College Vegetarian Cooking

Grad students, cookbook authors and sisters, the Carles (Teens Cook Dessert, College Cooking) present another approachable but uneven collection aimed at peers who are going vegetarian. Emphasizing familiar favorites like cheese enchiladas bolstered with green chiles and corn, Asian lettuce wraps, falafel and pasta primavera, the dishes come together without fuss or the need for arcane ingredients, ensuring the book gets plenty of use. Time-saving steps, like employing already-made wontons for mushroom ravioli and puff pastry for cherry turnovers or tomato tarts will help budding cooks build confidence quickly.

 That said, novices may find instructions frustratingly brief-those unfamiliar with caramelizing may well end up with a scorched mess instead of a caramelized onion tart, and there's little help in crafting one's own pizza dough. Greater light is shined, however, on procedures for making potato gnocchi and maki rolls. Pesto pasta may be a little light on the basil, and the reliance on cream of mushroom soup in Tofu Tetrazzini may give one pause, but the sisters' hits outnumber their misses.