When you think you're getting bored of eating meat-free meals, it's time to mix it up and try something new! Go to a new restaurant, or, go to one of your old favorite places, but order something completely different off the menu that you've never tried. When trying new places, I like to ask the waitstaff what's popular or what most people enjoy, even if I end up not taking their advice!

Looking for some inspiring home-cooked meals? Here's a few brand-new vegetarian and vegan recipes that I've been eating and publishing lately:

Egg scramble with avocado (pictured)

Summer mango and pear crumble

Quick and easy vegetarian jambalaya

Simple Israeli tomato salad

Hemp oil honey mustard salad dressing

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I don't often do cookbook reviews, but I do love that there's so many out there to choose from these days. Despite the huge market, I often find myself turning to a few old classics, time and time again, The Farm Vegetarian, for example will forever be a favorite, as well as the first vegan cookbook I ever had, Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet. Teen Cuisine New Vegetarian by Matthew Locricchio will likely be one of those books for some people.

If you're a novice chef or you often find yourself baffled by cooking lingo, then this is the book for you. Chef Matthew gives clear and concise instructions for every single recipe step. The book is ostensibly for teen cooks, and I'm sure they'll love it, but grown-ups who need the extra instructions will love it too. Don't get me wrong, the recipes are easy, but rather than being basic and simple, they're nourishing and creative twists on classic dishes. A snippet: tempeh burgers, strawberry lassis, curried vegetable stir-fry, three cheese polenta and, of course, many more.

Here's a few sample recipes from Teen Cuisine to try:

Smart oatmeal breakfast bars (pictured above, right)

Whole wheat pasta salad with fresh basil

Tempeh and onion chile

See also: Teen Cuisine New Vegetarian by Matthew Locricchio

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If you want to learn about cooking with tofu, these are the videos for you. Every time I hear someone say, "I just don't know what to do with tofu," or, "I tried tofu once and didn't like it," I just wish I could download (upload?) all of my love of tofu directly into their brains. In lieu of that, videos make it easy to learn lots of techniques quickly and correctly.

Here's a few tofu videos to browse and share for the tofu-naive in your life:

Tips for baking with tofu

Tofu: Basic cooking techniques

How to press tofu

Five ways to use tofu in desserts

Types of tofu

Easy tofu stir-fry

Plenty of people are interested in learning to cook with tofu, it seems, since these are the most popular cooking videos amongst the dozens of vegetarian cooking videos on About.com.

See also: More vegetarian cooking videos
Pictured: Easy orange-glazed tofu "chicken" recipe

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Eggplant Parmesan is a vegetarian Italian dish that makes a great meal any night. It does take several steps, but the end result is absolutely worth it! Learn how to make eggplant Parmesan by watching this quick video. This eggplant Parmesan recipe uses a breading out of cornflake crumbs, but you could also use any breadcrumbs that you have on hand.

Video link: How to Make Eggplant Parmesan
More eggplant recipes:

• Cheeseless Eggplant Lasagna
• Spicy Baked Eggplant Entree
• Vegetarian Eggplant Ratatouille
• Spicy Thai Basil Eggplant
• Indian Stir-Fried Eggplant

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