A Vegan Cookbook Review
A heavy cold wave has struck Northern Europe and has been staying with us in Norway for the last few weeks. It snowed so much that public transportation stopped working and people weren’t able to go anywhere else today. When it is this cold and snowing outside, there is some beauty in staying at home warm, reading a good book with a nice cup of hot chocolate, and writing. So that’s what I did today. I am here to give you my review of a vegan cookbook, The Plantastic Cookbook by Gwen Kenneally.
The Plantastic Cookbook | A Vegan Cookbook for Beginners
Are you looking for a vegan cookbook that has easy, healthy, and delicious recipes? Or you might be an American who wants to cook the kind of food you’ve grown up eating, but in a vegan style. You might not be an American, but are interested in easy and effortless American vegan recipes. Or you might be simply looking for a cookbook that can give you fun and healthy recipes.
Then The Plantastic Cookbook might be an interesting cookbook to start with. With 90 original nutrient-dense recipes, you will discover how to make easy and nutritious breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts that are popular in America. I own several vegan cookbooks as well as have read a handful of other non-vegan cookbooks when I wasn’t vegan, and I find this a great vegan cookbook for beginners to start with. Here are six things I liked about the Plantastic Cookbook.
1. Real, Natural Food Ingredients
I try to follow a WFPB (Whole Foods, Plant-Based) diet lifestyle. Just like how not all foods are created the same, and not all vegan foods or recipes are created the same. As vegan and vegetarian products are getting more popular, some many products and recipes are not exactly healthy or sustainable. That is what I really appreciated about The Plantastic Cookbook. The Plantastic Cookbook is a vegan cookbook that mostly had WFPB ingredients, and all of the ingredients were real natural food using fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. And it is the best way to live a healthy and compassionate lifestyle!
2. Covers It All Vegan Cookbook
The Table of Contents in The Plantastic Cookbook consists of 8 food categories: Toast is My Jam, Soups & Stews, Greens, Slaws & Salad, Jackfruit of all Trades, Quinoa, Grilled Sides & Entrees, Party Fare, and Sweets. It covers all three meals in a day as well as snacks and desserts. So if you don’t know what to cook for the day, just open the book and it will have an idea for you to create a simple, tasty, healthy, and budget-friendly meal. And the best part is that you get to fill your body with plant power!
3. Superfoods: Quinoa and Jackfruit
It was interesting to see that there were two categories in the table of contents that were dedicated to superfood ingredients, quinoa and jackfruit. There are 6 recipes with jackfruit and 13 with quinoa all ranging from breakfast to main course.
Benefits of Quinoa
Although considered as grain, quinoa is one of the few plant-based foods that is a complete protein like animal-based meat, making it an excellent protein source for vegetarians and vegans! It is also very high in fiber, rich in antioxidants, and has a low glycemic index. So you can find many recipes to include quinoa in your daily diet from the Plantastic Cookbook.
Benefits of Jackfruit
Jackfruit is often considered one of the best plant-based meat substitutes because of its texture which resembles pulled pork or shredded chicken when cooked. It is also low in calories and fat, so it is a great choice for people who want to lose weight! Last but not least, jackfruit is considered a sustainable crop as it grows fast and requires fewer resources and fewer pesticides. In the Plantastic Cookbook, there are jackfruit “bacon,” Jack Birria street tacos, fried jackfruit, and more.
4. American Cookbook
America has been influenced from all over the world, making American cuisine also highly influenced by the various cultural groups that have settled in the country over centuries. The result is a melting pot of flavors and cooking styles.
If there is any regional segment I need to put the Plantastic Cookbook in, it would be America. With a handful of American dishes and dishes that are popular in America, I would recommend this to anyone looking for an easy and fun American cookbook. Some of the American recipes in the book include Vegan sausage and grits, Southern rice, vegan Louisiana red beans and rice, wasabi coleslaw, and Jackfruit “Chicken” and Waffles to name a few. Now I’m hungry.
5. Beautiful Watercolor Illustrations
One of the beauties in reading a cookbook is looking at beautiful and appetizing food pictures in it. In the Plantastic cookbook, interestingly enough, there are watercolor illustrations. The illustrations are usually of plant ingredients, such as strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries in a Simple Mix-Berry Jam recipe like below. Although there isn’t an image of the final product, illustrations of the main ingredients in the Plantastic Cookbook have made it easy to navigate through the book. And of course, the illustrations are beautiful!
An example page of The Plantastic Cookbook
6. Easy Vegan Cookbook for Beginners
Last but not least, The Plantastic Cookbook is a nice easy vegan cookbook for beginners! First of all, there are no difficult or extremely advanced recipes. More importantly, there are no hard-to-get, expensive, or never-heard-of ingredients. As the author Gwen Kenneally is a chef and a director at Edible Schoolyard where they teach how to garden and cook, many recipes reflect the locally sourced and seasonal ingredients like her work. I loved about the recipes included in this cookbook. So the Plantastic Cookbook is certainly a vegan cookbook for beginners, and it would make a good companion for people who want to explore the wonderful world of vegan cooking for the first time. It will show you vegan recipes that are easy, affordable, nutritious, and delicious.
The Author Gwen Kenneally
Professional Life
The author Gwen Kenneally is a founder of Hollywood catering company Back to the Kitchen and a Chef/Director at Edible Schoolyard. Edible Schoolyard is a non-profit organization established in 1995 by chef, author, and advocate Alice Waters. It is a concept to revolutionize the culinary experience at a public middle school in Berkeley, California. As the concept evolved, the project became a hub for educators, families, farmers, chefs, and artists to collaborate to create a thriving garden and kitchen classroom. It is a place for students to learn hands-on experiences with gardening and cooking, learning the food system while deepening their connection with food and nurturing their ability to change their own lives and communities. I could feel her passion and love for real, healthy foods and sustainability through her healthy recipes.
Other Cookbooks
Gwen Kenneally’s other cookbooks include The Inclusive Table, The Lotus Kitchen, and Sweet and Savory Cookbook. To give you a little introduction to one of the books, I found The Inclusive Table a really interesting American cookbook! The Inclusive Table is a Thanksgiving recipe cookbook that includes paleo, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options while still maintaining the traditional holiday menu as much as possible. These days, there are many dietary options and preferences, and sometimes it can be challenging to have a table full of people that meets everyone’s requirements. This American cookbook with Thanksgiving recipes would be a great solution to that.
Summary of Plantastic Cookbook
To sum up, the Plantastic Cookbook is a beautiful and easy vegan cookbook for beginners. It has many recipes that are popular in America with real and natural food ingredients, as well as superfoods. You can tell the author had nutrition in mind when she was coming up with the cookbook. With watercolor illustrations of food ingredients, you can also search for a recipe according to the plant ingredient you want to have that day. I also made Fava Bean Mint Toast from the recipe the other day, which I will share more about soon. Enjoy!
You can order the cookbook by clicking the button below.
If you are vegan and want to learn about vegan and vegan recipes, check out my other blog posts here.
Alkaline Vegan Diet | What It Is & 5 Evidence Why You Should Try
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