Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Does anyone have this? Views?

I thought I knew all about the vegan books around until I read this http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2012 ... ks_new.php
and realised it wasn't on my radar.

I bought this but I think I'm going to send it back. I don't really like it. It's well published with lots of nice pictures but I don't like the way it is organised and I feel like I've got lots of similar recipes elsewhere. The chapters are morning, afternoon, evening, late evening and late late evening. There are a lot of drinks. The recipes seem like they are complex and very interesting because of the way it's published but actually many of them are very simple. The tofu caprese stack is literally sliced tomato and raw tofu with vinaigrette. There's a recipe for hummus which takes up 2 A4 pages but isn't any different from any other hummus recipe, and a whole page to make a shandy. I almost never put down a cookback without getting excited about something I've seen, even if it's simple, but nothing jumped out at me from this one. Does anyone else have it? I'm happy to be persuaded otherwise.

I saw this at a bookstore and put it back for the same reasons. It's really pretty, but it's well-worn territory if you're already a seasoned vegan cook (or cookbook collector!). It seems like it would be better for an omni who wants to cook vegan on occasion rather than one of us (one of us, one of us).

I'm a total cookbook addict, but I was really turned off by the blurb for this one: "The only vegan cookbook that celebrates eating and enjoyment" - seriously? Fork off. And I had the same impression, but it wasn't really anything new and inventive.

I do understand people's comments, but I just wanted to contribute some positive feedback. I gave this book to a couple of (vegetarian, but eat a lot of vegan food) friends for Christmas. Last Christmas I gave them Plenty & they absolutely loved it, so I figured if I was going to buy them a vegan cookbook this time, it would have to be one with lots of glossy, inspirational photos, which Pure Vegan has in abundance. I kind of had the same thoughts expressed here when I flicked through it, but I still loved the gorgeous layout & actually appreciated the simplicity of some of the recipes & it was nice to see so many drinks recipes. I love the generosity of the page spreads - it makes such a change from the majority of vegan cookbooks with six recipes crammed per page & no photos at all. Sure, PV has a lot less recipes overall, & I do like books such as 1000 Vegan Recipes for their abundant choice & can live without the pics, but it's still a refreshing change to have a big, colourful, glossy book.

Anyway, my friends invited me over for a little NYE dinner party & cooked a few things from PV. The absolute standout was chargrilled tofu with this amazing BBQ sauce with dates in it, served over lapsang souchong rice. It was amazing, & I mean *a-MAZING*. I'll be raving about it for months, if not years.

I agree with all of the positive thoughts you've expressed regarding this book, Karena. Call me shallow but I love it when photos accompany recipes in a cookbook! I've just received this as a gift so can not comment on how well the recipes work up, but, in terms of first impressions, I think Pure Vegan is a visually stunning and beautifully laid out cookbook. The recipes sound interesting and the finished dishes look good. I appreciate that the author employs a wide variety of ethnic herbs and spices in his food, too. I think the first entree I plan to make is the Polenta with Wild Mushrooms, Hazelnuts and Figs. Actually, there are any number of dishes including the Poblano Chiles Rellenos, Muhammara, Dukkah and Basmati Rice Pudding that I am really interested in trying.

My only initial (but small) criticism? With all the simply lovely and authentic sounding recipes contained in this book's pages, I can not fathom what the author was thinking when he included a recipe for Lavender Lemonade which contains frozen lemonade concentrate and water with lavender flowers thrown into the mix. To my way of thinking, a recipe for real lemonade should have been provided with, perhaps, the caveat that frozen lemonade concentrate could be used in a pinch.

That does seem weird & out of character for the book to use lemonade concentrate! I hope you try the dishes I mentioned some time too, based on those, I'd say the author really knows how to spice & season food, so I bet the other recipes you're going to try will be great.

Thanks, Karena! I just checked and I have everything I need to make the seared tofu with date barbecue sauce AND the lapsang souchong rice. (A miracle!) I am all set for tonight's dinner but plan to make it tomorrow. I'll post here again with my results. Also on tap from the book, this weekend I am going to make the garbanzo bean and tomato soup. It looks easy and, happily, I have all the ingredients on hand to make it.

I just received this as a gift. It's SUCH a pretty book! I can't decide what to make first, but the fava beans look delicious.

Today I made the zucchini and tomato lasagna. Besides the zucchini and tomato, which are roasted, it uses blanched leeks instead of noodles, your basic tomato sauce, a pesto layer, and two layers of crema. It is SO delicious.

This sounds lovely and different