Vegan MoFo Day 29: Cookbook Review!

I've been wanting to write up a review for Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson for a while now, and just haven't gotten around to it. I got this cookbook last summer and have been using it like crazy ever since. I have been a huge fan of Robertson's cookbooks for a while. They're just full of really practical, delicious, recipes that you actually want to make! I'm not going to name names, but I've bought a few that sounded good and flipped through them and gone "Damn, I wish I hadn't ordered this. I wouldn't make a thing in here!" Not so with Robertson's books. I think I own at least 5 of them now, and they're all well stained with cooking love.

Vegan on the Cheap is great, not only because the recipes are cheap, but they're also EASY, and they contain normal ingredients you can easily find, and most of them come together pretty quickly! What more could a busy girl ask for? Some of my favorite recipes so far are....

Wheatballs!

The page for the Wheatball recipe is really easy to find in my book because it's stuck to the next page. I've made them that often. The recipe contains chickpeas and VWG and thus is similar to a Chickpea Cutlet, which I made into meatballs in some earlier blog entry, except unlike chickpea cutlets, it also contains MUSHROOMS!! This addition lends an additional meaty flavor to the balls. Above they are featured in Spaghetti O's. They also work well in Spaghetti and Wheatballs, Italian Wedding Soup, and Swedish Wheatballs.

Another favorite recipe of mine is Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cashews and Kidney Beans.
Now I am not one to go for salads for meals. This one drew me in, however, because sweet potatoes and I are best friends (recently I saw some research indicating that women who consume sweet potatoes around the time they conceive are more likely to conceive twins. This terrifies me. I love sweet potatoes, and do not want twins!). On top of the lovely roasted sweet potatoes, this recipe contains MORE of my favorite things -- cashews, peas, and kidney beans! What could be bad? Nothing, that's what. In this picture there's also some fresh corn in the salad because I had an ear of corn I needed to use up in the fridge. A very welcome addition! My only recommendation for this particular recipe is to double the amount of romaine (and thus dressing) the recipe calls for, because the first time we made it there didn't seem to be enough lettuce to "other stuff."

The Thai-Style Pineapple Rice Salad is also great, either hot or cold. I love the addition of fruit to a savory dish! I've made the Penne-Wise Peanutty Pasta for guests and it was a hit all around! Even having accidentally added (unsweetened) vanilla almond milk instead of original flavor, it was still delicious! Looking for an interesting way to use garden veggies? Try the Vegetable Crisp. I made this over the summer when I had an abundance of Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Eggplants. Anything with a crisp top goes over well around here!!

Penne-Wise Peanutty Pasta

One dish I made recently that went over VERY well in our house was the Walnut Crusted Tofu with Spinach and Orange. I got a big scowl the night I said I was serving this for dinner... until the boy took a bite. He was sold. He ate two giant plates of tofu topped with Spinach and Oranges with a side of roasted sweet potato slices. It really is delicious. The walnuts and panko make a crispy and rich crust covering a creamy and tangy mustard sauce, which makes the crust stick. The oranges and spinach went very well together and really lightened up the tofu. One change I made was using a full pound of fresh baby spinach leaves instead of 8 oz, and I'm glad I did because maybe I just like piling on my spinach, but we went through the entire pound and probably could have eaten more. Of course Spinach does cook down to nearly nothing.

Are you sold yet? Order it off of Amazon! Only $11.13 -- it's a Vegan COOKBOOK on the Cheap too!!