Vegan Cookbooks Review

Recipe books review time!  I am reviewing the vegan cookbooks The New Vegan by Janet Hudson, 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson and Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli. I'll share some pictures, what I thought of the recipes I've tried, who I'd recommend each book for etc.

First up, The New Vegan. I found Janet Hudson's amazing pictures on Flickr and eventually figured out that she had a cookbook which a lot of the recipes were from. The recipes were right up my alley, I thought, so I ordered the book. Unfortunately, there are a lot of recipes that use fake meat (including seafood) which is a bit of a turn off for me. I haven't tried any of those yet. Also, there are no pictures or real description of the foods so for some recipes, I'm not entirely sure what I'm making! It doesn't help that the titles are often a play on words, so even that doesn't tell you what you are making. It makes following the recipe a bit tricky. That said, almost all of the ones I tried turned out soo deliciously! And the food does sound very tasty and right up my alley. I like the variety of recipes. The only recipe that didn't turn out was the naan... far too sweet and dense! I still ate it, haha and I will try it again to see if maybe I just screwed up somewhere. I recommend this cookbook for people who enjoy faux meats, want simple quick meals or ones that remind them of non-vegan ones but make sure you are comfortable following a recipe because you won't get much help here. I am happy to own this cookbook and immediately bookmarked 18 recipes to try, so while my review may be a bit negative I do still really enjoy this cookbook! I got it used from Barnes and Noble so it was pretty inexpensive.

Here are some foods I made from The New Vegan.

TJ's Smoked Veggie wrap. I made this twice in one week because it is that delicious!

Ohmlette (left). Very tasty and SO full of flavour! I would make this again. It was the first "omlette" I've had since becoming vegan.

German Potato Salad. This is one where I'm not sure it turned out right haha It tasted good but the texture was odd.

Naan fail. haha

Next we have 1,000 Vegan Recipes. This is a big book! I wanted one that I could rely on to have any basic recipe I need and this definitely fits the bill. I really love this book and would recommend it to anyone who want a great starter/basic cookbook (vegan or not). There are TONS of recipes, more than one per page. There are no pictures but the recipes are well described. There is also a lot of extra information, tips etc which I really like.  There is a wide variety of recipes which are mostly very healthy and natural. Lots of recipes using vegetables. Tempeh/tofu and seitan have their own sections.  I'm really loving this cookbook, such a great staple. I got it from Walmart and it did cost a bit more than my other cookbooks but it  was worth it because there is just so much in it!

I've only made one recipe from this book so far but am eager to try more! Of the three cookbooks, I would most highly recommend this one.

Pierogies! One of my favourite things to make. The filling was a bit plain (as in just basic potato filling; I like to have other stuff) so I added to it. It's great that it's "plain" though because you can easily customize it. The dough was awesome! Perfect. It's actually a basic egg free pasta dough recipe that the book gives you and uses in various recipes! So handy. It was really easy to make and I will for sure use it as my basic pierogie recipe from now on.

Next we have Chloe's Kitchen. I saw Chloe on Cupcake Wars where it was all vegan and she won! She's adorable, bubbly, quirky and seems very talented.  There are tons of delicious recipes in this book from pasta to salads to desserts and more. The pictures are gorgeous! She includes herself in some of them which I don't mind at all. The recipes are easy to follow and use common ingredients. I haven't had any problems with what I've made so far.  I recommend this to anyone who wants a new vegan cookbook and enjoys pasta and desserts since there are quite a few of those.

Here are a few recipes I've tried so far. I was 100% happy with them all.

Sun-dried tomato falafel from the Falafel Sliders with Avocado Hummus. So easy to make, healthy and very tasty.

Baked Sprinkle Donuts! I did different toppings but the basic donut is the same. As long as you like nutmeg, these are delicious! My husband brought most of them into work where they were devoured.

Avocado Pesto Pasta. I used macaroni pasta and also added in sun dried tomatoes. This is a favourite thing of mine to make so I loved it.  

Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce. Okay, I wasn't totally happy with this. It was a bit too spicy for me and the filling a bit plain. But I could definitely tweak it to my liking.

Not pictured are the Yoga Cookies which are a new favourite of mine! Full of nuts, coconut and a bit of chocolate it's like a trail mix, kitchen sink type cookie. I froze half of the dough and made them later and they turned out great. The dough is a bit on the dry side, so you may find you want to add something to it. I did the second time but not the first. They turned out great either way, honestly. 

Tonight I'm making the Spinach Artichoke Dip so I'll probably update with a picture of that!