EasyVeg

I’ve been reading through Vegan with a Vengeance for a while now, trying to get a feel for the book and trying also to decide if I like it or not. I still don’t know. There are things I really like about it, and there are things I don’t. I guess I’ll just run through my personal pros and cons regarding this vegan cookbook, and let you decide.

Good - No recipes with prepackaged food. Moskowitz really wants her fellow vegans to experience the joys of cooking with fresh ingredients.
Good - The pictures of the food look really yummy! I’ve mentioned before that pictures of food often inspire me to want to cook them.
Bad - There are only 4 pages of pictures.
Good - The book is organized well. Chapters are: Introduction, Brunch, Muffins and Scones, Soups, Little Meals Sammiches and Finger Foods, Sides, Pizzas and Pastas, Entrées, Cookies and Bars, Desserts
Bad - One-third of the chapters are devoted to sweets. I personally, am not a big dessert or cookie person. I don’t bake. And I definitely, definitely don’t bake from scratch. That makes all those chapters useless to me.
Bad - Moskowotz finds any excuse to remind the reader that she was/is totally punk rock. That’s an annoying trait in a teenager. In a 30-something (maybe 40-something), it’s just outright ridiculous.
Good - Many of the recipes have little pointers, tips, and suggestions for substitutions of certain ingredients.
Bad - These tips are called “Punk Points.” Seriously. Grow up.

I guess that’s it for now. I’m still undecided about how I feel about this book. I don’t think I would suggest it to someone new to vegetarianism or veganism, though. There are plenty of ingredients that have to be purchased in specialty stores. On the other hand, though, there are also very many recipes that use veggies and grains, and those can be found at any supermarket.

One-Dish Vegetarian Meals is a keeper! It’s also a good place for vegetarian newbies or those toying with the idea of becoming vegetarian to get their feet wet. It offers recipes for simple meals, and the fact that they are all one-dish meals takes the intimidation factor out of the cooking process almost completely.

Before diving right into the recipes, in a section entitled A Vegetarian Kitchen, Robertson gives the reader general information about what makes a healthful vegetarian diet, introduces us to a few commonly used ingredients (e.g. different varieties of rices, beans, and pastas), and gives tips on how to cook or prepare some of these foods. She also notes in this section that all the recipes in this book are “dairy optional,” and gives non-dairy alternatives for the few dairy ingredients used in her recipes. For that reason, this book is perfect for not only new vegetarians, but those interested in vegan cooking as well.

I was a little disappointed, however, that the pictures on the front and back covers were the only pictures of food the book offered. I personally find that seeing a picture of something that looks delicious inspires me to want to cook it more than anything else. However, that alone wouldn’t stop me from recommending this cookbook.

Today I finally got the three new cookbooks I ordered via Amazon. They are One-Dish Vegetarian Meals by Robin Robertson, Quick-Fix Vegetarian by Robin Robertson, and Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

I’ll be poring over these books during the next few days, determining how accessible they are to the ‘average’ home cook, and of course, trying out a few recipes. I’m very excited about these new books, especially the ones by Robertson, because I think, and hope, that they’ll be right up my alley. Meaning easy.

New Vegetarian Cuisine by Linda Rosensweig and the food editors of Prevention magazine is a fantastic first cookbook for a new vegetarian. It offers simple, delicious recipes with common ingredients that don’t rely too heavily on meat analogs, fatty cheeses, or eggs.

The beginning of the book gives a quick introduction to what vegetarianism is, briefly discusses the health benefits of a properly balanced vegetarian diet, and debunks a few myths about the subject.

The recipes are then divided into nine sections that pretty much cover it all: Pasta Galore, The Wide World of Grains, Luscious Legumes, Hearty Soups, Substantial Salads, Basic Breakfasts, The Weekday Cook, Entertaining in Style, and Cooking for Two (or Just You). New Vegetarian Cuisine also includes a section which plans out a month’s worth of vegetarian meals, consisting of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack.

This is truly a great book to help any new vegetarian begin his or her diet simply, healthfully, and without being overbearing or intimidating. A note of caution, however: While this book doesn’t rely heavily of dairy and eggs, many of the recipes do include small amounts of low-fat dairy products. If you are vegan, you may need to substitute or omit a few ingredients. Also, a few recipes call for Worcestershire sauce, which is made with anchovies. Strict vegetarians and vegans will want to omit or substitute this as well.