From actor and avid traveler Mena Massoud comes a collection of diverse, delicious, and accessible vegan recipes inspired from dishes all over the world, perfect for the aspiring vegan! It’s safe to say that veganism is no longer just a trend. Lifelong vegans, part-time vegans, and the vegan curious are a diverse and eclectic group of people from all walks of life and backgrounds, and yet, … backgrounds, and yet, there’s very little out there in mainstream media that reflects this new reality.
The Evolving Vegan cookbook celebrates both flavors and stories from a wide array of plant-based eateries all across North America, proving that a plant-friendly diet is truly accessible to all! Some of the recipes you will learn to make include:
-Sausage Shakshuka in a Skillet from the restaurant Chickpea in Vancouver
-Young Coconut Ceviche from the restaurant Rosalinda in Toronto
-BBQ Pulled “Pork” Jackfruit Sandwiches from the Butcher’s Son in Oakland, CA
-Indian Tofu Curry from The Sudra in Portland, OR
-Boston Cream Pie-Cake from Veggie Galaxy in Cambridge, MA
-Plus authentic Egyptian dishes from Mena’s mother, and many from Mena’s own SoCal home kitchen
Come travel with Mena to meet Cyrus Ichiza from Ichiza Kitchen in Portland, whose Taiwanese mother inspired him to share his Southeast Asian roots through authentically flavorful vegan dishes. Get a behind-the-scenes peek at the secrets of San Francisco’s Peña Pachamama, a Bolivian plant-based restaurant that serves national dishes like pique macho and aji de fideo.
Containing recipes from many different countries and cultures, and including helpful tips for lifelong vegans or flexitarians looking to expand their repertoire of vegan dishes, Evolving Vegan takes you on a food-based road trip to explore the vibrancy of veganism across North America.
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Vegan Fun
I have had an interest in vegan food for two decades, though I consider myself to be more vegetarian than vegan. But I’m always happy to find new vegan cookbooks and recipes to enjoy. I found this book a lot of fun. The author has gathered recipes from restaurants around the US., written some inspired by restaurants, and also has included her own and her mother’s vegan recipes. If you ever thought vegan food was boring, just flip through these recipes. You’ll see an incredible variety of colors, textures, and ingredient combinations that will make your mouth water! Some ingredients are certainly unusual, especially if you’re accustomed to the traditional omnivore diet. Depending on where you live, you might have a hard time sourcing some ingredients, or at least I know I will in my rural southern Oregon town. Some recipes are more complex than you typically see in cookbooks these days. This is because so many of them are actual restaurant recipes or inspired by them. Real chefs tend to make fussier dishes than us home cooks. But I certainly found this collection of recipes inspiring, and there are more than a few that I want to try. Not every recipe has a photo, but many of them do. Many photos are taken from directly above, which I don’t think is the best for most food dishes as it flattens the three-dimensional nature of food, not giving a true sense of what a dish looks like. I also had a problem with some of the graphic design of the book. Some recipes are given on a colored background that makes them at times hard to read. The light blue font on the medium pink background and green on yellow/orange were headache-inducing. All in all, though, I did find this cookbook immensely enjoyable.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
This cookbook is more than your regular cookbook. It’s like a road trip around the world!! Massoud features recipes inspired by vegan restaurants where he has eaten meals all over the world and tells you the behind the scenes story to go with the diverse recipes. He also shares some of his Mother’s recipe creations with us.
The cookbook has easy-to-follow instructions which is good for someone just starting out with this lifestyle. The first recipe I made was a potato pierogi recipe and they were so flavorful, but not very pretty to look at my first go round!
Some of the recipes contain pictures, but I would have liked to have seen pictures for all of them because the ones that were there, were gorgeous!
I am reviewing based on the digital copy and there were some issues with that. Not very easy to maneuver within the recipes, so I will be buying the hard cover when it is released.
I would recommend this cookbook to anyone starting out on the plant-based way of eating or someone that is experienced in this lifestyle.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Tiller Press for the ARC Of this cookbook in exchange for my review.