The Easy Vegan Cookbook

September 21, 2015
In her fifth cookbook, Hester (Oatrageous Oatmeals) tackles vegan cooking with recipes that maximize health content and minimize effort. Diverse sections on “Make-Ahead Staples” and “Speedy Stir-Fries” guide the reader through different stages of eating; the recipes are as colorful as the pictures that accompany them. Hester includes inventive takes on classic meat dishes, with the All-Natural Carrot Dogs, a reinterpretation of the hot dog, and the Drunken Sweet Potato BBQ, a vegan version of pulled pork, and she offers fresh riffs on Indian and Middle Eastern dishes, such as cauliflower masala and carrot and kale falafel. Desserts include the Salted Caramel No-Ice-Cream Milk Shake and maple walnut blondies. Hester proves that there is lots for vegan cooks to explore.

December 1, 2015

In a new cookbook centered on vegetables, grains, and meat and dairy substitutes, author Hester (OATrageous Oatmeals) offers smart strategies for saving time and money at mealtime. Her make-ahead homemade staples--including bouillon, oat milk, cooked beans (handily frozen in can-sized portions), and nut-based "cheese"--are easy to prepare, cheaper than store bought, and effective in many recipes. Hester mostly appeals to a beans-and-rice crowd, sticking to hearty soups, casseroles, pastas, and sauteed mixtures served in bowls. She does feature intriguing junk food analogs, such as sloppy 'shrooms, spicy cauliflower po' boys, and all-natural carrot dogs (a whole marinated cooked carrot in a bun), along with drinks and desserts. All recipes are accompanied by a nutrition analysis and clearly labeled as gluten free, soy free, and/or oil free. VERDICT A competent vegan cookbook with a healthy, from-scratch slant. Recommend this to fans of Nava Atlas and Robin Robertson's Quick and Easy Vegan titles.

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