Books: Mollie Katzen

Author and illustrator Mollie Katzen, whose classic "Moosewood Cookbook" helped bring vegetarianism into the mainstream, is back with "The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without." The nutritious books that shaped her personal palate:

My Five Most Important Books

"Honey From a Weed" by Patience Gray. Autobiography, travelogue and recipe collection, all woven together. It transports like a novel.

"The Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan. A poetic discourse on the nature of relationships—it has changed the way I see the world.

"The Book of Salt" by Monique Truong. The imagined story of a chef who cooks for Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. Gorgeous prose.

"Home Cooking" by Laurie Colwin. Brilliant, funny essays from the late Gourmet magazine writer. She left us too soon.