But I Could Never Go Vegan!

I should start by saying, I don't review a lot of cookbooks, and I have *many* (seriously -- in my new kitchen we're having a shelving unit built). I got this for my birthday a couple weeks ago (forgot I put it on my wishlist) and when I got it from my husband, I was bummed it wasn't a different book I was hoping for. I need to thank him *again* when he comes home tonight, two more incredible recipes today -- this book is truly, TRULY my new favorite! I'm not vegan (I'm vegetarian), and this cookbook is straight up, no weirdo vegan ingredients you never heard of (unless you've not heard of nutritional yeast, which you SHOULD, because it's chock full of B vitamins and has a cheesy, nutty taste, it makes everything better). I've made two of the cheeses here, both of which I love (try the tofu chevre with fig jam on crostini, holy omg). I've made cheeses before, but not like this, not that I wanted to make again and again (the chevre is in my fridge for the 2nd time). I've made 5 recipes, all of which were seriously -- life changing. The Roasted Broccoli Salad w Apples, Toasted Almonds, Tempeh Bacon and Lemon tahini dressing that I'm eating right now is unreal. Flavor explosion times a million. I've roasted my own veggies thousands of times, my broccoli has *never* tasted like this. The balance of salt & sweet & acid -- this woman knows what she's doing. The one thing I've noticed that I love, Kristy isn't afraid of spices, seasonings, alliums. When something calls for 1 clove of garlic in any of my other books, I do 5. I doubled the seasoning today for my broccoli, assuming it wasn't enough (because it never is), but it was. Love that!! And yep, you can follow her actual recipes!! Another thing I *really* appreciate is that these are whole food recipes. She makes flax eggs, uses bananas, dates, etc instead of using "Ener-G egg replacer" in her baked goods. She uses real ingredients, I didn't see one "faux meat" item in here -- she does make her own seitan, which I'm not a fan of in general, but there's plenty of legumes, tofu, tempeh and veggies kicking butt in these recipes. A lot of the recipes are comfort food dishes, but there are plenty of light items too. There are plenty of baked goods and ice cream in this book I plan to try, all the things you loved as a omnivore are in this book. Including Peanut Butter Cups and French Toast and Omelettes. Oh yeah. Sorry if I sound corny, but I want to sing from the rooftops about this book. I made my girlfriend buy it, because I couldn't bare with letting her borrow it from me. This food is on point, vegan or not -- I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to cook flavorful, healthful, beautiful, delicious food that is dinner party worthy!! Can I give this 6 stars??

I have been a vegetarian for over 20 years; live in a house with folks that all eat meat and LOVE all things cheese so never made the transition to Vegan - Friday nights after a long week in work are just too perfect when finished with cheese, wine and olives! So when I saw this book that not only looked fun but was written by someone who at one point professed herself as a "die hard cheese nerd" : my curiosity was piqued and I added it to my Christmas list! I loved it from the moment I opened it and read it in book form which I would never typically do with a cookbook (I was also pretty hungry as my relatively new range decided to die on Christmas day leaving my food plans a little askew; so pretty food porn was the next best thing!). Things to love: no crazy tools required -blender; check, cutting board , check; I have those ...so was happy that I did not see pages requiring dehydrators and other gadgets I will probably never buy! Food I have heard of -stuff I can buy in a regular store -yet another plus! Pretty pics full of old faves - Mac N'Cheese, Pie, Mexican dishes, Asian dishes, spiced food, and yes, even cheese! This is hearty food that one can feed the family with and yet end up with clean plates and full bellies! Today I made the broccoli chickpea soup as nutritional yeast is always on hand in my pantry, and it was delicious , warm and easy to make; the Creole Corn chowder is next on my list as well as some of the rather delicious looking desserts to serve friends and family over the holidays...only to announce after they were vegan ! This book is chock full of options! It begins with an interesting and easy to follow introduction covering basic ingredients and tools you will need to get started; followed by a basic how to guide on topics such as roasting garlic, making nut butters and cooking various grains. Then I really loved the guide to making condiments and components that can be added to dishes such as tofu sour cream and tempeh bacon. This is followed by a section built for cheese lovers full of ideas to fill that craving without dairy (have yet to try but will update when I do). The book then covers vegan options for beef lovers, pizza lowers, heck even those who adore chocolate! This book is designed to tempt the pallet of those with some big craving who as the title states "could never go vegan"! Simply love this book and will use regularly. I will update this review as I tempt my meat loving household with these dishes! Follow up: I seriously doubted I could give up cheese, or that vegan cheese would be that good but just tried making their cashew blue cheese and all I can say is why, I am a convert!

This is by far my all time favorite cookbook. I had it from the library for awhile but decided to buy it since there's too many recipes I wanted to make (I go through a lot of vegan cookbooks from the library but only actually buy a few). In fact there is almost nothing in here that I DON'T want to make. Here are the recipes I've made so far: Sunflower sausage - an awesome healthy alternative to soy or seitan mock meats and really easy to make. Tofu sour cream - a no oil recipe, yay! Sunflower cheddar - not a very realistic tasting cheese but delicious and gratable on it's own right. Cheaper than cashew cheese. Caprese Farrotto with macarella - I couldn't find macadamia nuts so I used Brazil nuts for the cheese. This recipe is soooo good. It's a pestoy tomato grain topped with vegan cheese. Savory overnight quinoa oatmeal - I love new takes on savory breakfasts (not into sweet) and this one is great with roasted red pepper and olives. Chickpea scramble breakfast tacos - a great soy free breakfast option and really yummy. Chocolate stout chili fries - just did the chili part and brought to an omnivore potluck where it was well received. Potato sauerkraut soup with sausage crumbles - my soup turned a weird brown color because of the broth I used but it was still good. Would definitely use vegan chicken broth in the future. Roasted veggie deep-dish pizza - loved the design because I always feel like I eat too much bread with pizza (this is much more vegetable heavy) but the sauce is very bland. Would make again with a different sauce. Orange-miso mushroom scallops with orange, fennel, and forbidden rice - this was the biggest flop of the book, sadly. There wasn't enough flavor and I'm not a fan of half-cooked citrus slices. Seitan-mushroom roast with wild rice stuffing - I made this for Thanksgiving and it was better than any other foil-wrapoed seitan-mushroom roast I've made before. That said, I still prefer braised roasts. Creamy curried tempeh salad with dried cherries and almonds - a great alternative to chicken salad for lunch. We ate it in lettuce leaves. There's so much more I want to make - especially the recipes using homemade vegan blue cheese, the eggplant "meatball" subs, and sesame siracha tofu sliders. I generally cook very low oil and this book is so adaptable to that style of cooking (hardly any oil called for and it's easy to remove). It's great for beginner vegan cooks in that it specifically addressed concerns they have over going vegan (each chapter tackles a specific barrier like "I could never give up cheese", "Tofu doesn't taste like anything). But it also has plenty of new and exciting ideas for us veteran vegans. If you're going to buy one vegan cookbook, get this one!

The recipes look pretty easy and delicious. It's a little frustrating though because it seems like maybe 75% of the recipes contain tree nuts or nut flours. This is a whole new area for me, so I feel like I am left to wonder if there are alternative substitutions that I could make for those ingredients. Other than that, the recipes are appealing and the ingredients are recognizable and seem like they would be easy to find.

This is an essential cookbook for anyone considering veganism but daunted by the idea of giving up non-vegan foods, and also makes a great addition to the cookbook shelf of anyone who already cooks vegan. All of Kristy's recipes are delicious and use "regular" ingredients - you won't need to hunt down a name-brand egg replacer or "nondairy cheese shreds". Occasionally Earth Balance or other vegan butter is suggested. I have successfully substituted coconut oil for vegan butter in all of those recipes so far, for anyone who wants to eschew the premade stuff. I've made almost a dozen recipes: the homemade BBQ sauce; green pea guacamole with homemade tortilla chips; baked bean and cornbread casserole; flourless chocolate decadence cake; BBQ jackfruit fajitas; chickpea omelettes; BBQ baked tofu; sweet and sour cauliflower; loaded Mexican baked potatoes; rosemary lemon poundcake; and molasses-hazelnut chocolate mousse tart. I have pretty much no negative feedback about any of those recipes. I made all of them as instructed and enjoyed every last one, particularly the baked bean casserole and the rosemary lemon poundcake. This isn't the kind of food that makes you think, "this tastes vegan". It just tastes awesome! I also love the way the book is organized, with chapters each addressing a different common food-related concern about going vegan, like 'I couldn't live without cheese'. Kristy's writing is friendly, approachable and honest. She's probably also living proof that you can give up cheese, since she discusses how she used to be a fromagier. There are beautiful full-color pictures to accompany almost every recipe, which is another definite plus! I wanted to note some critiques of the book, but I could really only think of one. Many of the recipes involve a lot of different steps and/or ingredients, especially because some recipe components are actually previous "base" recipes (e.g. the baked beans utilize the homemade BBQ sauce). This is definitely the wrong book for someone who wants to get in and out of the kitchen as soon as possible. But I believe that the results of these recipes are well worth the effort. Happy cooking!

Update: An upgrade from a one star to four+. There are a few misses (see original review) but a few breathtakingly stellar recipes too--so far beyond the usual!! For example, the Roasted Veggie Deep Dish Pizza is an absolute showstopper, spectacular in appearance and taste! The Pretzel Dumplings with Mushroom-Sauerkraut Gravy is a delicious dish, and unlike anything in my other vegan recipe books (mostly by Isa). I make these two dishes, plus the tofu scramble and the chick pea pancakes, again and again, and every time they are each a rave hit. So I recommend this book. You may make some losers but there are also absolutely golden and unique dishes too! And I hope to discover more in future cooking from this book! Old review: I mostly get recipes online, so when I purchase a cookbook I want all the recipes to have been checked for accuracy and taste. I have cooked three recipes so far from this book. The chickpea omelet was great. But the Lentil, chard and sweet potato curry was only meh (mushy and pretty tasteless). Worst of all, something is badly wrong with the recipe for the Tofu feta, spinach, and potato gratin--it doesn't cook well within the time, it tastes like vinegar. I followed directions meticulously (as always on first try). I will not be trying another recipe from this book. I have found great recipes so far in "15 minute vegan" and in "vegan slow cooking for beginners." But this recipe book is a bust so far (and I don't want to waste time trying other recipes). I'd pass if I were you!

I owe so much to Kristy Turner and this incredible book. Yikes, I used to eat broccoli with loads of melted "healthy" margarine on it. That was my idea of eating healthy and eating vegan. I purchased this book March 28, 2015 and at first used it only for the desserts. Hey, whatever works right? The desserts are wonderful and were a hit when bringing them to parties. It wasn't until 2017 that I started cooking some of the other recipes in it. DO NOT WAIT AS LONG AS I DID. I now have made almost everything in this cookbook and here's the best part of this review...the recipes are easy to make and never leave out any details, some of the recipes have helpful tips so read them, and the photos are very professional. The recipes are really yummy, my husband loves them, and we're now eating a wide variety of different food we never would have eaten had it not been for this book. Most importantly we're eating healthier, smarter, more well-balanced meals. THANK YOU Kristy Turner so much for writing this, please write another one. Man can't live by broccoli alone. We keep our pantry stocked with many of the staple ingredients and most ingredients are easy to find. Who knew going vegan would be this simple and so much fun?! You'll be glad you purchased this book.

lots of really great recipes! i'm only a third of the way through and have found several dishes that my meat-eating boyfriend says he'll try. my only complaint is that the book itself stinks. i don't know if it's the paper or the ink, but it's really off-putting. i considered returning it, but hope that using it will let it air out.