The Garden of Vegan and How It All Vegan
Both of these cookbooks by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer are good for regular folks that just want to make a healthy, compasionate little something to eat for lunch or dinner. So many vegan/vegetarian cookbooks call for essence of this or fresh herb something or other imported from Japan which really makes it hard to cook some regular food for someone who is not a chef. I wasn’t good at cooking food before I became vegetarian so it isn’t like I would magically be great (or committed to spending hours in the kitchen) after I eliminated a whole host of ingredients.
Both books call for easy ingredients and simple directions. I especially love the recipes where they note that they can be frozen and reheated later. I have such a hard time cooking good healthy food while working and going to school, but this book is full of recipes that let you do that especially if you can freeze them and eat them later! Plus, the authors seem to have great laid back personalities. Not too “ooh-la-la” — very down to earth. They may try to be a little too cool sometimes, but it is better than someone who takes themselves oh-so-seriously as a chef.
These recipes are great for anyone who is looking to eat more healthily. Downside of the book is that there aren’t pictures of the food and sometimes I can’t quite tell what it is that the recipe is for (like Jessie’s Cuban Sensation– very nice title, but what is it?). How It All Vegan has more basic recipes and the The Garden of Vegan expands your range of foods. They also have great ideas for parties, make-it-yourself products for the home and a special section for college students trying to be vegan in a dorm.
How it All Vegan also has a helpful section for those who are used to more traditional cooking. It goes over what to stock in a vegan kitchen and helps one learn how to get a feel for vegan cooking. What to use in place of eggs? Soy milk or rice milk? What about cheese replacement?
Speaking of cheese, one thing that lacks in these books, and I really think many vegan cookbooks, is this whole thing where they write “top with vegan parmesan cheese.” Oh really? That easy, is it? As far as I can tell, vegan land still lacks convincing replacement for most cheeses. The vegan cheeses I’ve found here in Cambridge, MA are not edible and my guess is that Cambridge has a relatively good selection of alternative food options. Store bought vegan cheese does not resemble cheese taste or texture to me AT ALL nor to my lovely partner who is much less picky than I am. The best thing I have found for cheese replacement is nutritional yeast. It actually has a cheesy taste and semi-cheese-like texture. But that’s for another post. So enjoy these two books. They helped me move past pasta as my main food.
Posted by Elizabeth 