The official Supermarket Vegan recipe review (to be updated)
Appetizers and snacks
Artichoke, chickpea, and spinach dip
Well, this is nothing spectacular, but for ingredients/time, it's pretty good. It's not much compared to the "insanely good spinach and artichoke dip (vw)," but it's still tasty. I added a couple more garlic cloves, the juice of a full lemon, and the artichoke marinade. I didn't use a full 1/4 cup olive oil (because of the marinade), and the oil that I did add made the dip a bit too runny. Worth making if you need a really quick dip. (AC)
Avocado tahini dip with lemon
Chipotle guacamole
Good basic guac with the addition of chipotle peppers. I used a large FL lite avocado, added a lot of adobo sauce, and cut back on the onions. I actually forgot the onions and ate a bunch without it and it was fine, and added a tad of onions later. (tweety)
Curried spinach fondue with pita
Curried toasted cashews
Edamame dip with raw vegetables
Eggplant and black olive dip
Golden tomato bruschetta
Greek style spinach puffs
Green olive and almond crostini
Guacamole stuffed cherry tomatoes
Mediterranean style salsa with pita chips
Mushrooms stuffed with breadcrumbs, lemon, and thyme
Quick guacamole
Red onion and black olive tapenade
Quite good. I used kalamata olives and cut down the red onions in half. It was quite tangy with the kalamata flavor, capers and lemon juice. Loved it. (tweety)
Roasted red pepper and eggplant confit
Spicy red bean dip
Sun dried tomato pesto toast
love this! my husband and I are both crazy for this pesto, I've made it many times. Instead of draining the sun-dried tomatoes, I just omit the tbsp of oil. (thirteenblackbirds)
Tuscan style crostini with white beans and sage
I made a version of this (following the method), but doubled the garlic, used a bit of olive oil (no veg. broth), and fresh tarragon. It was good! I'm sure it would be good with sage, just different. (AC)
we liked this quite a bit… it's basic, but a good addition to a simple pasta and tomato sauce type dinner. the sage is really nice in this. (thirteenblackbirds)
Walnut red pepper dip
a nice mildly flavored spread with great texture. (thirteenblackbirds)
Warm cilantro dipping sauce with plantain chips
White bean hummus
Soups, stews, and chilis
First course and lighter soups
Buddhist hot and sour soup with tofu
Butternut squash and roasted red pepper soup'
Cauliflower and potato soup
Creamy curried broccoli soup
Easy cream of asparagus soup
Moroccan style gingered carrot soup with orange
Potato and leek soup
Quick Southwestern style kidney bean and corn soup
Roasted red pepper and potato soup with cumin
Tomato soup with thyme
Vegetable miso soup
Watermelon gazpacho
Heartier soups, stews, and chilis
African cabbage, carrot, potato, and chickpea stew
Asian style lentil stew
Asian recipes with lentils are rare (I think so), so I was positively surprise by this recipe and I was very good. Unfortunately, colors wasn't pleasant. Next time, it will be a good idea to add some vegetables for more colors! (gathdurwin)
Caribbean style black bean and hominy soup with plantain chips
Pretty good. I couldn't find vegetarian black bean refried beans, so I used regular refried beans and pinto beans. Otherwise I stuck to the recipe except that I added fresh jalapeno instead of using canned diced tomatoes with jalapeno, and I didn't add any extra water for a thicker soup. The plantain chips tasted excellent with this. (tweety)
Curried eggplant and black eyed pea stew
Good recipe for eggplants. I didn't use raisins. The mango chutney adds an interesting sweet kick to the recipe! (gathdurwin)
Curried roasted carrot soup with coconut
Easy lentil soup
French Canadian cabbage and navy bean soup with escarole
Hummus soup
Kansas city style two bean chili
yuck. to be harsh, it tasted like ketchup, mustard, and bean soup. my husband thought it was okay. (thirteenblackbirds)
Quick tomato rice soup with zucchini and basil
Roasted tomato garlic soup with orzo and basil
Sweet potato and red pepper soup with toasted corn
Three bean barley chili
okay, not great. but i don't care for chili. DR and LF enjoyed it. Makes a TON (bp)
Excellent! I think barley is a good addition to chili......everything really came together well for a nice taste....she uses 2 cups of prepared salsa which I thought was kind of lame in my snobbishness but it did save a lot of time and was quite good. I added the optional corn and cayenne and subbed pinto beans for red kidney. (tweety)
Tuscan chickpea soup with sun dried tomatoes and rosemary
White bean minestrone with zucchini and rosemary
Rosemary lentils over polenta - I used fresh rosemary and the flavour was subtle. I liked the lentils overtop the garlicky polenta though. Good combination.
Italian style artichoke and white bean salad
This was...alright. I wouldn't make it again though. I also ate it right after I made it. I've noticed two things that I don't really care for in this cookbook which is 1.) She calls for sugar in almost every recipe and it's never necessary 2.) A lot of the recipes need to be made and then refridgerated for x number of hours.
Coconut curried lentils with basmati rice - this was fantastic!! I burnt it a little in the pressure cooker - I was being impatient - but it was still very good. Instead of rice, we ate it with toasted pita bread.
Tahini Brown Rice with Artichokes and Chickpeas - while this has to be the beige-est meal I've ever made, it was really quite delicious! I really liked the tahini flavor - I usually only use tahini in hummus, so it was nice to use it in a actual dish. I think next time I'll try adding a variety of different vegetables.
Buddhist style kung pao tofu with rice
I thought this was gross. It was not spicy at all and was boring and just gross.
Hawaiian style sweet and sour roasted pineapple and bell peppers
I really liked this. It wasn't one of those ooky-sweet sweet-and-sour sauces. It was light, tasty and fresh (there is no cornstarch in this recipe, youpee!). I added in 1 lb of extra-firm tofu (pressed) and marinaded it in the sesame oil, canola oil and agave nectar (substituted for the brown sugar - maple syrup would be useful if marinating just to get the liquid). I prepped the rest of my vegetables as it marinaded, although if I had more forethought I would have marinaded it longer. Threw the veggies and tofu together to bake for ~75 minutes. Tossed with (unsweetened) fine coconut and lime juice and sprinkled chopped cashews overtop. Perfect! This recipe definitely needs fresh pineapple, though (I used half a pineapple). The canned stuff won't make this meal shine. Served with quinoa for a complete meal.
Baked Five-Spice Rice
I liked this, hubby and child did not. They said the rice was too chewy (I baked it for the recommended time, but I think I should have checked it sooner). I added some grated carrot and chopped mushrooms for some variety, and they worked well in the dish. I felt like it would have been better with cashews or almonds, something crunchy. I'd eat it again if it were just me, but I wouldn't make it again for the family.
Salad Bar Lo Mein
I added some tofu and napa cabbage to this and left out the bell pepper and snow peas. It was very quick, easy, and good. Nothing spectacular, but worth making again. It was well-received by my family.
Chipotle Cream Sauce
I made this to top burritos, and it was amazing. So easy and delicious. I added some cumin and oregano, and next time I think I will add one more chipotle pepper, because it wasn't all that spicy. I will make this one a regular.
Tuscan style crostini with white beans and sage -
we liked this quite a bit… it's basic, but a good addition to a simple pasta and tomato sauce type dinner. the sage is really nice in this.
Wild mushroom and pinto bean burritos with tomatillo salsa
another basic but good recipe. i eat burritos regularly and this was a nice change of pace from my typical burrito. it would definitely benefit from a fresh jalapeno or serrano pepper.
Chipotle cream sauce
delicious. i used this on top of some baked chimichangas and will make this again. i omitted the sugar and used regular coconut milk.
Lentil tacos
a fun use of lentils. i cooked my lentils separately in veg broth until they were very soft, and i also added garlic and some cayenne pepper in place of chili powder. it turned out really good.
Asian style cabbage slaw with cashews
not impressed… bland and kind of weird tasting… i added olive oil in place of canola oil and think that may have contributed to the failure of this dish. not something i would bother trying to make again. the cashews were good in this but they would have been better just on their own.
Broccoli slaw and red pepper stir fry with peanuts
I liked this. This dish was so simple and quick to make, I was surprised that it was still pretty tasty. I made my own broccoli slaw with a few broccoli stems in my food processor, threw in an extra carrot, and pretty much had dinner ready in 15 minutes. I did not need to use the cornstarch. I served it with quinoa I had made for another dish.
Portobello mushrooms with chipotle mashed sweet potatoes - I made only themashed sweet potatoes as she suggested and loved it. It has mashed sweet potatoes, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, scallions, and garlic salt (I used a little powder), but the kicker was coconut milk.
Bulgar salad with cantaloup and walnuts - Most excellent. What's unique to me about this recipe is that she cooks the bulgar in a mix of orange juice, lemon juice and a tad bit of water which makes for a tasty bulgar base. It's kind of like a tabouli in that it has fresh parsly and mint, but the addition of cantaloup and walnuts makes it unique. I did not have enough scallions for this dish so I just used minced yellow onions in a small amount. Very good!
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Ya don't see cantaloupe in too many recipes; interesting! I'm glad you post in here, tweety (everyone), b/c I find it hard to be inspired by these recipes.
Thanks AC. I love this forum, and have made many dishes based on the reviews here. Glad I return the favor.
Bulgar salad with cantaloup and walnuts: Thanks to Tweety for providing me with the recipe <3 I really liked this a lot! I did fiddle with it a tiny bit. I changed the proportions of bulgur to melon (I used two cups of the bulgur made in the recipe and 4 cups of melon rather than 2), nixed the scallions altogether because I don't have any, and was going to add in hazelnuts rather than walnuts, but forgot so I just added them to individual bowls. I really liked the slight citrus flavour, and I love love love melon in salad. Super simple, and will make again!
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Looks very good db, glad you enjoyed it!
Bulgar salad with cantaloup and walnuts - I also made this after your high praises. A simple salad but I really liked it! I used an entire small cantaloupe (4 cups) with medium-sized bulgur and freshly squeezed OJ. I used 1/2 cup mint and 1/4 cup parsley because I don't really like parsley. I also used hazelnuts because that's what I had on hand. Your cantaloupe will make or break this dish. I thought mine was wonderful with a just-about-to-be-ripe but still firm cantaloupe. Yum! Thanks for the tip, guys! :)
Sun-Dried Tomato-Pesto Toast - love this! my husband and I are both crazy for this pesto, I've made it many times. Instead of draining the sun-dried tomatoes, I just omit the tbsp of oil. (thirteenblackbirds)
Artichoke garlic bread --- i used this as a topping for sliced french bread instead of using the method described, and added the sun-dried tomatoes and also some basil. It was tasty but not something I would likely make again. (thirteenblackbirds)
Mexican torta - this was tasty and easy to make. I think you need really good beans for this to be fantastic - i just used canned rosarita. the bean mixture got a lot better after sitting overnight. I enjoyed it but it didn't compare to the torta I had a taco shop a few weeks ago. (thirteenblackbirds)
Tuscan-Style White Bean Quesadillas with Artichokes and Sun-Dried tomatoes - I really like the idea of an Italian quesadilla. It was good, but the leftovers were so much better. If i make it again, I will make the filling ingredients the night before (mixing them all together) so that the flavors have a chance to blend together. (thirteenblackbirds)
Rotelle with wild mushroom ragout
Have made this a number of times. It's too difficult (and probably expensive for me) to get wild mushrooms, so each time I've subbed brown mushrooms in the mix. I don't know what wild mushies taste like, but the brown mushrooms really flavour this dish. This is packed with flavour, and you cannot leave the parsley out of this recipe, it really adds a wonderful kick to it. Not the most impressive dish, but when cooking this we always get comments about the aromas.
I know I've tried other stuff from this book but just can't remember at the moment :(
Walnut red pepper dip - a nice mildly flavored spread with great texture.
Italian style kale with garlic and lemon - very meh for me. it needed some more flavor and I like my kale cooked a bit longer. I also had some issues with the garlic sticking to the pan since there isn't much liquid in the recipe.
Lemon walnut green beans I had a sense of deja vu but didn't make a note in the cookbook that I made this recipe before. I'll let my review above stand though. I needed to use some green beans and this was a good way to do that. This time I used a combination of nuts and didn't have any lemon juice, but had a key lime from my yard and used that.
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Cinco de Mayo Mexican Salad - Very good. Nothing really unique here. I've made similar dishes many times. The salad dressing is olive oil, cumin, mustard and lime juice. Instead of the brown mustard she called for, I used a Bajan pepper sauce I'd made that is mustard based for some spice and it was perfect for this salad.
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Curried pasta salad with grapes and chutney - Very good...a bit too sweet for my tastes as it has mango chutney, grapes and raisins, but still was a unique blend of flavors that worked well.
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