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.

$5 finds: Library book sale

When we moved to the Pacific Northwest, I fell in love with our local library system. Extolling all its virtues would take an entire blog or two, but for now I'll just brag about today's finds.  I happened to be driving by in the late afternoon and saw a sign for the semi-annual book sale.  The car automatically stopped.  And, I discovered, the last two hours of the sale, everything you can fit into a bag is $5.  So I set to shopping.

First stop, the video section.  It was pretty picked over. But I picked up "Jerry McGuire," a documentary on Ronald Reagan and a classic musical in VHS.  Yes, we still have our VCR.  It's worth hanging on to.  You can usually find older movies for $1 each, less than a rental. And once you've watched the movie, you can toss or donate it.  If you don't still have your VCR, consider picking one up at the thrift store.

Moving to the next bin, I found two DVD's, one a favorite of my daughter's, and the other a sequel to one of our favorite holiday movies, "Christmas Vacation."  Sure, it's bound to be bad.  Maybe bad enough to be funny!

Next I visited the craft section and scooped up some booklets for crocheted stuffed animals. My next project after I pause the baby afghans for the summer.  Perhaps some baby shower or birthday presents?

Finally, the cookbook section.  Books sales and thrift stores are always a good place to find Weight Watchers cookbooks.  I found three.

All of the cookbooks were pretty picked over, but I found a few gems: one for the bread machine, if I ever dust it off.  One by the Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, a TV cook before there was Food Network. I couldn't resist "The Lady & Sons," Paula Deen's first cookbook - and the only one I own.  And on the opposite end of the spectrum, a classic vegetarian cookbook from the hippie days (but written by a Seventh-day Adventist couple) which is still a reference for modern vegans.

Will I love every recipe in every cookbook?  Will I get around to making a stuffed animal?  Are the movies losers that will just take up space in the video cabinet?  No, but I'm sure I'll get my money's worth. 

The best part of the $5 finds, is I can always donate the ones who merit getting lost again.