Ten years ago, Annie Somerville published Field of Greens, a cookbook based on the bill of fare at the San Francisco vegetarian hotspot founded by Deborah Madison. Everyday Greens is supposed to be the down-home easy-listenin’ sequel to that highly sophisticated volume, and it succeeds in its main mission: providing a solid foundation in all-vegetable home cooking for people who want to eliminate as much animal protein as possible from their diet. It would have succeeded better if more space had been devoted to recipes and less to autobiography, vague references to Buddhist lore, and my-life-in-cuisine. But it’s a rare cookbook these days that doesn’t try to turn its author into a guru, and Somerville’s Deep Thinking is at least not the kind that makes you want to slap the writer upside the head. There are other good introductory vegetarian cookbooks, and goodness only knows ones that cost a lot less, but Everyday Greens may inspire readers to realize that there’s more to vegetarianism than cutting out meat.
Lucilla
On May 16 at 6 p.m., Somerville demonstrates vegetarian appetizers at Sur la Table, 90 Central Way, KIRKLAND, $50: registration 866-328-5412; on Saturday, May 17 from noon to 1 p.m., she will sign copies of her new book at Sur la Table, 84 Pine St. in the Pike Place Market DOWNTOWN.
