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M**J
My new favorite cookbook!
You won't be sorry if you buy this one! Not only does this book contain simple, delicious, and nutritious, 100% vegan receipes, but it is also put together extremely well. The arrangement of the ingredients and instructions on each page makes each recipe easy to follow. All recipes are limited to one page, with the ingredients in the left column, and instructions in the right.I own another cookbook (Viva Vegan by Terry Hope Romero), and while it contains tasty recipes, I rarely use it because there are multiple recipes on single pages, requiring you to turn the pages to see the remainder of many of the recipes... Which is not a good thing because you have to stop what you're doing to wash food off your hands, remove the book from the stand, turn the page, and place the book back in the stand before you can continue with the recipe. A 2nd problem I find with the arrangement of the Viva Vegan book is it's simply hard to follow with my eyes. Every time I look away (to do the next step), it takes me several seconds to find and "refocus" on the correct place on the page. So I really appreciate the user-friendly format of THIS book by Kathy Hester!There are so many great recipes in this book, that I had a difficult time deciding what to try first. I decided to go with the "Chik'n Cacciatore" (made with seitan), and my family LOVED it! Over the next couple of days, I made the "Mix-and-Match Jambalaya", and the "Baigan Bharta" (eggplant curry).... and both were followed by rave reviews!Some prep time is required in the recipes (chopping and sauteing), but Kathy makes it a cinch, by breaking up the instructions between "The Night Before", and "In the Morning". This helps tremendously if you want to toss everything in the crockpot on your way out to work in the morning. That being said, you don't have to do anything the night before; if you have a few additional minutes to spare in the morning, you can do everything at once.Simply put, this is an EXCELLENT cookbook, whether you are a new vegan looking for simple, yet tasty and satisfying recipes that do not contain hard-to-find ingredients (which is common in vegan cookbooks)... or whether you're a long-term vegan, looking for a nice variety of easy to prepare, delectable dishes!
F**G
The author owns 10 slow cookers and that's just for starters!
The title is The Vegan Slow Cooker but let me tell you, many of these recipes can be enjoyed by almost everyone! I just received this book today (two days after I placed my order) and have more than glanced through from the first page to the final word and am ready to dust off my slow cooker and maybe buy a second one. It is very nicely illustrated, anticipated readers' questions are answered, ingredient substitutions are listed, ingredients needed for making homemade bouillon, seitan, sauces, etc. And then the recipes for soups, casseroles,pasta and grain dishes,meatless main dishes, side dishes, etc. that are very thorough without being too wordy. She owns 10 slow cookers and learned to cook most of her meals while in college in order to save money and eat.Update: I have a 6 quart slow cooker and just purchased a 2-1/2 quart slow cooker and tried the Carrot Cake and Zucchini Bread Oatmeal and it was very good. I am a night owl and an early riser, so I had no problems in the oatmeal drying out in the 6-hour cooking time. I used both the carrots and unpeeled zucchini and substituted chopped walnuts for the pecans. I also tried Mojito Pinto Beans using homemade pinto beans instead of canned and it was good with a twist of fresh mint. Since I am retired, I don't prepare ingredients the night before to save time in the morning. There are so many more recipes I want to try because my motivation is using the slow cooker to prepare a variety of good dishes for two or more. Again, my opinion since trying just a couple of her recipes only confirms my original comments because I could tell by reading the book from cover to cover and studying the recipes' ingredients that I had a winner in my hands!
C**T
Take it with a grain of salt (or rice!) ~
Updated 2/25/2012 (at end):I've been vegan for awhile, so I don't really miss the meat options and don't regularly eat the vegan 'meat substitutes'. This book is rife with meat substitute dishes. But before you pass this by just hear me out.Slow cookers are traditionally used to create warm, filling, and hearty one plate (or bowl) dishes. Stews, chowders, soups, etc... So I feel this is why the author used a lot of the vegan meat substitutions in these recipes.Any dish in this recipe book can be modified easily. You can leave out the meat substitute or change it out for standard tofu, seitan, or other tempeh. Regardless, there are variations you can make while keeping the heart of the recipe intact.The recipes include some pretty out there dishes. There is a recipe for making bread in the slow cooker! There are a lot of various dishes and they all seem pretty easy and so far all have been tasty. Again, I would recommend some slight modifications or tweaking for your personal style.I wouldn't say that this is the end all vegan recipe book. That's why I give four stars. It's a nice addition to a vegan cookbook collection, but the following are the books I recommend (in order from my favorite): Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers, Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet, The Happy Herbivore Cookbook: Over 175 Delicious Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes.-------------------Update: I have made more of the recipes and have a couple of comments. Some recipes are obviously 'off'. The cheater chili for example: No indicator of water or vegetable stock to be added. If you rinse and drain the beans and corn, and dice the tomatoes (properly), then you will have virtually no liquid. I added a couple of cups of water and some tomato paste. And it was rather bland (called for just garlic, salt, and pepper) so I added some chili powder, cumin, Secret Ardvark habanero (secret weapon!), and some diced, chili powder crusted tofu. It went from ho hum to wowie! So just be aware that many of the recipes just require a tad bit of tweaking for your personal taste. It's not perfect, but it's a great guide to get you started, or to give you inspiration.
B**A
Book
Great
