Cooking space, prep time, ingredient stocking, cost… it can be hard being a vegan in college. The College Vegan Cookbook makes it easy for you to ace your diet―even in the dorms―with simple, healthy, and fresh vegan dishes.
Forget about fake meat. This vegan cookbook features 145 modern, whole food recipes designed with college life in mind. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a full kitchen or you’re stuck with a hot plate on your dresser, The College Vegan Cookbook will have you preparing affordable vegan meals you’ll love.
The College Vegan Cookbook includes:
WHOLE FOODS, GREAT TASTES―Create delicious vegan plates using real ingredients―not processed substitutes. 145 FAST AND EASY MEALS―Choose from simple and tasty recipes, including Blueberry Oat Muffins, Ramen Noodle Bowls, Barbecue Cauliflower Wings, and Microwave Brownie Mug Cakes. VEGAN ON A BUDGET―This vegan cookbook makes your money go further with serving costs for every recipe, plus tips like supplementing your pantry from the cafeteria. When it comes to great ideas for plant-based meals, The College Vegan Cookbook makes the grade.
The author of this book is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, not a chef. Her goal is to teach “how to make delicious, wholesome vegan meals that don’t take forever.” I am a vegetarian, not vegan, but I still like her goal. While I question the wisdom of sending people out into the world without the knowledge to feed themselves, this book assumes that college students don’t know how to cook. The book ends with general cooking instructions, including basic techniques and measurements. One good thing about the book is that each of the recipes shows the cost per serving in addition to the usual calories and nutrition details.
I don’t think all of the recipes here would be helpful. The book has very few pictures, which might have been useful for people without much cooking experience. Also, I don’t think that there was enough specificity with respect to ingredients. Several call for mushrooms, but what kind? A soup recipe calls for sweet potato or squash. I know what kind of squash would work as a substitute, but a beginner might reach for zucchini. Also why call for either frozen or canned corn kernels, but leave out fresh corn as an option? And the thought of dumping garlic powder into soup makes me cringe. The author weirdly restricts the spices used, claiming it to be budget friendly, like no nutmeg (use pumpkin pie spice) and no dried coriander or basil (use herb blends like curry powder or mixed Italian spices). If you keep using those blends, everything you cook is going to taste the same. I think that if you can buy the other ingredients (like smoked paprika and nutritional yeast) you can buy a jar of basil.
While I am not the target audience for this book, I would try some of the recipes. Others seemed a little odd. The recipes are arranged in the following categories:
Breakfast: smoothies, rice pudding, avocado toast, pancakes, muffins, tofu scramble, burritos etc. There’s a recipe that makes 2 oatmeal raisin cookies. Frankly I think it’s a brilliant idea to make only 2 cookies at a time, but I don’t know how many people would agree with me. An intriguing recipe for savory chickpea omelet cups are supposed to be like mini quiches with an egg-like texture.
Soups and Stews: cream of mushroom soup, tofu miso soup, hot and sour tofu soup, minestrone, etc.
Sandwiches and Salads: tabbouleh salad, Greek potato salad, Mediterranean orzo & chickpea salad, etc. This section had some recipes that sounded the least appealing to me, like chickpea melt (mashed chickpeas with fake mayo and cheese), carrot dogs (boiled carrot on a bun), and teriyaki tofu/tempeh sandwich (slices of tofu, pineapple and red onion on bread).
Main Courses: burrito bowl, Buddha bowls, Southwest stuffed sweet potato, pad thai, pasta primavera, lasagna casserole, chili-lime black bean burgers, fajitas, quesadillas, lentil spinach curry, jambalaya (this recipe doesn’t sound anywhere close to real jambalaya), etc.
Desserts: chocolate pudding, nice cream (“a creamy banana sorbet with a texture like soft-serve”), chocolate-coconut bars, microwave brownie mug cake, banana bread, etc.
Staples, Sauces and Dressings : includes recipes that are used in other parts of the book.
I can see this book appealing to a college student, without much cooking experience, who wants some variety in their diet. The cost breakdown might be particularly useful. While I had some problems with the book, and have seen vegan cookbooks that I definitely preferred, I’ve rounded 3.5 stars up to 4 because there are a few recipes in the book that seemed really good to me and the intended audience might like the book more than I did.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I am not a college student nor am I a Vegan. Why am I reviewing this cookbook? Because I found this cookbook could be beneficial to anyone who is a vegan, maybe cooks for one or two persons or someone who just wants to eat a meal that has no meat.
The cookbook focuses on whole foods, nothing processed. There are 145 easy to prep and prepare recipes. What was really cool about this cookbook is that the author broke the recipe down as to what the cost is and includes this with the recipe. This to me is so helpful.
So back to who this cookbook is aimed at, the College Vegan, the recipes are perfect for the college person, from stocking the pantry to staples. The recipes range from breakfast, soups, and stews, Sandwiches and Salads, Snacks and Sides, Main Courses, Desserts. No fake meat!!!
These recipes can be cooked in a full kitchen or a hot plate. Some of the recipes I would not make because I am not a Vegan, but there are some that sound really good that I think I could even tempt hubby!
Strongly I am the mother of a college student who was born with severe food allergies. He can and does consume some animal products but vegan recipes are vital to his health and nutrition as he cannot consume dairy or eggs. This book is a fabulous find. It is very well organized by categories. Budget friendly. Recipes are very simple and yet very varied. Yummy snack foods as well as full meals. Many that are easy microwave, or no cook foods, as well as one pot meals. The intro includes a simple nutritional guide. I am so impressed and sure to look for anything else by Heather Nicholds. PERFECT for COLLEGE kids on a budget and with the desire to eat healthy.
The College Vegan Cookbook by Heather Nicholds, a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, is a great cookbook for students going off to college or new graduates who might be cooking on a budget and are or are becoming vegan.
Nicholds has created recipes that use a few basic ingredients, especially regarding the use of herbs or spices. She also offers suggestions about what kinds of, again, very basic kitchen tools the college vegan will need. Likewise, she offers advice if the student is on a meal plan and what kinds of foods to enjoy.
A nice variety of snacks and meals, using store cupboard staples and plenty of fresh fruit and veg. The chia puddings are yum and a good way of getting breakfast prepped for the week ahead.
Get in my belly! The cover alone was enough to make my water. Since I never upgraded much from dorm room cooking, the gorgeous little cookbook turned out to be a feast for the eyes (and the belly!). There are 145 recipes; all easy and made with pretty affordable ingredients (no runs to the store for fancy herbs or seasonings - the only exception is some of the vegan substitutes, which can get a little pricey). It also has a price point next to each recipe and tells you how much per serving it is. I don't know why, but I found that very endearing and I loved it. It could have had more pictures, but that wasn't a major drawback. Some of the recipes that I tried and loved include: bbq cauliflower wings, crunchy thai peanut casserole, coconut curry soup, toasted sesame cabbage stir fry, and spiced apple chia pudding. They tasted as amazing as it sounded. You don't have to be in college to enjoy these easy vegan recipes. Soo good!
Nicholds writes the Vegan cookbook she wished she had had when she was in college and first learning to make her own meals all the time once she was off-campus and no longer eating on the college food plan. Since this is a cookbook geared for College Students, there is some great material early on that are about Vegan eating, shopping, and pantry stocking basics. Since this is the very target audience of this cookbook, the coverage of Basics really is important where with other cookbooks which weren’t per se targeting Beginners, I found extensive coverage of that superfluous elsewhere. Here, it matters and is right on target for the precise audience for which this cookbook is intended.
And on that note, since this is a cookbook targeting Beginner young adult cooks, perhaps new Vegans, or Veg tending cooks, having a lot of photos would really have been useful. But this cookbook sadly is scarce on the number of illustrative photos.
Thankfully, for all of us, including all those new cooks and new vegans, there is Nutritional Information provided for each of the recipes so they can learn that at the same time as meal preparation and grocery shopping. She even provides some tips about making use of the often required Meal Plan many colleges make students opt into for at least their first year if not also their second year.
This cookbook has a terrific layout including not only the Nutrition Information at the bottom of each of the recipes but also just above the title of the recipes is a little faux Red Crayon writing of the Per Serving USD price. How great is that when you’re managing a strict food and grocery budget?
My fiancé is going to LOVE all the chickpea based recipes in here including a Vegan variation on the classic Italian Wedding Soup.
Seeing as college students, just like the rest of us, definitely have a sweet tooth, the 15 Desserts recipes, including Nice Cream in 3 different ways, all look terrific. I appreciate that the recipes she selected to feature all look easy to make, things like cookies, dessert bars, and Microwavable Brownie Mug cake.
The Table of Contents is as follows: Chapter One: The College Ready Vegan All about cooking tools, your kitchen, and stocking your pantry. Chapter Two: Breakfast Yummy smoothies, Overnight Oats (5 ways!), and muffins and cups including a Chickpea Omelet cup Chapter Three: Soups and Stews I could hunker down here and eat happily all year long. I love making a vat one day over the weekend and having food at-the-ready for more meals, just needing to heat them up. For college students, this chapter is going to be great. Chapter Four: Sandwiches and Salads Chapter Five: Snacks & Sides Looking forward to playing with BBQ Cauliflower Wings Chapter Six: Main Courses Pasta galore as well as legume loving luscious recipes Chapter Seven: Desserts (!!!) Chapter Eight: Staples, Sauces & Dressings This is really a great chapter for assisting new cooks to think to prepare their own sauces. Additionally, being Vegan, managing your own sauces and dressings means you can personally manage making sure to avoid including any flesh-based ingredients. Prevents being dependent on jars and bottles of mass production. Make it yourself.
She closes with Food Preparation teachings and guidelines as well as wonderful secondary resources like Ghandi and the rise of Veganism. I’m going to have to read that one personally.
I really love this cookbook. It’s just terrific for colleges students cooking on a budget, both for those wanting to fully embrace veganism and for those wanting to eat veg at least weekly or something. It’s just perfect for young and new cooks. I just wish they were more helpful photo images.
I received a free advance copy for an honest review from Callisto Publishing.
As someone who has been vegan off and on for a while, although I'm always vegetarian, the plethora of college-related vegan cookbooks has always struck me as curious. I know that younger people tend to be interested in veganism, but what truly distinguishes just a regular good vegan cookbook from a vegan college cookbook? Any vegan cookbook could be budget-friendly, use regular grocery store ingredients, or have minimal prep. This book does have all of that, but the author does actually include various hints and tips specific to college-age students who may or may not have access to a kitchen. That's not to say that the recipes in this book aren't good for us non-college-age vegans. Most of the recipes in this book are simple, but they actually sound good. There are several in each section that I want to try.
My only real complaint about this cookbook is the lack of pictures. Since it is geared for beginners or relatively new cooks, it really needs photos. Newer cooks need direction, and part of that is visual. What are they actually striving for in a given recipe? That's hard to know without seeing a picture. Other than that, I felt like this book delivered on its promise, a book to help college students be vegan. It just also happens that the rest of us vegan aspirants (and vegans) can use the simple, budget-friendly recipes as well.
Thanks to the publisher for allowing a copy to read and give my honest opinion.
While I am not in college, this is still a delightful recipe book that can be used by anyone wanting to try or support a vegan lifestyle. This is like a beginner cookbook and I found the recipes and much the information to be straight forward and easy.
What did I like? This is mostly a cookbook, with a few ideas to help people bring about a change in their diets. I am already leaning towards a better diet, and meat grows less and less of a concern every day that I get older. The recipes looked truly amazing, and entirely easy. I was having a hard time finding foods for breakfast beyond some fruit, and oats, so this offered a better variety to try.
Would I buy this book? Absolutely, I would rather have a solid book rather than a kindle copy when it comes to cook books. I think they are easier to have, than a phone copy. If I saw this somewhere I would definitely snap it up!
Thoughts for the author? I would have liked to know how to balance our needs better, to make sure we are getting all that we need. Still the cookbook was fun and I cant wait to try some of the recipes. Great Job!
I have this book sitting on the coffee table, it is so beautiful and inspiring! The College Vegan Cookbook might just be a student’s best asset. It has such a holistic, healthy, happy lifestyle approach. There is so much wisdom and insight into the difficulties surrounding campus life and eating healthy and affordably. Most recipes in this book are mere pennies per serving and the few remaining barely exceed $2.00! Also, students almost never have enough time, so the recipe creations are also detailed to include prep and cook time. The other appealing element is the advice on nutrition, healthy eating and awareness of environmental concerns, that many students are seeking. This book fosters healthy mind, body and spirit. One can tell that the author loves to eat by the incredible variety of recipes, the stunning photos and a healthy concentration of desserts! Mmmm. My final comment is that the book should definitely not be exclusive to college students. I served the parsley pesto on garlic toast as an appetizer to a dozen guests at a dinner party last week, and it was a significant hit for all (I didn’t even mention it was vegan!)
If you are concerned that vegan means tofu only, you are wrong. What I really like about this book is the fact that is uses a number of proteins in the meals, including non-dairy milk, beans, tofu and lots of vegetables. So one thing is for sure, using this book you will not get tired of one ingredients because the recipes cover a wide variety of meals and ingredients. I really like that the meals in general are home-cooking type meals, such as soups and stews as well as basic tools for meal prep, such as dressings for salads. Of course smoothies are included as well as simple one pan vegetable-based dishes. As a nod to the poor college student, all meals include a prize for each portion, even the cookies. yes, this book even covers cookies since college kids do need some sweets when prepping for exams. Overall, the book is a good guide to send with your college kid to their school. Even if they are not adhering to a vegan diet, this book is good for them since the recipes are simple and healthy!
I received a free copy of the book from the publisher.
I've been following Heather Nicholds for about 3 years and have always found her recipes to be both delicious and also really healthy! I love the fact that she is a vegan nutritionist so she really knows her stuff when it comes to food! I'm not a student, rather a busy, working Mum and I was interested in this book because my 9 year old daughter is interested in cooking now and as she is also a figure skater it's important for her to eat a really, healthy diet. When I was a university student I literally lived on toast so I really wish that this kind of resource had been available to me at that time.
The book contains enough recipes to satisfy even the pickiest eater and will also appeal to students who are/or want to become more adventurous eaters! My only criticism is that as a visual person I'd like to see photos of all the recipes but the photos that are included are gorgeous! Highly recommend this book for everyone, not just students!
As a whole, I enjoyed this cook book. It is full of cheap, quick vegan recipes that are delicious! Most recipes are vegan adaptations of standard american food. There's everything from classic mac & cheese to lentil shepherd's pie. Each recipe includes an estimated cost per serving and prep time, which is handy. My only issue is it's marketing towards college students. When I read the title I thought it would be easy no cook or microwavable recipes with only a few ingredients. Unfortunately, most have 10 or more ingredients and require significant prep tools to make. Most college student's do not have the kitchen tools or pantry space to make these recipes, especially not the ones in dorms. I would have branded this more as cheap and fast vegan recipe book. That being said, I still think it is a great cookbook for all vegans, not just the ones in college.
I really enjoyed flipping through this cookbook. Because it's geared toward college students, all the ingredients and kitchen utensils are relatively easy to find. The recipes are simple and easy to follow. There are lots of affordable pantry staples and frozen ingredients used rather than only fresh ones, which are usually more expensive. Nicholds even includes tips for creating a meal plan and each recipe includes nutrition information and an estimated cost per serving. There were fewer photos that I would have liked, but this could be because I had an advance reader copy. I'm hoping the final copy will feature more images because I feel that is a big factor in whether cookbooks sell well. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I love that the writer of this cookbook is a certified nutritionist. It really cements the idea that you're getting good and wholesome meals. This book is absolutely massive and filled with tons of yummy looking recipes.
It's a very good book for very beginners and covers the basics. It even has a breakdown of costs. This would be extremely beneficial for a novice cook on a budget.
I don't think the recipes are very dorm friendly. Too many require long lists of ingredients, a variety of cookware and kitchen space that many college students may not have. In college I want something quick, tasty and doesn't require a while lot of ingredients(i.e. A lot of money)
This book hit the mark for me. It’s a lot like how I cooked vegan food in my 20s. Whole Foods (no plant based faux meats (which I now use and like)), lots of beans, short list of easy-to-find ingredients. It would be a much more fun book to read and use if there were more photos, but as a recipe book, it has what you need.
This is not just a cookbook; yes, amazing recipe after amazing recipe, but it also helps you get organized, and by breaking down the costs can help you stay on budget. They really thought of it all. Every kitchen needs one! #ABellaReview
Heather Nicole’s has nailed it with this cookbook! Thank you so much for this cookbook! If not the best Plant based cook book, it’s clear. Simple, to the point, amazing recipes that most anybody can do, to the point, nutritional recipes! Well done Heather, WELL DONE!
I am currently vegetarian and have been playing with the idea of going vegan (or partially vegan... I might cut out a lot of dairy products) so I decided to check out some new cookbooks to inspire me. I own two other "college" cookbooks (The Healthy College Cookbook and Student's Vegetarian Cookbook) that I like for their simplicity and small portions. I hate having to get a lot of strange ingredients and then making a massive batch of food that I will never be able to finish before it goes bad. I will say, however, that the portions in this book are ginormous. I would say that each serving in this book is equal to two normal servings. I guess they assume you are feeding college guys with massive appetites?!
As an intro to vegan cooking for a young person on their own for the first time, this book would be a good resource. As expected, the book begins with a list of tools and pantry items to set up a workable kitchen. While dorm living is touched on, many of the included recipes are better suited to someone living in an apartment. Recipes are noted as being allergy friendly, dorm room friendly, no cook, one pot or those making enough to share or save for later and also include an estimated per serving cost. Of course, the cost will vary depending on your location, but this will give the cook a good idea of cost. Also included are prep/cook times and nutritional info. There is a good range of recipes: breakfast foods, soups/stews, sandwiches and salads, snacks and sides, main dishes, desserts, and staples/sauces/dressings.
Thank you to Callisto Media and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review
A ok cook book. It’s pretty heavy on taking the authors opinions and making them fact for the sake of the book.. The recipes seem easy enough for a budding Vegan and/ or college student. Overall it was ok.
Very nice and easy to understand the recipe. It does tell what the meal would cost and nutritional information. There is a number of recipes in this book, so you do get a variety of meals, drinks and desserts to make while at university or college.
Easy! Simple! Delicious!! What more can a college student ask for? I am not in college but this cookbook is a great resource for me to look for healthy vegan recipes to get my eating habits back on track and feel better. The book is well laid out from an introduction including common things to keep in a pantry to easy to find recipes. Most importantly the recipes that I tried were delicious and I cant wait to try some more!!
The College Vegan Cookbook by Heather Nicholds was a delightful surprise as I not expecting to find so many yummy sounding recipes that were inexpensive to prepare. Best of all the recipes are tagged with phrases such as allergy friendly (no nuts, gluten or soy); dorm room friendly (requires only a microwave, electric kettle, or hand blender); good for sharing (makes a batch to share with friends). Another bonus was how the author included the price per serving with each recipe. I also liked her explanation of what vegans eat and a key nutrient list showing foodstuffs found in the vegan diet. I liked her equipment tips and how to stock the pantry ideas.
You will find plenty of color photos illustrating her cookbook. Some of the recipes you'll find include:
Breakfast Burritos Cream of Tomato Soup Ramen Noodle Bowl Personal Pizza One-Pan Baked Fajitas Chocolate Pudding Nice Cream, 3 Ways
Recommend.
Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley. Caesar salad Strawberry Milkshake