Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I saw a general thread about Donna Klein's books asking for recommendations for recipes, but I thought I'd start a thread just for this book because after a couple of years of owning this one, it's consistently a rock star in my cooking arsenal, kinda like Veganomicon, in the sense that when I'm not sure about what to make, I can always find something that sounds good and accessible, knowing I won't be disappointed. Yeah, the recipes might not be the most sophisticated, but I don't think I've had anything out of this cookbook turn out bad... and most things have been really delicious, despite having short ingredient lists. It can be kinda deceptive because you might read the recipe and be like, "Oh, surely that's going to be boring/bland..." but then it turns out to be much more than the sum of its ingredients. Perfect for when I'm tired/lazy and might otherwise be inclined to eat junk food for dinner. It's also been really good when I've been wanting to cut down on food spending, since the recipes are mostly pretty economical to make. The serving sizes are sometimes pretty small, though, so you might want to 1.5x or 2x the recipes if you actually want to feed the number it says or have some leftovers.

Some things I've made recently include:

Seashell casserole with peas, mushrooms and pearl onions - I really thought this was going to be ho-hum or bland, but the sauce on this casserole is super delicious because of the mustard/thyme combo. I could see cooking it up to put on chickpea cutlets or some breaded tofu... it'd be perfect. This dish was really homey and comforting, and I liked that it wasn't over the top in terms of calories or fat, even though I did opt to top mine with crushed potato chips (yum). I made mine in an 11"x7" dish and it made 4 really decent sized servings. Served it with a salad and it was a great meal.

Green tea rice with almonds - This is an easy side dish that goes well with an Asian meal, but is versatile enough to go well with some simple baked tofu. It has a really nice, nutty flavor from the sesame oil. The scallions add color to the dish, but last night I was out, so I made it with some diced onion that I threw in to boil with the rice and it was still very tasty, if not as pretty.

Tonight we're having the Costa Rican black beans, potatoes and spinach recipe. Excited!

I find recipes in this book kind of hit or miss, but nothing ever really turns out bad, just sometimes "meh." We go back to the gnocchi with red pepper sauce (adding cannellini beans to make it more filling) and one of the Asian stir-fries (broccoli, red peppers, and tofu?) pretty often when we need a quick meal.

The Costa Rican spinach, black bean and potato dish was pretty good last night. Mine was a lot thicker than I expected after adding the spinach (I used 6 oz), though, which didn't really leave much liquid for sopping up with bread, like the recipe recommends. It was flavorful and had a nice amount of heat, although it really seems like the store brand of tomatoes and chilis here is a lot hotter than most of the name brands. I'd make it again, considering how quickly it came together and the chopping work was minimal. I should have made this with a side of maduros. That'd have been niiiiccceee, albeit a lot higher in fat.

I'm going to be making the black bean and sweet potato burritos this week, served with the salad they recommend, and the baked broccoli polenta dish with the cannellini beans and marinara sauce. Oh, and the apricot baked apples, since my partner has been talking about wanting baked apples for the past week.

Those burritos are one of the few recipes we've made from this book. They're really easy and good.

I have this and have made some things in the past. Honestly, I think it is a great beginner vegan cookbook and a good cookbook for those that live in more rural areas. Not that it isn't good for others but I think its nice to focus on things you can find in your supermarket.