May 11th

I’d really like to share the vegan cookbooks I own with you, in case anyone is ever interested in trying some new recipes out. I started off with “The Kind Diet” by Alicia Silverstone (yes, the girl from Clueless – who knew, right?) and it’s the book that completely changed my life. I browsed through it once in a bookstore and every time we went back in I’d always be drawn to it and skim through it. The first recipe I saw in it in the store was Peanut Butter Pie, and I figured if vegans could eat peanut butter pie, then I could definitely commit to that lifestyle. After months of contemplating the purchase, I finally went ahead and bought it and I think it might be one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. I re-read it all the time. It’s written in a very friendly style and has lots of great information, although the “nasty foods” section can be hard to get through because it’s so heartbreaking and anger-inducing. It’s also split into 3 different paths: “flirting”, “vegan” and “superhero” (the latter based on a macrobiotic diet) with tips and recipes for each. I think I’ve made three quarters of the recipes from it and have loved them all. And that peanut butter pie? I made it for dessert for my family once and no one even guessed that there was tofu in it!

The next book I bought was “Veganomicon”. I’ve mentioned this one before – it’s kind of like the textbook of vegan recipes. Everything is in here, veganized. The recipes aren’t always as healthy as the ones from the Kind Diet and a lot of the sweet ones use white sugar, but they’re very fun and great for entertaining. The biggest thing I’ve learned from this cookbook is that when you make a marinade, say for tofu or something, you can use the marinade after because there aren’t any meat guts in it! How simple and genius. Marinated curry tofu = curry sauce for stir fry the next day. Maybe this seems obvious to you, but to me it was eye-opening!

Finally, in preparation for May, Dom got me “The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions” and reading through this has helped me figure out how to veganize my favourite recipes from before. It’s split into sections like egg, dairy, meat, sugar, etc. and has convenient little charts for substituting whatever you need with something plant-based. Especially since the way you would substitute eggs in cookies is different from the way you’d substitute it in a cake, or in scrambled eggs or quiche. Very helpful. It also has many recipes in it, and it’s what I based my vegan French toast on.

I also have the internet at my fingertips for any recipes that are missing. And I regularly use the cookbook my parents got me, “Quinoa 365” for cooking all sorts of quinoa dishes. It’s not all vegan but contains lots of vegetarian recipes and armed with my substitution charts, cooking vegan from it is simple. Check them out next time you see them at the store or library and see if you don’t find a winning recipe.

So now that I’ve told you all about my fave recipe books, I bet you’re wondering what I made for myself from them today. The answer is…nothing. Our stove died a couple days ago and we’re getting a new one tomorrow (yay!) but it has meant convenience food and leftovers for the past couple days. Thankfully I found Amy’s brand of frozen burritos in the frozen section of the grocery store. I’m not sure if all of Amy’s items are vegan, but when you read the ingredients, it says vegan right away, which is incredibly helpful. I had a black bean and veggie burrito for dinner tonight. It smelled yummy, very oniony, and tasted pretty good. I’m not a huge fan of microwaving dinners, but it definitely came in handy. Obviously Cocoa liked the smell of it too! (Don't worry - he didn't eat it)