Customer Reviews

The Voluptuous Vegan: More Than 200 Sinfully Delicious Recipes for Meatless, Eggless, and Dairy-Free Meals

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

I have loved everything I've made from this book. You can serve these dishes to guests without worrying about whether or not they'll like vegan food. I rate it five stars for flavor, but withheld a star overall because many of the recipes have long ingredient lists and/or instructions. So I don't turn to it if I want to make something quick and easy in a hurry. But when I'm cooking for fun or for guests, and have the time, this is the first book that comes off the shelf.

I suppose the menu arrangement will be useful for some, but I ignore it, generally just making one dish at a time. Other reviews have complained about the organization, but it's not a big deal: there's an excellent index, which is the most useful way to browse for recipes.

This book goes way beyond tofu, but I mention it because I've been trying to love tofu for a long time and have found it hard! Then I made the baked Ginger tofu on page 76, and it's become a staple. So yummy I find myself eating it cold from the fridge with my fingers. I made it last night, thinking about summer rolls from the leftovers, but -- ooops! -- all gone!

I highly recommend this book for any gourmet or weekend chef who wants an expanded repertoire, new ideas, and delicious ways to include more healthy dishes in his/her diet.

Okay, so it's pretty clear from the other reviews that most of the recipes are complex and she often calls for "unusual" ingrediants, but she opens up a world of multi layered, textured, and flavored foods. An example might be the Paella, the recipe calls for garbanzo beans and cauliflower to be roasted seperatly and then added close to serving time. One could easily cook those ingredients at the same time, in the same way, as the other vegetables and it would still be good but roasting them adds another element that raises it above. I haven't made nearly everything in this book(partially because I keep going back to the same recipes)but everything I have made has been wonderful,from black bean soup, to latkas, to garbanzo bean crepes, to cakes. In my opinion her recipes are easy to follow and allow room for variation. The finished results have always been worth the extra time, and leave me feeling like a chef not just the person cooking dinner.

Anyone, vegetarian or carnivore, who is looking for a useful and delicious collection of recipes should own a copy of this book. I eat a broad range of foods and didn't think I'd be that interested in exclusively vegan dishes, but I've been pleasantly surprised. Every dish I've tried from this book has been incredibly rich-tasting and delicious. Last night I served the Caribbean Black Bean soup at a gathering and it was the hit of the party; it had amazing depth of flavor. Despite the complexity of tastes in these dishes, the recipes are all very easy to follow, and every step is explained clearly, so even if you're a novice cook, you shouldn't have any problem creating incredible meals. There are lots of cool cooking tips, and the book is actually quite fun to read. It's also beautifully laid-out and designed, and the cover is a knock-out! The Voluptous Vegan would make a great gift for anyone who wants to avoid animal products, who is allergic to dairy, who is trying to eat healthier, or who just wants to learn how to prepare scrumptious, delicious meals and desserts. I HIGHLY recommend it!

While I have tried the simpler recipes, and they were good, I would not recommend this book. I live in the mountains and don't have access to specialty stores. This means I can't cook most of the recipes in the book. She calls for ingredients such as epazote, fiddlehead ferns, kabocha squash, etc., etc., etc.
I can't find these things and I am not going to send off mail order just for one recipe. Spend you money on a cookbook that you will use over and over again, this isn't it.

I've only been vegan for seven years but in that time alone the artistry and sophistication of vegan cooking has grown enormously. This cookbook however, is more than a product or evidence of that growth. It is brilliant! Who ever heard of a vegan cookbook in which everything was good? My non-vegan, sarcastic loved ones have swooned in rapture over the pumpkin ravioli and a friend of mine was proposed to after serving the awsome latkes.

This is one of the best Recipe books I own (out of 30)! I do not eat dairy and seldom eat meat, but my boyfriend who was born and raised in Dallas, Texas loves meat and dairy! The fact that he loves everything I cook out of this book is a huge compliment to the writers. The Africa Ground Nut Stew and the Split Pea Soup are his favorites and I loved them both myself. The Tomatillo, Hominy, Squash Soup in my favorite. The Gingerbread with Blood Orange sauce is divine as are the other desserts. The recipes are not bland at all, in fact all the recipes I tried are very flavorful. I always feel totally satisfied and healthy after eating a meal I cook out of this book.

This is a treasure trove to enjoy on many levels. Cook entire feasts as laid out by the author, or...flip to the index and choose "a la carte". Better still--guilty pleasure--let someone else cook while you curl up on the sofa enjoying the author's friendly prose.

I enjoyed using the "Ingredients" section at the beginning of the book to stock my pantry with health food store items I'd never tried, such as Ume Plum vinegar. This book has really improved my cooking.

What a great book.