Vegan Practically

Last week I blogged about my favourite cookbooks. Having access to the right resources is a hugeThis week I want to give a shout-out to my favourite recipe sites. There are countless sites for good vegan recipes. They don’t replace cookbooks. No long-since hardened batter on that oft-made cookie recipe page. No decades-old annotations about adjusting the time or increasing the amount of olive oil or reducing the sugar if you add the cranberries.

But still, they are a great supplement and some weeks, when I have a particular craving and none of the cookbooks on hand have quite the right recipe, I go to the web. If I have no particular craving but have ingredients on hand that I know I want to cook with and nothing calls to me when I thumb through the cookbooks, I go to the web. Or if I’m just curious to try something new, off to the web.

My main two sites, where I know the recipes are always tasty, well-tested, and well-written, are Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s The Post Punk Kitchen and Nora Taylor’s Nora Cooks. Both have delicious recipes and easy-to-navigate websites. The photos are great. I’ve made many an amazing recipe from both of them.

What I love about The Post Punk Kitchen (besides its great recipes) is that Isa doesn’t do that internet recipe thing where you have to scroll and scroll and scroll to find the recipe (hint: most sites have a workaround where you can “jump to recipe,” so look for that if you’re tired of scrolling — but Isa doesn’t need to give us a “jump to recipe” option because the recipe isn’t too far from the top). It’s also a little ad-free haven. Other than showcasing her own cookbooks, there are no ads or pop-ups or other annoying things like that on her site.

Isa writes for people who already know how to cook encouraging creative license rather than sticking to the letter of her recipes. That’s my kind of approach. I am a little fast and loose with instructions unless it’s baking, where the measurements, techniques, oven temperature, and timing are key.

Here are some of my favourites from The Post Punk Kitchen:

• Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
• Tofu Scramble (my first introduction to tofu scramble was from Isa)
• Chickpea Salad Sammiches (I used to love tuna salad sandwiches and longed for them still after becoming vegan — chickpea salad changed all that)
• Broccoli Mac and Cheese (cashew-based, creamy, and delicious)
• Chana Masala
• Classic Carrot Cake (okay, I haven’t tried this recipe but it looks great–I would leave out the walnuts because they give me heart burn)

Nora Cooks has great recipes, but the site has every annoying element: ads and pop-ups all over the place, product links (to amazon), step-by-step overviews of the recipes with photos before you get to the actual recipe, forever scrolling to get to the recipe itself, and lots of recipes with names like “best this” and “ultimate that” and even “best ever…” The photos of each step of the recipe may appeal to some, but most people who cook regularly really don’t need that level of visual detail along the way. I’m happy with a picture of what the final product is supposed to look like.

But that said, she offers great recipes, and they are there in abundance, and I believe people should be paid for their work. So with no cookbooks to sell (though I do see she has a couple of e-books), I don’t begrudge her need and desire to monetize her efforts, which have made no small contribution to the world of vegan cooking.

Here are some of my favourites from Nora Cooks:

• The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake (my mother makes this a lot and everyone loves it)
• Ultimate Vegan Chili (the tofu crumbles make amazing tacos, too)
• Crispy Sesame Tofu
• Buffalo Cauliflower (Yum — I might even make these tonight)
• The Best Vegan Cornbread

So those are my two favourite websites. I often save recipes in a recipe file on my computer, organized by categories or sometimes by events. And if I know I’m going to make something a lot, I print it off and keep it in my extremely unorganized pocket folder named “pandemic recipes” because I started it in March 2020. It offers a nice archive of my pandemic cooking trajectory, including favourite sourdough and pizza recipes.

If you search for vegan recipes, you’ll land on many other sites. As with cookbooks, not all recipe sites are equally good. And only you will be able to tell, overtime, what you seek in a recipe and whose tastes appeal to you.

Some other favourite recipes from vegan sites:

• Super Simple Vegan Pad Thai (this is the best pad thai recipe I have tried. My mother discovered it and we make it almost every time we get together)
• Vegan Air-Fryer Eggplant Parmesan (I just got an air-fryer last month and it has changed my life for the good)
• Steamed Maple Syrup Pudding (a big hit, Christmas 2022)
• Spanish Potato Omelette (Tortilla)
• Spanokopita (I modify this recipe to make small triangles instead of a large pie that needs to be sliced, but the filling is spot on)

There are also some great recipes on non-vegan sites. Here’s one from Bon Appétit that is great to have on hand as we go into the summer abundance of fresh herbs:

• Put-It-on-Everything Cashew Sauce (start with a pinch of salt and go from there — do NOT start with the recommended tablespoon)

As always, I’d love to get some new site recommendations or recipe recommendations from you, too. Please share your favourites.