Sunday, October 9, 2011

Weekend Cooking: Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson

Title: Quick-Fix Vegan
Author: Robin Robertson
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Release date: October 4th, 2011
Length: 224 pages

Summary:
From Goodreads:
"Robin Robertson's Quick-Fix Vegan provides 150 vegan recipes ranging from starters, snacks, salads, sauces, and sandwiches to stovetop suppers, pastas, soups, and desserts that can all be prepared in 30 minutes or less. Quick-Fix Vegan also features "Make-Ahead Bakes," convenient recipes that are assembled ahead of time (in less than 30 minutes) and then baked before serving."

Personal opinion:
I will just throw it out there and say that this book is one of the most complete vegan cookbooks I have seen so far. It starts with explanation of the basics like what to have in stock, kitchen equipment and time saving tips. There is a chapter of basic recipes about cooking from scratch and then the fun really starts. The offered recipes draw from a variety of cuisines and are easy to prepare. Unlike so many other cookbooks, this book really delivers what it promises: tasty, healthy and especially quick vegan meals. No fuss. Another thing that I love about this book is that it has all kind of conversion sheets in the back of the book. This makes the book suitable for people all over the globe and it is a big plus for me to grasp those American measurements.

And if that wasn't enough, this book doesn't come with all the standard recipes but uses creative recipes like hummamole (a mix between hummus and guacamole), soba slaw and coconut-pistachio cookies. I only tried two recipes so far but there is lots more I do want to try from this book. Of course now follows the big question, would I buy this book? Yes, I would! I think this is a great addition to a vegan cookbook collection or even as your first vegan cookbook. There is only one downside that I can think of and that is the fact that there aren't any pictures with the recipes. For me personally this isn't a problem at all, but I know that for some people it is. I am also very curious about Quick-Fix Vegetarian by the same author, I really want to check that one out after this promising book.

Purchase links: Amazon
Author's Website: Global Vegan Kitchen
Other reviews: BermudaOnion's Weblog, VegKitchen
If you have reviewed this book and want your link here, please leave a comment with the link, and I will add it :)

And as always, now it is time to share a recipe from this book which I used in this bento. The left one is mine and is completely vegan. The recipe I am sharing is from the Vegetable Fritters.


Vegetable Fritters:
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy milk)
- 1 yellow onion, shredded (I used spring onion)
- 1 small Yukon Gold potato, shredded (I used just a small potato)
- 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
- 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp olive oil

In a bowl mix flour, salt, pepper and baking powder. Add the peas, corn, parsley, onion, potato and non dairy-milk. Mix well to combine to a thick mixture. Heat the oil in a non stick pan and spoon in two tbsp for each fritter. Flatten them with the spoon. Make sure you don't overcrowd your pan. Cook until golden brown, flip, and brown the other side. This should take about 8 minutes. If you want to eat them hot, you can keep the fritters warm in the oven on a low temperature. I made mine for bento so I just let them cool off and ate them the next day.

I really loved these fritters and it is good to see that you don't actually need milk or eggs to make them. That being said, Zeronic didn't like them because of the taste of the soy milk. I personally didn't taste much difference.

I also tried the Pasta with Creamy Avocado-Herb Sauce from this book earlier.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking and Cookbook Sundays. Make sure to check out the other participants in both features. It is a lot of fun!

12 comments:

  1. Looks interesting! I'm not keen on the taste of soy milk either, but I guess I could use normal milk instead.

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  2. I think I'm going to check out the quick-fix vegetarian. One think I like about this vegan book is that it doesn't seem to rely on soy products. I recently saw a vegan book that had some kind of processed soy (fake meat, fake cheese) in every recipe. Argh.

    The fritters sound really good. I love the look of your bentos.

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  3. Looks like a great intro to vegan cooking. The fritters sound amazing!

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  4. Sounds like a MUST-try for me! And I'll probably have a go at those fritters... although I'm not good at fritters and burgers and patties and... But I've said that before. ;)

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  5. This sounds like a good book. I have been looking to try a vegan book and I didn't want one that just remade the same old dishes as vegan. Thanks for sharing this. I'll be keeping an eye out for it.

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  6. The fritters look great and I adore the idea of hummamole. What a perfect blend of two cuisines!

    Joy's Book Blog

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  7. Wow! This looks fantastic! I love the peas and corn and potatoes in it! Love me some fritters!

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  8. I'm so glad to hear that you like this cookbook so much! I'm going to share it with my sister, who eats vegan.

    Hummamole? Sounds wonderful!

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  9. I love the idea of these fritters - looks like a great book.
    Sue

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  10. Vegan or not, these vegetable fritters sound wonderful. Thanks for visiting me at A SEason for All Things. I'm your newest follower and love finding new recipes and ways of cooking. ~ Ellen

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  11. Hello and Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe with Cookbook Sunday @ Moms Sunday Cafe. Hope to see you again in November!

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  12. I'm so glad I saw your review of this book. I have been a vegetarian for a long time, and have recently toyed with the idea of going vegan. Your comment that this is such a complete vegan cookbook with unique recipes to boot has made me put this on my must read list.

    Thanks!

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