Vegan Yum Yum: Decadent (But Doable) Animal-Free Recipes for Entertaining and Everyday

I love this cookbook! Since I follow her blog, I wasn't sure whether this cookbook would be worth my time, but it's been wonderful. Lots of recipes and lots of information are packed into this book. I own a lot of vegan and vegetarian cookbooks, and this one offers truly different and exciting recipes, as well as serving as a resource for basics (like pancakes) and standbys (like a new take on the tofu scramble).My favorite recipes in this book: blueberry waffles with lemon icing; stuffed banana berry french toast; aloo matar; caramelized leek and spaghetti squash polenta with white sauce; dal makhni; delicata squash stuffed with cherry-almond couscous; chana samosas; sesame ginger seitan dumplings; crispy sesame kale; black bean soup; spicy tomato chickpea soup; baked mac and cheeze; hurry up alfredo; lime peanut noodles with seitan, kale, and carrots; pad see ew; blueberry grunts; and sheera. As you can see, I had quite a lot of favorites!One of the things I really appreciate about this book is the variety of recipes and ingredients. Ulm has a CSA, and says that a lot of her recipes were created based on what she got from it on a given week. I have one too, so I'm able to enjoy her recipes that involve lots of seasonal vegetables, farm-exclusive delights like delicata squash, and the experience of having so many leftover veggies and clippings that vegetable stock is the best use of resources. Then there are plenty of recipes with more basic ingredients, that can be found at any grocery store, even in my small college town. The more hard-to-get ingredients I can find a little ways out of my way at natural food stores.It's true that some of the ingredients are unusual -- my closest grocery store seldom carries bok choy or kale, let alone Chinese broccoli and whole Indian spices -- but these recipes all include helpful substitution suggestions and I find cookbooks like Veganomicon to be much worse in this regard, especially when it comes to prices and explaining their function/necessity in the recipe. (And as I said above, I get plenty of kale from my CSA!)Rather, my biggest problem with this book is that I'm lacking a lot of the equipment that she has, and there is not much in the book itself to help. What's the use of "readily available and budget-friendly ingredients" if I can't make the recipes without investing in specialty equipment? While I have a well-stocked kitchen (lots of pots and pans, mixing bowls, good knives, a blender, a food processor, a chopping bowl, a mortar and pestle, a pastry knife, various baking and loaf pans) most of my cooking equipment is basic and on the low end. But according to this book, I can't make a number of her recipes and drinks because the motor on my blender isn't fast enough. In fact, she says that only a Vita-Mix, a piece of equipment that would cost me as much as a month's rent, may be the only blender good enough. And there's nothing suggesting she tried it on other blenders. I don't appreciate being told that a recipe "may" require a Vita-Mix. Didn't she have testers who couldn't afford one? Couldn't she have tried it with a food processor? Can I have a hint of whether trying to blend these ingredients would be a waste of my time and money? Couldn't she include suggestions on what to do if you don't have a microplaner, a spice grinder, or a mandoline?My only other complaint is minor, which is that I love reading cookbooks, and while this one was essentially well-written, it was a lot like a blog. Not a big surprise, but I like a bit more formality and editing from my recipes. Not that I'm demanding a formal paper, just that a consistent voice, structure, and confidence on the part of the author likewise instills confidence in me about the recipes. The background was usually interesting, and the alternatives and suggestions were helpful, but sometimes felt like I wasn't reading a completed recipe. I don't want the author's casual assurance that "this will taste great, I promise": I would hope you would think everything in your recipe book tastes great! And it certainly does, so don't be wishy-washy about it.I don't understand the 1 star review ragging on the photos. It's not true that a good camera is all anyone needs. The beautiful photographs also show her understanding of composition, presentation, lighting, and photography generally. I like this in a cookbook and personally it instills further confidence for me in the book's author! Yes, it's true that beautiful photos don't make a cookbook inherently good as some reviews certainly seem to be suggesting, but the recipes in this book are amazing enough that the photos are a wonderful bonus and a treat to have hard copy!Like other reviewers, I appreciated her casual attitude when it came to veganism. I am a vegan myself, but that doesn't mean I enjoy being condescended to about what a horrible thing it is to eat animal products. This is a book of delicious animal-free recipes, and that's that.Essentially, all of my problems with it were anticipated from reading her blog. And all my excitement about it too! I'm so glad that this book is finally in print. If you have any trepidation about buying this book, look over her blog and decide whether you would like having a lot of these recipes and a lot of recipes in a similar style in print to keep in your kitchen. I for one love it!

This is overall a great vegan cookbook - especially for 10 bucks. I think that the author made me think of some foods in a new light - to get myself even more creative in the kitchen - things I may not have thought of on my own. Some of the recipes that I have tried I didn't think were perfect - but put me well on that path with a solid starting base. That is why I gave this book 4 stars. If the taste was up to par, for me - it probably would have gotten 5 stars.Some examples:For the breakfast sandwiches - I thought that the "eggs" lacked a lot of flavor - but that was easily rectified on my part. Plus I made them thinner so that I could actually work with them and spread them around the pan evenly the second time around. The way they were in the book, I thought were way too thick, messy, and tastless. I also made the "sausages" thinner too second time around - much better - plus I really, really squeezed out the liquid (something the book thinks was more important for the eggs - which I think were too thick with the lack of liquid.) I also added Tofutti singles to my sandwiches as well.Lemon Maple Scones with Clotted Cream - I thought it was kind of weird she created a recipe for clotted cream even though she admits she had never had the real thing. I guess it is cool she is trying to please people with substitutions. Anyway - it was decent and my guests did like them. Althouth the author said not to refridgerate the cream - but then it just melted into nothingness in the scones. The clotted cream is supposed to be thick and creamy on the scone (I used to eat it years ago in Europe) - so I put mine in the fridge the second time around. I also doubled the recipe since I thought that my guests should be able to slather the cream on - just like in Europe (and even like the picture in the book.)Napoleons with eggplant cream - YUMMY - and a HUGH hit for The Holidays and my guests. I doubled the cashews in my second batch trying to lighten up the mousse - I liked the taste better with less cashews, though. (Unless you are using white eggplants - your mousse will predominantly be dark and purplish too - not white like the picture in the book.) Really quite simple (really) and elegant recipe (really) - just long to make because of the cooking time of the veggies. Biggest HIT thus Far!The author also says to use your muscles for mixing and blending some things. It was easier, quicker, and creamier to use a hand-mixer for most. One recipe my mom tried to make - she said "Mix this by hand - is the author crazy?" : - )But again the recipes are good - I just think they can be better - and laid out a bit better too. But the author can be creative in how she uses certain foods.A con on the book itself - the way the recipes are laid out in the book could be better too. Sometimes instructions for one thing were three pages away from the ingredients needed for that part or some ingredients flowed into the next page - made for a bad flow and harder to keep on track... Either put all of the ingredients first or put them on the page with the portion of the recipe that you will be working on.I may seem nitpicky but I still can not wait to try more of her recipes! Most of what I tried so far were finger food type things or appetizers for guests during the holidays. Again - NOT perfect - but well worth it - especially for 10 bucks.P.S. One staple that she uses in a LOT of recipes is Tahini. Make sure that you have it in hand!

Amazing recipes ,easy to prepare ,and had photos on every page. I highly recommend this.

Seems a bit dated. I was a little disappointed after all the rave reviews.

love love love this recipe book. And the pictures are superb. Years later a lot of the recipes are still in my regulars... it has a killer peanut african yam stew that my non-vegetarian parents love. And a brocoli dal to die for. Yum I'm hungry.

Wir haben das Buch als Weihnachtsgeschenk gekauft und die beschenkte war mehr als begeistert. Die Bilder im Buch sind sehr anschaulich und das es in Englischer Sprache geschrieben ist stört überhaupt nicht. Tolles Buch für den Einstieg.

eines der besten veganen kochbücher, die mir je untergekommen sind.jedes gericht mit schönen bildern, viele rezepte, die ich in anderen kochbüchern nicht gefunden habe.