I purchased Eva Batt’s Vegan Cooking: Recipes for Beginners when I was in college and bent on becoming a vegan. After months of trying, I finally realized that I simply wasn’t cut out to be a vegan (though I could do vegetarian easily enough)—but that a few vegan recipes and meals a week were certainly delicious and easy enough to prepare.

Recommended by The Vegan Society, Vegan Cooking is an excellent introduction to non-meat, non-dairy cooking and eating. Considered the classic recipe book of its kind for many years worldwide, it contains very simple yet tasty recipes for vegans (as well as non-vegans) to really get to know the vegan cooking style. Complete meals are included as well as snacks, desserts, and other confections. Batt includes plenty of basic, simple kitchen tips as well. An entire section on mueslis is included, as well as chapters on breads, stuffing and sauces, vegetable serving ideas, soups, salad dressings and more. If you love chocolate, ice cream, and other items you thought you couldn’t have on a vegan diet, you’ll find some excellent ways to make your favorite foods in this book.

It’s a very small book, only 140 pages and very thin, but it’s completely filled with great recipes and ideas. Without any pictures or glossy spreads, multiple recipes are actually crammed on every page, making use of such a small space (something environmentalists can appreciate as well). An easy to use index is in the back of the book for quick recipe searches. The end also contains a helpful conversion chart for British and American equivalents, as well as some information on The Vegan Society.

Here are some benefits of a vegan diet that Batt cites:

• It’s a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, which can help in preventing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and a plethora of other diseases and afflictions our society is often plagued with.
• It’s very high in minerals, vitamins, omega oils, and antioxidants, which helps prevent cancer, increase overall health, and prevent people from having to purchase supplements separately.
• Veganism is ideal for people who are lactose or dairy intolerant, and it provides a way for families to cook meals that will fit everyone’s dietary needs.
• It takes the risk of being poisoned or being given pesticides or hormones from meat off the table, literally!
• Of course, it’s also a cruelty-free lifestyle.