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Product Description
From Amazon.com
Sound like an oxymoron? Myra Kornfeld argues that choosing to be a vegan does not mean you have to deprive yourself--rather, you can pamper your palate with luscious, healthy food. There are those who advocate salt-free, fat-free, flavor-free food, but Kornfeld sets the record straight right from the beginning. She uses salt for seasoning, and reminds us, thank goodness, that you need fat in a healthy diet. Clear instructions, a chapter on ingredients (including sections on grains, greens, and beans--how to buy them, cook them, and use them), and a short primer on equipment make this a good book for beginners. More accomplished cooks will appreciate Kornfeld's innovation. She isn't afraid to use herbs and spices, and she knows the capabilities of her ingredients. In a simple Rich Stock recipe, for instance, she calls for celery root, and explains in a note that you can substitute celery, but that the root gives a much deeper flavor. Kornfeld's food is voluptuous in presentation, too: Smoky Chestnut and Sweet Potato Soup calls for a dash of rum, and it's served with toasted, chopped hazelnuts and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg; Hominy, Tomatillo, and Squash Stew is topped with Ginger and Lime Cream made from tofu; and a Fennel, Orange, and Pomegranate Salad is so beautiful and the flavor so complex, you'll swear you're eating four-star cuisine.
The book is a little difficult to navigate, as it's divided into "meals." So if all you're looking for is a side dish, you'll need to set some time aside to peruse the whole book. Every recipe starts with a few words of wisdom, usually information on the ingredients or a description of the final product. The final chapter is on desserts, and here Kornfeld really gets voluptuous. The recipes include Cranberry Orange Tart, Chocolate Pudding Tart, and Lemon Pudding Cake with Blueberry Glaze--there's no depriving anyone of anything here! Vegans will appreciate the creative and inventive approach, but this cookbook is also useful for nonvegans. Everyone knows someone who's trying to avoid meat, dairy, or eggs, and with loads of ideas for light meals and interesting side dishes, we can entertain our friends and eat healthy at the same time. --Leora Y. Bloom
From Publishers Weekly
Formerly in charge of daily specials and desserts at New York's vegetarian Angelica Kitchen, Kornfeld manages to bring new life to the vegan palate in this better-than-average collection of animal-product-free food. The book starts off with the usual general instructions, but the level of detail is a pleasant surprise: not only do the authors (Minot is a New York City-based writer) explain cooking equipment and appliances, they also provide instructions for cutting vegetables into half-moons, quarter-moons, matchsticks and so forth. This tendency to go the extra mile pops up in the recipes, too, almost all of which are accompanied by tips, things to watch out for, and ingredient definitions. More important, the recipes are tasty. Plenty of vegetarian cookbooks contain recipes for squash soup, but few of those are made with coconut milk, lime juice, basil, leeks and shallots like Kornfeld's Butternut-Lemongrass Soup. The book contains only three chapters: one on soups, one on desserts, and one with the recipes organized into menus (for example: Warm Chickpea Salad with Artichokes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes followed by Fresh Corn, Millet, and Rice Croquettes, Jalape?o-Potato-Tofu "Cream" and Olive Tapenade). The authors explore the usual ethnic vegetarian territory but turn up new ideas, like Arepas and a complex Moussaka. Many of these items use soy products as substitutes, like Shepherd's Pie with a tempeh filling, Seitan Bourguignonne, and Herbed Ravioli with Porcini Pesto and Tofu "Ricotta." As definitive proof that vegans don't have to give up rich desserts, the final chapter includes a Chocolate Pudding Tart and Chocolate Coconut Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting. This volume should delight vegans looking to satisfy their gourmet tastes. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Of all the components of a meal, soup is the most versatile. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Of all the components of a meal, soup is the most versatile. Read the first page
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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
voluptuous in name only,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Voluptuous Vegan: More Than 200 Sinfully Delicious Recipes for Meatless, Eggless, and Dairy-Free Meals (Paperback)
As a longtime vegan and cooking enthusiast, I was drawn to this book because it claimed to offer mouthwatering and "voluptuous" vegan recipes. It is indeed a very well organized cookbook and many of recipes are very creative. Unfortunately, the recipes did not meet my standards in terms of taste. Many of the main dishes are needlessly complex and take hours to make. I made the Moussaka tonight and, after hours of preparation, was disappointed with the result, which was only mediocre. This was also the case with the Mushroom, French Lentil, and Chesnut Ragu, the Shepherd's Pie, and the Mushroom Filo Triangles with Delicata-Porcini Sauce. I've found the simpler dishes, such as the African Groundnut Stew, the Succotash, and the Broccoli Rabe Polenta, to be more satisfying. I have avoided making most of the Latin-themed recipes (and there are quite a few) because they call for too many types of chilis. The Chili and Corn-biscuit Casserole, for example, requires three types of chilis; this seems unreasonable. This is not a book for a half-hearted cook who is not prepared to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. This book may be useful for dinner parties, if one is planning to make the entire suggested menu, but individual dishes didn't seem strong enough on their own. For simpler, more time-efficient, and tasty dishes, I recommend The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth It!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Voluptuous Vegan: More Than 200 Sinfully Delicious Recipes for Meatless, Eggless, and Dairy-Free Meals (Paperback)
I confess to never buying a cookbook without taking a copy home from the library for a test spin. In the end I find most cookbooks don't translate well from dreams to dinner!As a "working cookbook", The Voluptuous Vegan truly shines! In practice I have found the recipes come together quite easily and their flavor is fantastic! Brand new cooks may be intimidated by the look of some recipes, as they tend to look harder or more futsy then they actually come off in the kitchen. One of the reasons for this is the author's detailed explanations of steps--which is actually a nice feature. Also, ingredient lists are longer than non-vegan/vegetarian recipes because the deep rich flavors of the recipes don't rely on meat to prop them up. I would recommend this cookbook to anyone, vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore! It's just tasty, tasty, tasty!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wow,
By jumpy1 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Voluptuous Vegan: More Than 200 Sinfully Delicious Recipes for Meatless, Eggless, and Dairy-Free Meals (Paperback)
I am writing this because of the person who said the recipes were bland -- i couldn't believe it! So far I am not only impressed with this book, but genuinely thrilled to have found a really gourmet cookbook for balanced, healthy vegan meals. If I'm having people over they don't even notice there's no meat. It's so elegant, and the ingredients come from across the globe (you do have to carry a lot of groceries for some of them!). The issue I think someone would have is, one must have access to good health food and specialty stores and special produce. You have to have a food processor, blender, spice grinder etc. and the recipes have many elements so it takes a while to complete. But the results for me, so far, are wonderful. I wonder if the person who found it bland was using old spices and substituting ingredients? I am a trained chef, and I think the recipes are somewhat complicated, so can imagine that the average cook might find some of them time-consuming to reproduce adequately. If that is the case, my advice is, make sure you've got the necessary equipment, get fresh organic produce, grind your own spices (or use brand-new ones) and leave yourself an entire afternoon to do it right.
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