Plum: Gratifying Vegan Dishes from Seattle's Plum Bistro

by Makini Howell

A renowned vegan chef shares innovative, stylish, and seasonal vegan dishes that will satisfy eaters of all stripes Plum Bistro, Seattle’s wildly popular vegan restaurant, is known for its delicious and innovative vegan recipes using local ingredients. A beloved local hangout, it’s also a pit stop for out-of-towners, including celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix. This cookbook features over 60 of Plum’s flavorful, comforting dishes for brunch, soups, salads, entrées, desserts, and more. Recipes • Pesto Plum Pizza • Barbecue Oyster-Mushroom Sliders • Homemade vegan pasta • Good Old-Fashioned French Toast • Fresh Blueberry Shortcake • And much more!   Bring home delicious vegan cuisine with the Plum cookbook, and honor the transformation that is occurring in the way we view food and our personal responsibility to our communities.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Vegan, Cooking, Nonfiction

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Sylvia Munoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently was prescribed a Vegan Diet for health reasons, and I am going to say that it is really hard. I find myself reading every label and only eating salads. i have to say I got pretty tired of salads. I knew I have to do something. Then I came across Plum gratifying Vegan dishes. I have to say I loved the photos, and it ignited a new passion for searching out the best in taste. I am a little afraid of cooking with tofu, but I found some recipes that are doable and sound great to eat. I loved the charred broccolini, and the purple smashed potatoes. The photos are beautiful, and the dishes are quiet delicious. I loved this cookbook and I decided I am going to attempt to cook every dish. I recommend this book to all the Vegans, and Foodies out there. This is truly a keeper.

[Mugga · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was not one recipe in this cookbook that I wanted to make. I cook vegetarian a lot and I wanted to incorporate more vegan options into my repertoire but this book did not have what I was looking for at all. I do not like ersatz food. Sorry vegans. I just don't see the point of using a bunch of weird ingredients (e.g. egg white substitute, xantham gum. Earth Balance butter substitute) just to avoid using animal products. Just make something different. As for the recipes that don't include ingredients like that, the list of ingredients and steps was just too long for me to even bother trying.

On top of all that, the author (owner and chef of the namesake restaurant on which the book is based) wrote really annoying self-congratulatory introductions to each recipe. You know, along the lines of "sometimes I just throw ingredients together and come up with brilliant combinations."

One star for lovely photos.

[Tanaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Ok, I'll admit it. I love vegan sides with my steak. Food where the natural ingredients shine.

One of the first recipes in this book was Green egg water. Whatever it is, it really needs a kinder name and it turned me off of the book.

In reality, there are some really interesting flavor combinations and ideas in this book. Tirimisu pancakes anyone? I just prefer simpler ingredients.

I do love that the author has called out recipes that are soy free though and hope that becomes more of a norm. The photography was gorgeous and it is very well written. I'm not the target audience though, I'd be more inclined to try tasting the food than I would be to make most of the recipes.

[Andrea Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a professional in the culinary industry I found this cookbook to be inspiring. It is refreshing to see a book like this that doesn't rely heavily on tofu and is geared to the more culinarily inclined. The photographs are beautiful and the information about the various vegan ingredients I feel would be beneficial to those who have limited exposure to this cuisine. The vegan doggy snack recipe at the end is an added and fun bonus. Well done.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I 💜 Makini.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book! both the writing and the photography is gorgeous. Recipes seem very approachable.

[Swati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it's hard to go wrong with such a beautifully written/pictured book with such creative recipes. I got this book solely because it was by a restauranteur based in Seattle. I tried many of the recipes here, and they were quite great. I also enjoyed browsing through it. It made me eventually cave in, take the bus to Cap Hill and go to Plum. It's quite expensive, especially on a grad student budget, so I ordered just an appetizer -- and even that cost me $15! However, it was quite filling, delicious, and decadent, just as I'd hoped. I'll make sure to go here to celebrate every one of my publications :) Now that's some incentive to work harder, hah.

[Cavak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love her manifesto, the photography, and the restaurant practices. Don't love how you need a good blender and how some of these ingredients are hard to obtain if you don't live in a vegan friendly location. Soy, tofu, and mushroom abundant too. Not as many vegetable only recipes in here.

But damn, I would order this if I saw some of these items in person. Like Smoky Mac and Fresh Blueberry Shortcake. They may not be "original"—she even says her aim is to provide vegan comfort food without "missing out"—but they sound really awesome.

Copper's adorable, too! I have a soft spot for people loving their dogs. Nice bonus dog food recipes for dog lovers.

[Caroline Berg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like what the cookbook is trying to do, which is open people up to far more vegan options than just another piece of sauce-covered tofu.

That said the recipes are a bit more complex then I would want to make at home. I like the pesto since it doesn't include cheese, I'm interested in making the fennel salsa, and the side dishes like Chai Spiced Potatoes (when extracted from some of the longer recipes) work well on their own.

If you like this cookbook, I highly recommend reading the 10th Anniversary Edition.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just because a recipe is "Vegan" Does NOT Mean it is "Healthy", and this book proves exactly that by the use of Soy & Canola oil, both proliferate GMO food products and it is my belief that in this day & age, there is no reason to use those products, at least not if you want to eat "Healthy" So minus 2 stars

Okey Dokey..... The book is printed on dull matte finish paper, photographs are enticing but few. Recipe titles are in a large bold font with an Gluten Free/Soy Free indication, the paragraph beneath the title which describes the recipe is in a medium bold font and is easy to read. The list of ingredients is on the outside frame of the recipe are in a small bold font and the instruction are in a plain font and have run on sentences.....

Contents: Recipe list; Foreword; Introduction; 9 chapters of recipes; Afterword; Acknowledgments; and Index

At the beginning of each chapter is the list of recipes , which has been repeated from the "Recipe List" so there is a redundancy.......

Partial list of recipes include......

Fundamentals: Cream cheese creme fraiche; Green egg foam water; Sweet soy cream; Savory soy cream; Agave Balsamic Vinaigrett; and Roasted garlic cloves two ways

Beginners: Good old fashioned blueberry pancakes; Tiramisu pancakes; Pesto plum pizza w/ agave balsamic; and Savory French toast

Salads & Soups: Grilled black plum & jicama salad w/ radicchio; Quinoa millet cherry salad; Avocado salad w/ seitan bites; Roasted beet and blood orange salad w/ cilantro pesto; Creamy millet corn chowder; Habanero yam soup; and Raw kale & seaweed salad w/ fresh tofu & ginger garlic oil

Small Plates: Charred broccolini; Smashed purple potatoes w/ parsley; Chai spiced yam bruschetta w/ crunchy kale; Spicy chili lime edamame; Grilled wild mushroom toasts; and Jerk tofu & roasted yam sliders

Tofu, Tempeh, & Seitan:

Transitional Raw: "Raw" lasagna w/ basil walnut pesto; Kale pesto "Pizza"; and Jicama avocado "Ravioli" w/ peach & watermelon salsa

Pasta: Fresh spinach pasta; Roasted yam ravioli w/ apple tempeh fillets & chanterelle cream sauce; and Plum's smoky mac

Grains: Millet stuffed baby pumpkins; Blue corn pizza w/ pesto grilled heirloom tomatoes & ricotta; Quinoa risotto w/ panko-fried portobellos

Desserts: Sauteed rosemary plums w/ white wine & blueberry (fake) butter sauce; Peppered agave figs; Everybody dives in chocolate chip brownies; and Black plum ginger sorbet w/ lemon cream

Afterword: Vegan frankfurter & smoked yam puppy treats

NO THANK-YOU VERY MUCH, I'll Pass!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book as a present, and the giver seemed very excited about it. However, looking through it, I was hard pressed to share her enthusiasm. This is a "tofu" vegan cookbook, this isn't an "eat a variety of proteins such as nuts and beans etc" vegan cookbook, such as Lorna Sass' "Complete Vegetarian Kitchen", which is actually vegan despite its name. I'm neither vegetarian nor vegan, but I like to eat that way when I can. As a person who cooks a lot and who possesses a reasonably stocked pantry, I have certain hopes for a cookbook, namely, that its recipes rely on stuff commonly found in households that cook. Lorna Sass, Deborah Madison, Alice Waters--these ladies know how do just that. Ideally, making a recipe from a cookbook, I have to buy 1 to 3 ingredients from a grocery store and I'm set. There is an exception to this rule--cookbooks for other cuisines, such as Julia Child and Diana Kennedy type cookbooks. Makini Howell's cookbook is neither, and rare for me, I've owned it for months and never cooked anything from it. I plan to this week, but I'm going out of my way to do so--why make soy based vegan ricotta if you eat the normal stuff? However, I want to go vegan while my husband is out of town (except Christmas), so it seems like as good a time as any to try it out. I'll write more when I know how the recipes turn out.

Ok, so I've made the vegan ricotta and pesto. Both were excellent, though I disagreed with Howell's wording that pesto "should be" vegan. No it shouldn't--it is what it is, which is an Italian dish with cheese in it. However, shoulds aside, it is easy to make an excellent tasting vegan version of the traditional recipe. I made a vegan lasagna that tasted every bit as good to me as the regular kind. Still three stars, but not for the end product of the recipes. Ingredient note: silken firm tofu is not as easy to find as I would think. Next time I'll check PCC, because even Whole Foods didn't have it. I used a combination of firm and silken, which gave me a more watery texture than was called for. Still tasted good, which is what counts.

[Sps · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a work of photography, wow. That spinach pasta is one of the loveliest things I've seen in a while.

As a cookbook, meh. Recipes aren't super compelling, plus there are things that have to be modified in terms of timing, or things have way too much oil, or no salt, etc.

Seitan with chimichurri: OK, though I wouldn't serve it to guests.

Beet salad with cilantro pesto: I enjoyed it, but the chef de cuisine said "I'm OK if we never make that again."

Brownies: more like a decent chocolate cake (especially when I buried it in toasted pecans). Not exactly the brownies I sought, however, and isn't going to be one of my top choco cake recipes either.

Apple fennel tempeh: the marinade smelled good and kind of like the way people talk about white wine. Crisp, herbal, notes of apple and anise. Except also garlicky. The finished tempeh was kinda bland and needed a sauce, so we puréed some of the marinade and that was OK. Overall, shrug-inducing.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not the book for people on a budget or people looking to incorporate a few vegan meals into their weekly repertoire. There's not a recipe in here that does not include at least three ingredients I'd need to buy in order to create it, and they aren't inexpensive ingredients. It would be less costly to just go eat my vegan meal at a restaurant.

Having said that, this is a gorgeous book. The pictures are amazing, and I'm pretty sure I would eat just about everything in it. I am also fairly confident that, if I did decide to take on another job in order to afford all the ingredients, I could make everything in it, because the instructions are detailed and clear without being condescending. The next time I'm in Seattle, I will make a point to visit the Plum Bistro.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always on the lookout for vegan and vegetarian dishes that I can try, I was drawn in by the lovely photos of the food in this book. The author and owner of the Plum Bistro was raised vegan and encourages veganism, though she no longer completely practices it herself. I will admit that almost all of the dishes looked tasty, this like a lot of other restaurant-inspired cookbooks, have dishes that I’d rather eat in the actual restaurant by professionals. Of course there were three or four dishes that didn’t look as complicated and I would definitely attempt like the Tempeh Vermouth, the Roasted Beet and Blood Orange Salad with Cilantro Pesto, and the Polenta and Orange Salad with Fennel Salsa. 3 stars.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hurts to give this two stars...I had such high hopes for this book. I'm a fan of Plum Bistro itself but had a hard time with the recipes from this book. Nothing seemed to turn out right, and when I asked around I found many friends were encountering the same issues. Things that should be thick were runny, cooking times led to under-cooked food...I just don't get it. BUT absolutely beautiful photography and I'm still a patron of the restaurant!

[Brita · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I made from this book was quite good (particularly the Roasted Beet and Blood Orange Salad with Cilantro Pesto). Would have given it a a higher rating but for the curious reliance on pretty processed foods like cheese, soy products, etc. I suppose I was expecting less of that...

[Jojo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems to rely a bit too much on substitutions and soy as opposed to letting vegetables shine on their own. The chapters are well designed to be able to find exactly what you're looking for. The pictures are food porn at its highest level.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overly complicated vegan cookbook

Extremely complicated and intricate recipes. Some sound delicious, some bizarre. Definitely too much work and complications for the average home chef.

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can only give this 4 stars because my favorite Plum recipes (including Spicy Mac & Yease) are not in here. Still a beautiful book with lots of great recipes!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite local restaurants, and a wonderful cookbook!

[Cailean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely makes me want to visit the restaurant, but kind of too fancy to try at home. Looks delicious!

[Iris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much work for not that exciting recepies.