Tassajara Cookbook: Lunches, Picnics & Appetizers

Vegetarian appetizers and light meals from the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the legendary Buddhist monastery set deep in California’s Ventana wilderness, is famous for its healthy gourmet vegetarian cuisine. Guests are known to rave about one particular Tassajara tradition: the bag lunch. Tassajara Cookbook shares these never-before published recipes for savory sandwich spreads, pâtés and loaves, egg and tofu sandwich fillings, salads, chutneys, sauces, marinades, and butters, as well as recipes for baked goods and sweet treats.

Karla Oliveira’s passionate interest in the culinary arts combined with her nutritional knowledge and professional chef skills led her to open her own business. Her culinary talents have grown through working with professional chefs at culinary cooking schools, as a private chef in Woodside, California, and catering and teaching classes.