Rating: - Transcendental Tofu
Not all vegans are tree hugging transcendental meditators living in a hippie commune and spending all their time making tye-dye hemp t-shirts. But that's the impression you get from this cook book!
These recipes are actually in there:
Transcendental Tofu
The Good Shepherd Pie
Nirvana's Nori Roll
Holy Hummus Wrap
Jai to the Most High Sunflower Seed Dip
Yes! Seriously!
It's all a bit too spiritualist for my liking. And recipes call for "filtered water" instead of plain old "water". Which brings me onto my next point. If you live somewhere where you can get access to crazy hippie ingredients - great! :) If not, try a different cook book. Almost every recipe calls for one or more of the following ingredients: tempeh, shoyu (what's wrong with regular soy sauce???), nutritional yeast, sucanat, spelt flour and of course tofu. Many call for stuff that's even harder to get hold of. Fine when I'm in England, but a big problem when I go home to Gibraltar. And why does it call for minced garlic rather than the real stuff?
Oh, and it's an American cookbook, so you'd better be used to "eggplant", "cilantro", "zuccini" and American measures.
Well, despite those annoyances, there are some pretty good recipes in here. Overall though, not my favourite vegan cook book. Try something by Rose Elliot, or maybe "vegan with a vengeance" (which incidentally goes with a very good TV show called "The Post Punk Kitchen" - look it up online.
So, overall, it's ok, but not the best and can be rather annoying at times too.
Rating: - Exquisite Vegan food
Whilst on location visiting Hawaii, I came across this beautiful restaurant. The food was so delicious, I wondered if they had created a cookbook of all their recipes. I noticed at the counter that indeed they did. The recipes are the most inspirational I have ever found. This cookbook is truly revolutionary in its layout, offering beautiful photos of sacred sites worldwide, along with the most balanced recipes I have ever found - a delightful balance of fresh herbs in most recipes. It is a balance I have found in no other cookbook, and I eagerly await their second cookbook, which apparently is in creation right now.