen-shy vegetarians, starting with instructions on how to set up a basic veggie kitchen on the cheap. And they keep it simple with 90 recipes organized into student-friendly chapters, from "Cheap Eats" to "Impressing Your Date," "Dinner for One" to "Party Food," plus a desserts chapter packed with vegan options. Every page bursts with color photographs.

Whether you're sharing Pasta Primavera with your roommates, taking a Caramelized Onion Tart to a party, grabbing a Roasted Red Pepper and Avocado Wrap on the run, or buttering up your sweetie with Mushroom Ravioli, College Vegetarian Cooking will break you out of the ramen rut--without breaking your budget.

From the Trade Paperback edition.