Mastering The Art of Vegan Cooking, Annie and Dan Shannon (2015)

 

Although this book begins with an introduction to starting a vegan diet (with numerous ideas for stocking a vegan pantry and preparing basics), it is not just a book for those beginning the adventure of vegan cooking.  Experienced vegan cooks will enjoy this book as well. 

 

This book offers several unique insights.  One is that it provides a price per serving of each dish from sauces to entrées and more.  Clearly these prices will vary somewhat depending on where you live and where you shop; however, it is a consistent guide for the authors and where they shop so it translates as a helpful guide for everyone. 

 

How often do you see or use a recipe that says to use “1/2 of a can” of something, or a tablespoon or so of a package of something?  If you’ve no idea what else to make with the remainder of that particular ingredient, that can be annoying.  Fortunately, this cookbook offers additional recipes for that lone ingredient.  

 

Additionally, the book also includes a number of useful “leftover” recipes such as Pumpkin Curry Soup. The recipe on the next page is “Pumpkin and Spinach Orzo” (see pages 216 and 217).  I love both of these recipes! 

 

The book offers two sections of 16 pages each with gorgeous photos of its recommended recipes.  The photos of these recipes look colorful and very attractive.  Our experiments with them proved that they were also very tasty!

 

Dishes that we tried included Sesame Peanut Noodles, Rosemary Potato Frittata, Chimichurri Rice Casserole, Tuesday Night Dinner, Mexican Stuffed Zucchini and Chipotle Chicken Chilaquiles.

 

Enjoy this sample recipe below!

 

Sesame Peanut Noodles  from Mastering the Art of Vegan Cooking by Annie and Dan Shannon, p. 101

 

Peanut Sauce

• ½ cup peanut butter

• 2 T soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

• ¼ cup tahini

• 1 tsp. garlic paste

• 2 T Sriracha or Thai chili sauce

• 2 cloves of minced garlic

• 2 T rice vinegar

• Pinch of red pepper flakes

Noodles

• 4-6 servings of soba or udon noodles

• 3-4 green onions diced

• 1 T sesame oil

• ¼ cup dry roasted peanuts

• 1 diced red pepper (or diced ½ green and ½ red bell peppers)

• 2 T sesame seeds

 

Make the peanut sauce: in a bowl, whisk together all of the peanut sauce ingredients until completely blended.  Set aside.

 

Make the noodles: Cook the noodles according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

 

In a wok or large iron skillet, heat the sesame oil over medium heat.  Toss in the noodles and bell peppers.  Cook tossing continuously with a spatula or wooden paddle, until the peppers are tender.  Add 2 green onions, the peanuts and the sesame seeds, then mix in the peanut sauce (give it a stir first if it begins to separate).  Once the noodles are coated in the sauce remove from the heat.

 

Serve hot or cold, with a pinch of green onions over the top.

 

Justina Walls

6/1/2014