Cookbook plug: The Accidental Vegan

[kijip]

Let me preface this by saying that I an not a vegan or a vegetarian and will essentially never stop eating meat. We eat vegetarian dinners 3-4 nights a week, but we enjoy our meat 3-4 nights a week too. :) I am also not a huge cookbook person and tend to cook from my head most of the time. But I got this book this last month and it is AMAZING. The recipes are easy, tasty and mostly very healthy. I love the whole section on salad dressings, which makes lunch planning easier and more interesting to eat. And so far all of the dinners recipes I have referenced in making dinner are awesome. Acorn Squash Ratatouille and Chinese Veggies in Black Bean sauce are the best.

I totally plug it for omnivores wanting to eat more veggies and of course for vegetarians and vegans.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587613387/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1580910793&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=13JN4YNXKEZ9P9F3Z8M0

[infomama]

Thanks for the rec. I told DH we should eat one or two meatless dinners a week and he looked at me like I had three eyes. Maybe this will change his mind about it all.

[maestramommy]

Hum! Maybe I should check this out! We just joined a CSA for this summer, and even though I'm very excited I'm a little nervous too. I've never cooked some of the veggies on their list, and I'm really trying to get all of us (esp. the kids!) to try more veggies.

Katie, did you think the majority of the recipes had relatively easy (read:short) prep?

[JMS]

THANK YOU SO MUCH Katie.... I have been in the market for a healthy and tasty vegetarian cookbook for a while and this one definitely fits the bill :)

[lowrioh]

Thanks so much for the recommendation. My sister has recently decided to be a vegan and I never know what to make when she comes over, which is pretty frequently. We usually end up getting Chinese but this will be a lot healtier.

[1964pandora]

Thank you very much for the recommendation! I am going to check it out.

[lfp2n]

Thanks for the rec.- by the way did anyone watch Food Inc on PBS last night, it was a real eye opener on farming and the food industry. Definitely made you want to prepare more meals of locally/home grown veg.

[kijip]

Katie, did you think the majority of the recipes had relatively easy (read:short) prep?

Most of the dinners seem about 20-30 minutes hands on. Things calling for squash might have 40-60 minutes hands offtime where the squash is just cooking/roasting but that is pop it in the oven, set a timer and walk away time, not stay in the kitchen time. She breaks out the dinner recipes into:

Pasta
Curries
Mexicana
Mediterranean
Tofu
Seitan (meat substitute)
Misc

I have not tried any of the tofu or seitan recipes because I am not into soy or meat subs at all.

If I have the squash precooked, I can pretty much do any of the dinners on a weeknight and I don't usually leave work till after 5PM these weeks because we are in a fund drive. We eat around 6-6:30 and I am the one cooking dinner the vast majority of the time.

The only caveat is that some of the recipes rely on access to a grocery store with a decent sized Asian food section, but not all the recipes do and I have not had any trouble getting the supplies, all but a few were already in our pantry/on our regular grocery list.

[maestramommy]

Most of the dinners seem about 20-30 minutes hands on. Things calling for squash might have 40-60 minutes hands offtime where the squash is just cooking/roasting but that is pop it in the oven, set a timer and walk away time, not stay in the kitchen time. She breaks out the dinner recipes into:

Pasta
Curries
Mexicana
Mediterranean
Tofu
Seitan (meat substitute)
Misc

I have not tried any of the tofu or seitan recipes because I am not into soy or meat subs at all.

If I have the squash precooked, I can pretty much do any of the dinners on a weeknight and I don't usually leave work till after 5PM these weeks because we are in a fund drive. We eat around 6-6:30 and I am the one cooking dinner the vast majority of the time.

The only caveat is that some of the recipes rely on access to a grocery store with a decent sized Asian food section, but not all the recipes do and I have not had any trouble getting the supplies, all but a few were already in our pantry/on our regular grocery list.

Okay, good to know! Our Asian section in the grocery is okay, but I finally have access to good local Asian grocery stores.

I wonder how the seitan/tofu recipes would work with chicken or beef instead?

[citymama]

Cool - thanks! I am vegetarian (and not embarrassed to say it!) so will look for this book!

[JoyNChrist]

Cool! Thanks Katie - we're trying to go meatless a few nights a week, and I'm quickly running out of ideas. This will help a lot. :)

[kijip]

I wonder how the seitan/tofu recipes would work with chicken or beef instead?

I am sure it would work fine.

And most of the book is not tofu and seitan recipes so it's definitely worth the price even if you don't eat soy or like seitan.

[MamaKath]

Hmm, I may need to check this one out. Does it have any good desserts in it?