Lust for Leaf: Veggie Crowd-Pleasers to Fuel Your Picnics, Potlucks, and Ragers

by Alex Brown, Evan George

Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan With a Vengeance and Sarah Kramer’s How It All Vegan! showed the world that plant-based cookbooks don’t have to be full of sanctimonious text and wilted sprouts recipes. But why should vegans have all the fun? Food-blogging duo Alex Brown and Evan George—better known as Hot Knives—have shown their 60,000 monthly readers that vegetarians are “cheeky [and] over-the-top” too and “don’t much care for established notions of propriety" ( LA Weekly ). This is the only cookbook you’ll find with chapters called “Bro-tein” and “BBQ Mosh Pit,” or filled with recipes for DIY Wieners and Patties, Sauce-y Explosions, Salsas that Hurt, Deep Sea Mushrooms, and Nachos that Cook Themselves. And don’t forget try Hand-Cranked Cream Dreams and Booze You Can Eat.

Hot Knives bring you vegetarianism with a new set of “Enjoy your food, but party harder. Eat everything with your hands. Drink booze and fruit, not water. Make all of your junk food yourself. Cook at least half of everything you eat on an open fire. Switch to uppers, if possible.”

Urbanhonking.com/hotknives/

Genres: Cookbooks, Vegetarian, Nonfiction, Food

123 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

I write romantic comedies and emotional love stories set in escapist locations and can’t wait to whisk you away to a gorgeous Greek island in the sun in my brand new novel, Bring Me Sunshine, when it’s published on June 6th.

I’ve written 15 bestselling books, including the No.1 Kindle UK bestsellers Cupcakes at Carrington’s and The Secret of Orchard Cottage, and the international No.1 paperback bestsellers A Postcard From Italy and A Postcard From Capri. My novels have been published in 22 countries, hit the number one spot in three countries, been shortlisted for a Romantic Novelists Association award and have sold over a million copies.

I live by the sea on the south coast of England with my family and when I’m not writing or reading, you’ll find me walking on the beach or binge-watching a boxset.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a cookbook with f-bombs. And sex and drug references. (Heck, even Hot Knives, the name of the blog that Alex Brown and Evan George write, is a drug reference.) And, it also has a pretty cover that led me to pick it up at the library. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised when I opened it up once I got home. It's also the kind of cookbook that specializes in recreating recipes to fit a different dietary needs. In this case, it's the needs of vegetarians and vegans. I tend to avoid that kind of cooking. Sure, it's fun to do something like "vegan spinach/artichoke dip" once in a while. A whole book of recipes aiming to mimic some meat-and-cheese-laden dish just feels exhausting to me -- particularly since the duplicates just emphasize what you've left out. I just don't care for "mock" meat recipes. And, with the f-bombs and the sex references and the jokey style, the tone of this book definitely screams cool L.A. twentysomething "bros."

I am so not the audience for this book.

That said, I can recognize that it was well-executed. The pictures are lovely, and the recipes seem solid. There are none that I felt compelled to immediately go make, however, though the jackfruit "carnitas" are tempting. The collective writerly persona of the bros is more than a little obnoxious; at the same time, I ended up liking them, and I definitely learned some things.

I also liked the theme of the book -- veggie "crowd-pleasers," which is nice for regular meals in my house, if I decided I wanted to try anything. The recipes have nice long lists of ingredients, but they don't appear particularly complicated.

My issues with the recipes in this book, though, are clearly more my issues more than a weakness of the book. I've been though taking the fat out of recipes, taking the sugar out of recipes and taking the meat out of recipes. Right now, I just like recipes that are good on their own, not as substitutes for something else.

My more legitimate issue with this book, though, is that the f-words and drug allusions can seem more than a little juvenile when taken off a blog page and put in a cookbook.

[Jessie Jury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously, these recipes all look insanely good. I'm particularly excited to try the oyster mushroom po' boy. Just thinking about it brings back memories of NOLA trips with my best girlfriends. And I think that's what this book is about... delicious party food as an integral part of creating memorable parties.

Another thing I love about this cookbook is it doesn't use processed meat substitutes.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh.. some interesting sounding recipes but all-in-all a lot of pantry stuff that I don't really have. Also I do not have an obsession with corn, which makes it harder to indulge in the corn-centric recipes, especially in the nacho/taco section (I love you Mexican food <3). Cherry picked a few recipes to try later but not a book worth keeping for me.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short vegetarian cookbook with a foul mouth and tasty food. Certainly not one for those watching their fat or sugar intake, but the recipes are good for pleasing crowds.

Recommended for hipsters who entertain.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some good recipes in here- I just thought some of the writing came off as sort of hipster-frat-boy-hybrid-y.

[Christine Baptiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't actually tried any of the dishes but the authors/chefs seem like really cool people that I'd love to hang out with. They love throwing importu parties, they have cool stories, and they give you a music and beer pairing for each recipe. Most of the dishes are vegan so if you're trying to go meatless, but love beer and junk food (home made healthy junk food - their words/not mine). This is as good of a place as any to start. *warning tons of profanity*

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really interesting recipes to try here. I really enjoyed reading the well-written recipe head notes and the format of the book is appealing. The photos need some work though, but they are at least plentiful and show how many of the dishes should look.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful cookbook devoted to vegetarian and vegan recipes for cook-outs, potlucks, picnics and “ragers.” The perfect cookbook for the social butterfly, frequent meetup goer or someone with a large family. Two guy with lots of cool ideas. Fun, easy-going tone. Before each recipe there’s a lot of explanation and contemplation. Each recipe gets paired with a tasty beverage and soundtrack selections. Examples: Oyster Po’ Boys: beverage—Brewdog, Toyko; Soundtrack—“Rebel, Rebel” by David Bowie. Mushroom Ceviche: beverage—Firestone Walker Pale, 31; Soundtrack—“Los Angeles” by Frank Black. Succotash “Stew:” beverage—North Coast, Prankster; Soundtrack—“Draw Your Breaks” by Scotty.

There’s a recipe for HK Dogs made with almonds, tofu and wheat gluton. “The idea that anyone would miss eating pet food-grade meat shoved in casing seems, frankly, insane. Now the feel of balancing a baby-soft seeded bun in one hand and that whiff of yellow mustard zig-zagging under your nose like a drunk driver’s skid marks—that we’ve craved.” Corn Porn is the vegan version of a Frito Pie with corn chips on the bottom, corn chile in the middle and a yummy salad on top. [“Alex grew up on the stuff and Evan’s an easy covert to anything involving the Frito, which with its three ingredients (corn, salt, corn oil) is vegan and relatively crap-free”]. Kaleslaw looks yummy and relatively easy.

The negative: I don’t have a steamer to make the HK Dogs.


I’ll definitely try: Sunstroke Salad; Pea Pod Pesto; Pickle Jar Potato Salad; Kaleslaw; Falafel Salad

Sections: Potlatches; Bro-tein; Pizza Pool Party; Wild Grub; Sweets; Taco Zone; BBQ Mosh Pit.

[Aspasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the most unusual cookbooks I have read in regards to style (imagine your craft beer-guzzling older brothers or cousins writing a cookbook) and in text (swear words!). Imagine a vegetarian/vegan hipster cookbook that uses a lot of unusual Mexican ingredients all fronted by a sassy, bad ass attitude.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the Hot Knives guys from their prior book and blog posts, and this book is more of the same. It's geared for larger groups and looks/sounds like excellent party food. Will try out this summer...