Saturday, February 4, 2012

Weekend Cooking: Everyday Happy Herbivore

I have been following Lindsay's blog for a while now, and because I heard so many good things about the book I got really curious. When I saw the book only costs about 13 euro in the pre order on the book depository,I decided to buy it.

Title: Everyday Happy Herbivore
Author: Lindsay S. Nixon
Subject: Vegan Cooking
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Release date: December, 2011
Length: 336 pages


Summary:
From Goodreads:
"After vegan chef Lindsay S. Nixon wrapped up her popular cookbook The Happy Herbivore Cookbook last year, she went back to her kitchen in her new home of St. Maarten. Island living encouraged her to come up with simpler recipes, which led her to create a follow-up cookbook with a focus on recipes that bring tasty back to quick-and-easy.

Now, in Nixon’s much-anticipated follow-up cookbook, Everyday Happy Herbivore, readers will see, once again, that just because plant-based eating is optimal for health, that doesn’t mean it has to be expensive or time-consuming.

Everyday Happy Herbivore will include more than 175 doable recipes—recipes that are so quick and easy, you could cook three healthy meals from scratch every day.

Each of Nixon’s recipes are made with wholesome, easy-to-find, fresh ingredients and include no added fats. With additional notes indicating recipes that are ideal for preparing ahead of time and those you can whip up with just a few dollars, Everyday Happy Herbivore will be the must-have cookbook for anyone desiring a healthier, happier menu!"

Personal opinion:
When I finally got this book on my doormat, I was really excited! I just couldn't believe that such a nice looking cookbook with so many pictures only cost me 13 euro! I mean if you buy a book like this in the Netherlands, you easily pay 20-30 euro, so I was astonished really. Lindsay holds a brief introduction on the basics of quick and healthy vegan cooking but jumps right into the recipes after that. I loved that for once a recipe that claims to be quick, actually was! In a lot of other cookbooks, when it says you will have the meal done in 30 minutes, I spend an hour in the kitchen. So when I made my first recipes from this book, I went in an hour before dinnertime, only to be finished 20 minutes later, for real! I was really pleased by this and therefore I think I will use this a lot when I want something quick and tasty.

The book does have a wide variety of recipes, which I really like. I do notice that there are a lot of bean recipes in there though. So if you dislike beans, this book might not be for you. Otherwise most recipes use easy ingredients, especially if your pantry is vaganised already. My pantry isn't, so sometimes I still wonder where to get certain items, but I have this a lot less than with certain other vegan cookbooks I own. In the back of the book there is some handy information on certain ingredients and a metric conversion table. The latter is great for me of course :) As you may have noticed I am very positive about this book, and I will probably buy Lindsay's first book too when I have the chance.

Purchase links: The Book Depository
Other reviews: None yet.
If you have reviewed this book and want your link here, please leave a comment with the link, and I will add it :)

As always a recipe from the book :) This time I will share a salad that I tried and loved!


Southwest Chop Salad (serves 2 - original served 1, but I adjusted)
- 2 cups chopped lettuce
- 1/2 cup cooked rice (the original uses brown, I used multi grain)
- 2/3 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed (I also had leftover kidney beans, so tossed those in as well)
- 1/2 cup yellow corn
- 1/2 cup tomatoes (which we forgot to add, oops)
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 2 tbsp chopped green onions
- optional corn chips (we left them out)

Mix all ingredients together, except for corn chips. Break chips over top of the salad if using. Add the dressing. I used smoked BBQ sauce as a dressing, which I thought was great with these ingredients, but the book also suggests hot sauce with fresh lime juice or salsa. It is a great salad for lunch and also in a bento.

But this is not all! I have a little extra for you, namely an author interview with Lindsay! She was so kind to answer some questions :)

Q: Why should people consider going vegan?
A: There are so many compelling reasons to eat a plant-based diet. It's the best thing you can do for our planet, for your health, for the animals and for humanity.


Q: What is an easy dish that you would recommend to someone who is
vegetarian but haven't made the switch to a vegan lifestyle yet?
A: Everyone has their owns likes and dislikes, so it's really up to that individual. Scope out some vegan recipes and see which ones appeal to you, which ones sound interesting or delicious and give it a try!

Q: What are the three ingredients you would advise to purchase if you are
going vegan? (Please keep in mind that I live in Europe and not
everything that is available in the states is available here)
A: I just spent the last year as an ex-pat living on a French and Dutch island... and then I spent a month in Europe... and will be going back for three months in 2012 (to live in Germany) so I'm not too attached to any american products except, maybe oatmeal and peanut butter, which you can find in most of europe.
For Europeans, I'd say find a soya or almond or rice drink you like and stick with it. I found soy yogurts and soy butters pretty common over there, and those could be helpful too, though not necessary and not something I'd recommend. Same with tofu. Nice if you can find it, but not necessary.
All you need to be vegan is fruits, vegetables, grains and beans -- and thankfully, those are in abundance all over Europe!

Q: Because I am a huge fan of home made burgers, what is your favorite
vegan burger recipe?
It's a tie between the mushroom burgers in my first cookbook, The Happy Herbivore, and the Quick Burgers (black bean burgers) in my second cookbook, Everyday Happy Herbivore.

Thank you so much Lindsay, for taking the time to answer these questions!

This post is part of Weekend Cooking, please check out what the other participants have been up to :)

20 comments:

  1. sorry, I might die of sadness if I totally gave up meat...not to mention dairy.
    But that salad still looks interesting. but it needs the tomato! :-)

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  2. @Caite: well you don't have to cut out meat and dairy completely to enjoy a vegan meal :) And yes, it does needs the tomato. I am a chaotic cook, so sometimes I forget stuff ;)

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  3. Looks good--and I agree about the tomato! :)

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  4. I just received a cookbook in the mail, Bean By Bean, and I'm looking forward to trying some meatless meals myself.

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  5. Looks great! I love the rice in the salad, I'd never think to use that. Sounds so good with a smoked BBQ sauce.

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  6. We are semi-vegetarians, meaning we eat meat only a few times a week. We're not that great with vegan, because we often have cheese, yogurt, butter, or other dairy products. On the other had, I love, love, love beans and so I'd love this book. And the salad looks fantastic. And easy. And fast.

    And, like Diane, I have Crescent Dragonwagon's new Bean by Bean cookbook and I love it already. So you'll be getting a couple of reviews of that and perhaps some more recipes.

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  7. The salad looks really yummy!! Unfortunately my husband has an allergy condition that prevents him from eating fresh fruits and vegetables. We couldn't subsist on a completely vegan diet. I do love a good mushroom burger, though!!

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  8. Looks delicious! Thanks for sharing it!

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  9. Super post. It's easy to catch your enthusiasm. I'm not a vegan but I'd eat your chopped salad with gusto, Also nice interview.

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  10. This sounds really good - I wouldn't mind getting a copy of that - I am loving meatless recipes more and more

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  11. I am really making a conscious effort to eat less meat, but I don't think I could ever go totally meatless. Vegan? Forget it. I love cheese too much. LOL!

    I do like the looks of that salad though. I'd definitely give that a try!

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  12. That's a beautiful salad -- sounds quite tasty, too. I'm another one who somehow makes 30 minute recipes take an hour so I would love a cookbook where quick really means quick.
    Joy's Book Blog

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  13. I love beans, so I think this might be a good choice for my house. Thanks for the review!

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  14. Wow, what a cool post Uniflame! How nice that you got Lyndsey to answer your questions. Chinoiseries is bringing her copy of the cookbook to our meeting on Saturday so that I can have a look at it... You never know: maybe there'll be a new fan really soon! ;)

    Would you mind posting the original requirements about mustard and onion powder? I'm curious about that!

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  15. You mean from the quick burgers? Those are 1 tsp onion powder instead of the spring onions and 1tbsp yellow mustard instead of the BBQ sauce.

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  16. So cool that Lindsay answered a few questions about her book(s) :) I only recently ordered this one so I haven't tried many recipes yet. I actually made this very same salad ;) But instead of a store-bought dressing, I made my own with olive oil, lime juice, cayenne pepper, s&p. Pretty fresh and combined really well with this!

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  17. I would really like to know wit there are any cakes and yummy puddings in this book. It might be interesting for the Dutch Food Allergy Foundation (I write reviews and more for their magazine) as many allergies include milk and eggs.

    By the way, I'm koekiebak on Bookcrossing :)

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    Replies
    1. There aren't many puddings, but there are cakes, muffins, cookies and smoothies in the book. All those things can be interesting for the foundation. Oh and pancakes too :)

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    2. Thanks! I will keep this book in mind!

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