Good cookbooks provide instruction and inspiration, but some of my favourites have an additional benefit — beautifully crafted photographs that illustrate the wonders and creativity of food. One of the finest collections of mouth-watering food photographs in my library is contained in Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi, a London chef and restauranteur with very inventive styles of cooking and presentation. I especially respect a master chef who pays more than just lip service to vegetarian cooking — the subtitle of the book is "Vibrant Vegetable Recipes", which includes legumes, grains, eggs and dairy. I can highly recommend this cookbook for more than just the pictures.

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Because one can never have too many paneer dishes on hand … here is another from my vegetarian kitchen. Ovo-lacto-vegetarians are in for a most satisfying meal, especially if this dish is served along with a steaming bed of hot fresh-cooked white rice and some Indian flatbreads. Paneer cheese cubes are cooked in fragrant spices and then gently simmered in a sun-dried tomato sauce. Sun-dried tomatoes are not part of traditional Indian cooking, but I also enjoy fusion-style interpretations. I might add that sun-dried tomatoes feature in many of my dishes that go well with tomatoes.

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Also known as a "Dutch Baby" in much of the United States, this sweet eggy apple treat speaks directly to my weakness for baked pancakes. Rising like a soufflé and turning a beautiful golden brown color in the oven, the pancake gently falls when removed and quickly fills the kitchen with the tempting aroma of brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Perfect for warming the flesh and spirit on a cool autumn morning, or even for serving as dessert, the "apfelpfannkuchen" is worth the little time and effort it requires. Weekends deserve a treat such as this.

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For this recipe I made up a fresh batch of goda masala, a spice blend that is new to me. Garam masala will work well if you don't feel like making this blend, but I do recommend trying goda masala as it adds an extra kick and a uniquely deep and earthy flavor and aroma to the dish. The recipe for the spice blend can be cut in half, or you can make up a big batch and share with your friends. This easy-to-digest, tart and tangy dal curry (or "amti" as this kind of dish is called in Maharashtra) is adapted from "Sukham Ayu" by Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Jain.

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