Help - Vegan Cookbooks/Recipes

[Yoga0829]

Hello everyone! I'd like to start using more vegan recipes for baking and cooking, but haven't had much luck so far. After reviewing 6 cookbooks I found at Borders, most of them didn't have nutritional info listed for their recipes (important to me), and those that did didn't seem to care about the fat content/overall nutritional value of their recipes.

Does anyone have any recommendations for vegan cookbooks? Or any vegan recipes to share? I'd especially be interested in baking recipes - breads, muffins, cookies, etc.

[Kristal]

I ate a vegan diet for the month of January (a resolution of sorts) and purchased a few cookbooks then. I think my biggest gripe about doing this type of diet is all of the special products you have to buy to make meals. Brown rice syrup, agave nectar, soy cheese, etc. And some of the recipes were so complicated and time-consuming!

I still like the idea of plant-based meals, so I recently purchased Fresh and Fast Vegan Pleasures from Amazon. Here is a link (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1569245355/qid=1123253294/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_sbs_1/102-5827327-0297710?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) to it. While I haven't made anything from it yet, I like the looks of the book because it doesn't use "fake" products--just beans, vegetables, grains and fruits. And it does provide nutritional information for each recipe. I'm more of a savory girl, so I don't have any baking references for you off the top of my head, but I can look at some of my other vegan books and get back to you. :)

[gaja]

My favorite vegan cookbook that includes nutritional information is Donna Klein The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen. The recipes are simple, tasty, and nutritious. Like the book mentioned by Krista, this one does not use "fake" products, not even tofu or soy milk. I also have Fresh and Fast Vegan Pleasures and I must warn you that the fat content is often pretty high.

[Yoga0829]

Thank you...maybe you can answer a question. I just looked at a couple recipes from Fresh and Fast Vegan Pleasures. The recipes list the number of servings, but not the serving size...so how do you know the correct quantity for each serving so that the nutritional info per serving will be accurate?

[gaja]

For the serving size, I just assume that it's the total recipe divided by the number of servings. For example, the Wonton with Chili Sauce (which is truly delicious) makes about 20 dumplings and is supposed to serve 4 - this means a serving size would be 5 dumplings.

[Yoga0829]

That makes sense...I have a harder time trying to figure out the serving size for recipes like soups, salads, appetizers, breads, etc. where it's not a straightforward quantity you can easily divide.

[heavy hedonist]

Yoga, the problem with many veg/vegan cookbooks is that A) they're by people who aren't vegetarian at all, and have some weird compulsion to compile what they THINK are "interesting-looking" recipes, full of fake creativity, or B) they're by people who are committed to a lifestyle but can't cook.
Starting a veg/vegan cooking library is also hard because so many good cookbooks are comprehensive-- lots of repitition and basics. You're better off just getting 1 or 2 completes, like Madison's Veg Cooking for Everyone, or Rose Elliot's Complete Vegetarian Cuisine (though being a Brit, she underseasons constantly & you have to spice up almost every recipe to taste! But the recipes are well within reach of anyone's cooking, for the most part), then filling out with really good cookbooks by really good cooks.
My most used cookbook of all time is Madhur jaffrey's Cookbook-- I use veg & vegan recipes from there, and adapt meat ones, far more than I use the several veg specific cookbooks she has-- though they are good too! And I use Forever Summer constantly, and The Silver Palate books. All worth it. It's better to buy some good recipes you'll never use along with some you will than a load of crappy, ill-conceived politcal food constructs.
Another couple of good veg cookbooks that I use often are John Penza's SICILIAN VEGETARIAN COOKING, MOOSEWOOD COOKS AT HOME, and BIKER BILLY'S FREEWAY-A-FIRE. FAST & NATURAL is good, too, but may be out of print--don't have the author, it belongs to a friend, but I really liked it.
I'm thinking about getting Raw-The Uncook Book, myself.
I made some Living oatmeal from an old veg times recipe, and it was a hit w/my carnivorous old man! I'm working up to one raw day/week by the end of this year. Which includes working out some dairy.

[tperes]

My favorite vegan cookbook that includes nutritional information is Donna Klein The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen.

I second this book. Everything I have made has been wonderful. Not too many weird or pricey ingredients.

I have the Sinfully Vegan cookbook. Lots of yummy looking stuff, but so many of the recipes call for ingredients that are not common, so I haven't made a lot out of there.

Good luck with your quest!

[Ohioan]

I recommend anything by Jay Solomon: 150 Vegan Favorites, The Global Vegetarian, Lean Bean Cuisine, Vegetarian Rice Cuisine, etc. All his recipes are very flavorful and nutritious, and he doesn't rely on "fake meat."

Cheers,
Phoebe

[Yoga0829]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to start searching on amazon.com and hopefully will find a few that work. If you have any baking recipes please share, I find baking "vegan" much harder than cooking.

[fluffy6]

Here's a Cooking Light recipe for a cake that I made for my sister, who is vegan. It was surprisingly delicious--even the carnivores loved it! ;)

Note: I subbed Rice Dream for the soy milk, Sucanat or turbinado sugar for the white stuff, regular cocoa for the dark, and dried cherries for the cranberries. We omitted the powdered sugar.

Chocolate-Walnut-Cranberry Cake

Make-ahead tip: Bake and completely cool the cake. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to two days, or wrap in plastic wrap and foil, and freeze for up to one month. Bring to room temperature before serving.

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup plain soy milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350º.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine applesauce, milk, and oil; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in cranberries and walnuts. Spread into a 10-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray (batter will be thick).

Bake at 350º for 45 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 295(27% from fat); FAT 9g (sat 1.1g,mono 3.4g,poly 3.9g); PROTEIN 3.9g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 48mg; SODIUM 214mg; FIBER 3.4g; IRON 2.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 53.7g

Didi Emmons
Cooking Light, MARCH 2005

[Kristal]

Thanks to gaja and tperes for recommending The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen. I actually had this one at home, but had forgotten about it! :o Anyway, I pulled it out and tried a few recipes that I really liked. I've been eating the Catalan Tomato Bread all day at work with the fresh bread, garlic and tomatoes I bought at the farmers' market this morning. Yum! :)

[Randomgirl]

I've exclusively cooked vegan food for over 7 years now. I keep a bunch of my favorite recipes up at www.randomgirl.com/recipes.html . There are several good baking recipes there, but, alas, I don't have any nutritional information listed.

While I do own many vegan cookbooks, I must admit that I do not use any of them very often (except for The Garden of Vegan, which has no nutritional info in it). I strongly favor using "regular" recipes (my main sources are from Cooking Light, Eating Well, Vegetarian Times and Epicurious.com) and just substituting in vegan ingredients. You'd be amazed how really easy it is to just replace the dairy with the soy counterparts and even the meat with their soy or gluten counterparts.... seriously, I have impressed the pants off of many meat-eaters over the years! So, my tip is just to stick with your favorite tried and true recipes and make some substitutions.

If you (or anyone else) ever wants to email personally and get more specific tips on "veganizing", I'd love to talk! You can reach me through the above mentioned page.

Miki

[Yoga0829]

Thanks...that cake recipe looks great! I think I'll try it this weekend. I've also ordered the Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, thanks for the recommendation.

Randomgirl - I tried to access your website but it's blocked by our firewalls here, bummer. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts for substituting eggs in baking, and other substitutions for dairy ingredients.

[annagins]

Randomgirl, I love your site! Just bookmarked it. Where do you find the egg replacers? I've been looking all over for those things.

[annagins]

Oh, and here's a vegan site I like.

http://www.veganchef.com/

[badunnin]

Another one I've heard good things about from veg friends is The Imus Ranch : cooking for kids and cowboys by Deidre Imus, wife of Don Imus.

[Randomgirl]

Where do you find the egg replacers? I've been looking all over for those things.

The one that I use almost all of the time is called Egg Replacer by Ener-g. You can get it at any health food store, like Whole Foods, and it'll be in the baking section near the flour and such. It's in a yellow box, about the size and shape of a cereal box. If you don't have a health food store near you, you can order it online (since it's not perishable... it's basically tapioca powder that you combine with water) at www.veganstore.com .

I've also used a few recipes that were designed to be vegan that use applesauce or mashed bananas as binders, and I've had some decent results with those as well.

The other vegan substitutes are really very easy.... using soy milk for milk (and if you add 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar to a cup of soymilk, you can use it in place of buttermilk)..... and Earth Balance makes a great soy margarine and a vegan shortening, both of which are much more healthy than your typical margarine..... soy sour cream and soy cream cheese work identically to their dairy counterparts (but I would try to get the Tofutti brand, since that is by far the best one I've ever used)..... also, most chocolate chips are dairy-free, so you're in luck there! There is stuff called agar, which is seaweed based, that you can use in place of gelatin (I've only done it once, but it worked fine... but I'm not agar pro). Basically, the only things that you really and truly cannot replicate at all are things that use beaten egg whites (both merange and macaroons seem to be well out of reach).

It's really fun to veganize, though... and to shock people when you give them a dessert with NO cholesterol and less fat than a tradititional dessert.

Miki

[annagins]

Thanks, Miki!

I've been looking mostly in the refrigerated section near the Egg Beaters. Next time I go to Whole Foods, I'll check the baking section. I'm 100% sure our Whole Foods has them, I just didn't know where to look.

Another vegan question for you. Do you have a recipe for vegan tres leches cake? Sounds crazy, but a restaurant here in Austin called "Mr. Natural" makes one which my friend says is incredible. I'd like to make one for her.

[Randomgirl]

Wow, that's a really good question! As my disclaimer, I have to say that I've never made a vegan tres leches cake... nor have I ever eaten a non-vegan version. So, take this all with a grain of salt... it may be a disaster, but I think it would be fun to experiment with!

Anyway, I'd start with a regular recipe. There are a ton of tres leches and other similiar Maxican cakes here: http://www.recipezaar.com/r/127/173 . Just ignore the ones that call for merange, because I have no idea how you'd get around that.

The only tricky parts of veganizing these recipes would be, of course, improvising on both the evaporated and condensed milks. I've never done this, but I did find these recipes to make both versions, and I must say, what she says to do makes sense to me. So, I'd just find the least complicated tres leches recipe and sub in one of these recipes for the condensed and evaporated milks.

Condensed Soymilk or Rice Milk I (Quick Method)

Prepare 2 cups soymilk or rice milk made from powdered mix, using triple the powder called for.
Add 3/4 cup sugar or equivalent.
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved.
Add vanilla to taste, and a pinch of salt.
Cool.
Store in jar in fridge.

For Evaporated 'Milk: Use only double the powder. Omit sugar.

----

Condensed Soymilk or Rice Milk II (Slow-Cook Method)

Put 3 cups liquid soymilk or rice milk in a saucepan.
Add 1/2 cup sugar or equivalent.
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until volume is reduced to 1 cup.
Add vanilla to taste, and a pinch of salt.
Cool.
Store in jar in fridge.

For Evaporated 'Milk: Cook until volume is reduced to 1 & 1/2 cups. Omit sugar.

----

Condensed Soymilk or Rice Milk III (Semi-quick Method)

Put in blender:

1 cup powdered soymilk or rice milk -- do not pack down!
3 Tbsp melted margarine
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup boiling water

Blend together until well mixed.
Cool.
Store in jar in fridge.

For Evaporated 'Milk: Omit sugar, vanilla, margarine, and salt. Use 1 & 1/2 cups water.

***

And I'd be very curious to know how this turns out!

Miki

[annagins]

Miki,

After I posted, I went over vegweb and found the vegan condensed milk recipe. Guess we're on the same wave length! I'm going to play around with it and see what I come up with. :)