Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Gluten Free Recipes - vegan cookbook, crock pot
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! The Vegan Slow Cooker: Simply Set It and Go with 150 Recipes for Intensely Flavorful, Fuss-Free Fare Everyone (Vegan or Not!) Will Devour
I was a bit hesitant to purchase this initially as I already have one vegan slow cooker cookbook by another author. I tried one of the recipes last night, and I loved it! The recipes look quite easy to make, with common ingredients, and sound super-yummy. I would highly recommend this cookbook, and I'm glad that I went ahead and purchased it.
This book is a MUST have for anyone seeking easy to prepare, delicious and healthy meals (the fact that they are vegan is the non dairy icing on the cake). I was given a slow cooker over a year ago and was not inspired to plug it in until I purchased this book. In the week and a half that I have owned the book, I have already made several recipes with great success (Thai Curry Tofu, Creamy Corn Chowder, and Chana Saag-oh my!).I am especially fond of the way the recipes are set up and tasks divided into "the night before" and "in the morning". On busy days, I usually settle for a quick, cold sandwich for dinner. No longer. I am giving copies of this book to friends and family. Vegan and carnivores (and every possibility in between) alike will adore this book!
Before I begin, let me make this clear: my husband and I are not vegans, or even vegetarians. So I hope you're pleasantly surprised to hear that upon opening this book for the first time, I literally bookmarked at least 15 recipes and couldn't decide what to make first. And even moreso, that our experiences thus far have been great. We've enjoyed the Italian Eggplant Casserole with Cashew-Tofu Ricotta and Pantry Pot Pie so much that we fight over leftovers. Last night I made the Whole Wheat Pumpkin Gingerbread and had a little sliver this morning - fantastic!
For a long time, I was not the biggest fan of the slow cooker because most of the recipes I found were comprised of processed ingredients and just plain boring and bland. And let's not forget the slow cooker recipes that require a zillion preparation steps, thus defeating the purpose of an appliance that is meant to save some time. Recently, though, that's been changing, as I've been compiling and developing a lot more recipes that fit my desire for flavorful, healthy recipes using wholesome ingredients. And that are quite easy to throw together. This book is a wonderful piece of that collection and I can't wait to try more of the recipes, because they all meet exactly what I'm looking for.
Besides great food, Hester delivers others requirements of a great cookbook: simple ingredient lists; clear, concise instructions (that even highlight the steps which can be completed the night before); and options for substitutions to meet various dietary needs.
Love this book. As I write this, we have the Thai Red Curry Tofu And Veggies in the slow cooker. The house smells wonderful. Can't wait for dinner. The author includes dried bean recipes, and tips for freezing leftover cooked beans for use in other recipes. Very helpful that she doesn't just just call for canned beans. A very diverse collection of recipes. Highly recommended!Edit: While the dishes are tasty, some use WAY too much water. The Thai Red Curry Tofu and Veggies was too watery. Next time I'll cut the water in half (maybe more) so it's not so soupy. We've also tried the White Bean and Kale Stew, but the recommnended 5 cups of water sounded like too much, so I just added three, and it was still pretty soupy. Overall, very good recipes. Though, watch the water unless you want soup.
I must say this is an impressive cookbook. Since becoming a vegan, it's been difficult finding recipes for the slow cooker that weren't soups. I'm just not a soup person. I tried other vegetarian slow cooker cookbooks and if there was a recurring veggie, it was leeks. Pounds of leeks, not just a couple. I never saw so many recipes with leeks ever! I like leeks, but not so frequently. Time is often an issue for me and on busy days, I relied on the crock pot. Even with menu planning, it wasn't as convenient as the slow cooker. This is an awesome array of tasty recipes. I've tried a couple so far with great results. I need to go shopping before I can try more. I also love the fact that so many of the harder to find ingredients have recipes, similar to the Happy Herbivore and Vegan Diner. To find many of those ingredients in this area that are ready-made, I would have to make a 2-hour round trip to Whole Foods or pay for an extra $10 shipping from a vegan store in Atlanta for the freezer packs and styrofoam cooler. - Vegan Cookbook - Slow Cooking - Crock Pot - Cookbook'
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