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Going Vegan: 5 favorite cookbooks of 2011

Looking back on 2011, it’s clear that veganism went mainstream in a big way. Author Kathy Freston talked up her best-seller “Veganist” with Martha Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey, while former President Bill Clinton sat down with CNN’s Sanjay Gupta for a prime-time chat about his conversion to plant-based eating to improve his heart health.

Recipe included with this story: Butternut Squash, Mushroom and Sage Crepes.

Mainstream chefs around the country added vegan options to their menus, while close to home, the all-vegan restaurant chain Native Foods Cafe opened in the middle of Tigard’s Bridgeport Village shopping center. When a vegan restaurant pops up within a stone’s throw of a Tommy Bahama store, you know something’s going on.

And publishers clearly know something’s going on if the sheer volume of new vegan cookbooks is any indication. During the past year, one or two new titles came across my desk every week, ranging from big volumes with hundreds of wide-ranging recipes, to small, esoteric books focused on specific types of dishes or techniques. To stand out in this ever-growing crowd, you’ve got to have more than a gimmick, a catchy title and a splashy cover design. You’ve got to have rock-solid recipes that readers want to make over and over.

I’m not going to be presumptuous and call these five cookbooks the year’s best or most authoritative. They’re just my favorites, and I know I’ll be cooking out of them many times in 2012.

View full size“World Vegan Feast,” by Bryanna Clark Grogan.5. “World Vegan Feast” by Bryanna Clark Grogan: This cookbook — the first in almost a decade from one of the pioneers of ambitious plant-based cooking — features vegan versions of ethnic dishes from around the world. The book’s design is anything but flashy (there are only a handful of photos), so the reader needs a little imagination to picture Persian Stew With Spinach and Prunes, or Sizzling Saigon Crepes. But the recipes are delicious and often exotic (when’s the last time you cooked something rooted in Uganda or Burma?), and the directions are so instructive you’re sure to pick up new tricks and techniques.

Recipe to try: Grown-Up Nanaimo Bars, a less-sweet version of the chocolate-and-coconut dessert bars, perfect for taking to a book group or a church coffee.

 

View full size“Peas and Thank You” by Oregon author Sarah Matheny.4. “Peas and Thank You” by Sarah Matheny: This Keizer mom hit the New York Times best-seller list with her collection of family-friendly meals designed to get children excited about eating their vegetables while still satisfying adult palates.

The recipes are accessible (there are plenty of burgers, energy bars and pasta dishes) and utilize time-saving approaches — a necessity in a family with young children. And if you think vegan cooking is all about austerity, there’s an eye-opening array of cookies, cakes and sweets. Matheny’s a good writer and incorporates plenty of humor into her recipe introduction and chapter headings.

I can’t think of a cookbook that takes such an earnest, personal approach and still has the good sense to make you laugh.

Recipe to try: Spicy African Peanut Slow Cooker Soup, just right for a family dinner on a winter weeknight.

View full size“Vegan Family Meals” by Ann Gentry.3. “Vegan Family Meals” by Ann Gentry: In the Los Angeles area, Ann Gentry’s Real Food Daily restaurants are popular with vegans and omnivores alike because the dishes are nourishing and delicious, as well as environmentally conscious.

Those values carry over to this collection of recipes for ambitious home cooks and families with adventurous palates. The book is filled with beautiful photography — just about everything looks irresistible — as well as instructive sidebars showing chef techniques for knife cuts and using tools like immersion blenders. I bought an extra copy of this cookbook for my sister, whose family is trying to cut down on meat.

Recipe to try: Southwestern Salad With Chipotle Ranch Dressing and Agave-Chili Tortilla Strips, the perfect dish for a Super Bowl party.

View full size“Vegan Diner” by Oregon author Julie Hasson.2. “Vegan Diner” by Julie Hasson: I love comfort food, and one of my all-time favorite dishes is a good, old-fashioned plate of biscuits and gravy. But when I ditched dairy and pork sausage, I thought I’d seen the last of this Saturday brunch classic.

Enter Portland chef Julie Hasson with this pure-Americana collection of veganized diner classics. Included are recipes for hearty breakfast fare like waffles, pancakes, doughnuts and a heavenly BG, along with soups, sandwiches and things you’d expect to find on a Blue Plate Special.

The book captures the look and feel of the diner experience, to the point that when you dig into one of the “cheesy” grilled sandwiches or Philly sliders, you wish your kitchen had a Naugahyde booth or at least a couple of chrome bar stools.

Recipe to try: Very Sloppy Joes, made out of mushrooms and textured vegetable protein, for your next comfort-food fix.

View full size“Candle 79 Cookbook” by Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos and Jorge Pineda.1. “Candle 79 Cookbook” by Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos and Jorge Pineda: New York City’s Candle 79 is one of the most highly-regarded vegan restaurants in the country, and its long-awaited namesake cookbook takes you into the Upper East Side kitchen to show how the chefs create sophisticated plant-based meals that have won over foodies like celebrity chef Mario Batali and former New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni.

But unlike high-end restaurant cookbooks that can scare off even experienced home cooks with their complicated recipes, “Candle 79″ features accessible dishes for things like Spanish Paella, Tempeh With Mole Sauce, and Potato Gnocchi, which make fun projects for days when you have time to devote to cooking. The soups are heavenly, and the polenta fries are the only side that’s worthy of the Black Bean-Chipotle Burgers.

Recipe to try: Butternut Squash, Mushroom and Sage Crepes, a perfect choice for brunch on New Year’s Day.

– Grant Butler
Follow @grantbutler

Vegetarian, Raw and Vegan with Bill & Sheila

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