I forget what the ratios are with a rice cooker because mine broke ages ago. I just use a normal pot with a lid.

2 parts broth or water / 1 part rice (but remember, broth is one major step towards not sucking!)
put liquid and rice in a pot, bring it to a big rolling boil
stir once
cover, turn down to as low as you can go while keeping a simmer going
then I don’t know exactly how long. Maybe 30 minutes? 40? But just leave it simmering (DO NOT uncover it at any time during the cooking process) and after like roughly 30-40 minutes all the liquid will be gone. Then you have to just kind of vibe it: my lids are clear so I can pick up the pot with the lid still on it and kind of tilt it and see if any liquid still runs out from underneath the rice. If it does, keep cooking! If not, turn off the heat, and let the rice sit covered for another 5 minutes or so.
Stir in a pat of butter!

you might have to experiment a couple times because rice CAN be tricky, which is why so many people have rice cookers.

good luck!

I suggest chard and spinach as good transitional greens. Once you get used to them, start adding more serious greens. Then you can start doing things like making wraps in raw collard greens! Like, raw cashew cheese and lots of shredded veg (carrot, peppers, sprouts, whatev) wrapped up in huge leaves. AWESOME

Or you can saute shredded cabbage and a little carrot in peanut oil w/ sriracha and then add toasted nuts/sesame seeds and a drip or two of sesame oil at the end. I bet peanut butter/other nut butter would be awesome here too! & cilantro! & soba!

Actually I think having some prepared salads in the fridgeis very helpful. Like lentils vinaigrette, chickpea salad, shredded carrot salad with garlic dressing, egg salad if that’s cool with you. Then you can just make a plate of salad greens, add scoop of your prepared salad, and have lunch.

I wish I could find somewhere w sufficient co-opitude to have bulk soaps and oils. Stupid Silicon Valley! If you can’t find this then buy the huge jugs of Dr. Bronners and gigantic tins of olive oil, and decant as needed.

Oh jeez, and pickles & fermented foods! Pickle some radishes for those bean burritos! Or make Salvadorean curtido de repollo i.e. spicy pickled cabbage and have it w burritos or bean & rice bowls.

Getting into the cooking of other cultures is also really helpful w vegetarian cooking, I find.

I have a lot of vegetarian stuff on my blog even though it has the word “ham” in the title, & even though the latest update features lamb (because I’m not veg but do eat veg frequently). Here is the vegetarian tag.

Don’t be intimidated! I just tried to cover every conceivable base–this advice is not stuff you have to do all at once, overnight. Just pick one or two things, or recipes, or ideas, and just experiment slowly and figure out what works for you! Definitely don’t go to the store and all of a sudden drop $200 on a whole new kitchen life. Go slow, see what works for you and what you enjoy, and just kind of add/change stuff as you see fit and as it feels natural to do so.

Like, this week, make a pot of beans. And that’s it! Just see how that goes. Take stock, vibe it out, and go from there. Making your own veggie stock or whatever is totally next-level, down-the-line-a-bit-further stuff. Don’t even worry about it right now!

No biggie! Just have fun with lifestyle change–go as slow as you want!

All these other comments are really helpful too, I think.

I feel like some day you will learn to love kale. It can be really great if you cook it right.

– Don’t be too healthy! If you’re already ‘depriving’ yourself of meat, go ahead and splurge on fat. Rich dishes like Thai curry, mac and cheese, or Hungarian mushroom soup will be tasty, filling, and you won’t come away craving more.

– Just say no to fake meat and dishes that are meat-free versions of meat dishes. You’ll be able to taste the difference, and not in a good way – plus meat substitutes are highly processed (just check out the terrifyingly lengthy and chemical ingredient list). Instead, focus on cuisines that are traditionally light on meat, like Indian, Thai, and Japanese (the latter especially if you’re still allowing fish).

– Learn to love beans. Lots of people don’t really relish them, but they are delicious, filling, and extremely versatile. If you need some extra convincing, go to the farmer’s market and splurge on fresh-dried heirloom beans (grown and harvested recently). You will be shocked by how flavorful they are, plus they cook in under 30 minutes because they aren’t as dried out.

– Ditto with eggs – quiches and fritattas are great kitchen-sink techniques to use whatever seasonal veggies you have on hand, and are mighty filling.

My favorite food blogger, Heidi Swanson, features only vegetarian recipes on her blog 101cookbooks.com; I encourage you to check it out. Here are some of my favorite recipes of hers:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001525.html
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000110.html
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/edamame-soup-recipe.html
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/chopped-miso-salad-recipe.html
Heidi has also published two cookbooks that everyone loves: Super Natural Cooking and Super Natural Every Day. You might check them out from the library for inspiration.

I also taught myself to cook when I was a teenager using Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, a vegetarian restaurant with lots of regional and ethnic recipes. It’s pretty easy and reliably good. If you get it, let me know and I’ll send you my list of favorite recipes from it.

Best of luck! I look forward to hearing how it goes.