Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Hey guys,

I'm trying to find more cookbooks which contain nutritional information along with the recipes. I've done some searching but generally all I find are links to nutritional yeast. Currently the only cookbook I have is Appetite for Reduction which I found just browsing vegan cookbook at B&Ns. I've had it for almost a year now (I think) and have run the course of most of the recipes. While I'll definitely continue to remake many of them I want to branch out a bit.

Searching on here, and in general, the only other books I've found are Color Me Vegan and the Good Housekeeping Simple Vegan. People seem to not like the latter so much for it's simplicity and blandness. That would be a problem for me; I thrive on spice. I'll probably pick up CMV but I was hoping people have seen some other cookbooks to suggest. I'm not trying to cut down on calories or lose weight, I just greatly prefer to be aware of my nutritional intake. So suggestions don't have to be "healthy", though any book with this information probably will be.

Separately, if anyone has any suggestions on how to gauge these values without them being presented that would be swell. I found a scale which claims to measure nutritional info, but I'm skeptical.

All (with the exception of the newest, I believe) of Bryanna Clark Grogan's books have nutritional info. Try Authentic Chinese Cuisine--it's a great book and definitely not simple or bland.

Vegetarian Times also provides nutritional info for its recipes. Have you checked out the FatFree Vegan blog? Susan diligently provides nutritional info, and her recipes are pretty great! http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/

The scale wouldn't really work since it relies on a database of ingredients, and you probably won't find a lot of vegan staples in it like nutritional yeast or tempeh.

I think a lot of commonly-used vegan recipes are already entered into sites like Spark People and Weight Watchers, if you have an account at either of those. Spark People is free. Nutrition Data lets you copy and paste recipes (or type them) and save the nutrition info. These won't be as accurate as what an RD would be able to calculate, but they'll get you close enough.

Oh, it's really funny... I always notice when a cookbook has nutritional info in it (because I too like to be able to glance through that right away) but I'm just totally blanking on it right now. Thinking that maybe Peas And Thank You by Sarah Matheny has nutritional info, and also (maybe?) Eat Drink & Be Vegan by Dreena Burton? Anyone confirm/deny either of those?

The Vegetarian Times Cookbook has detailed nutritional info in it, and while it's not 100% vegan (plenty of ovo-lacto stuff in there too), enough of it is to be worth having it in my mind. The recipes really run the gamut from bland to interesting and from, well, good to not so good... the result of having recipes written by a ton of different people I guess.

I use a digital scale and use a site like livestrong for the facts and then do the math.

Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein has nutrition info. Great cookbook too for when you want simple recipes that use only authentic ingredients for the cuisine -- i.e. there's no seitan or soy sauce used in the book because Mediterranean cooking doesn't traditionally use these things.

Thank you very much for the suggestions! I actually remember finding Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen a couple months ago when I was embarking upon this same search but I guess I forgot about it. Good looks helbury.

MJ, that's exactly my concern with the scale. Guilty, do you know if it does in fact have these types or items, or did you just mean you use a standard weight scale?

coldandsleepy, I tried search inside on amazon for those first two books but no luck. The first doesn't show a single recipe for confirmation and the second does not allow look inside. I'll try and look for those, and the latter book, the next time I make it to a real book store.

vijita, thanks for the Bryanna Clark Grogan suggestion. Her books seem pretty much on the money for what I'm looking for. And a holiday cuisine book!

The Everyday Vegan by Dreena Burton and The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick Goudreau both have nutrition info. (I don't think any of Dreena's other books do).

That may be the one I'm thinking of... I'll check Peas & Thank You tonight and report back.

Neil Bernard's Be Healthy Go Vegan has info. I haven't made anything yet (just got it from the library) and it doesn't have many pictures but some things sound quite good.

The recipes are severely underspiced in Be Healthy Go Vegan, but if you're willing to fiddle with the spices, it's probably worth it.

I have that scale and it's great (I didn't get it for the nutritional stuff, but just to measure things), but yeah you'd have to measure ingredient by ingredient and do the math.

"Supermarket Vegan" has nutritional info..

Oops, forgot to come back to this thread. In any case: yes! Peas & Thank You has nutritional info!

I'm pretty sure Appetite for Reduction has nutrition info, and Skinny bisque Everyday. Color Me Vegan, which I have sitting right in front of me definatly has nutrition info for each recipe too.

Ok, to summarize the cookbooks with nutrition info so far.....

Appetite for Reduction by Isa
Color Me Vegan
Good Housekeeping Simple Vegan
Authentic Chinese Cuisine
Vegetarian Times
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com
Peas And Thank You by Sarah Matheny
Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein
Everyday Vegan by Dreena Burton
The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick Goudreau
Skinny bisque Everyday
Supermarket Vegan
Be Healthy Go Vegan by Dr. Neil Bernard

Bumping this thread-- Anymore cookbooks to add? I LOVE cookbooks with the nutrition info-- make life soooo much easier!!

Thanks everyone!! <3

I feel like Supermarket Vegan may not be entirely accurate, since it uses so many packaged ingredients. Wouldn't it depend a lot on the brands you're buying?

That's true for any cookbook. Think of all the different soy milks out there and how different they are. This is probably part of the reason why so many cookbooks don't have nutrition info.

Also keep in mind that the FDA allows a discrepancy of up to 20% in nutrient values, so nothing is ever going to be perfectly accurate. Best guesses and approximations are sometimes better than nothing, though!



http://www.aamp.com/documents/SillikerG ... ations.pdf

The Happy Herbivore Cookbook has the nutritional info worked out for you. The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook does too.
I think you already listed all the other ones I have.
I wish more cookbooks would put that info in. But then I probably wouldn't make a lot of the stuff I make :P

Da comrade, for some of the stuff I make I'm glad the nutritional info isn't presented.

I found another book to add to the list: The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook

It's completely vegan despite the title. I haven't made any recipes yet, just picked it up this weekend.

I just got Practically Raw by Amber Shea Crawley and it has the nutritional info too (just calories, fat, fibre, carbs, protein).
Haven't made anything so can't recommend it yet.

I think there is a cook book called something like "CalciYum"; vegan high calcium recipes. I'm guessing that might include nutrition info.

i wanted to add Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats. Allyson has nutritional information listed for all of her recipes - plus there's a great photograph for each recipe. the recipes aren't intimidating either - as i know some gluten-free recipes can be. i've yet to make a recipe from this book that people (most of them weren't even gluten-free) didn't love.

I want that book, happyfaced. but I am trying to see where I can buy the following:

Sorgum flour + super fine brown rice flour. I'm 0 for 0 (though I do have regular brown rice flour).