Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

We’ve have been longing for a vegan cookbook and Veganomicon caught our eye and captured our heart. Written in easy style and laced with chatty-style humor, this cookbook is a pleasure to read and follow.

In the words of authors Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, Veganomicon is a “big, bold vegan cookbook that doesn’t hold back any punches”. It is indeed a fat book at 270 pages with 250 recipes. The authors explain:

“Our mission in life is to prove that vegan food doesn’t have to be repetitive, difficult, or inaccessible… Tradition always starts somewhere and we hope that something in these pages will inspire a few new seedlings of tradition to take root.”

There is a lot of interesting trivia about cooking techniques strewn all across the cookbook with insights on the ingredients that makes a particular dish delicious. Drawing inspiration from cuisines all over the world, this cookbook emphasizes on convenient food, some of which are presented in bullet points below:

•    Snacks, Appetizers, Little Meals, Dips, and Spreads – Consists of recipes such as potato latkes, stuffed mushrooms, asparagus and spinach dips, sushi, hummus, and many others.
•    Brunch – Consists of recipes for waffles, pancakes, fries, sandwiches, and crepes.
•    Salads and Dressings – Contains mix n match recipes and you’d be surprised at the number of dishes that can be turned out from the greens and the veggies!
•    Mix n Match – Includes everything from rice and potato to the barbecued tofu.
•    Soups – This is our favorite section that gives tips on how to load your bowl with tummy-filling fiber and other nutrients.
•    One Pot Meals, Casseroles, and Stove Top Specialties – This consists of Vegan-style pot pies. Look out for pumpkin saag and other Indian curries!
•    Pasta, Noodles, and Risottos – A lot of herbs and sauces with a liberal sprinkling of vegetables is the highlight of this section.
•    Cookies – Who can resist the charm of a plateful of cookies?! This section consists of recipes for brownies, whole grain cookies, and other baked goodies.
•    Desserts – There is a whole range of dessert recipes at the end of the cookbook.

You can checkout the visual treats of the dishes from Veganomicon by clicking this link.

About the authors of Veganomicon

Veganomicon is written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Isa is America’s most popular Vegan chef. Both authors are founders of Post Punk Kitchen that offers a podcast of their online Vegan cooking.

Are the recipes in Veganomicon easy to make?

Veganomicon contains recipes varying from the extremely simple to the complex. While there are a few recipes that are completely unheard of in this part of the world, there are many others that can be attempted over a weekend. You can definitely modify them with locally available ingredients to suit your preferences. However, these recipes must not be attempted in haste. You might have to scurry to Google to see the images of a lot of ingredients and, we repeat, this is a weekend cookbook that needs lot of dedication and love.

Is this cookbook really meant for India/Indians?

While we’re lucky to be living in India where you can easily veganize many dishes, one might wonder whether we really need the recipes from Veganomicon. But we’re more than convinced that if you love cooking, you will end up adding a lot more dishes to your repertoire. This cookbook is a great reference for those special occasions when you crave to eat or serve something you’ve not attempted before.

Will the recipes turn out as in the cookbook?

Some are simple recipes with very little margin for error. But for the difficult ones, you should be able to get around them with practice. As you use the cookbook more frequently, things will start to fall in place.

Is the cookbook easy to understand?

There are cooking tips, preparation tips, nutritional facts, and icons flagging off pages indicating ingredients that are soya-fee, gluten free, low-fat, etc. There is a list of recipes than can be prepared in less than 45 minutes as well. However, while most dishes are easy to understand, in some, the measurements are indicated in ounces and cups. This may get a little difficult to understand for the non-US reader.

Where do I get/order Veganomicon from?

Veganomicon is difficult to find in a bookstore. You can check at your online bookstore.

Verdict

Veganomicon is an honest book on a mission. It is an able cookbook worthy of adorning many Vegan kitchens. Just go and get one.