Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Hi all. I don't see a thread for this, apologies if there is one already.

I did a bit of testing for this but not too much so there's still plentry left for me to make. If you like Robin Robertson already you are sure to like this, especially if you don't have much time to cook. I whipped up the corn and quinoa dish to take for lunches and it was quick, storecupboard and tasty - a great lunch time standard. I also made the Chesapeake chickpea burgers, and they were the quickest burgers I've ever made, tasty cold as well as hot. Even my husband has managed to make a few dishes out of it, especially the pasta section.

Does anyone else have it?

I have the Quick Fix Vegetarian which is actually a Vegan cookbook and it's awesome. Need to check this book too.

Does anyone else have this? It's hovering near the top of a list of 12 cookbooks I want & I can't decide!

I have a review almost planned for my real blog but my MoFo blog is getting in the way. What are the other 12 and I'll rank them in must have order for you (my must have order is unlikely to coincide with anyone else's!). If you've got Vegan Planet or 1,000 Vegan Recipes you definitely don't NEED it, but it is nice to have a small collection of quick things you can make when you haven't got much time, and it isn't overfacing like the others. If I'm going to be late I can thrust it at Matthew and tell him to make something, and be confident that we'll have the ingredients, he'll be able to cook something, the kitchen won't be a bomb site, and it'll be tasty.

Has anyone made recipes from this book. I can't seem to relate to Robin Robinson. Sorry, but I don't know why. Maybe too much oil.

This book always comes up as recommended for me on amazon. I think that the cover is great. :) I have a couple of Robin's books - but I do think it would be a good book to pick something out of when I am short on time.

Her use of oil doesn't bother me. I just omit it. The recipes are still good.

I just got this on my kindle, so I will be eyeing this thread to see what people have made, what they thought, etc. etc.

I do have Vegan Planet so maybe I don't need it...

Here are the 12, rank away*! *I can't promise I'll pay attention to your advice!

The Conscious Cook
American Vegan Kitchen
The Kind Diet
Vegan Desserts
Babycakes Covers The Classics
World Vegan Feast
Quick Fix Vegan
Hearty Vegan Meals For Monster Appetites
Great Chefs Cook Vegan
The Asian Vegan Kitchen
The Enlightened Kitchen: Fresh Vegetable Dishes From The Temples of Japan
Authentic Chinese Cuisine
The Voluptuous Vegan
The Bread Bakers Apprentice

Hmmm apparently it's 14 now even though I just bought the pie book...

I love all of RR's books! There's just something about them that make me feel like I'm learning stuff and getting better at cooking.

Just wanted to give a shout out for Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I have the Bread Baker's Apprentice and I think it's wonderful and exacting and I love reading it, but I am baking bread like crazy because of Artisan Bread in 5. Also loooooove Monster Appetites! And American Vegan Kitchen. Hope that's okay to jump in with this stuff. I always look for efcliz's advice and buy based on her reviews, so definitely go with her guidance! :)

Jojo. I won't speak for the dessert books because you know my feelings about them! I will make suggestions of some of those which I think could go to the bottom of the list. Great Chefs Cook Vegan looks lovely but is annoying and I've never cooked from it. I think you'd get more use from Asian Vegan than Enlightened. Asian has a Japanese chapter and Enlightened I don't find is that inspiring. Kind Diet too, I really dislike the naughty/nice overtones about eating healthily.

You know how I feel about American Vegan Kitchen. I love it and you will too. Hearty Vegan is also fabulous. People seem to think it's all junk food but I have no idea why; its much more about comfort food. They'd be my top 2, with Asian Vegan next because it's so different.

I know this is a QFV thread and I'm not saying not to get it. It fills a great hole for us because Matthew gets overawed by cookbooks and isn't a confident cook so it's perfect for him. But if it's a choice from your list and you already have VP you could put it on hold.

I tested for this one too. I really liked everything I made. I got my tester copy and loaned it to my co-worker. Her daughter is preggers and won't eat meat (which is fine by me!). She didn't know she should make or have her make to get protein, so I loaned her the book. I can't wait to get it back.

Thanks EfcLiz! I'll keep your rec's in mind!

/end of thread hijack!

Okay, I'll hijack this thread back to the cookbook.

Made the Chesapeake Chickpea patties the other night. Ready really quickly with pantry-friendly ingredients (well, except for the dried seaweed), and these were delicious! Crisp, light savoury deliciousness that I served with a dollop of Isa's Sanctuary Dressing.

I made the donburi seitan last night, but with half the sweetener. It was great.

I just bought this cookbook from Amazon, since I am going back to work next week (yay! after 5 1/2 months unemployed!) and after work and gym, i am usually home around 645 or 745. I need some new quick recipes. I'll make sure to keep this thread going after i have tried some stuff.

I just got this from iBooks. So far I have only made the seitan, but that was easy, quite good and made a ton. Half of it is in the freezer. I can't decide what to do with the second half of the bach, but the donburi seitan is high on my list of things to make. Now that I am working again I really need recipes like these.

I got this as an ibook as well, was looking for things that would be quicker to make now that I've got a baby to take care of.. Been doing a lot of slow cooker cooking and quick recipes. Mostly I can't predict when I'll have time so I was very excited by all the casserole recipes! Downside: some of them are for the same kind of thing I already can get in a box.. Jambalaya and Dirty Rice are great, but I can get the Zatarain's mix and throw it in my rice cooker just as easily. And I already do stuffed shells with Vcon cashew ricotta and spinach, so that's not a new idea for me...

Tempeh Normandy: Fairly tasty. (if making it again I'd marinate the tempeh ahead or cut it into smaller pieces so it absorbed the liquid better, because the innards of the tempeh were kinda bland).
Moroccan Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach: very good for the effort expended
Deconstructed Banh Mi Salad: delicious, would make again, but more time consuming than expected...

Made half a recipe last night! I had a cauliflower which needed cooking and I was feeling uninspired. Robin has a recipe for Baked Ziti with Roasted Cauliflower. I made the roasted cauliflower part of it, which was c. & tomatoes, olive oil, salt & pepper. Never thought of roasting tomatoes with cauliflower before, but this combination really works.

I finally tried some recipes out of this book, i liked them so far!

Lemon Cous Cous
Really tasty. I like how she grates the carrots and zuchinni in recipes to speed up the cooking. This one tasted even better the next day room temp. for lunch

Moroccan Veggie packets (or something like that, i dont have the book in front of me)
Also very tasty. It was basically a chickpea veggie mixture that was put into puff pastry and baked. However, puff pastry is super high in calories, so i probably would make the mixture saucier (with tomatoes or broth) and serve over rice next time. My fiancee loved the puff pastry though. he said it balanced out the sweet spices in the chickpeas.

I know someone said that the recipies are kind of high in oil, and they are right. And all the artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatos in the recipies are the oil-packed kind. But i only use a little oil and cooking spray, and used water-packed veggies to cut the calories and everything was fine.

Oh, except my fiancee accidently bought oil-packed tomatoes at the store last time so i used them. Man were they good! but still, back to regular dry ones next time (boohoo)

Roasted ratatouille was fantastic -- couldn't stop eating. Did manage to take a few leftovers to work for lunch; navy beans made a great accompaniment.

I finally made a couple more recipes from this book:

Moroccan Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach: made a while back, it was ok. To much tomato. I liked the flavors, but all i could taste was tomato sauce. Next time I will use a can of diced tomatos or fresh tomatos

Jerk Seitan and Veggie skillet: made this last night and liked it a lot. very easy. It was similar to the Jerk Seitan recipe in VWAV, but the sauce was stronger so marinading wasnt necessary, which is why it cooked up so fast. I did add some agave and lime juice to it though. I will definitly be making this again.

The reviews on amazon make the appetizers and deserts sound really good, so maybe i will try a few this weekend.

I really need to cook out of the cookbooks I have instead of buying new ones. I have a cookbook problem :/

I have this as an ebook. I really love it because I'm a slow cook (always have to double the prep time on recipes because I can never get them made in the amount of time they supposedly take) and this cookbook makes getting dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time doable. Other cookbooks may have more stellar recipes but I can't spend two hours in the kitchen every nigh. So far I've made the following:

Green Chile-Tofu Migas -- pretty fast and tasty

Coconut-Curry Cauliflower and Chickpeas -- just so so. I thought this recipe relied too much on the curry powder for flavor which is fine if you have superb curry powder but mine was not enough by itself. It tasted curry like but didn't pop.

Ginger Sesame Seitan with Spicy Basil Snow Peas -- I made a variation of this this substituting super firm tofu for the seitan and broccoli for the snow peas as she suggests could be done. It was good.

Tofu Skillet Scramble -- Also good and to save time I just threw in fresh red pepper without roasting it first.

Spicy Smoked Portobello Tacos -- Very good. I made it with chopped crimini mushrooms.

Moroccan Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach -- Very good. I agree with the poster above that it's a bit on the tomato-ish side but I still liked this recipe. It's also quick to make.

Southwestern Pasta Toss -- Pretty good but I thought it needed something to make it a little more saucy.

Sweet Potato Spinach Soup -- Excellent. Maybe not the healthiest thing I've ever had, with 1/3 cup of Peanut Butter but really worth making once in a while.

Chard and Red Lentil Soup -- Also excellent, and healthy. I think this might be my favorite recipe from this cookbook so far. And if you make it with red chard, it also has a lovely color.

Burrito Scramble -- Good.

Farmer's Market Pasta Salad -- Good. I substituted stir-fired broccoli for the fennel, since I'm not a fan of fennel.

Tempeh Normandy -- Very good even with substituting cider for the apple brandy.

I plan to make the Jerk Seitan and Vegetable Skillet next.

Thanks! i have been looking at these 2 soups, now i will try them!

I am weird...I hate to fail in the kitchen, so i like recipe validation from others before I attempt.

I hope you enjoy the soups, Chicki.