The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook

I first met Debra Daniels-Zeller when I was regularly catering monthly dinners for the Vegetarians of Washington. She was the guest chef, and I was the "ghost chef". I'd work with chefs the organization wanted to feature, collaborating to develop menus and then executing the recipes myself because I had a commercial kitchen and catering gear.

It was sometimes a tricky job. The guest chefs wanted to show themselves off while I wanted, first and foremost, to earn enough money to make the endeavor worthwhile. I learned a lot about putting my ego aside.

When I first learned I'd be working with Debra, I went to a bookstore to check out her book, and promptly bought a copy. It was a lovely, self-published volume filled with enticing recipes as well as profiles of some of my favorite farms. By the time we touched base and began discussing recipes, I had already picked out a menu, which turned out to be very similar to the one that she had in mind.

We've crossed paths regularly since then, since we both frequent local farmers' markets. Getting to know her better I discovered that the original decision to self-publish her book was actually very much in line with her ideal of supporting local businesses and maintaining short supply chains in every possible way. I'd never seen anyone promote a self-published book as thoroughly or as conscientiously and I was continually impressed, though I also wished I could see the book receive the benefit of a publisher's established distribution channels.

The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook, which came out just this week, is an updated version of the original volume, with new insights and recipes, and an expanded reach, profiling farms in Oregon as well as Washington. It's a beautiful book. I rarely cook from recipes, but I'll definitely be trying some of these, such as the Potato, Fennel and Tomato Soup, and the Orzo with Shallots, Kale and Walnuts.

Congratulations Debra!