Veganomicon Recipes
OK, I bought my copy of Veganomicon (cookbook from the same authors as Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) last week at Barnes & Noble. Over the weekend, I made my first recipes from the book. I made the Chickpea Cutlets with the Mustard Gravy. I also made the Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans. For sweets, I made the Chocolate-Chocolate Chip-Walnut Cookies. Everything was really good. I've been having a difficult time staying away from the cookies, they're so good (very thin, crispy, chewy!). Has anyone else here purchased this cookbook yet and made any recipes? I'd love to hear what people are making and enjoying from this cookbook. I really enjoy Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's other cookbooks, and I'm looking forward to exploring more in this new book.
I made spaghetti tonight with the Beanball recipe, and they were really good! I wanted to make the Beanball Subs (with pine nut cream & homemade marinara), but I was too lazy after work, so I just made the beanball part... They're delicious! :D I bet they'd be better in a sub, too, as I had a very hard time keeping the balls together... By the end, after flipping so much, it kind of turned to beanball mush, so it wasn't very pretty, but they tasted very good! I think next time I'll bake them so all that flipping in oil won't break them apart... They'll be healthier that way, too. Yum either way, though!
ive never heard of this book, it sounds great! BTW i like "grocery store friendly" books too, nothing more frustrating than a whole book full of things that sound delicious but require expensive or hard to find ingriedients (had this problem occasionly with the "how it all vegan") my fave book of simple, cheap recipes is Soy Not Oi! a hand made punk rock zine i found in a pile of trash left over from demolished building. You can order it online now from AK press and it is totally worh it.
I've been meaning to buy Soy Not Oi! for so long. I just got Please Don't Feed The Bears.
It's really great and AK press carries it, too. It's worth it for the jambalaya recipe alone.
http://akpress.com/2006/items/pleasedontfeedthebearscookbook
http://akpress.com/1996/items/soynotoi
My copy of Veganomicon still hasn't come. Now, Amazon lists Nov. 23 (I ordered it on the 2nd) as the arrival date. Boo. But, I'm so glad to hear that there is a pound cake recipe! I was a little disappointed that there wasn't one in The Joy of Vegan Baking.
please dont feed the bears is great! i love the song suggestions haha. all those obscure metal bands and stories and crossword puzzles.
also, secondbase that oatmeal cookie with caramel on top.... droooolll. that sounds delish.
it made me think of something. i've heard of so many stories of vegan recipes being claimed "best cookie ive ever had!" "best ______ i've ever had!" i think vegan recipes HAVE to be the best, or else, no one would go for them. Theres tons of non vegan cookbooks, some are good some are not so good but people still buy them. But for us, its like the test is if your omni friend or foe enjoys your vegan treats. our recipes have to withstand that test of "ohhh i dont know... its vegan... but i'll give it a try" they come in with a negative attitude and we have to switch it around. so the recipes have to be twice as good as any old regular omni recipe. you know? does that make any sense? or am i still in kelsi la la land where no one understands what is going through my head.
it made me think of something. i've heard of so many stories of vegan recipes being claimed "best cookie ive ever had!" "best ______ i've ever had!" i think vegan recipes HAVE to be the best, or else, no one would go for them. Theres tons of non vegan cookbooks, some are good some are not so good but people still buy them. But for us, its like the test is if your omni friend or foe enjoys your vegan treats. our recipes have to withstand that test of "ohhh i dont know... its vegan... but i'll give it a try" they come in with a negative attitude and we have to switch it around. so the recipes have to be twice as good as any old regular omni recipe. you know? does that make any sense? or am i still in kelsi la la land where no one understands what is going through my head.
No, that totally makes sense... I have thought the exact same thing! In fact, for the past 90 minutes, I have been looking through my cookbooks for "the best"/"the perfect"/"the most delicious" cookie/bar/scone/biscotti/anything to bring to work tomorrow to share with my hardcore omni (bordering on carnivore... :P) co-workers. And planning my birthday treats last month was seriously a month-long event... I feel like they're already skeptical, and if it's bad, that means vegan food is bad. If an omni treat isn't so great, well--that must just be a bad recipe. ::) ;) I definitely feel pressure (but I'm not complaining) to share my most delicious food always. I would never experiment with a treat & bring it in, unless I had already established that I eat well & vegan food is delicious!
I made the Quinoa Black Bean Mango salad today and it was FANTASTIC!! The best recipe I've made out of the book so far. I subbed papaya for the mango because I had a can of papaya on hand and mangos are not in season right now.
Another thing I really like about the recipes is that they never call for fake sour cream, fake cheese, fake meat, and so on. It's real food, and I don't have to worry about all that processed junk.
Another thing I really like about the recipes is that they never call for fake sour cream, fake cheese, fake meat, and so on. It's real food, and I don't have to worry about all that processed junk.
Ohhhh, me too! That is definitely my favorite part about these recipes! I loved that about VWAV, too. No processed crap! All real, wholesome food! And I love that instead of saying "Use soy mozzarella cheeze" in lasagna, beanball subs, etc., they teach me how to make my own cheezy spread! :D That's what I want a cookbook for!
I made the Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits tonight for dinner. This dish is completely FABULOUS! I definitely recommend this one. This cassoulet would be a great entree for mixed company (veg/nonveg). (By the way, the recipe calls for 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced--about 2 cups. My leeks must be on the gargantuan size because I only used one, and it was probably more like 3 cups sliced.)
I'm planning on making the apple and peanutbutter caramel bars (or something with a name like that haha it was late last night when I decided on it) for a get together I'm having on Friday, I'll let you know how they tun out for sure! Yay for college breaks with all my friends home for once :D
i just made the apple peanut butter caramel bars and damn. do they smell good. i tried a little corner and i have to tell you all, do NOT be scared by the steps in this recipe. it really was very simple to put together and the result is delish. a crunchy grahm cracker base with soft, gooshy cinnamon sweet apples topped with rich, smooth and creamy peanut butter caramel. oh gooodness. each bite tasted differently from the last and was amazing.
I haven't shared them with all my friends yet cause they're coming later, but I had to tell you all how fabbbbulousss they were. mmm.
my subs were 1.5 T molasses and 1 T water for the brown rice syrup in the caramel and 2 red apples for 2 of the granny smith called for in the apple filling. I also left out ginger only because I didn't have it, I will definately add it next time ;D
I made the chickpea cutlets. Very meaty texture, tasty and good fried! I plan on trying these again in the oven but I still highly recommend them either way!
Veganomicon is on hold for me at the bookstore! Yay! I bought VWAV but don't really use it. I'm not sure if I've ever prepared anything from it. I find myself checking out from the library Donna Klein's The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen instead.
Now about the title - Here's part of a review on Amazon:
The other review made a comment about the title, which I think is total genius. Then again, I get the HP Lovecraft/Evil Dead reference. What else could you call the "ultimate vegan cookbook" besides the "Veganomicon"??
Context, anyone? **vacant, confused expression here**
I made the Apple-Peanut Butter-Caramel Bars last night. These are really delicious! I'm eating one of these bars warmed up a little with some Soy Dream vegan vanilla ice cream on the side right now--mmmm!
I made the Apple Gallettes. They were good, but the crust got hard after they sat for awhile. Next time I might bake them at a slightly lower temperature.
I made the Apple-Peanut Butter-Caramel Bars last night. These are really delicious! I'm eating one of these bars warmed up a little with some Soy Dream vegan vanilla ice cream on the side right now--mmmm!
when you made yours, did they brown up or did they look kinda... pale? i dno if that's the right word, when you took them out? I left mine in for the full 45 mins and they still looked kind of.. i dno, as if the apples hadn't crisped up completely. they were delish though, just not quite presentable :)
..snip..
Now about the title - Here's part of a review on Amazon:
The other review made a comment about the title, which I think is total genius. Then again, I get the HP Lovecraft/Evil Dead reference. What else could you call the "ultimate vegan cookbook" besides the "Veganomicon"??
Context, anyone? **vacant, confused expression here**
The HP Lovecraft books referenced a Necromonicon which was the ultimate book of knowledge. Eeeevilll knowledge. *insert maniacal laughter here*
The biscotti is incredibly delicious... I made some chocolate-almond that was based off the Chocolate-Hazelnut biscotti recipe, and some orange-cranberry that was based off of the Anise-Pine Nut recipe. So awesome! My co-workers loved them, too, and couldn't believe they were homemade! :D Even better is the fact that only whole ingredients are used (like flax seed instead of Ener-G egg replacer)! Don't get me wrong--I'll use Ener-G once in awhile, but if I can replace it with wholesome, nutritious flax instead & still get an amazing result, I definitely prefer to!
I made the Apple-Peanut Butter-Caramel Bars last night. These are really delicious! I'm eating one of these bars warmed up a little with some Soy Dream vegan vanilla ice cream on the side right now--mmmm!
when you made yours, did they brown up or did they look kinda... pale? i dno if that's the right word, when you took them out? I left mine in for the full 45 mins and they still looked kind of.. i dno, as if the apples hadn't crisped up completely. they were delish though, just not quite presentable :)
I hadn't given this much thought. The apples were a little pale, but I think that is mostly because there aren't a ton of spices in them (just a pinch each). The "crisp" part was a bit on the pale side, but I think that is because this crisp has more flour and not as much fat (oil); the "crisp" topping would probably brown better if you decreased the flour and increased the oil. By the time you put the peanut butter-caramel on the cooked bars, though, you don't notice any paleness. Mine seem perfectly presentable. I'm not sure what you mean about "the apples hadn't crisped up completely." The apples aren't supposed to get crispy. Are you referring to the "crisp" topping? As I said, I think this would be more of a crisp, streusel-like topping if you used less flour and more oil (or margarine), and maybe added more sugar, as well.
Jessacita, your biscotti sounds great! I've never made biscotti before. Was it difficult at all? Did you have any problems with crumbling when you sliced them? Just curious.
I didn' tmean the apples weren't crisp i just mean.. it didn't look like the inside of apple pie which is what I expected. But the lack of spices could have accounted for that. But like you said, the caramel made it all look fine. I was just wondering if yours "browned" more than mine did. I still ate it, as did all of my guests so I don't think there was a problem.
I didn' tmean the apples weren't crisp i just mean.. it didn't look like the inside of apple pie which is what I expected. But the lack of spices could have accounted for that. But like you said, the caramel made it all look fine. I was just wondering if yours "browned" more than mine did. I still ate it, as did all of my guests so I don't think there was a problem.
It sounds like ours came out similarly--a little on the pale side, but peanut butter-caramel makes everything better! Another thing that might have made the apples a little gooier like in apple pie is adding more sugar. It seems like most apple pies use more sugar on the apples. If you haven't tried one of these bars warmed up with some vegan vanilla ice cream, I highly recommend! Sooo tasty!
I didn' tmean the apples weren't crisp i just mean.. it didn't look like the inside of apple pie which is what I expected. But the lack of spices could have accounted for that. But like you said, the caramel made it all look fine. I was just wondering if yours "browned" more than mine did. I still ate it, as did all of my guests so I don't think there was a problem.
It sounds like ours came out similarly--a little on the pale side, but peanut butter-caramel makes everything better! Another thing that might have made the apples a little gooier like in apple pie is adding more sugar. It seems like most apple pies use more sugar on the apples. If you haven't tried one of these bars warmed up with some vegan vanilla ice cream, I highly recommend! Sooo tasty!
Mmm that does sound delish. But mine are all gone :( I fed them to a bunch of hungry home-for-the-holidays-college-kids. they all missed things not made in cafeterias :D
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