At first glance this book is WEIGHTY, in that way that only vegetarian/vegan books seem to be.

An ENORMOUS shopping list of ingredients and a bunch of small print for the recipe.

 

And then – I read this book.

It’s funny, quirky, charming, easy to read and (I’m totally scamming this from other reviews I saw online) you can sub in other proteins if you find the concept of Seitan distasteful (ahem…Corey – that’s for you).

The book itself is laid out well, has great indexes (indices? indecies?) and a quirky, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor throughout. The author surely doesn’t take himself too seriously and has spent a great deal of time thinking out each and every recipe.

Some recipes may SEEM inapproachable what with titles like ‘Tequila Lime Tostones with Mashed Black Beans and Picante Hazelnuts’ or ‘Jalapeño Roasted Corn-Stuffed Red Quinoa Croquettes with Cajun Fried Sweet Potatoes and Cashew Mornay Sauce”. Mouthfuls. Yikes.

And just when I think I can’t take one more description-filled hipster/vegan recipe – I turn the page to see BEER-BATTERED FRENCH TOAST.

And I’m totally sucked back in again.

 

Yes, this cookbook has a lot of ingredients. Yes, you could totally sub out the Tempeh for Chicken Breasts and the Evaporated Cane Juice for Granulated Sugar – which makes this book much more versatile that you’d think.

You buy this book because the recipes are full of flavor, are big and bold – not just substituting A for B, but honestly trying to utilize foods in a different way than you’d expect.  As someone who has kept Kosher for most of her life, I get what ‘fake’ this or that really tastes like. I know what it takes to make substitutions in any and every recipe I’ve ever tried.

But with this book – for the first time ever, I think – I’m substituting things IN instead of OUT. Does that make sense?

I think it’s pretty cool.

 

If you’re Vegan or not, this has some incredible recipes in it.

Did I mention the BEER-BATTERED FRENCH TOAST?!?!

Page 46.

 

Dear Blogging for Books: THANK YOU for giving me a copy of this book to review!