Vegetarian cooking is extremely intimidating to most people, largely because all their experiences with vegetables in the past have been negative. Besides the fact that television likes to promote the idea that meat is the only thing worth eating, EVER, and actively promotes the idea that vegetables are unbearable to everyone except very overenthusiastic women (seriously, ladies, calm down there...), a lot of people grew up in families that, if they cooked, probably didn't know how to cook veggies very well. They're always a side dish, and always steamed, because what else is there, amiriteguyz?
I'm hoping to contribute, even in a small way, to the idea that cooking vegetables and vegetarian food is not only extremely fun, but also very easy and highly rewarding. Even just making a few vegetable- and/or grain-based meals and snacks at home can help dramatically cut your costs as well (bulk is absolutely your friend).
Besides that, this is a chance for me to record the recipe successes I've either found on the Internet or swapped with friends. I have quite a few very capable vegetarian-cook friends, and every new recipe they share with me gets me excited to get into the kitchen.
A few things to note about the recipes I post.
1) I don't use exact measurements. Almost ever. If you're looking for an exact, step-by-step recipe with exact measurements, check out some of the great resources I listed below. I cannot give this to you because this is not how I cook. Cooking exactly to a recipe is boring and rather discouraging in my experience.
2) In the same vein, I'm a HUGE believer in improvising. Don't have baking powder on hand for that corn muffin recipe you want to try? Use the yeast you just bought instead. (Obviously, this has its limits, but in general, if you have the bulk of ingredients, you can figure SOMETHING out.) Do you like beer and butter in all your dishes, or, alternatively, HATE beer and butter? Have fun tweaking to your own taste.
The main factor here is experience. Don't have a lot of experience? Get a few easy recipes that tweak your interest, and after you get the basic motions down, start improvising. Get a bunch of veggies you've never heard of and figure out how to cook them into something you enjoy. Keep trying new things until you get more and more comfortable. It doesn't take as long as you'd think!
If you're looking for more, besides your friendly Google search, there are some great Web resources I go back to again and again.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/
(obviously!)
http://www.food.com/ (Purely for ideas. I've never actually "made" something straight off of here, but still a great resource.)
Cookbooks (see my comments on not using recipes...still good for overviews)
And finally, a great "getting started" guide for people overwhelmed by the idea of vegetarianism in general: Your Simple Guide to Meatless Mondays, by my friends Marissa and Nate Rose. The book is casual and highly approachable...no boring steamed veggies to be found here, only delicious tips for busy people wanting to cut back on their meat.
Enjoy your adventure.
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