Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook (edition 2007)

recommended for: all cookbook collectors, all vegans & vegetarians and those who enjoy delicious food

Well, for some reason I thought that this was going to be more like a thorough vegan Joy of Cooking type book but it isn’t quite so comprehensive. However; it is great, and I didn’t end up being disappointed.

Only cons:
1. all the photos are in the middle of the book vs. on the recipe pages
2. for my taste too long vegetable steaming times given (although possibly they & I are thinking of different sized pieces of veggies)
3. and most importantly: the authors don’t have a restaurant serving these recipes where I live in San Francisco ☺

Pros:
1. all of the recipes (except for those that contain foods I don’t like: seiten, tempeh, capers, vinegar, mustard, a few other ingredients) look delicious
2. such easy instructions for all the recipes and in general
3. while at first the book didn’t appear attractive to me, as I read it, I changed my mind: it has a great layout and it was easy to read and I decided I did like its appearance
4. very helpful icons for applicable recipes: soy free, gluten free, low fat/reduced fat, under 45 minutes, supermarket friendly
5. creative and practical recipe organization and table of contents (I was going to list the table of contents outline in my review because I like it so much, but instead I encourage others to buy, borrow, look at the book for themselves)
6. very informative with just the right amount of humor: I like humorous cookbooks; this wasn’t one of the funniest but it’s not meant to be silly,
and it also contains a smattering of Yiddish words (there was at least one, I think more) and a few vegan versions of what I think of as Jewish comfort food – loved it!

Just some of the recipes I’d like to eat (and all look possible for even me to cook given the terrific instructions): Spinach-Noodle Kugel, Baked Potato and Greens Soup with Potato-Wedge Croutons, Cauliflower and Mushroom Pot Pie with Black Olive Crust, Grilled Yuka Tortillas, Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce, Broccoli Millet Croquettes, Black Bean Burgers, Spaghetti and Beanballs, Beanball Sub, Mexican Millet, Red Lentil-Cauliflower Curry, Acorn Squash Pear and Adzuki Soup with Sautéed Shiitakes, Almond Quinoa Muffins, Mushroom Gravy, Marinara Sauce with combined mushroom and garlic variations, Creamy Kalamata Spread, Holiday Cranberry Sauce, Jalapeno Corn Gravy, Smlove Pie, Jelly Donut Cupcakes, Lower Fat Banana Bread, Maple and Brown Sugar Pinwheels, Wheat Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chewy Chocolate Raspberry Cookies, Pistachio-Rose Water Cookies, Lower-Fat Deep Chocolate Bundt Cake, and there are many others as well.

Gosh, writing this has made me way too hungry. I’m usually more of a cookbook reader than a cook, but I am very tempted to make at least some of the above recipes. ( )

No eggs in my cookies any more. ( )

One of the best vegan cookbooks I've owned and used. The recipes are delicious and easy to understand. It's a definite must have. ( )

Not for the beginner or the faint of heart! Veganomicon is the ultimate vegan cookbook. It is full of amazing, detailed recipes which require many uncommon ingredients. While the results of are amazing, this one is best for the seasoned vegan cook and not the best place for a rookie to start. ( )

There are recipes in this book that I would probably make every night, if I could. (The "Udon with Shiitake Mushrooms and Kale in a Miso Broth," the "Caramelized Onion-Butternut Roast with Chestnuts," and virtually every soup recipe in here are particular favorites.) As the introduction promises, most of them can also accommodate a little bit of flexing on quantities or ingredient substitution and still be delicious, which makes them easy to prepare the second time and beyond without having to keep your eyes glued to the book while cooking. This was the very first cookbook I purchased for myself, and the only one from which I cooked during my first months of Living On My Own, so I feel like I have to give the extensive introduction to cooking techniques and the detailed, chatty boxes that pepper the recipes with extra information all of the credit for making me the (relatively) unscarred, enthusiastic vegetarian chef that I am. As a kitchen reference for nascent veggie chefs and a source for animal-free recipes that can appease adamant carnivores, the Veganomicon is pretty much unparalleled.

My less-than-perfect review is based primarily on the amount of time that the recipes require. As there's a special icon for recipes that take less than forty-five minutes to prepare, and that number never seems to take vegetable prep into account - even for dishes with 6+ ingredients to rinse, slice, mince, chop, etc. - most of the recipes are too time-intensive to prepare on even a moderately busy weeknight. This isn't true of vegan or vegetarian cooking in general, though, and as a result, I've turned to different books and magazines (like the Vegetarian Times) for meals that are still good, but quicker, on a regular basis. The prohibitive amount of time that some items take can be especially off-putting in the case of an appetizer or a salad, or one of the rare dishes that's not insanely delicious when it's done. (Yeah, I'm talking about you, "Kabocha-Udon Winter Stew.") While the Veganomicon has a wealth of information about vegan cooking and solid soup and entrée recipes, most of the recipes and sub-sections included for the sake of making it a comprehensive cookbook have rarely, if ever, been of use to me. If more of them were, I'd probably have maxed out the stars on this review. ( )