Vegan Practically

It’s not true for all, but many people who become vegan start prepping more of their own meals than they did before. There are lots of good reasons for this. Here are a few:

• It’s a great way to learn about vegan food options and the abundance of choice and variety that is out there.
• There’s really no better way to familiarize yourself with vegan ingredients than to spend time in the kitchen creating delicious foods, from snacks to baked goods, appetizers to hearty mains, salads to dips to casseroles to pizzas. The possibilities are endless.
• When you cook for yourself you know what’s in the food. This gives a new (and seasoned) vegan way more control and so it’s a reassuring way to go.
• Though there are more great vegan or vegan-friendly restaurants than there used to be and while it becomes easier over time to navigate menus and know what questions to ask when dining out, there is no question that it can sometimes be harder to get a good meal unless you cook it yourself. When I first became vegan, most of the best meals I had were the ones I cooked for myself.
• Also, cooking and baking are fun, or at least they can be. I have some of my most relaxing times doing meal prep. I love putting on an audiobook and getting down to work. It’s exciting to see a meal come together. Even more exciting to discover the world of vegan options. Good cookbooks can help with that.

There are lots of amazing recipes online these days, to be sure. But a great cookbook is indispensable because in addition to good recipes, it usually includes other useful elements:

• information about ingredients
• advice on how to stock a vegan pantry
• some nutritional guidelines for practicing vegans (especially useful for newbies)
• suggestions for substitutions and how to “veganize” old-standby recipes from back in the day
• interesting stories or background about the recipes, but not as much as you would find in online recipes, which can sometimes require seemingly endless scrolling (tip: use the “Jump to Recipe” feature when you want to get to the point)
• No ads, pop-ups asking for your email address, product placements, or product links

As you can see from the photo, which includes the subset of my collection that contains my main go-tos, many of these are well-loved, with spines that are multiply cracked and pages bookmarked with scrap paper. I’ve had most of them for a long time, and only rarely add new books now that I have a solid library that isn’t overwhelming.

Here’s my top five from my own collection:

• Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. If you’re looking for a classic that contains recipes that will please vegans and omnivores alike, look no further. This was among my very first cookbooks and I still use it today. The lasagna with cashew ricotta is incredible (if time-consuming). And the baked goods section has all sorts of great cookies and cakes. Not every recipe has an accompanying photo, but there is a centre photography spread with about 16 pages that give you a good idea of what a few of the recipes look like.
• Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. You will see that Isa has emerged as my clear favourite. Her recipes are well-written and tasty. The options in this book are less involved than what you’ll find in Veganomicon, but equally delicious. There are no bad recipes here but I will point you in the direction of the tofu mushroom stroganoff, which is creamy, yummy, and satisfying. The book is also visually appealing, with great photos of what the finished recipe looks like, each nicely presented on an inviting plate.
• Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson, another prolific and dependable vegan cookbook author who makes my top-five for this simple little cookbook that will surprise you. The “Better-than-Takeout Tofu Stir-Fry” is true to its name. No photos beyond the front cover.
• La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer is a fun cookbook with incredibly good dessert recipes (among other things). I make the Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies (add 1/2C of cranberries) every time the December festive season rolls around, and they never last long when I take them to a party. It’s a no nonsense cookbook that gets the job done. The book has some fun illustrations (not of the food) and no photos of the food.
• Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Vegan recipes can tend to be high fat, which is fine but sometimes I want something less rich. When I do, I reach for this cookbook, which has amazing salad dressings, fantastic sides, and a first-rate recipe for Curried Cabbage and Peas (add some tofu to give it more substance). It doesn’t have a dessert chapter, but you can more than make up for that with the books above. There aren’t photos for each recipe, but there is a centre spread of photos so you can see what at least some of the finished products are meant to look like.

Also pictured in the photo from my collection are two more from Robin Robertson, Vegan Planet and 1000 Vegan Recipes. These books are packed with recipes. It has no photos but there are lots of recipes to choose from.

The final book in the grouping is brand new. I just got it last week on the recommendation of a friend and I haven’t yet cooked anything from it. It’s called The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che. When she became vegan, the author did not want to lose her Chinese culinary traditions that meant so much to her and her family. The book contains her version of these recipes, stories that give them context, and gorgeous photographs on every page. She also has a great section on ingredients and equipment. I look forward to cracking it open and seeing what it has to offer.

So those are a few of my recommendations to help you navigate the overwhelming possibilities when you start looking for vegan cookbooks. Not every vegan cookbook out there is great, and it can be hit and miss. Cookbooks are not cheap, which is why I myself value recommendations. There are some frequent favourites of others that have not made my list. There are also lots of recent books and so it’s not as if I have the most up-to-date library. Here’s a list of recommendations from Food & Wine, if you’d like to venture out further (notice that they include both Veganomicon and Isa Does It!).

Stay tuned for a future post about vegan recipe blogs that I recommend. Meanwhile, if you have any other cookbooks you’d like to give a shout-out to, please mention them in the comments.

Bon appétit!