Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Two omni friends of mine are getting married soon. I invited them over for a dinner party recently and served the V'con eggplant rollatini. They both loved it, so I let them leaf through a few of my cookbooks, and they seemed really interested. I hinted that I might give them some vegan cookbooks as wedding presents, and their reaction was not adverse. I don't have much inspiration for other types of gifts, so I think I'm going ahead with the cookbooks.

So PPK, which cookbooks would you give to omni friends? I was looking at V'con, but it doesn't have very many pictures and a lot of the recipes use 'typical' vegan stuff like gluten, nooch etc. Maybe Vegan Eats World would be better? I can throw in some sweet books as well, maybe VPITS and VCIYCJ? These are not just 'vegan' books, but also have a nice overview of different types of recipes and cooking/baking techniques. What say you?

I think V'con is such a great "how to cook vegetables" book - I end up going there for cooking times and basic research when I can't figure out what to do with something. So I'd buy that and put a little tab on the eggplant rollatini as a sweet reminder of your nice dinner together. I didn't feel like it was very seitan etc heavy (unlike American Vegan Diner for example).

I'd throw in AFR and Vegan cookies take over your cookie jar and maybe include a "gift certificate" for some dinners and "cooking classes." I think AFR and Vegan Cookies are a good play on in good times and lean :)

What a lovely gift!

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Martha Stewart has a cookbook out that is called "Meatless", it is vegetarian and vegan. People love MS and the recipes seem really friendly for all lifestyles. Also most recipes have a picture that goes with them! I have the book on order!

I think Chloe's Kitchen and Hearty Vegan Meals would be good options too!

The Forks over Knifes cookbook is a great cookbook. Perhaps give a few packages of some of the spices or a bag of nooch with the cookbook to help get them hooked?

I would probably get Plenty or Herbivoracious. They are both vegetarian, not vegan, but beautiful approachable books. If the wedding isn't for a while you could hold out for Isa Does It which looks like it is going to be beautiful too.

I came here to suggest Plenty. It's vegetarian, but I've veganized a bunch of stuff in it and it's all been great. Plus, I feel like a lot of the recipes are simple enough that I don't need to cook all day.

Yeah, Plenty is a good idea. That book is so beautiful, and the things I've made from it have been delicious. It's really inspiring!

I also think Vegan Sandwiches is an AMAZING book - beautiful, approachable, and super yummy. Everyone likes sandwiches

I like the idea of including VCTOYCJ

AFR is one of my favorite go-to books, and I think it's really super user-friendly/weeknight-friendly, so that would be a really practical one.

It's a super cute idea! You could write down the recipes you've tried from each book you give them on a little slip of paper - "I loved this one!" "Super spicy!" (whatever)
And maybe give some measuring spoons or something with it.

what fun!

Yeah, I also think AFR might be good. The title is a little offputting but many of the recipes in there are very budget-friendly/easy and use a lot of omni-recognizable ingredients, like lentils and chickpeas and stuff. Perfect for a newly-married couple. I would be extra-inclined to give it if you're also getting them a book about vegan baking, just for the sake of balance!

Thanks for all the ideas guys! My friends already have Plenty, otherwise I would definitely have given them that. I'm doubting whether to give them 'special occasion' or 'weeknight' type books. They are veg curious, but probably won't start cooking vegan with any regularity, mostly when they have time to make something special/out of the ordinary, so I think a book like AFR might not get much use. On the other hand, a weeknight friendly book might lower the threshold. Maybe I should just do a little of both.

I like the idea of adding a container of nooch, but I'm a little scared of weirding them out with an overload of unfamiliar vegan stuff... Maybe I'm overthinking this though.

The Asian Vegan Kitchen is just pages and pages of loveliness and is one of the best-performing cookery books I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Plenty is a very solid choice, too.

I was going to suggest Plenty, too! I would probably give them the dessert trilogy (VCTOTW etc) with some cute wooden spoons wrapped up nicely or something. Or Vegan Eats World (and maybe a world-foody type thing, like a little tagine or something?) if you're leaning towards meals rather than desserts. Definitely something with lots of pictures, I know a lot of people who won't be super inclined to make a recipe without an awesome photo next to it.

These both sound like lovely gifts, especially the latter!

Yeah, I think I'll go for Vegan Eats world, the cookie and pie book (they are not cupcake type people), and something nice for the kitchen, like a tajine or a fancy salad bowl or something.

That is an awesome, awesome gift. Maybe throw in a pie crust shield. They are super cheap, and I found mine super useful in testing.

I still think V'con is a good choice for anyone though! It's hands-down my favourite go-to vegan cookbook ever, and my omni mum is in LOVE with it. She makes stuff such as the moussaka and the pineapple cashew stir-fry all the time for herself and my dad.

I just got Meatless today and it seems like a gentle introduction to vegetarian foods for omnis. I started toying with vegetarian meals as an omni so it would've been the kind of book I loved. Although there aren't a lot of ooey gooey cheesy dishes listed in it, there are dishes using things like ricotta, parm and feta. Given these things, it seems like a good stepping stone to a vegan diet as well. Someone truly interested in beginning a vegan diet may be more interested in something like Chloe's kitchen, veganomicon or others.

In the past year or so, I've gotten omni friends AFR and VCON, and they were both loved! These were people who were already interested in healthy and/or vegan recipes, though. A cookbook that I often recommend to omnis is Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. The ingredient lists are pretty basic, and there are lots of kid friendly recipes, which I sort of feel like mean omni friendly recipes in a lot of cases.