When I first moved to Durham I was a vegetarian missing the taste of certain meats. The meat replicants or analogs in vegetarian processed foods frequently contain another poison to me, gluten wheat or seitan made of wheat.

I formerly lived in Ithaca, NY where Moosewood and Cabbagetown Cafe and many other vegetarian-friendly restaurants reside. I much preferred eating meals made from recipes in the Moosewood cookbook to actually eating at the cafe. This was not due to any problem with the very well known and renowned restaurant. I was blessed to befriend several vegetarian home chefs so therefore the renowned cafe was un-necessary. Cabbagetown, when Mollie Katzen worked there, was another story altogether. The cuisine at Cabbagetown, simple in presentation, was as good as vegetarian cuisine I have tasted in fine Vegetarian restaurants in SFO and NYC.

Next, I was introduced to the Crescent Dragonwagon cookbook by another truly gifted chef in my life. What a prolific writer Ms. Dragonwagon was and is. You have to pause on the name at least, DragonWagon. Nothing Game of Thrones about her but she could be an ancillary character with sir name alone.
Now at middle life I am again a Vegetarian missing the savory tastes and scents of meat. What to do but go to legumes and seasoning for your own home-cooked analogs. Soon enough cannellini beans with Franks Red Hot sauce is sufficient to make a savory meal for me. It is miraculous how properly seasoned beans can do to make you forget all about meat.  Beans don’t have to be a side dish any longer.

Vegetarians can be quite obnoxious and altogether bad company at dinner parties. When they preside over their own feasts and have skill the meals can and do satisfy even the most hardy carnivores on the planet. I would venture to say that Mr. Ted Nugent would even enjoy properly prepared cuisine from any of the select few cookbooks I reccomend below this article.