Aug 072013
Vegan Eats World: 300 International Recipes for Savoring the Planet
What If the World Was Vegan?
The true building blocks of cuisines across the planet are the spices, herbs, and grains—from basmati rice to buckwheat, coconut to caraway seeds. Apply those flavors to vegan staples such as seitan, or tofu and even straight-up vegetables, and the possibilities? If not endless, pretty darned expansive.
So what if the world was vegan? Your own cooking is the answer to that question; fire up the stove and make a green curry, simmer a seitan date tagine stew, o
List Price: $ 35.00
Price: $ 7.64
This book spans the world!,
I was so happy to be a tester for this book. I tested 96 recipes and that’s really just skimming the surface of this 300 recipe tome. I cannot say a bad thing about any of the recipes, they were all outstanding and loved by any one that tasted them. The book itself is beautiful, hard cover which is rare and is full of colour photographs and helpful diagrams/illustrations. There are symbols on each recipe to note that they are quick and easy, gluten free, soy free, low fat, low cost and novice recipes which makes it quick to find what you need. There is a huge section in the front of the book dedicated to teaching you the techniques you need to cook these recipes such as cuts, seasoning cookware, full explanation of all the less known ingredients and pantry lists. This section is also filled with tips and tricks that will help you get more out of your ingredients and budget.
Part two is the recipes and starts off with spice blends that you will find in the recipes in the book but you can also use them for other recipes as well. Things like garam masala and berbere spice blends is what you can expect.
Next up is a chapter on Tofu, Seitan and Tempeh that has recipes for seitans that are called for in the book that are easy to prepare and tasty too! The best baked tofu is in this section with three variations so make sure you try the Savory Baked Tofu. It is one of my five year old’s favourite things! Also a highlight of this chapter is the Lemon and Olive Chickpea Seitan that is used to make the most delicious Gyro Roasted Seitan later in the book. It is super flavourful and I never would have thought to add olives right into the seitan but it is perfect.
Chapter 3 is full of Pickles, Chutneys and Saucier Sauces with my favourite the Fast Lane Cabbage Kimchi. I had never tried this before but it was so good and went together quick and easy. Another shortcut recipe is the Preserved Lemons Two Ways where there are two variations, one quick and one that takes a bit longer if you have the time. I had also never tried these but soon became addicted to their unique flavour that adds that special something to your tagine dishes. Also delicious and unexpected was the Toasted Hazelnut Crunch Dip (Dukka). It is easy to make and tastes great served with the thick pita she suggests.
Chapter 4 covers Salads, Spreads and Sandwiches where I will suggest you run right to the Orange and Olive Fennel Salad. It is so simple but one of those recipes where simple needs to be in perfect balance and it is. Another favourite of mine from this chapter is the Cultured Cashew Spread with French Herbs. I have made it again and again and love it more everytime. Yet another favourite from this chapter is the Seitan Gyro roll ups that has a most delicious yogurt sauce on top of savory Gyro Roasted Seitan that starts with the Lemon and Olive Chickpea Seitan I mentioned above!
Chapter 5 is Soups which I am usually not a fan of but I took to a few in this book. One was the Greek Creamy Lemon Rice Soup (“No”govlemano) which all my family loved as well. It is warm and hearty, filling and delicious. Another one that I loved was the Sauerkraut Mushroom Soup (Shchi) that is full of mushrooms and kraut and topped with Sour Dilly Cream to come together to make the perfect fall or winter soup when you are craving warmth.
Chapter 6 is Curries, Hearty Stews and Beans where I will be honest I haven’t tried much…yet! This section is full of delicious, exotic curries from around the world. I recently tried the Beer Bathed Seitan Stew and Oven Pommes Frites and it was a big hit. I don’t like beer in stew usually but this one was in perfect proportion to the other ingredients and is finished with a touch of mustard or vinegar that gives it a perfect tang. It is like a mix of a beef style stew and French Onion soup.
Chapter 7 covers Dumplings, Breads and Pancakes where my favourite Potato Pierogi with Fried Onions are. With a filling of potato spiked with dill and nooch you can’t miss and the fried onions on top are my favourite touch. There are also loads of variations and full instructions to help anyone become a pierogi master. Another favourite you should try is the Yogurt Naan Griddle Bread. It is hard to find vegan naan bread where I am so I am very happy to have the perfect recipe in my arsenal now so I can have them anytime I like. These freeze well too and then you can just heat them up when you are ready. This book also introduced me to Very Nice Chickpea Crepes (French Socca) that we now enjoy for a quick supper on weeknights with a salad. They come together quickly and you can customize the flavour by changing up the spices/herbs and toppings. Also try the Jamaican Curry Seitan Patties, there were a favourite of my husband’s during testing.
Chapter 8 is Asian Noodles to Mediterranean Pasta where you should try the Sizzling Seitan Pho Noodle Soup. It was one…
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Love it!,
After cooking almost exclusively out of this book for a week now, I feel confident saying that this was an A+ delicious purchasing decision, and you should probably own it too. It’s a beautiful hardcover book, filled with great photos that make it pretty hard not to eat the pages.
The first part of the book gives general cooking advice, kitchen and pantry stocking tips, and information on some of the ethnic ingredients used throughout the recipes.
The second part of the book contains the recipes, organized by chapter:
Spice Blends
The Three Protein Amigos: Tofu, Seitan, & Tempeh
Pickles, Chutneys, and Saucier Sauces
Salads, Spreads, and Sandwiches
Soups
Curries, Hearty Stews, and Beans
Dumplings, Breads, and Pancakes
Asian Noodles to Mediterranean Pasta
Hearty Entrees
Robust Vegetable Entrees and Sides
Rice & Whole Grains: One Pot Meals & Supporting Roles
Sweet Beginnings
The book also contains a well-organized index, planned menus, and organization by icons, indicating that recipes are low fat, gluten-free, soy-free, take under 45 minutes, are good for beginners, are cheap to make, or are mostly inactive. Terry does a great job of providing recipes that can be made on weeknights after work, as well as more labor-intensive recipes that are guaranteed to impress.
This week, I cooked the smokey seitan and cabbage variation of the Sauerkraut Mushroom Soup (Shchi), Sweet and Savory Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos, and Chipotle Tofu Cemita Sandwiches. I also cooked a big Ethiopian spread for friends, which included the Ethiopian Savory Crepes (Injera Style), Saucy Berbere Lentils, Seitan Tibs Simmered in Berbere in Wine (substituting mushrooms), Collards in Berbere Sauce, and Fluffy Scrambled Chickpea “Eggs” with Shallots (But’echa). The collards are actually one of almost any possible vegetable variations on a cauliflower and green bean dish. My husband and I loved everything I cooked, but our friends raved about the Ethiopian, and we thought it was pretty amazing and very authentic-tasting for a Southern white lady’s kitchen.
I would say the majority of these recipes can be made with an intermediate vegan cook’s current pantry. However, for the sake of authenticity, the ingredient lists do contain many items that may require a trip to an ethnic market or an online purchase, and Terry offers some recommendations of where to shop on the Internet for those specialty items.
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So full of great stuff.,
I was a tester as well and as I was reading other reviews I realized that the recipes other people loved were ones I haven’t even tried yet! There are so. many. recipes. here. There are basics that have moved into my weekly repertoire (baked tofu for sure), weekend recipes that take time and reward you for it, and once in a blue moon recipes that are so tasty and decadent that I can’t trust myself to make them more often (I want the semolina date bars instead of a birthday cake this year).
It’s not just the whole recipes that are great though, it’s the basics that I use most often. I love the spice blends, they taste so much better when prepared fresh (berbere and baharat are my favorites). The seitan as well has rekindled my love for it after using the store bought stuff for so long and never really liking it. I’m a perpetual fiddler of recipes so I love having base ingredient recipes that I can use in a recipe from the book or in my own creation. The baked tofu, seitans, spices, rice recipes, and others all get mixed up and rematched in delicious ways according to what I have on hand.
There are a lot of specialty ingredients called for in the recipes. I love hunting them out in the little grocery stores and the ones I found did make a difference in the end product. But I also live in a smaller city in the Midwest and there are some things I just cannot find and didn’t have the resources to mail order. And you know what, everything still came out great. Maybe not as authentic as it would have if I did have fresh curry leaves or that specific soy sauce, but still delicious. So don’t let the long list bum you out. Try it with the ingredients you have and keep an eye out for the ones you still need. If anything it’s a great excuse to head to different parts of town and go on adventures the next time you’re in a bigger city.
I made a lot of curries, Middle Eastern recipes, and Asian recipes. I would have liked to have seen more European ones but I still enjoy the challenge of making vegan versions of those on my own. I look forward to making the ones in the book. Also, some people aren’t in love with the layout as the recipes can run onto other pages. I don’t mind but if you like having a cookbook open to one page this can be an issue. The book is very nicely bound and has nice pictures (I always like more though). There are little sidebars throughout with facts, hints, and tips for the recipes and they all have very extensive instructions which is especially helpful for things like dumplings and wontons.
I love this cookbook and can’t wait to start revisiting old favorites and trying out other things that people love about it. My can’t miss recipes are as follows:
-Pistachio Date Quinoa Salad
-Semolina Date Squares – They are amazing.
-Preserved Lemons – I put them in all sorts of things now.
-Brown Rice Biryani with Cashews
-Crusty Persian Rice
-Ful Medames (I used canned beans and it was so fast and delicious)
-Lemon Mustard Yassa Tofu
-And of course the basic baked tofu – holy crepe this is the best baked tofu.
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