Desert-island vegan cookbooks

 

As I mentioned in previous posts, I have a few kids who eat exclusively – or mostly – vegan, and I’ve tried to go a little bit vegan myself.  Being a cookbook collector, I’d like to get a couple that will help me make vegan dishes.  So I went to my advisory board (my daughter, daughter-in-law and Facebook friends) asking for their five "desert-island" cookbooks.  I hope to find at least a couple of them at this weekend’s library book sale. 

I already have two vegan/vegetarian cookbooks: “Happy Herbivore Abroad” by Lindsay S. Nixon, a gift from my daughter, published in 2012; and “Ten Talents,” a classic published in 1968 by a Seventh-day Adventist couple, Fred and Rosalie Hurd.

 My informal poll found that most people had favorite authors/series, not just cookbooks.  Here are the top-five recommendation of my expert panel:

  

1.  Lindsay S. Nixon's Happy Herbivore series.  Highly recommended by my daughter and daughter-in-law.  "The recipes are not complicated at all; they're easy, healthy, and cheap."
   

1. "Veganomicon" or other books by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  This was my daughter-in-law's first vegan cookbook, and she still calls it her vegan bible.   Other recommendations in the series are "Isa Does It" (good, basic, "how-to" vegan); and "Appetite for Reduction" (concentrates on healthier dishes).

1. "Betty Goes Vegan" by Dan and Annie Shannon.  Like my mother and grandmother before me, I raised my kids on the Better Crocker Cookbooks, so my daughter has found some comfort foods in this one.  "It's a great transition book for new veggies," she said.  The author, Annie, started a blog and worked her way through the Betty Crocker Cookbook, veganizing the recipes as she went along. My daughter's two critiques are that it uses a lot of oil and synthetic meat.

1. Moosewood series  Recipes from the 40-year-old restaurant in Ithaca, New York, like the Seventh-day Adventists early pioneers of American vegetarian cooking, and especially beloved by early adapters.  Among the most highly recommended are: "Enchanted Broccoli Forest," "The Daily Special," and "Moosewood Restaurant Favorites."

1. "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman.  According to my colleague Ryan, "has tons of good recipes and does a really good job of giving you pieces of the meal to combine with other (dishes)."  

And honorable mention goes to:

• "The China Study Cookbook" by LeAnne Campbell

• "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

• "Vegetarian Cookbook for Everyone" by Deborah Madison

• "The Vegan Cheat Sheet" by Amy Cramer and Lisa McComsey

  I'll be expanding my collection, and sharing with you all as I go along.

Waste not, want not - Bread Pudding

When I first got my bread machine, I found I had all kinds of odds and ends left, so I started saving them in the freezer and, when I had enough, make bread pudding. I found the recipe in my kitchen bible, the "Betty Crocker Cookbook." (I own several versions, and can't wait to get the new one, "1500 Recipes for the Way You Cook Today.")

I've been saving up special breads for a holiday breakfast. We had a tray of banana and date bread at the office from our boss' wife; I scooped up the leftovers and put them in the freezer. For Christmas, I'd made some yummy eggnog bread, and had a few leftover pieces. I cut them up for a double batch of bread pudding. I adapted Betty's recipe, leaving out the cinnamon or nutmeg called for (because the breads were seasoned) for this:

Holiday Bread Pudding

4 cups milk (I always use non-fat)
1 cube butter or margarine (cut in half if concerned about fat)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar, or less to taste
1/2 tsp. salt
12 cups dry bread cubes
1 cup raisins, if desired

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat milk and butter/margarine over medium heat until butter/margarine is melted and milk is scalded. Mix eggs, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Stir in bread cubes and raisins. (I use large tongs to mix.) Stir in milk mixture. Pour into ungreased 3-quart casserole. Place casserole in pan of very hot water (1 inch deep).

Bake uncovered until knife inserted 1 inch from edge of casserole comes out clean. Start checking at 45 minutes, but I find my oven takes about an hour. Serve warm.

(Live outside the U.S.?  Recipe conversion suggestions on this post.)