ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 18, 1996 TAG: 9612180014
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Associated Press
Sharing fine food and conversation with friends and family is one of life's greatest pleasures. But creating a successful dinner party can often be an intimidating task.
If the occasion calls for an all-vegetarian menu, the prospect can seem overwhelming. But it is possible to serve a healthful meatless menu that both vegetarians and nonvegetarians will enjoy.
Here are some suggestions from the new crop of cookbooks on the subject:
``Vegetarian Times Vegetarian Entertaining'' (Macmillan Reference, $27.50 hardcover) is the third cookbook in the series from Vegetarian Times magazine. This cookbook provides 23 creative menus for almost every occasion, holiday or season, including Christmas, Valentine's Day and Passover.
Each menu contains recipes, timetables for planning, serving suggestions and full-color photographs of the finished dishes.
The suggested menu for Christmas: Holiday Spinach Chowder, Cheddar-Vegetable Pot Pie, Boston Baked Beans with Seitan, Sauteed Zucchini with Tomatoes and Parsley, Cranberry-Orange Sauce, Apple-Berry Cake and Melon ``Egg'' Nog.
Nava Atlas, author of ``Vegetarian Celebrations'' (Little Brown, $15.95), says no one will leave the table disappointed when familiar flavors and foods are served. She suggests plenty of seasonal ingredients such as corn, squash, sweet potatoes, apples, nuts, cranberries and greens. Butternut squash with stuffing and walnut-apple stuffing are two of her favorite dishes.
Atlas is also the author of ``Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons'' (Little, Brown, $13.95), with more than 125 recipes including Sweet Potato Soup, Squash and Corn Chowder, Creamy Carrot Bisque and Spicy Chili Bean Soup.
Other vegetarian cookbooks:
* ``America: The Vegetarian Table'' by Deborah Madison (Chronicle Books, $22.95). With recipes for Cranberry Relish, Fresh Corn Pudding, Pecan-Covered Grit Balls and Sweet Potato Puree with Black Walnuts.
* ``Beyond the Moon Cookbook'' by Ginny Callan (HarperCollins, $18). Callan, founder and former chef of the popular vegetarian restaurant Horn of the Moon Cafe in Montpelier, Vt., sold the cafe in 1990. For entertaining, she suggests the following menu: Mushroom-Leek Turnovers with Blue Cheese, Spicy Seitan and Vegetable Stroganoff and Apple-Cranberry-Raisin Strudel.
* ``The First Book of Vegetarian Cooking'' by Dionne Stevens (Prima Publishing, $24). Stevens has filled her cookbook with 300 recipes, an ingredient exchange, general nutritional information and a mail-order directory.
* ``The Greek Vegetarian'' by Diane Kochilas (St. Martin's Press, $24.95). Kochilas has included more than 100 recipes inspired by the traditional dishes and flavors of Greece. Among them: Fried Pumpkin with Skordalia, Classic Greek Bean Soup and Savory Pumpkin Pie in a Phyllo Coil. The cookbook includes a chapter on setting up a Greek vegetarian pantry and a list of mail-order sources.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB