Your menu sounds yummy. I made chilled cucumber soup this week as well. I’m not sure it’s my favorite thing but it was pretty tasty. :)

Sorry it has taken me so long to answer your question about the 5 Spices, 50 Dishes cookbook! The answer is that no, it’s not a vegetarian cookbook, and in fact has a big section for meat and another for seafood. But it is one of only 2 non-vegetarian/vegan cookbooks I’ve bought for myself, because I’ve made almost every single recipe in the veggie section and each and every one was easy and delicious. There is also a huge raita section that has various condiments and raitas that are really dishes in their own right, and sections on breads and desserts (the bread section won’t do us much good, but the other sections are good for non-vegan folks). I’ve cooked more recipes from this cookbook than practically any other in my collection, which is a pretty huge recommendation for a cookbook that contains meat! (Er, meat recipes – how gross would it be to have a cookbook that contained meat… Maybe a nice bacon bookmark? Anyways…)

xo