Vegan Cooking & Cookbooks discussion

I have Color Me Vegan: Maximize Your Nutrient Intake and Optimize Your Health by Eating Antioxidant-Rich, Fiber-Packed, Color-Intense Meals home from the library and was excited to try a few recipes today. I made the Salt and Pepper Tofu which was very good although I'm not sure about the smoked paprika. We ate this as a snack. Then I baked the Chocolate Zucchini Bread and I'm happy to report my five year old daughter liked it! This makes me really happy because she's never eaten zucchini before.

Has anyone cooked from this book yet? I really love the look of it and the photos are very nice too. I don't know why so many vegan cookbooks have bad photographs.

That's interesting Pia. I'm actually so focussed on the food and reading the recipes that I ignore everything else. I rarely read the first few chapters of vegan cookbooks where they usually talk about that. I just dive straight into the food!

Carrot fries are so good...I love them and really want to try the blueberry ketchup with them next time.

I ordered this cookbook last night along with two other during a fit of insomnia! It was an expensive sleepless night.

Yay! Which other two did you buy?

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and Authentic Chinese Cuisine: For the Contemporary Kitchen. I'm stoked about all of them!

I SO want that Chinese cookbook! I can't wait to see what you cook from it.

It's going to be awesome! My friend has it so I've already flipped through.

I've taken a look at that one too Pia! Maybe it will be next when I've completely gorged myself on the chinese food.

I've recently made a few more recipes from this book. The ones I've enjoyed most are the Carrot and Avocado Salad and the Chocolate Cherry Cookies.

Any more comments on that one? It's been on my wish list for a while now too. I like the idea of how it's sorted by the color of the veggies (I read it on someone's review on Amazon, I think?) but other than that I'm not sure..

Val wrote: "Any more comments on that one? It's been on my wish list for a while now too. I like the idea of how it's sorted by the color of the veggies (I read it on someone's review on Amazon, I think?) but ..."

I love this book (and it's gorgeous) but I wish there were more recipes in the "rainbow"/all colors section. Sometimes it's hard to make enough dishes to get a variety of colors though, in fairness, even within each color recipe section, foods of other colors are also often included in the dishes.

Thanks for your input, Lisa!
I want sooo many vegan cookbooks, it's not even funny anymore! LOL

Val, I have cooked from this book. I don't own it but I've taken it out from the library twice now. It's a lovely book to look at and many of the recipes are appealing. I'll have to go and check my cookbooker account to see which recipes I made and liked. Hang on!

Val, I don't know if this link will work but try it. My favourite recipe so far from the book is the Brazilian Black Bean Stew. It was yum. You can see a picture of it on my blog.

http://www.cookbooker.com/title/16344...

Thanks for letting me know, Lee, and for the link! It sounds yummy!!! I'll have to check out the pic on your blog then! ;)

Lee wrote: "You can see a picture of it on my blog.

http://www.cookbooker.com/title/16344/co... "

Lee, You linked to cookbooker, and it was easy to find your review there, but I don't see a link from there to your blog. I could be missing it.

Oops sorry! Here is the link to the review and picture on my blog.

http://plentysweetenough.blogspot.com...

Oh, I didn't even notice the link wasn't the right one! LOL Thank you, Lisa, for pointing it out, and thanks, Lee, for providing the direct link! It looks great! :)

I had too many tabs open on my browser and copied the wrong one! Glad you found it.

Lee wrote: "Oops sorry! Here is the link to the review and picture on my blog.

http://plentysweetenough.blogspot.com..."

Thanks, Lee!

Don, You should try to get to know some cookbook authors and be a tester and taster for their upcoming cookbooks. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and other authors thank those people in their cookbooks. At the very least, these authors should be autographing all your cookbooks. Ditto for the others of you who frequently use their cookbooks!

Don, I too was pleasantly surprised by the carrot and avocado salad. It turned out to be much tastier than I imagined.

I just checked this out from the library and I agree with the other comments about how great this cookbook is to look at. I have not yet prepared any of the recipes, but I plan to after I tear through round one of dishes from Veganomicon. I don't think this will be a cookbook I purchase, but I saw about 15 or 20 dishes I hope to make. I will report back afterwards!

Stephanie, we look forward to hearing your results!
I made the curried greens the other day and loved it.

Thanks, Stephanie. Looking forward to hearing your experiences.

Thanks, Lee. I love greens and anything curried so that recipe sounds like a winner to me.

I made baked kale chips for the first time and they were awesome. The author notes that salt and spice go a long way with this, but I was very careful because I am NOT a fan of salty food...yet...it was still too much! Go WAY lighter on this than you think you would need to. Great snack. Will be trying a few recipes in the next couple of weeks.

Last night I made Garlicky Greens and Pasta, which was really delicious. I used mustard greens and added more garlic and basil than called for. I also used dried basil because I didn't want to spend money on fresh, and I did not use pine nuts. I will definitely make this again, and would recommend it as a pretty quick weeknight dinner. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch!

Stephanie, Sounds quick and delicious. I do love pine nuts though and would probably like it even better with them.

I ended up ordering this cookbook yesterday even though I didn't think it was one I would buy. I bought groceries this weekend to make about twelve recipes from the book. Stay tuned!

Stephanie wrote: "I ended up ordering this cookbook yesterday even though I didn't think it was one I would buy. I bought groceries this weekend to make about twelve recipes from the book. Stay tuned!"

Stephanie, Can't wait. It's a gorgeous book, isn't it? And your dozen or so recipes from the book are bound to be healthy too.

On Saturday I tried out a couple more recipes from the book...

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Pecans - delicious, especially if you love the sprouts as much as the husband and I do. Simple and good, and most people will pretty much always have the ingredients to make this on hand

Orange Glazed Tempeh - the sauce was really good, but I am still hung up on tempeh...I have tried a few brands and flavors, but it always tastes bitter to me, and I am not a picky eater. Any tips? My husband liked this, but I couldn't eat more than a few bites.

Stephanie, I've never liked any variation of tempeh. I also don't like seitan, tvp, or most other vegan meats. If I see a tempeh or seitan dish that looks good, I'll substitute tofu or some other food(s) for them.

I will try steaming it next time. I have one more package in the fridge to make the cherry balsamic tempeh from this cookbook.

I like all other vegan "meats", but I will not cast my final tempeh judgment until after I attempt to steam it!

Stephanie wrote: "I like all other vegan "meats", but I will not cast my final tempeh judgment until after I attempt to steam it! "

Awaiting your opinion.

I have tried a few more recipes in the past several days...

Carrot Fries - Amazing! I cannot believe I never thought about doing this before. I will be making these a lot for a snack or side.

Peanut Butter Pancakes - These were also really good, but the batter was more like a dough and needed a significant amount of extra milk. Not overly peanut buttery, but just the right amount.

Irish Mashed Potatoes and Kale - Another fantastic recipe! I made this last night with roasted asparagus and red peppers and it made a good meal.

So far, I have really liked everything from this books, minus the tempeh! My copy arrived this weekend and I am now really glad I bought it.

Stephanie, I love the book too. All three of those recipes sound delicious. And, I also have never enjoyed tempeh.

Don wrote: "butternut squash orange ginger soup - It also has potatoes, onions, and garlic.  It's o.k.  Nothing earth shattering, but not bad.  Zero fat and very healthy!

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a..."

The ingredients sound wonderful! Would it be better with more spices or other flavorful foods, do you think, Don?

Don, You're probably right, and the ingredients lead me to think I'd enjoy it more with curry powder added. I add that to lots of soups I make.