Like most vegan cook books, Vegan with a Vengeance begins with a nice introduction on why she wrote this book and where she came from and how she got to being the Post Punk. She tells you what the essential tools are for the vegan cook and what she thinks should be stocked in a vegan pantry. Well-written and does a very good job at telling the story, not just telling you what to do.
Some of the recipes are for beginners, she even goes so far as to tell you how to chop tofu. However, these staple items are a really good foundation for vegan cooking. I kind of wish this was my first vegan cookbook or at least one of my firsts.
Isa also brings her flavour and spice combos into this dish, I personally think she is a master at the sweet, salty, spicy, sour combo. I think it really takes someone talented and trained in matching and combining flavour to produce some of the items in her book.
I think my biggest criticism of this book is that I wish there was more variety in the flavours. I think Isa has her favourites and her books reflect them. It's not fully a bad thing, but I think I would use the book even more if there was a bit more, especially in the entrees. I am not even sure how to articulate this one in words. I think that there are a lot of similar spices in many of the main course dishes (cumin, coriander, curry etc)
Anyways, in summary, I highly recommend this book for the beginner vegan, the flirt (part time vegan), vegan curious etc. There are recipes in this book that I will be going back to and altering to make them my own.
Here is what I tried:
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| Fronch Toast |
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| Tofu Salad |
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| No-Bake Black Bottom Peanut Butter Silk Pie |
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| Homemade Seitan |
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| Double Wammy: Jerk Seitan and Coconut Rice |
So, the bottom line: Highly recommend this book. This is just a small snapshot of what she has to offer.
Wow!The tofu salad and the peanut butter pie look amazing!
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