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Looking to add a little life to your menu, but the tired old tomes on the bookshelf just aren't inspiring the way they used to? Maybe it's time to look online.

The Internet offers nearly boundless resources for vegetarians, from basic recipe databases to elaborate Web sites that include everything from cooking instructions by video to chat groups in which to find friends, or even a veggie-mate.

It is impossible to catalog even the best of the Internet's offerings (a search engine recently found more than 1 million pages dedicated to something vegetarian), but there are some easy choices from which to begin an online exploration.

First, the basics.

Most moderately sophisticated Web sites offer searchable recipe archives, often broken down by category, including national origin, preparation techniques and whether the recipe is vegetarian or vegan.

These search engines also are handy if you have a burning desire to make something from a handful of eclectic ingredients. Just punch them in and the search engine does the rest (tomatoes plus pineapple plus tofu equals sweet-and-sour tofu).

Many sites also allow readers to contribute recipes. The global nature of the Internet makes this a boon for selection, offering everything from vegetarian haggis from Scotland to peanut and bean soup from Africa.

This also is a danger. Reliability is questionable and directions can be vague. Also, search engines are error-prone. A search for "Africa" and "tofu" is as likely to trigger travel guides (I learned that Tofu is a beach in Mozambique) as it is a recipe for bean curd. Less daring cooks should stick to professional sites, such as those affiliated with magazines.

A number of sites also will e-mail batches of recipes once a week or so. Though these tend to be hit-or-miss, it's an effortless way to ensure a steady stream of inspiration.

Start with an obvious choice, Vegetarian Times magazine (www.vegetariantimes.com). Here readers can access hundreds of recipes (though free registration with the site is required) and read back issues of the magazine.

Other handy features include a glossary of common vegetarian terms and ingredients, and a helpful guide to substitutions (don't eat eggs? try liquid lecithin with 2 teaspoons guar gum).

The International Vegetarian Union (www.ivu.org) is a massive resource on everything veggie, from news to restaurant reviews to an astounding variety of recipes (in many languages). This also is a great jumping-off point for other resources.

Of particular value is the group's exhaustive collection of answers to frequently asked questions, from how to bulk up on a vegan diet to tricks for identifying hidden animal products in everyday foods.

Veggies Unite! (www.vegweb.com) offers a low-key, family-friendly take on the virtual vegetarian lifestyle, and is supported by an active community of people who swap cooking advice and ideas.

It also features vegetarian news stories, culled from mainstream media, updated every 15 minutes. I learned that Natalie Portman recently was voted the world's sexiest vegetarian by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

And don't forget the poetry! Bet you didn't even know there was such a thing as vegetarian poetry.

For another community-based site, try Vegsource.com (www.vegsource.com), a near-encyclopedic site about meat-free diets, and many peripheral issues of interest to vegetarians, such as environmental and animal rights issues.

Vegsource.com also has a comprehensive section from which readers can monitor news about mad-cow disease (called the Mad Cow Corral), perhaps so they can gloat to meat-eating friends about things they don't worry about.

Vegetarians who are dieting should check out FATFREE (www.fatfree.com), a collection of nearly 4,700 low- and no-fat vegetarian recipes divided into more than 50 categories

At The Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org) readers get the usual selection of recipes and advice, but also can play a trivia game to test their diet knowledge and read articles from the group's magazine, Vegetarian Journal.

Vacation-bound vegetarians might want to check out VegDining.com (www.vegdining.com), a worldwide listing of vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants.

A helpful bonus is that many of the restaurants are listed by users, and include their comments. "The number of meat alternatives would cause a carnivore to give up immediately," one writer said of an Indonesian restaurant.

Combined, these and other Web sites make the world's largest cookbook, offering tens if not hundreds of thousands of vegetarian recipes, from the mundane to the magnificent.

To sample what is available, try gingered grains, from the Vegetarian Times Web site.

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