Q+A (and Recipe!): Laura Lee Flanagan on Hardcore Vegetarian: Welcome to the Vegedome!

Interview with a first-time cookbook author!

Jul 20, 2025

Today, we’re excited to present a Q+A with and recipe from Laura Lee Flanagan, author of Feral House’s new book Hardcore Vegetarian: Welcome to the Vegedome!

Tamara Palmer/Food Book Club: How long did it take to produce Hardcore Vegetarian, and what was your process like?

Laura Lee Flanagan: Hardcore Vegetarian started as a COVID project. I was cooking a lot more than usual (even though I cook a lot to begin with), and I had a lot of creative flexibility, more than normal, so that’s where it started. The book started out more as a narrative storytelling about food than a real cookbook, because I had never written one before and didn’t know how to do it. All in, it started in 2020, and editing finished early in 2024.

Which was the hardest recipe in the book to perfect, and why?

I can’t point to a specific recipe, but I will say that the recipes I use most often are the ones that are the hardest to write down, because they are the most fluid and comfortable. When you have made something so many times that you can make it with your eyes closed... that is the hardest time to write it down.

Which dish in the book do you think you’ve made the most for comfort?

Absolutely no competition here: Roasted Rosemary Potatoes. I make them at least once each week for stability and happiness. I consider potatoes an anchor in my culinary (read = life) wanderings... a warm, fuzzy potato blanket is so real and happy.

Why is it important to you to consider seasonality in your cooking?

Seasonal cooking is so important because I try to buy local produce, which means seasons lead my cooking. If it’s winter, I am not eating fresh garlic or peaches. There are so many issues surrounding food these days: organic, non-GMO, local. It’s hard in the city, so I have to pick my battles. I have a very wonderful farmers market near my apartment, and I pay attention to what they have, then I follow their lead.

What are your all-time favorite vegetarian or vegan cookbooks?

I love many cookbooks, not specifically vegan/ vegetarian, but rather cuisine-based, that feature a lot of vegetarian recipes. I like the old school books...

Guiliano Bugialli’s Classic Techniques of Italian Cooking (the BIBLE)

Diana Kennedy’s Nothing Fancy

Martha Stewarts’ Hors D’oeuvres Handbook

Hedy Giusti-Latham and Andrea Dodo’s Cuisine of Venice and Surrounding Northern

Regions

Anna Mufaletto’s The Art of Sicilian Cooking

P. Majumder’s Cook Indian

Hiltl Virtuoso’s Vegetarian

Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking

Theo Randall’s Verdura

Try Flanagan’s Cacio E Pepe recipe from Hardcore Vegetarian below!