Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

Hands-down my favourite vegan cookbook. You know how you buy cookbooks, and try maybe 8 recipes, and only 2 or 3 end up in regular rotation? Within a month of buying this book, I'd made about 20 recipes in it, and I don't even remember what my regular dishes were before I had this.

There is a good mix of recipes here in terms of quick and easy vs. more work but worth it. There are icons to mark the recipes that can be made in less than 45 minutes (and in most cases, there is 10 - 25 mins of prep work, and then 20-30 mins of simmering/baking unattended), gluten-free, can-find-all-the-ingredients-at-a-normal-grocery-store and a few others. These icons are very helpful, and make meal planning easy.

My favourite recipes so far: Lasagna (and show more its several variations - by far the best vegan lasagna I've tried), Spaghetti and Beanballs, Spaghetti Squash Mexicana, Portobello Mushroom Salad, Po Boys (my boyfriend's new second-favourite food after pizza) and the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. show less

This book was a revelation--fabulous recipes a notch up from most of my other vegan cookbooks. Moskowitz's humor comes through abundantly in the recipe chats, so there's no drudgery involved in following her recipes. Some of my favorites: lasagne, chick pea seitan, rosemary foccacia. My one disappointment is that, in my edition at least, the authors did not spend as much time on editing (or selecting a good editor) as on developing their recipes. There are a few typos and omissions that could lead to mistakes if the user is not careful.

I did not have a chance to try out the recipes, because there was so much information in the book! I loved all of the instructional content, particularly how to cook every vegetable an see why it and grain. As I was going through the book, I realize there was too much information for me to make my notes and return the book (too lose it for a long time) so I threw in the towel, returned the book and asked for it for my birthday. It does have its downsides, from lackluster layout to a lack of pictures, but it is so informative that I can see why people refer to it as the Vegan Bible. Yes, I did not rate it the highest (again, flaws) but is there a better endorsement than "I borrowed it from the library and decided I needed to own show more it?"

Follow-up: I did not get it for my birthday, unfortunately. I eventually bought it and use it regularly to look up ingredients.

As well, I did not correct the review because I am not sure what I was trying to say. Damned autocorrect. show less

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, show more 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. show less

The recipes are amazing. The food is amazing. I feel like a genius borne from the flames from the fires of the kitchens of the vegans of the ancient worlds. Except, of course, the vegans of the ancient worlds didn't have such awesome inventions like food processors. If you want to become vegan, learn how to cook, and are willing to invest some time and money into quality groceries and (optionally) tools, this cookbook is a great addition to your library.

Great if you need to make something on the fancy side, but as with any cookbook, try dishes out first.

This cookbook is a little fancypants/foodie for my everyday needs. I'm sure it will make a great reference for special occasions or when I just need to get out of a rut. Most of the time I am too frugal (and too fond of simplicity) to invest in the flourishes that populate this book -- although they look delicious and will likely make wonderful "sometimes" treats.

Admittedly, I have only tried a couple of the recipes. One turned out great, but the other was a total dud -- it was bland and had some serious texture issues. I made it again but frankensteined the recipe with a similar one in another book, cooked some ingredients separately show more (fixed the texture issue), and tweaked the spices myself. It was delicious that way. I think maybe I require Too Much At All Times in the spice/heat department. That's my problem, not the authors'.

Check this book out to look it over & try a few recipes, then invest if it suits your style. show less

I had high hopes for this cookbook, thinking it might just become the Betty Crocker Cookbook of my vegan kitchen. Not so. Here Isa displays her penchant for quirky techniques and unnecessarily difficult-to-find ingredients. Gone is the punk rock simplicity of her first book Vegan with a Vengeance. That's not to say there aren't decent recipes in here, but on the whole I prefer her first book.