Vegan Cooking & Cookbooks discussion

I received this book for Christmas and have had a little flick through it. First impressions are really good. The book is colourful, seems to have recipes I'd cook and seems to have a focus on simple (ish!) recipes that don't have difficult to find ingredients.

I've read the introduction (and to be honest it's the same introduction in every vegan cookbook in the last 20 years!) and I think the book is aimed at 'new' vegans. Still, I have a positive vibe about this book and will update and significant successes or failures in this thread in case anyone is interested.

Thanks, Barry. I'll add Keep it vegan by Aine Carlin to our shelves if it's not already there.

I realised in flicking through the book today that I'd come across her work before in a newspaper article espousing a vegan diet to lose weight and was aimed at a 'meat replacement' audience. I remember reading she made hard work out of a Portobello mushroom burger and wedges type meal! That said her Dijon wedges were pretty great.

I've only recently discovered tofu scramble and love it so I had a whirl with the scramble recipe here. It was only okay but I think a big part of that it the curry powder I used - it's not a great blend to be honest (bought from a supermarket rather than an Asian market). The addition of spinach worked a real treat and turned something basic into something really nice.

Going to have a go at a sweet potato and kiwi soup next I think. It sounds unusual but I've a feeling it'll come together.

It sounds great, Barry. I love tofu scramble and I'm not that particular about my curry powder. Never met one I didn't like.

I love sweet potatoes and kiwi though I can't quite picture them together so I'll be curious about how that concoction turns out!!!

There are differences but so far I've loved them all.

The sweet potato and kiwi soup was lovely. A sweet soup but the flavour was fantastic. My son absolutely loved this! It's just five chopped cloves of garlic with 600g of chopped sweet potato simmered in a stock with a chopped kiwi added before blending. The book gave no measurement for water so I guessed at 1.5 litres - this made quite a thin soup so I'd use 1 litre next time. The recommended garnish of roasted sweet potato peel with paprika actually enhanced the dish rather than being something decorative on the side. I'll definitely do this again.

Barry, Thanks for the report on that recipe!

I made a 'Smoky Moroccan Chickpea Stew with saffon-infused couscous' from this book which was delicious. The cous-cous was flavoured with saffron, lemon and parsley which was lovely. The stew had red onion, red pepper, carrot, aubergine, tomato, chickpeas and dates. I thought the recipe would overcook but actually created a nice stickiness to the stew. The spices were just right (I'd put smoked paprika in everything) - paprika, pepper, cumin, coriander and cinnamon. Not disimilar to other dishes in other cookbooks but this may be my 'Morrocan stew' go-to.

My only real criticism of the book is a couple of pages dedicated to cocktails. They don't add value to the book and seem arbitary. I think if one needs a cocktail recipe a vegan cookbook isn't the place to look. Not that 'we' don't drink or cocktails aren't vegan - I just think there are tons of books and resources for cocktails which frankly do it better and the author could have put in a couple more creations. Seemed a little throwaway and seemed weird the drinks she chose out of thousands of vegan cocktails.

I made a pistachio, walnut and parsley pesto from this book yesterday. It was delicious and I had it with pasta. My family thought the flavours were a bit strong but I loved it. The recipe made quite a lot so half is the fridge to put on some pasta over the weekend.

Pistachios and walnuts are toasted and blitzed with olive oil, garlic, lemon, nutmeg, salt and lots of parsley. I reduced the parsley in the recipe by a third as I thought it was too much and it came out great.

I'm easily corrupted by a good pesto and have a few go-to recipes - this one is as good as or better than my favourite one.

I've decided I quite like this book. (Thank you mother-in-law at Christmas!)

I love pesto sauces too. That sounds like a different and interesting one.

That's right Don, toasted then blended in a food processor.

I made a Black Bean chilli from this book tonight which was decent. To be honest, it doesn't vary to far from 'your' favourite chilli recipe. It's pepper based (green, red and yellow all feature). I didn't find it too spicy but the spice blends combine well (I like the addition of a pinch of cinnamon). I've got into chocolate in chilli recently and the addition was worthwhile. I made some tortilla chips, not easy in the frying pan as the oil has to be the right temperature and you need to catch these right - would probably prefer store bought.

I felt the dish needed some rice with it as it needed something to complement the richness of the chilli. Decent but not amazing.

Great photos Don! I've made both the chill and the Moroccan stew. Both interesting twists on favourites.

The dark chocolate in the chilli really adds to it and provides a rich silky texture to it.

Both good dishes

Marinated tofu or smoked tofu is sold in the UK. Not really sure what the brand I have contains in terms of ingredients except it's tasty and vegan! It's sold precut and has a chewy texture. I use it a lot but when you think about all the possible tofu marinades you'll have in cookbooks I can understand why a reader would think 'marinaded in what???'.

By the way I'm on a super kale trip these days and agree it can go with lots of cuisines.

Similar stuff Don and does cost twice as much.

Brilliant chefs like us can do our own, right? :)

I made that a few weeks ago Don and it came out pretty well. It had a really nice colour to it and I bumped it up with some rice.

Great - may give this a whirl! I marinated some tofu last night (Italian marinade from Veganomicon) which was awesome!