looking for a good vegan cookbook

[Moon]

I'm not liking the reaction I get from so many people when I say I want to try being vegan- it's all negative.
I'm not expecting or wanting anyone else to go vegan, it's just what I want to do.

I just wanted to say something about his because I am having a similar problem... saying "I'm trying to be vegan" or "I am mostly vegan" gets weird looks from herbivores and omnivores alike. And because I haven't cut out dairy and eggs completely (I'm getting better) it feels like a bit of a cop-out. Plus, so many people have the idea that being vegan also means you are aggressive and pushy about your eating habits, and it also seems extremely drastic to them. But if you say something like "I am trying a plant based diet" they seem to go.. oh, that's healthy sounding.

The writer of the Happy Herbivore herself no longer calls herself a Vegan because of attitudes when she'd post something and it would get picked apart for not being vegan enough. There is so much to learn and consider and it's really overwhelming... most sugars are refined with bone char, crisco is technically vegan but from an evil company, and lots of alcohols are filtered with animal products... it's pretty overwhelming and the hard core vegans can get aggressive about it. Then there's the consideration that a product itself may be vegan but has a warning on the back that says "may contain milk ingredients" because of where it's manufactured, and some vegans are aiming for outright personal purity while others are just happy to support a product that doesn't have animal products.

So don't get hung up on the vegan moniker, and use whatever terminology feels good to you. I am not going to throw out my ancient leather shoes and boots, or throw out my locally sourced honey that I bought long, long before I cut out animal products because I'm not interested in wasting food or clothing - and if that makes me not vegan enough for someone, that's fine. I'm doing the best with what I've got and learning as I go.

 

[Petunia]

thanks so much for your post, I feel a lot less alone now!
yes, I think that saying "I'm trying a plant based diet" will work the best.
I wanted to try adopting that label mostly to help me think about my diet and my shopping habits differently but I guess I don't really need it.

I don't really miss meat, I never ate that much of it to begin with.


I haven't totally given up dairy either, because the non dairy substitutes are both much more expensive, and I don't like them as much. It's hard to make myself pay more for something I like less, you know? I like a little skim milk in my tea, hopefully I can learn to drink tea without it, but I'm not going to beat myself up in the meantime just because I get a half gallon of milk once a month.

I think if anyone offers me something made with meat, or dairy or eggs, from now on I'll just say that it doesn't agree with me or upsets my stomach. They can't get upset or offended by that, right? :nod:

 

[jorats]

I call myself veganish or I don't say anything at all. I'm not hard core and never will be. I feel much better health wise on a plant based diet. I think I may use that that from now on.

 

[Moon]

I can't stress how important it is for people to watch the documentary forks over knives. It's one of the first docs I've seen that don't make me feel like there's a heavy political or social bias involved. I think if more people saw it they'd be more inclined to eat a plant based diet or at least cut back on veggies. After watching it the number of people who have an egg sandwich for breakfast, a lunch meat sandwich and then a typical meat based dinner would probably change drastically. Debating on buying it for everyone for Christmas but that might come across as preachy lol

 

[Petunia]

I can't stress how important it is for people to watch the documentary forks over knives. It's one of the first docs I've seen that don't make me feel like there's a heavy political or social bias involved. I think if more people saw it they'd be more inclined to eat a plant based diet or at least cut back on veggies. After watching it the number of people who have an egg sandwich for breakfast, a lunch meat sandwich and then a typical meat based dinner would probably change drastically. Debating on buying it for everyone for Christmas but that might come across as preachy lol

is that available for free online? (my apologies if you already posted info on it)

and have you seen this?

http://youtu.be/30gEiweaAVQ

 

[Aida]

My faveorite recipe website is www.allrecipes.com.
You don't need an account to check out the recipes(though a free one lets you organize, save, rate, and do other cool stuff- I have one cause I visit often), so just run a quick search for "vegan" and see what you get.

 

[jorats]

I had decided to become vegetarian and it was the Forks Over Knives who made me go veganish. It's really scary how so many health ailments can be reversed and stopped simply by switching to a plant based diet.

 

[Moon]

Aida I've found a lot of recipes I really like on allrecipes- I actually have that website to thank for getting me cooking at all since I was a pretty terrified newbie when I got married. I like being able to put a few things I have in the ingredients search and get ideas.

Petunia, pm me to remind me to send you a link. I had a heck of a time finding a working, full version that agreed with my horrible Internet connection.

 

[hprats]

A good book about the health benefits of going vegan is The China Study.

And about creaminess...I love coconut milk for creaminess. It has a lot of fat though, so I only use it if I want a really rich, creamy result. Otherwise, I like almond milk because it has an extremely mild flavour, unlike soy milk (which I think has a really strong flavour, though I love it, it doesn't work for everything). I haven't bothered trying rice or hemp milk because almond milk has worked for everything I've tried it for.

So...cookbooks. There are actually a ton of vegan cookbooks!

Have you checked the library? They should probably have quite a few.

Veganomicon is supposed to be great, and I want it myself though I don't have it.
http://www.amazon.com/Veganomicon-The-U ... 156924264X

Vegan Planet is pretty good, but because it's based on global recipes, it will use a lot of spices not on your list. But it's great for getting basic ideas for different combinations of ingredients.
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Planet-Irre ... gan+planet

The complete guide the vegan substitutions might be helpful for you. It deals with food substutions that you can use to turn any non-vegan recipe vegan. Again, since I don't really use recipes, it hasn't been helpful for me at all, but it has a high rating on amazon, and I've heard good things about it from other vegans I know so...
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Ve ... stitutions

The Sexy Vegan Cookbook is pretty good, though I have't read the whole thing (I only downloaded the sample part of the ebook to see the table of contents, and get an idea for the recipes. The recipes in it are pretty standard North American food recipes, and it seems like a lot of things you can use barbeque sauce for.
http://www.amazon.com/Sexy-Vegan-Cookbo ... sexy+vegan

My problem with vegan cookbooks, and probably cookbooks as a whole, is they make everything seem so complicated. It really doesn't have to be complicated. I think reading vegan cookbooks is a great way to get an idea of HOW to cook vegan...when you've grown up in a world where eating meat is the default, you've been exposed to hundreds of meals that feature meat, so it's no challenge to imagine animal-based meals the way it can be to imagine plant-based meals. But a lot of the recipes are just more work, or use more ingredients, than you'll want for daily recipes. That's why a lot of people giving advice on transitioning to a vegan diet will just suggest adapting your old favourite recipes. And that's actually pretty easy. The hardest thing to substitute is cheese, but milk, cream, and eggs are surprisingly easy to substitute for, and for meat you have a ton of options (tofu, tempeh, seitain, commercial substitutions), but it's also helpful (and often healthier) to think of it more as omitting meat and adding in plant-based protein in lentils, beans, and quinoa, elsewhere in the meal, not so much directly substituting the way you can use coconut milk instead of cream.

 

[Licious]

I realize this is a late reply, but I thought I'd chime in with my thoughts. My partner and I have been vegan for just over a year, and vegetarian for 10 years before that. Neither of us are big fans of mock meats, and I personally despise the vegan 'sour cream' we can get here (tofutti brand). I normally use earth balance as my butter replacement, and I love veganaise (vegan mayo).

Books that we really enjoy are Veganomicon (although the recipes often take quite a bit of time to make), Vegan Sandwiches Save the the Day (an entire book dedicated to sandwiches...its friggin amazing), and La Dolce Vegan (good book for cooking for a couple, uses mostly easy to get ingredients). I also recommend the Part-time Vegan, which has REALLY easy recipes to get you started (I picked up at Chapters for like 7$ on discount!).

I also use VegWeb a lot, and Finding Vegan to look for recipes online.

The early days were the hardest, when I felt like I was losing out on a lot of things. I hated the way that replacement products tasted because the taste of the 'real thing' was still fresh in mind. It got a lot easier though the more time passed.