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(Book Review) Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

Posted January 22, 2008 at 01:30 PM by James Flesher

Section: His Health, Physical Health, His Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Diets, Recipes, Vegetarian / Vegan, Special Features, He's Fit Reviews

Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero are at it again.  You will recall, dear reader, that the last time I was singing their praises was for their indispensable Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Many of you vegan chefs out there have also surely fallen in love with their first soup to nuts cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance.  Well, the ladies have hit the kitchen and the word processor and this time have returned to us with Veganomicon:  The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.  With 250 mouth-watering recipes divided into 17 chapters, this book certainly feels “ultimate.”

One of the best things about Ms. Moskowitz and Ms. Romero is their ability and their willingness to write a cookbook like an actual book, weaving anecdotes and activist tales right in with the recipes.  Even better, they take the time out at the beginning of each book to break down what tools and ingredients are absolute must haves and what can be saved for a more exotic dinner when you have more cash. 

Veganomicon opens with a full forty-two pages that of essential ingredients and kitchen ware, a glossary, and even how to cook beans and grains.  The experienced chef can breeze over these and delve right into the recipes; however, for those of us who have pondered over how to fold batter when it doesn’t have any edges to pull together or perhaps wondered who Blanche was and what she wanted with our vegetables, this is a great go-to guide for everything in the kitchen.

For vegans with soy or gluten allergies, the ever thoughtful authors use icons to mark recipes which are soy and/or gluten free.  Additionally, they also provide friendly pointers to recipes low in fat, those that take forty five minutes to prepare, and those whose ingredients can be found without a schlep to a health food store or foreign market. 

If you’re tired of the same old stir fry and fed up with trying to convert mom’s Betty Crocker recipes into vegetarian and vegan friendly versions, here are some of the dishes to whet your appetite and move you along to the bookstore:  banana nut waffles, Baja style grilled tempeh tacos, black bean burgers, French lentil soup with tarragon and thyme, eggplant rollatini with spinach and toasted pine nuts, and coconut custard pie.  Bon appetite!

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Tags: breakfast, chapters, dinner, fitness, food, gluten allergy, health, healthy eating, icons, isa chandra moskowitz, kitchen, low fat recipes, lunch, men, nutrition, quick recipes, recipes, soy allergy, terry hope romero, vegan, vegan cookbook, vegan recipes, vegetarian

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