Tell us about Vegan Heritage Press.

In 2006, I decided to make a clean break from the work-a-day world and move to the mountains. I’ve worked in various aspects of book and magazine publishing for many years and I wanted to put my skills and experience to use for something positive that could make a difference in the world. As I’ve been vegan since the late 1980s, starting Vegan Heritage Press seemed like a perfect way to merge my skills with something I’m passionate about. So, in 2007 I founded Vegan Heritage Press as an independent book publishing company that would publish vegan cookbooks. By spring, VHP will have six titles in its list.

What are some of your newest releases people can pick up for the holidays?

I’m extremely excited about our two new titles: World Vegan Feast: 200 Fabulous Recipes form Over 50 Countries by vegan cooking icon, Bryanna Clark Grogan. Bryanna is a fount of knowledge and her recipes are amazing.

Our other 2011 title is The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes, a wonderfully creative book by Betsy DiJulio, Arranged by the seasons, this book helps you cook your way through the year using seasonal ingredients.

One of my goals at Vegan Heritage Press is to publish cookbooks to round out my list with books that cover a wide range of needs in the vegan community. So, for example, those who want to create vegan versions of their favorite diner food and other comfort food will enjoy American Vegan Kitchen: Delicious Comfort Food from Blue Plate Specials to Homestyle Favorites by Tamasin Noyes.

For those who need quick 15-minute pantry recipes and want to know how to eat well when the power goes out, there’s my own book, Vegan Unplugged: A Pantry Cuisine Cookbook and Survival Guide. It includes 80 great pantry recipes by Robin Robertson, who also wrote our flagship title, Vegan Fire & Spice: 200 Sultry and Savory Global Recipes.

In the spring, I’ll be publishing our first raw cookbook, though it will be something brand new and interesting for everyone who is raw or experimenting with raw. Stay tuned!

What kind of challenges have you faced as a small press?

As the publisher of a small press, I have to wear a lot of different hats. That can be challenging, but it’s also very rewarding and fun. I’m fortunate to work with some great freelance graphics designers, editors, proofreaders, and marketing consultants. And I enjoy the one-on-one relationships I have with our authors. Many people like the idea of working with and supporting vegan businesses.

One challenge is to resist bringing out more than two titles a year. I limit the number because I believe a title needs six months of promotion. The big publishers can’t afford to do this—they usually give a book six weeks or so, and then it’s “sink or swim.” With two titles per year, I can turn on a dime, react to market trends via the social media, and work hands-on together with the authors to spread the word about what I believe to be valuable and wonderful books.

Who’s one of your favorite cookbook authors that you haven’t worked with yet?

Is that a trick question? There are so many great cookbook authors out there, I couldn’t name just one, but it’s probably someone I haven’t met yet that will have the next great idea for a vegan cookbook. And of course, I’ve very much enjoyed getting to know the wonderful authors I’ve worked with at Vegan Heritage Press and I think of them as family. I can’t help but extend that to all vegan authors and vegans in general.

Tell us about another vegan-owned business that you love that other people may not know about.

I really like what’s being done on Vegan Etsy. It’s great to see so many talented vegans on one site. All kinds of crafts, art, jewelry. I love the images posted by Josh at the Herbivore Clothing Company about how important it is for the vegan community to support each other. And the Vegan Etsy site is a great shopping alternative for fantastic hand-crafted gifts and keeps your dollars in the vegan community.

The Veganopolis Cookbook
by David Stowell & George Black
Surrey/Agate, 2010

Authors David Stowell and George Black ran the Veganopolis restaurant in Portland from 2003 to 2008. They’ve since moved to Chicago, but put together this hefty collection of recipes from the restaurant’s five-year run.

Being that these are recipes that were created to build a strong menu, they aren’t necessarily simple choices that you’ll turn to late on a Monday night. But, on a weekend with some extra time, you might want to spend the afternoon in the kitchen putting together the lasagna or Blackened Tofu Étouffée. There’s no shortage of intricate, unique, restaurant-quality dishes to be had.

Being a family that’s always eating a late dinner, we’ve only been able to try a few of the less ambitious recipes. We liked the Classic Pot Pie, but didn’t go for the spelt crust. We really enjoyed the Easy Vegan Dumplings and had good success with the simple Cabbage, Carrot, and Parsley Slaw, both served as parts of a larger meal.

There’s limited food photography and what’s there is harshly lit. Nevertheless, the food itself is the star and I suspect there’s a lot here to like for home cooks looking for something a little more advanced than the typical beginner’s vegan cookbook.

Venturesome Vegan Cooking
by J.M. Hirsch and Michelle Hirsch
Surrey/Agate, 2004/2010

Originally published in 2004 as Venturesome Vegetarian Cooking, Venturesome Vegan Cooking delivers creative, whole food vegan recipes that don’t require extravagant preparation and are elegant in their simplicity. There’s nary a mock meat dish to be found and the flavors are bright and exciting.

Our successes in this book: a super simple tofu salad, the bright tasting Zippy Zingy Pasta Shell Salad, bordering-on-too-fudgey fudge pops, and the surprisingly pleasing combination of apples and kale in the Apple-Fried Greens and Orecchiette Pasta. And one of these days, I may even be extra venturesome and try the vegan haggis, something I thought only existed on the shelf at Food Fight.

The only frustrating thing in this book is that it’s VEFH (Vegan Except For Honey). Thankfully, honey’s one of those things that can be easily be subbed for, but until we stop putting honey in recipes labeled “vegan,” we’ll keep getting served items with honey by omnis that think it’s a vegan ingredient.

I highly recommend Venturesome Vegan Cooking as one of those books you’ll keep finding new inspiration in years after it’s found its way into your collection.

Vegan Baking Classics
by Kelly Rudnicki
Surrey/Agate, 2010

When I went first went vegetarian over ten years ago, I never would have thought that the day would come where I’d see a vegan baking book and say, “Wow… another one?” It’s got to be difficult for a vegan baker today to stand out with so many excellent books already on the market. Kelly Rudnicki, who you may know as Food Allergy Mama, throws her hat into the ring with Vegan Baking Classics.

As with most baking books, a few pages are spent explaining the basics of vegan baking for those that are terrified at the notion of not using eggs in their cookies. The recipes include the standard list of breads, muffins, biscuits, cookies, bars, cakes, cupcakes, pies, and “other.” There’s beautiful, simple food photography on glossy pages for the majority of recipes in the book.

Thusfar, we’ve enjoyed just about everything we’ve made. The chocolate chip brownies are a great midway between cakey and fudgey, the zucchini bread was delicious (and we subbed in half whole wheat flour), and the Heart-Healthy Oatmeal Pancakes and oatmeal muffins are two excellent go-to recipes for breakfast. Our two favorites were the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (we added chocolate chips and used a mixture of spelt and whole wheat flour) and the chocolate chip cookies (I have yet to make a chocolate chip cookie I didn’t like). Our only dud recipe was the dinner biscuit recipe. Compared to others we’ve made in the past, the dough was really hard to work with, though the end result was tasty enough.

The one recipe I really can’t wait to make: Snickeroos. Oh man. I loved those things growing up and haven’t had one in many, many years.

Rudnicki’s book is another worthy entry into the series of vegan baking books that are likely on your shelf. Do you need another? Yeah, sure… couldn’t hurt, right? I mean, come on… Snickeroos!

Erik’s always been one to try new things in terms of book promotion. A while back, I remember him giving away free PDF copies of his first book, Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating. And now, he’s drastically dropped the price on his most recent book, The Ultimate Vegan Guide. The paperback price has been slashed from $14.95 to $8.95 and the Kindle price has dropped to a mere 99 cents!

Getting a 99 cent book about veganism onto a family member’s Kindle should be a great way to plant the seed in their mind. It should be interesting to see how this experiment of Erik’s works out.

Ani’s Raw Food Desserts
by Ani Phyo
Da Capo/Lifelong, 2009

I’ve been a fan of Ani Phyo since her first book, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen hit the shelves in 2007. This book focuses solely on desserts, all raw and free of wheat, gluten, dairy, and processed sugar.

There’s a nice variety of desserts here, from frozen items like Pineapple Icebox Cakes and Key Lime Kream Bars to cakes, cookies, fudge, crisps and cobblers, and sun-baked treats like scones and biscuits. As with Ani’s first book, the recipes are relatively easy to make and don’t usually require ingredients that are too off-the-wall or hard to find. Certainly her recipes are easier with something like a Vitamix on hand, but most don’t require extensive dehydrating or preparation. Ani continues to be one of the most accessible raw chefs.

I had good luck with the Coconut Ice Kream recipe, made with just five ingredients: cashews, filtered water, agave, shredded coconut, and coconut oil. It’s surprisingly easy and offers up a strong coconut flavor and smooth texture.

Also very simple and quick are Sliced Apples with Rosemary. With only three ingredients (apples, lemon, and rosemary), this an amazing little dessert that perfectly combines sweet, sour, and savory. Love it, love it.

While I haven’t had a chance to try out any of the cakes yet, I hope to make the cheesecakes soon along with some filled chocolate truffles on the side.

The book is small and well-designed (it’s basically the same layout as Isa’s cookie and cupcake books) with beautiful food photography. Definitely worth having on hand if you’re experimenting with raw foods and want to delve into the sweet side of things.

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero
Da Capo/Lifelong, 2009

I’m definitely late to the game reviewing this one, given that pretty much everyone that reads this blog probably has a copy, but here we go anyway. Viva la catching up!

Cookies. It’s a book with lots and lots of cookies. Kind of like the cupcake book, except with cookies.

The basic chocolate chip cookie recipe is quite good, of course, as are the Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Cookies (known around our house as the Compromise Cookie since I’m all about the chocolate and my wife’s into oatmeal cookies). The whole wheat chocolate chip cookies are a slightly healthier version of the old classic, making use of the love-it-or-hate-it white whole wheat flour. The recipe also works well just combining half all-purpose and half whole-wheat flour. The Orange Agave Chocolate Chip cookies, however, were disappointing. With the combination of orange and chocolate, I was expecting the world.

And in the “not-a-cookie, but good anyway” category, the Deluxe Cocoa Brownies are moist and super awesome.

Reading back this review, I realize that I’ve pretty much only made chocolate chip cookie variations. Not sure what’s up with that, but there are certainly a handful of other cookies I’m dying to try out at some point, including the Lazy Samoas, Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows, and Peanut Apple Pretzel Drops.

The book’s got great photography, the familiar Da Capo “square vegan baking book” layout mentioned in the last review, and all of the wonderful added text from Isa and Terry you’d expect. The recipes are not heavily reliant on Earth Balance, so if you avoid EB, it’s not an issue. Another thumbs up for America’s favorite cooking duo.

Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book
by Jennifer Katzinger
Sasquatch Books, 2009

While no one in my family has any level of gluten intolerance (that we know of, at least!), I still try to keep up on gluten-free cooking and baking. With so many more people finding out that they’re intolerant or allergic, it’s helpful to have some knowledge of different flours and baking techniques so you can accommodate everyone at a dinner party or make sure all the little ones in your son or daughter’s class can join in when it comes time for birthday cupcakes.

Jennifer Katzinger runs the Flying Apron bakery in Seattle and this cookbook offers up some straight-up gluten-free goodness for anyone ready to dive headfirst into gluten-free baking. The recipes in this book are VEFH (seriously, what’s up with the vegan books that still have honey as an ingredient? Can we just list agave instead or, at the very least, use the term “liquid sweetener”?) and all the recipes are appropriate for those with Celiac Disease (meaning low-gluten flours like spelt are not used). In addition, all recipes are soy-free.

Before going any further, let me be honest: I’ve made only two recipes from this book. While there are a lot of really, really tempting recipes, in many cases, one of two things held me back. For one, lots of the recipes called for a stand mixer, which I don’t have. I realize that it can be done by hand, but sometimes I just don’t feel like putting in the effort.

The biggest issue, though, is that these recipes can get quite expensive to make. For instance, to make one 10-inch square Earl Grey Tea Cake, you need three cups of maple syrup. Given what maple syrup costs, that’s easily $10 in just sweetener for just one cake. Yikes.

Some bakers may also be turned off by the use of palm oil in many recipes, given the issues that exist.

Obviously some of the flours are going to be tricky to find, too, but that’s not a criticism I’m willing to level on a gluten-free cookbook. If you’re going to get into gluten-free baking, you’ll get used to hunting down brown rice flour, hazelnut flour, and quinoa flour.

So, with all that said, let’s get to the food.

The first recipe I tried was the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, which uses brown rice flour and garbanzo bean flour (which tends to lend a nice “egginess” to foods). While recipes with brown rice flour can tend to be a bit gritty, these cookies were quite tasty and didn’t suffer from an overly gritty texture.

For Thanksgiving last year, I made the pumpkin pie, which makes use, interestingly, of apricot puree. There’s definitely an apricot-y flavor to the pie, so it’s not traditional in that sense, but it is quite good. The texture wasn’t firm enough for my liking, but overall, I enjoyed it.

Given my lengthy commentary, you might think I wouldn’t recommend this book, but the fact is that I’ve recommended it and lent it out several times to friends with Celiac or with gluten-intolerant children. Even with its faults, it’s still quite a resource for those that still want the sweetness in their life but may not live near a Babycakes or Flying Apron.

When 500 Vegan Recipes arrived in the mail for review a while back, I have to admit I rolled my eyes a bit when I saw the title. Here was a compendium of recipes bound for the dollar bin at Barnes & Noble. It didn’t take more than a minute of flipping through the book, though, to see that I was being a big dummy and judging a book by its cover (title).

500 Vegan Recipes has quickly become one of our favorite go-to cookbooks when we want something relatively simple, but new. While there are some old standbys in here, by and large, there are a lot of surprises and interesting twists that will keep this one on the shelf when others gather dust.

Food bloggers Steen (of Have Cake Will Travel) and Newman (Just the Food) compile 20 chapters and 500 pages of recipes ranging from breakfasts to casseroles to sides, and you know the rest. Lots of food from beginning to end in every imaginable category.

Our favorites thusfar include Butternut Drop Biscuits (made with spelt flour, oats, and butternut squash puree, they taste amazing right out of the oven getting that sweet and savory balance just right), a delicious Garlic and Sage Cashew Cream Sauce that we had on pasta but would be perfect as a pizza base (double the recipe… trust me), the budget-friendly Beefy Bacon Burgers) which take the unlikely hodgepodge of peanut butter, bacos, TVP, yeast, oil, and a few other things and make an easy and filling burger), Mac and Sleaze, and a Swiss-inspired Rosemary Apple Potato Rosti that would make a perfect late fall/early winter side.

We’ve made 23 recipes from here thusfar (still not even 5% of what’s in the book!) and only three haven’t been unadulterated thumbs up (and of those three, two were split decisions in our household). Not bad at all.

As I mentioned, while most of the recipes here are within the grasp of anyone with a little bit of kitchen time under their belt, you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find. Like the nicely spicy Chorizo, Cranberry, and Cornbread stuffing or the Creamy Pumpkin Almond Sauce as a super simple pasta and veggie topper. The Raw Lemon Cheesecake is another winner I haven’t seen elsewhere (and it’s not hard, even making the raw crust from scratch). There’s a lot of international influence here, too, ensuring a range of flavors for every palate.

While there aren’t any photos in the book (not unusual for such a giant tome), Steen and Newman’s blogs have more than enough to let you see what you’ll be getting.

For well under $20 at most online stores, it’s going to be hard to get a better deal on such a huge collection of recipes that you’ll return to again and again. I recommend this one whole-heartedly.

(Just to show how slow I can be with my reviews, the authors already have another book up for pre-order: The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions and a third book in the works.)

And there’s a new breed of books coming out that are explicitly vegan-friendly, like Maya Gottfried’s Our Farm: By the Animals of Farm Sanctuary. Maya’s fun (but not overly cutesy) poems are a perfect match for the paintings and sketches by Robert Rahway Zakanitch. The animals featured are all actual residents (past or present) of Farm Sanctuary.

Rather than go into any further detail myself, I thought I’d get some help from Rasine to review this book. Here’s the audio (with some sections edited out for brevity and clarity):

You heard her. Go buy a copy! (And become a fan of Izzy and Morty on Facebook, since they came up in our discussion.)

In Search of the Lost Taste

I’ve been a fan of Microcosm Publishing for a number of years. Though I was a latecomer to the DIY wonder that are zines, I’ve been able to make up for lost time by ordering hand-drawn comics, zine anthologies, and, most importantly, cookzines (and though I’m sure they exist, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a non-vegan cookzine). Though I’m a regular Microcosm customer, they’ve also sent along a number of items to review and I’ve been pretty poor about keeping up.

The latest item they sent along was a copy of Joshua Ploeg’s In Search of the Lost Taste. Ploeg is a traveling vegan personal chef that wrote the entertaining A Chef’s Tale travel zine based on his time on the road as a traveling chef. If you’ve read A Chef’s Tale you’ll be ready for the unique approach Ploeg takes in In Search of the Lost Taste.

A combination cookbook and surreal tale of a tomato and aliens, Ploeg’s latest is unlike anything you’ve seen before. Ploeg takes pride in combining seemingly incompatible ingredients and creating something amazine out of them. Where else have you seen recipes like:

• Bamboo, Radish, Leek Hearts & Fried Gluten in Spicy Coconut Milk Sauce
• Cherry Wontons with Plum-Brandy Sauce and Yam-Mango Ice Cream
• Orange and Vanilla Tart with Mint & Pineapple Glaze
• or, Beet Pancakes with Creamy Dill Sauce & Wild Mushroom-Walnut Spread

While the book is aimed at the more adventurous eaters (I wouldn’t, for example, choose one of these recipes to serve to your grandmother-who-only-eats-beef as her first introduction to vegan food), you won’t find yourself thinking, “Oh man… another ‘Basic Hummus’ recipe?!!”

Thusfar, we’ve only tried one recipe (Potato-Cucumber Salad with Onions & Sweet-Sour Parsley Vinaigrette, which, by the way, makes a metric asston of food). It was very tasty and leaves me anxious to explore some of Ploeg’s more avant-garde recipes. (And the illustrations are great, too.)

Want a copy? You’ve got two choices:

1. Tweet the following phrase: “Hey, @thevegblog, I want to win a copy of ‘In Search of Lost Taste’! #losttaste” On Tuesday January 26th at 9am eastern, I’ll pick a winner. I’ll ship anywhere in the world. Maybe even to the moon.
2. Pick up a copy at Microcosm or AK Press for well under $10.

“Peace To All Creatures” Zine

The world can never have enough vegan-themed zines, so I was happy to see another one hitting the shelves last year titled “Peace to All Creatures.” Designwise, it’s quite nice, with an attractive color cover, nice photography (including a shot by yours truly in the second issue), and articles split into three categories: animals, veg diet & health, and social & green issues. The zine is edited by Pippi Howard from Colorado and Jessi VanPelt from Orlando (yes, seriously, it’s a zine that’s not produced in Portland!) and all of the writers in the first issue are women. There’s a little something for everyone here, from an article on vegan diets for dogs to a piece about pet snails and a feature about green art studios.

Given that non-glossy vegan magazines are slim pickings these days, it’s nice to see a well-written, well-designed zine like “Peace to All Creatures.” Sure, there are a thousand vegan blogs out there today, but it’s really nice to have something like this to leave out on your coffee table for visitors to flip through. Well done, Pippi and Jessi!

You can buy the first two issues on Etsy. And of course, there’s a Facebook page as well.

Vegan Fire & Spice: 200 Sultry and Savory Global Recipes

I’ll come clean right now and tell you I can’t deal with hot and spicy food very well. Plus, with a three-year-old, our food tends to be on the milder side. With that in mind, I wasn’t expecting to be able to make much out of Vegan Fire & Spice. It’s certainly not because I’m not a fan of Robin Robertson’s books — the pot pie from Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes is one of my favorites and I really enjoyed Quick-Fix Vegetarian. As it turns out, we just cut back a bit and have enjoyed everything we’ve made from here thusfar (plus, Robinson notes that “spicy doesn’t have to mean hot,” so not all of the recipes are made to singe your palate).

Each recipe is marked with a number of peppers, to help give an indication of how much you can expect your mouth to burn. The book is divided into five sections (The Americas, Mediterranean Europe, Middle East/Africa, India, and Asia), each with several subsections. As with all of Robinson’s books, each recipe is given context with a short write-up and there’s an informative introduction.

Thusfar, we’ve made with success: Vietnamese Noodles with Tempeh and Peanuts (big yum!), Baked Mahogany Tempeh, the very easy and tasty Ginger Broccoli, and South African Green beans.

While this book seems to have not received as much attention as her others (including her most recent, 1,000 Vegan Recipes (!!!)), every time I pick it up, I find another recipe I want to try. It’s a good one, even if you’re a hot and spicy wimp like me.

(Edited to provide an alternate source for Joshua Ploeg’s book.)

So, here are some ways to help get you through the holiday season stuffed and happy.

Get to cooking!

Whether you’re spending a quiet Thanksgiving at home or braving an evening of stupid questions and taunts from 20 family members, there are some great resources online to help you get cooking and make sure that you not only have something to eat, but something to wow the rest of the family as well.

I got a peek at Nava Atlas’ significantly updated version of A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving e-book and it’s mighty impressive. It features 65 recipes in all, including Nava’s own as well as contributions from all your favorite veg cookbook authors and bloggers (among them: Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Dreena Burton, Jill Nussinow, and Bryanna Clark Grogan). The e-book sells for $8.95 and all profits go to “humanitarian charities concerned with hunger, microfinancing for women in developing countries, and the alleviation of human trafficking.”

Then, over at Vegan.com, there’s a guest post from Robin Robertson (author of many cookbooks, including the new and massive 1,000 Vegan Recipes). A full Thanksgiving menu is presented. The Triple Cranberry Relish and Ginger-Dusted Pumpkin Cheezecake sound mighty good. (Last year’s guest post is also still available.)

Go to a real Thanksgiving…

And by that, I mean a celebration that doesn’t involve killing turkeys. Why not hang out with some turkeys instead? Sanctuaries around the country have vegan Thanksgiving get-togethers. The one at Poplar Spring is my favorite event of the year — imagine a vegan potluck with 300 people bringing dishes. Hot damn.

Below is a sampling of sanctuaries and their Thanksgiving events.

• Colorado – Peaceful Prairie’s Living at Thanksgiving (sold out)
• Maryland – Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary’s Thanksgiving for the Turkeys (November 21)
• Maryland – Thanksgiving Vigil for Turkeys (November 20, leafleting event)
• Montana – New Dawn Montana monthly potluck (every second Saturday)
• New York/California – Thanksgiving Celebration FOR the Turkeys (November 21)
• New York – Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary ThanksLiving 2009 (passed – catch it next year!)
• New York – Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary’s Celebration for the Turkeys (November 22)
• New York City – Thanksgiving Celebration FOR the Turkeys (November 22)
• Oregon – Lighthouse Farm Sacntuary’s Gentle Thanksgiving (November 21)
• Utah – Ching Farm Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner (passed – catch it next year!)

Vegetarian and Vegan organizations also tend to do Thanksgiving meals on or around Thanksgiving, so check in with your local groups to see if there’s any thing to get involved in.

Read Things

This is a good time of year to dig into More than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality by UPC’s Karen Davis (here’s a Google Books version). The level of detail is impressive — you’ll learn something. Trust me.

Feel free to share your favorite vegan Thanksgiving events, recipes, or books.

At this point in her cookbook writing career, I think Isa could put out a book titled 137 Ways to Cook Brussels Sprouts and it would not only be a best seller, but a favorite on vegan messageboards everywhere (Really. Her roasted brussels sprouts recipe is great.). After the success of Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and Veganomicon, it’s little surprise that Vegan Brunch got such hype (and then lived up to it).

Isa’s Basic Scrambled Tofu recipe is quite good. I’d gotten so used to my own hodgepodge of spices, nootch, and turmeric that it was refreshing to try someone else’s recipe. Our first attempt came out a bit salty, but we cut back the second time around and it was nearly perfect. We also enjoyed the swiss chard frittata quite a bit.

The Perfect Pancakes lived up to their name. The secret ingredient here is maple syrup; having it in the pancakes as well as on top of them makes a big difference. We made it with half all-purpose flour and half spelt flour with very good results.

Other big-time winners (and recipients of the rare “double plus” rating in our notes): Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes (which do a surprisingly good job of capturing the flavor and spirit of crab cakes considering Isa had never actually eaten one before — do yourself a favor, though, and double the sauce… it’s really tasty), Whole Wheat Crepes (super quick and super tasty), and Red Flannel Hash (a great way to use those beets from the CSA that you don’t know what to do with).

The two recipes that I’ve enjoyed the most so far are the ones I was most anticipating. First: New York-style bagels, made from scratch. Sure, I had to get up at 7am to start making them in order to have them ready by 10, but it was totally worth it. That first morning they’re crispy outside and chewy inside and just perfect. I had no idea that making bagels at home was possible, let alone with such good results. The second show stopper: Cherry Sage Sausages. Using a nifty cooking tip from fellow vegan chef Julie Hasson, Isa pairs chopped dried cherries with a surprisingly easy to make steamed seitan sausage. Fry these babies up and you will be 100% satisfied.

Only two times so far have we come up a bit disappointed. The Chive Spelt Mini-Biscuits sounded promising but came out funny tasting — I’m betting that it was due to bad baking soda or flour, though (which means I probably shouldn’t be mentioning the recipe in a negative way, but I promise I’ll correct this review if they come out better the second time around). We were also not as happy with the Banana Rabanada as we expected. Again, I’ll give it a second chance because it just sounds so promising.

With sections dedicated to savory, sweet, sides, breads, toppings, and drinks, Isa takes you from the familiar to the exotic. The food photography is beautiful and as with her previous books, Isa’s commentary is fun, useful, and eminently readable. She’s got another winner here.

Now bring on the cookie book.

“I don’t eat no meat, no dairy, no sweets
only ripe vegetables, fresh fruit and whole wheat
I’m from the old school, my household smell like soul food, bro
curried falafel, barbecued tofu…”

- “Be Healthy,” Dead Prez

(Note: anytime I can quote “Be Healthy,” I do.)

Bryant Terry‘s Vegan Soul Kitchen fills a niche that’s been long left empty: good, healthy vegan food rooted in traditional African-American cuisine. It’s one of many excellent cookbooks released this year and is definitely one that belongs on your shelf if you’re looking to get more veggies into your diet.

Our two favorite dishes from Vegan Soul Kitchen come from the “salads, slaws, and dressing” chapter and both are great for dinner or potlucks. The first is Roasted Red Potato Salad with Parsley-Pine Nut Pesto. It takes a little while to prepare, but is a really flavorful alternative to the mayo-heavy potato salad that usually finds its way onto summer picnic tables. A few pages later comes the recipe we’ve made more than any other in the book, Wild Style Salad (Rock the Bells Remix). Sure, I was predisposed to liking it given that it’s named after one of the greatest movies of all time (and the “remix” refers to one of old school hip-hop’s best tracks), but I suspect even if you’re completely unfamiliar with Fab 5 Freddy’s fine acting and L.L.’s brash teenage braggadocio, you’ll dig this salad. Its base is wild rice, four different colored bell peppers, and some raisins and cashews. The dressing is a mixture of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon, agave, and some salt, pepper, and oil. The end result is a bright, vibrant, filling salad that’s packed with protein, minerals, and B vitamins. Love it, love it, love it.

Since we’re smack in the middle of autumn here, we’ve also tried out two of the recipes from the “root vegetables and winter squashes” section of the “So Fresh and So Green Green” chapter. We enjoyed both the smooth and sweet Roasted Sweet Potato Puree with Coconut Milk as a dip/spread and the Cumin-Cayenne Mashed Potatoes with Carmelized Onions, which provides just enough of a kick without being overpowering.

Other dishes we’ve tried: Citrus Collards with Raisins Redux (a great way to get your greens – also try his Collard Confetti, made with the leftover stems, with some sugar and balsamic), Sweet Sweetback’s Salad with Roasted Beet Vinaigrette (not for everyone’s tastes, but very bold if you dig arugula, beets, and candied walnuts), and the Carrot-Cranberry-Walnut Salad with Creamy Walnut Vinaigrette (the one recipe we’ve tried that was underwhelming).

In addition to being filled with great recipes organized in unique ways (there’s a whole chapter just for watermelon!), Vegan Soul Kitchen is a really entertaining read. The stories behind some of the food are longer than the recipes themselves and each dish is given a suggested music soundtrack ranging from MF Doom to Ann Peebles to Grant Green to DJ Spooky remixes of Charlie Parker. A fan even compiled two imixes on iTunes of 170 of the songs referenced in the book.

So, a big thumbs up for Vegan Soul Kitchen. If you don’t know, now you know…

Cheap-o ice cream maker: check.

Collection of vegan ice cream recipes ranging from “vanilla” to “seaweed”: check.

By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard of Wheeler Del Torro, the mysterious man behind Wheeler’s Black Label Vegan Ice Cream, based in Boston.  I reviewed some of his flavors here last year and was super excited to see that he was sharing his secrets to homemade ice cream greatness.

Wheeler learned his craft from a high school girlfriend’s grandmother in France and perfected it upon returning to the United States.  Though he wasn’t vegan until a bet he made with an incredibly unhealthy boss, Wheeler was able to adapt what he had learned about making ice cream to his new vegan diet.  Before long, he was making vegan Cristal ice cream with gold flecks for Alan Iverson that cost thousands of dollars.

While that recipe doesn’t appear in the book, there’s still quite a variety.  The Vegan Scoop is divided into nine sections:

1. Classic Flavors (Vanilla, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Black Raspberry, Caramel)
2. Fruity Flavors (Blueberry, Plum, Date)
3. Healthy Flavors (Cinnamon Ginkgo, Yam, Orange Dragon Fruit)
4. Asian Flavors (Black Sesame, Thai Chile Chocolate, Seaweed)
5. Caribbean and Island Flavors (Orange Passion Fruit, Ginger Beer Sorbet, Ginger Lychee)
6. Novelty Flavors (Peanut Butter Cucumber (no, I didn’t miss a comma in there), S’more, New York Irish Cream, Jalapeño)
7. Aphrodisiacal Flavors (Lavender, Rose Water, Pumpkin and Oats)
8. Ice Cream Vessels and Sauces
9. Ice Cream Sides and Desserts

In addition, there’s a very helpful introductory chapter on how to construct your own unique flavors in case you’ve been itching to try a Basil Carob Rhubarb ice cream.

A true measure of a cookbook is in how often it gets used.  The fact we’ve made six quarts of ice cream in the last month-and-a-half should give some indication of how much we’re digging the book around here thusfar.  Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve made:

Vanilla – I used Mimicreme instead of a soy-based creamer which resulted in a very, very creamy rich ice cream, but definitely not classic vanilla in flavor.  It had that nuttiness that some may or may not appreciate.  Next time: soy creamer, as recommended.

Rocky Road – This was our favorite.  Made with Sweet & Sara marshmallows, the Rocky Road was nothing short of amazing.  It lasted the shortest time in our fridge.  Creamy, chocolatey, nutty, and just delicious.

Mint Chocolate Chip – My all-time favorite flavor is done justice here.  The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 T. of peppermint extract, which is enough mint to singe your eyebrows.  Cut it back to 1 T. for near-perfect results.

Apple Pie – The least orthodox of the ones I tried, the apple pie ice cream really is just that: apple pie in ice cream form.  Though it took twice as long as the instructions said to prep the apples, the end result was quite intriguing: just enough apple and cinnamon to not be overwhelming, yet distinctive enough to stand out.  I liked it.

Key Lime-Strawberry – This was our first attempt and was far, far better than the commercially available key lime soy ice cream.  It packs a punch, but isn’t overly sour.  Great stuff.

Other flavors I’m most looking forward to trying: Wasabi, Pomegranate-Grapefruit, Vanilla Saffron, Green Tea, Peanut Butter and Flaxseed, and Peanut Butter and Jelly.

The recipes themselves are straightforward and follow a simple formula.  It should be noted, however, that you need to plan ahead.  You’ll need to freeze the ice cream maker bowl the night before and start making your ice cream about six hours before you’ll want to eat it.  (Ice cream makers are cheap – I got this one a few years ago for a mere $20.  There are some alternative solutions on Wheeler’s site if you don’t have space for a dedicated ice cream maker.)

There are only two notable criticisms that I offer about The Vegan Scoop.  First, the recipes all call for vanilla extract rather than vanilla beans.  While that makes sense when you realize that a single vanilla bean can cost you $9 in your local grocery store, here’s a secret: you can get 60 quality vanilla beans for $14 on eBay.  For that reason, it would have been nice to have the option to use actual beans in place of the extract.  I found a suitable substitution online: for each teaspoon of extract, use one inch of vanilla bean.  Most of the recipes here use a tablespoon of extract, so one 3” long vanilla bean does the trick.  Drop the full bean into the milk/cream mixture while it heats.  When the mixture is done heating, remove the bean, slice it down the center, scrape out the vanilla paste inside and add the paste back into the milk/cream mixture.  I confirmed this method with Wheeler and local vegan cooking teacher Mimi Clark.

My other nitpick is the subtitle of the book: “150 Recipes for Dairy-Free Ice Cream That Tastes Better Than the ‘Real’ Thing.”  I’ve gotten to the point that I dislike when a non-vegan version of a food is called “real,” implying that a veganized version is somehow fake or less real.  Minor nitpick, I realize, but I think language is important when presenting veganism to a mainstream audience.

All told, Wheeler Del Torro’s The Vegan Scoop is a big win for those looking to put that ice cream maker to good use.  You won’t grow tired of the options and the old favorites will be new again.  And, honestly, you may not buy another store-bought ice cream again.

(If you’re avoiding soy, you can substitute other milks in these recipes.  If you prefer cashew-based ice creams, Vice Cream is worth checking out.)

With so many great vegan cookbooks on the market, it’s easy for some to slip under the radar and get overlooked. Lacey Sher and Gail Doherty’s You Won’t Believe It’s Vegan! is one of those books surely due to a poorly chosen title that not only infers inherent poor quality of vegan food but also brings to mind stacks of overstocked, generic $5 cookbooks in a bin in front of Borders.

But guess what? This book is anything but generic. In fact, it’s often downright inspired.

Sher and Doherty may be known to vegans in the Northeast as the owners of New Jersey’s Down to the Earth, an organic vegan restaurant that they ran until 2006. Their 2008 reprint of their 2007 Down to Earth Cookbook falls neatly between an accessible everyday vegan cookbook and a gourmet cookbook like The Artful Vegan. The recipes are all within the reach of most home cooks, but combine to make dishes with an impressive complexity that isn’t always immediately obvious.

Our family’s tried a number of recipes so far. Among them, two soups: a filling Mediterranean Lentil Soup and an amazing Potato-Leek Soup with Lemon and Dill that far surpasses any other Potato-Leek soup we’ve tried. From the salad section, we enjoyed both the easy-but-satisfying Chickpea Untuna Salad and the Quinoa Salad with onion, peppers, and corn. Also, thumbs up for the tasty Tofu Hot Wings with Ranch Dressing. They definitely bring the flavor.

The most interesting dish we’ve encountered is the “Love Bowl,” a giant dish of layered brown rice, black beans, greens, and marinated tempeh, topped with scallions and sesame seeds. The recipe says “serves one,” but it’s huge bowl that is hearty and filling for two people, easy. (My notes for this one indicate it could have also been titled “A Bowl of Things Ryan Would Never Have Eaten Ten Years Ago.”)

The only not-so-great recipe we tried was the falafel, whose texture and flavor were off and not what we were hoping for. Thankfully things like the pizza and easy Raw Cashew Cheese recipes made up for the one subpar recipe.

You Won’t Believe It’s Vegan! features 200 recipes divided into breakfasts, drinks/juices/smoothies, sides, soups, salads, sandwiches/wraps, appetizers, entrees, raw/live foods, desserts, and there’s even a section for kids’ food. Beyond what we’ve tried already, I look forward to trying out their Chickpea Socca, Tortilla Torte with Creamy Pumpkin-Seed Pesto, and of course the entire dessert section.

Sher and Doherty’s book is a pleasant surprise that proves the old adage, don’t judge a book by its title. Or something like that.

You Won’t Believe It’s Vegan!
Lacey Sher and Gail Doherty
Da Capo Press
978-1-60094-070-5

Of course, the sole comment on the story is completely trollish:

(August 12, 2008 11:32 PM)

What a waste. Those animals could feed homeless people and other hungry humans. These animal "rights" activists should be ashamed of themselves. There’s a place in this world for ALL of God’s creatures — right next to the beans and mashed potatoes.

I submitted a reply, which hasn’t been approved yet:

You know what else could be used to feed homeless people and other hungry humans?  Money spent on pointless wars.

Compassion for animals and compassion for humans aren’t mutually exclusive.

I know, I know, don’t feed the trolls.  And the “pointless war” thing is kind of played out, but at its most basic level, it’s still true, no?

In addition, the station’s blog entry received its own trollish comment:

Alexandria, VA

I can’t believe that in this day and age some people are still working for the “rights” of animals. My goodness — have they run out of CONSTRUCTIVE things to do? Next thing you know they’ll want legal rights for potted plants. This is what happens when overprivileged brats lose focus in life and forgot what’s truly important: watching out for the welfare of PEOPLE.

I replied to this one as well:

It’s always funny to me how people like Adam seem to assume that a person’s belief in animal rights somehow means they’re anti-human. Animal rights and human rights are inextricably connected, as they recognize (rather than ignore or capitalize on) the suffering of “the other.”

I’ve found that those that accuse others of “wasting” time on “unconstructive” things like animal rights really aren’t doing much of anything to advance any cause other than their desire to hear themselves talk.

Anyway, I’m happy to see Poplar Spring get such good coverage on local news.  And it sounds like Karen Dawn’s book has that Skinny Bitch mainstream appeal that will get new people thinking and talking about animal issues.

(For those in the DC area, two dates to mark on your calendars: First, on Monday August 18 from 5-8:30pm, Karen Dawn will be doing a signing for her book at the sanctuary. Then, on Sunday August 31, Great Sage restaurant will be donating 10% of the day’s profits to the sanctuary.  Go get some tasty eats and support the farm.)

Even though there are only four episodes, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s Post-Punk Kitchen remains one of the most entertaining vegan cooking shows ever.  EVER!  After all, what better way to find out about an awesome band like Made Out Of Babies than by watching them play vegetable-instruments in Isa’s living Brooklyn living room?  Sadly, I doubt we’ll be seeing any new episodes now that Isa’s moved to Portland to live with the other 98% of North American vegans, but don’t fret too badly: Isa and Terry’s cookbooks will help you forget the lack of good vegan cooking shows.  Vegan With a Vengeance remains one of my favorite vegan cookbooks and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World was so successful, it made Isa hate cupcakes.  Veganomicon continues the tradition of greatness (three makes a tradition, right?).

This nearly 300-page book offers up over 250 snacks, brunch items, salads, dressings, sandwiches, casseroles, one-pot meals… you get the idea.  Everything’s covered.

The Eggplant-Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream was the first thing we tried.  My margin commentary reads: “Takes a long-ass time, but is really good.  Very lasagna-y.”  There are layers of eggplant, potatoes, zucchini, tomato sauce, and breadcrumbs topped by an incredibly delicious pine nut cream that I think would also taste good in a pizza setting.  This dish isn’t one you’ll want to make on a night you get home from work at 6pm, but it’s an outstanding one to break out on a weekend.

One recipe that’s gotten a lot of praise on various forums is the Chickpea Cutlets.  It lives up to the hype.  It’s the cutlet for vegans who are ready to to move beyond regular ol’ mock meats.

The Curried Tofu was really good on sandwiches, the Black Bean Burgers are a good go-to burger, the hummus is what you’d expect (in a good way), and the White Bean Aioli is a nice variation on the standard mayo-heavy sauce.  The only dish we haven’t cared for so far is the Grilled Yuca Tortillas.  It’s OK, but not one we’ll be returning to.

Some other recipes I’m looking forward to trying: Chestnut-Lentil Pate, Saffron-Garlic Rice, Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits, Pineapple-Cashew-Quinoa Stir-fry, Pumpkin-Cranberry Scones, and a simple Vanilla Ice Cream.  Oh, and the Smlove Pie because it looks absolutely insane.  Quite simply, there is so much here, you will never tire of this book.  The variety that Isa and Terry come up with is truly amazing and it’s exceedingly rare that you stumble upon a dud, thanks to how much testing goes into each of their books (hi PPK forum people!).

The book’s been compared to a high school math book and I’d say that’s apt.  But I like it.  It’s sturdy and stands out on the bookshelf.  And huge thumbs up for presenting the full list of recipes in the table of contents.  As you may remember, that’s my number one most important requirement in a cookbook’s design.

Of course, the writing’s great.  Isa and Terry know their stuff, but their writing lacks the pretense of most cookbooks of this complexity level.  There are sections on kitchen equipment, stocking your pantry, terminology, how to lower fat in your cooking, and basic instructions for cooking vegetables, grains, and beans.  In addition, they provide helpful menu combinations and an organization of recipes by the time they take to cook, their fat content, gluten-free and soy-free recipes, and the most interesting: “Supermarket-Friendly Recipes.”  For this last category, the ingredients had to be easily found in a supermarket near Isa’s in-laws in rural Vermont.

While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Veganomicon for someone who has to call their mother to find out how to boil water (I swear, I never did this.  OK, maybe I did, but I was 15 and babysitting.), as the recipes can be somewhat involved and time-consuming.  But for those of us that have gotten comfortable around a kitchen since becoming vegan, it’s an absolute must-have.

The next book in the series will be a brunch-themed book, which may or may not be named after an object in Evil Dead 2 (Vegan Brunches for People With Chainsaw-Hands, perhaps?).  Isa’s blogged about other books-in-the-works, but I’m having trouble finding the post.  I’ll be eagerly awaiting each and every one.

I’m closing with this picture.  It’s old, but I still love it:

Portland’s Kris Holechek, who you may know from Squirrel’s Vegan Kitchen, self-published this fun collection of breads, cookies, cakes, and other assorted goodies.  The first thing I noticed and loved about The Damn Tasty! Vegan Baking Guide was the "baking basics" section where she expounds on why she just uses the term "milk" throughout the book rather than "soy milk," "non-dairy milk," or some other similar term:

As I refined the content, I truly agonized over the way to write about milk.  I’ve seen books that assume soy milk for the milk and I’ve seen books where the word milk is in quotes, calling for "milk."  Now just think of coconut milk.  No one protests calling that milk.  Alternative milks date back hundreds and hundreds of years to different regions of the world, so they aren’t a new invention, they are just newly recognized by western society.  Because of my strong views on the linguistics of eating, I chose to simply write the word milk.  This is a vegan book, so clearly the use of cow’s or goat’s milk is unacceptable.  But people have preferences, allergies and limitations to what is available to them, so the milk you prefer, be it so, almond, rice, it’s up to you.  If there is one kind or another that I’ve found works best, it is noted in the recipe.

She also points out that something like Boston Cream Pie isn’t called Boston Cream Pie with Eggs and Cow’s Milk, so a vegan version isn’t any less "real."  "Let’s stop playing semantic games and not allow mainstream eating habits to make us feel like our vegan "food" is any less enticing than it is."  Well said!

Onto the food.

I still haven’t had a chance to try as many recipes here as I had hoped, but we’ve had good success with the ones we’ve made thus far.  The Raspberry-Lime Muffins are every bit as awesome as they sound and the Pumpkin-Cinnamon Zig-Zag Bread is excellent, even when made with whole wheat pastry flour.  The simple white icing recipe has become a go-to when making anything that needs a quick icing.  The recipe for garlic rolls has a great little side note about a very easy cheesy topping made with raw cashews and nutritional yeast that tastes absolutely perfect on popcorn (go just a smidge lighter on the salt, though).  Our recipe queue includes: Polski Apple Crisp, Blueberry Streusel Muffins, Basic Biscuits, and Danish.  I look forward to trying each of those in due time.

The only less-than-success I had was with the Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts, which I made as donut holes instead (dropping the batter into a mini-muffin tin).  They tasted OK but were… weird.  The consistency was off and they didn’t come out in a very appealing way.  I suspect, though, that this may be due to baker error.  Baked goods can be hard to review for this reason — they’re generally not as forgiving of mistakes as recipes made on the stovetop.

There’s a lot to like in Damn Tasty.  There’s a good variety of recipes (they’re not all sweets) and the voice is conversational and a pleasure to read.  Though there’s no food photography, its absence didn’t bother me; the descriptive text was often enough.  If baking is your thing, you’ll certainly want to put Kris’ book on your wishlist.  Good stuff.