It's a Cookbook Review

I have been Vegetarian for over 5 years now, and the past 6 months of those or so I have been Vegan. There are a few cookbooks in our house that have plenty of Vegan recipes, but when I made the decision to go Vegan a few months back I decided I would get a new cookbook. Plenty of cookbooks have terrific titles, but few match the wonderful absurdity of Vegan with a Vengeance.

This cookbook seems to have been birthed out of a public access television show in New York called The Post-Punk Kitchen. On that website you can find a lot of recipes from the book and a message board where people are contributing their own recipes.

Now granted, I have only made maybe 12-15 of the items in that cookbook so far. But, outside from one pancake disaster, I'd have to say everything has turned out very well. Some of the recipes are quick and easy. Simple things like a Tofu Egg Salad, or Chickpea-Hiziki Salad Sammiches (think tuna salad for vegans), or simple cookies etc. Others are larger entrees. There is a Brooklyn Pad Thai recipe in there, which I have yet to try, Fettucini Alfreda (excellent!), Chickpea Broccoli Casserole (also excellent. I love breakfasts, and the pancakes that I have made from here so far have been great. Bacon? Oh they have a Tempeh bacon recipe which is delicious. Tofu Scramble, Taters, French toast. You name it.

The presentation of the book is also great. Each recipe has an introduction, and they are often humerous. Sometimes telling stories of pot-luck dinners where these recipes came out of, or just sarcastic humour. By and large the recipes are cheap, as advertised, and more importantly easy to follow. And more importantly they all are good. More than a few friends who are not vegan have tried some recipes out of here and been impressed.

For the first cookbook review ever at 64th and Broadway, Barcelona, this one will get a "highly reccomended." It's the cookbook I use most, and maybe thats just cause it's the newest, but there is so much more stuff in there I want to try that I am sure to be using it for a while.