A vegetarian friend of mine swears by just about anything Moosewood. In fact, she and her husband regularly make pilgrimages from their Virginia home to the Moosewood Collective restaurant in Ithaca, N.Y. I suspect they own Moosewood T-shirts.

Me? I've always been oddly lukewarm about this veggie icon. When my friend has cooked for me from Moosewood's many books, I've always enjoyed the meal. I even once asked for the recipe. I just never made it.

Though I have many of the Moosewood cookbooks, I never take them off the shelf. I suspect it's because of the crunch factor, which is a huge part of the Moosewood mystique.

I'm just not a crunchy vegetarian. I can enjoy a good slab of tofu, but I don't want to live on it. I also don't want philosophy with my food. Especially in their early cookbooks, these folks always struck me as a little heavy on both.

With this bias I opened Moosewood's latest, "Simple Suppers" (Clarkson Potter, $32.50), billed as "fresh ideas for the weeknight table."

My first thought — this is one good-looking cookbook. Unlike earlier Moosewood books, "Simple Suppers" is beautifully printed (earlier books appear to have been printed on the paper bags the restaurant's free-range soy beans were delivered in).

It also is beautifully illustrated with lush color photography throughout, is intuitively organized and virtually philosophy-free.

As for the recipes? Still mixed for me, though I think most veggies will disagree. Some of the dishes are appealing — West Indian red beans and coconut rice, broccolini cheddar melt sandwich, Italian bread and cheese soup.

But there's also a lot of tofu, including the dreaded tofu scramble (call it what you will, but it doesn't taste like eggs) and something called tofu croutons in a salad. The recipes that fall between these extremes look fine; they just don't tempt me.

Strict vegetarians should note there is a chapter on seafood. The shrimp and avocado salad sounds amazing. The sardine sandwich does not. And while there are some vegan recipes, dairy is found throughout the book.

Here's a recipe to try.

ITALIAN BREAD AND CHEESE SOUP

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 quart vegetable broth

4 ounces grated fontina, gruyere or cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)

4 slices whole-wheat bread

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or parsley

Black pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until just golden, but not brown. Add the broth and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, toast the bread. Break each slice into bite-sized chunks and arrange in 4 serving bowls. Add 1/2 cup of cheese to each bowl over the bread. Sprinkle with basil or parsley and pepper. To serve, ladle 1 cup of hot broth over the bread and cheese in each bowl.

Makes 4 servings.