Over the years the I have derived cooking inspiration from many, but perhaps outside of my family, Mark Bittman is one of the real giants.

Here’s why I loved this column:  It’s simple.  It’s flexible – not a do it this way exactly kind of approach.  It’s world cuisine based.  It’s often got video footage.  It’s very tasty.  I know he is not a vegetarian, and neither is The Minimalist column, but he does a great deal of vegetarian dishes among the others.  Sometimes I use a meat recipe and adapt it with vegetarian substitutes.

Mark Bittman does more than this great column.  He has a number of cookbooks out there – including the one I have:  How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  And he means everthing – over 2,000 recipes, plus variations.  Get this cookbook, it’s a great reference.

Get the recipes from his column here.

I wonder what he is going to do next!