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You can tell your grandchildren that you remember when being vegan was edgy.

Good Housekeeping Simple Vegan!: Delicious Meat-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes Every Family Will Love

Is it just me or is "Simple Vegan" a really...um...weird title?

I wish we could look inside and see how "simple" the recipes are?

Why do people sometimes leave out egg-free when talking about veganism? That title isn't the first I've noticed that's done that. Is it to attract the health conscious while being concise?

It might be that some people consider dairy to include eggs. At least, that's what some people have told me.

Yeah, I think "dairy" covers eggs.

I'd like to see a table of contents. The cover pic looks yummy.

It must be pretty new? There are no review or anything.. it's like a mystery book?!

I really wish you could see inside the book. They should have called it Simply Vegan! Simple vegan sounds like it's a book for slow people.

Wow, veganism really is going mainstream.

Ha, this made me laugh and laugh and laugh.

I mentioned this to my mom, and she bought it for me! (Not sure why she picked this one to buy for me instead of one of the many cookbooks that I've actually said I want, but whatever.) It arrived just as I was leaving for work, so I didn't have a chance to look through it yet, but I'll look tonight and report back.

Reminds me of those "Slow Children at Play" street signs that always crack me up. Speed hump signs also make me laugh, but that's getting really off topic.

OK, I'm reading through it. Starts off with an annoying introduction, with the food director of Good Housekeeping talking about how she once lived in a house with a bunch of vegans, and they cooked all this gross food, but then she cooked a pot of vegan minestrone, and everybody loved it. The rest of the introduction is basically about how there are a lot more vegans now, and vegan cooking is fun and not scary if you just learn how to do it.

Next section is "Welcome to Simple Vegan!" Starts off with some stuff about why veganism is good (health, cost, and environment, with a highlighted section about lactose intolerance), and then a section of nutritional information that seems pretty straightforward, and accurate as far as I know -- basically goes through all the usual things that people ask about, and says not to worry because there are plenty of vegan sources of each of them, and lists foods that contain them. Then there's a somewhat weird list of "Vegan dairy and egg substitutes," which is pretty much just a generic list of things like "Nondairy margarine" and "Nondairy soy sour cream and cream cheese."

I'll get to the recipes and report back.

Chapter 1: Breakfasts. Nothing too exciting here. Some smoothies made with frozen fruit and soy yogurt, a tofu scramble that seems pretty boring (1 package tofu, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 clove garlic, 1/4 cup chives, pinch cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1 chopped tomato, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice), and some fairly basic muffins, pancakes, and waffles. I can see this being useful for someone who has vegan guests once in a while and wants to make breakfast for them, or for someone who just became vegan and has no idea what to eat, but someone making vegan food every day would get beyond this pretty quickly.

Chapter 2: Sandwiches. Starts out OK, with falafel and BBQ tofu. Next is "Health Club Sandwiches," which is a mixture of mashed beans, grated carrots, and sprouts, which seems a bit bland and health-foody for my taste. Eggless egg salad made with mashed tofu. Hey, there's a tempeh reuben! Which looks pretty similar to the one in VWAV, but I guess there's not that many different ways to make a tempeh reuben. A few different veggie burgers and a burrito, all of which seem like they could use much more spice -- the first veggie burger is made with a can of beans, 1/2 cup bulgur, and 1/4 teaspoon each allspice, cinnamon, and cumin. Souvlaki sandwiches made by chopping up frozen veggie burgers. Pita pizzas.

Chapter 3: Salads. Really not much interesting at all. Most of them look like they'd taste OK, and they all seem like they'd fit right in on the side dish table at a suburban barbecue.

Chapter 4: Noodles and grains. Starts off with a bunch of rice recipes. "Spiced couscous with vegetables" is probably the first recipe in here that looks like it's got enough flavor. A few rice and bean dishes. "Red cabbage spaghetti with golden raisins," which looks kind of weird -- it's spaghetti with red cabbage, olive oil, garlic, raisins, and apple juice. Pasta with "meat" sauce made with tvp. Soba noodles with a sauce that includes miso. Macaroni with tomato sauce and chickpeas, and polenta with "spicy eggplant sauce." "Spicy" means 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper.

Chapter 5: Grilling. Grilled veggies with a few different marinades, some burgers, quesadillas. Again, looks useful for someone who's having a barbecue and there will be some vegan guests, but kind of boring for eating more than once or twice.

Chapter 6: "Globe-Trotting Dishes." A few soups and stir-fries and some dishes that seem vaguely middle-eastern.

Chapter 7: Comfort Food. More soups, mac and cheese made with packaged vegan cheddar, another burrito, stuffed peppers, stuffed squash, and a few things that look like they're trying to imitate take-out Chinese food.

Chapter 8: Savory and Sweet Treats. Spiced nuts, pretzels, hummus, red pepper dip, eggplant dip, white bean bruschetta, kale chips, guacamole. A few kinds of fruit salad, chocolate-dipped frozen bananas, brownies, chocolate cupcakes, two kinds of cookies.

So, overall, I'd say it seems like a decent reference for people who don't know what to make for vegan guests, or an OK starting point for someone who's just become vegan and is mostly used to eating "normal American" foods, but there's really not much in here that makes me say "I've got to try that."

It doesn't sound that bad. If I were in the market for a new cookbook, I'd definitely check it out at least. I still think they could've thought of a better title. Because A) yeah, it seems like it's talking about simple minds and then B) I'm just not attracted to a title that makes it sound like it's going to be all pb&j recipes. Actually that would be an awesome book....research...research
BAM - http://www.amazon.com/Peanut-Butter-Co- ... 372&sr=1-2. Wishlisted

thanks for posting all that Larisa! I agree, it sounds like it'd be good for someone who might have to cook for vegans on occasion or maybe as someone's first vegan cookbook, but i cant imagine there are any surprises in there for people who already have a vegan cookbook collection.

Also, it's spiral-bound. I wish more cookbooks were spiral-bound. I get annoyed with paperback cookbooks that won't stay open flat.

sounds boring.

Wow, thanks for finding that link! Also wishlisted.

The title kind of reminds me of Easy Vegan, which I have. It always makes me snicker a little bit when I see it in the cupboard. hehe

was getting ready to type these two words exactly, and saw you already had.

agree.

I've eaten at the PB and Co restaurant and would say to save your money on the cookbook. Buy a jar of PB instead.

Thanks for the description! Sounds like it would be a good gift for family members who don't have any vegan cookbooks? I'm with Fee, I don't think I'll buy it for myself, I might still be interested enough to check it out. Maybe others will buy it just because it's Good Housekeeping?!

Yeah, it sounds very white bread suburban, but I could see it appealing to some of our parents who would want to cook vegan for us if we're visiting. All the dishes sound like typical american meals, cookout meals, etc. just veganized and I bet my mom would feel like that was more accessible to her--like she could relate to that food more or something and comprehend how to have a dairy/meat free meal (don't mean that to sound crappy, I love my mom!).

Also, sounds like something Oprah would've recommended on her "vegan" episode.