Not sure if photos are allowed in the thread for the cookbook, so here are the results of my most recent cookbook acquisition, "Vegan Family Meals: Real Food for Everyone" (by Ann Gentry of RFD fame).
Tofu Scramble with Avocado, Bacon, and Cheese. At first glance I thought this would be a lot like the VwaV scramble, since the seasonings are basically the same, but the Daiya and Facon (the recipe calls for homemade tempeh bacon, and I've since made it with the Vegan Brunch facon (Gentry's requires a smoker box and I don't have one, but here I used facon bits) really add something unique to it. The avocado gives the dish a nice creaminess, and it cooks up quickly. I did decide to add some lemon juice at the end to brighten it up a little, but was, in general, unexpectedly impressed.
Mixed Oak and Green Leaf Salad with Sesame-Hiziki Croquettes, Garbanzo Beans, and Ginger-Tahini Dressing. I made this one with arame instead of hiziki because I didn't want it to taste too seaweedy, and it doesn't. The croquettes taste a lot like falafel and the tahini dressing tastes a lot like tahini sauce, which sounds really obvious, though I was expecting the dish to have a much more far-Eastern flavor in general. It was delicious, although making the croquettes heated up the kitchen (and the dish) a lot, which negated the point of making a meal salad a bit.
Southwestern Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing and Agave-Chili Tortilla Strips. This may have been my favorite of the three salads, partly because it's cooler and faster to make than the others.
Burger in a Salad with Caramelized Onions, Avocado, Tomatoes, and Thousand Island Dressing. I actually cheated here and used commercial black bean burgers instead of homemade; I bought all the ingredients and intend to make the burgers to freeze, but all of that from scratch plus the long-caramelizing onions and dressing was just too much for one weekday! The salad and the topped burgers are good, although I didn't see the dish as being so cohesive - the warm burgers wilted the salad and I would have just preferred them separately.
All told, so far: I bought this cookbook mostly because of the salads. During the summer we love cooler meals, and it's easy to run out of ideas after a few days of them in a row. Here Gentry's cookbook fits the bill, but a lot of the recipes require multiple cooked sub-steps and multiple subrecipes in general, making them time-consuming and defeating the point a little. In what may be an up- or down-side, depending on your situation, most of the subrecipes make extra amounts for another use. On the plus side, all the recipes tasted delicious, and the book will definitely get you shopping in the produce aisle, since more than most other recent vegan cookbooks, this one relies on basic vegan ingredients and fresh produce.
