Cafe Max and Rosie's: Vegetarian Cooking With Health and Spirit

When Max and Rosie first opened their café, it had four booths, a counter with no stools, and a makeshift kitchen. They stuck to their then-novel notion that the natural, vegetarian food they served nourished a healthy and soulful life, and it was only a matter of time before Max and Rosie's Café and Juice Bar became one of the hottest spots in Asheville, North Carolina. CAFÉ MAX AND ROSIE'S serves up a tantalizing recipe collection featuring scrumptious overstuffed sandwiches, tasty international dishes, and an imaginative selection of fruit smoothies, freshly squeezed juices, and healing tonics that have locals and out-of-towners alike lining up at the door. Beautifully accented by Max's illustrations, CAFÉ MAX AND ROSIE'S is destined to become a treasured kitchen companion.

Cooking and eating vegetarian doesn't mean just dropping meat from your diet, it means "mak[ing] a nutritionally complete meal so that you are eating for optimal health." Max and Rosie Beeby, proprietors of Asheville, North Carolina's Café Max and Rosie's, have been serving up healthy and delicious vegetarian fare to locals and visitors since 1992 and proudly claim to have served over 80,000 veggie burgers. In Café Max and Rosie's: Vegetarian Cooking with Health and Spirit, the duo teaches you to cook tasty meals the whole family will eat and reveals some of their most popular recipes while encouraging you to consider the nutritional and social benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.

Vegetarian fare has come a long way since the days of rice and beans and steamed veggies. Try whole grains like quinoa, amaranth, spelt, and millet in your meals. Millet Mashed Potatoes are healthier and more interesting than their plain counterparts (serve with a savory Mushroom Gravy). Since soy products have become mainstream, more options are available to the vegetarian cook. Tofu chili is just as hearty as the meat dish and has an extra zip from the addition of tamari and tahini. Try Braised Tempeh and Cabbage over rice or Japanese noodles. Substituting nutritional yeast for Parmesan cheese in Fettuccine with Vegan Pesto Sauce adds a "delicious but strong" flavor (adjust accordingly). The chapters on soups and salads are mouthwatering--the Garbanzo Cilantro Soup being particularly enticing. Rounding out Café Max and Rosie's are sections on making your own vegetable and fruit juices and smoothies, both for taste ("Georgia Peach") and for health ("Cure the Cold").

Max and Rosie are dedicated vegetarians who want to spread the word that "becoming a vegetarian does not mean being deprived of good-tasting food, it means stepping strongly in the direction of good health." Testimonials by friends and family are interspersed among Rosie's recipes and Max's artwork. If you aren't going to be near Asheville any time soon, pick up Café Max and Rosie's for the next best thing. --Dana Van Nest