Mar 23, 2017

"veganize it! + giveaway

I'm back for the third week in a row, and with another cookbook review. It seems that more than flowers are sprouting up for spring.

This new book is from Robin Robertson - another in the "win" pile! This is called Veganize It! Easy DIY Recipes for a Plant-Based Kitchen (AMAZON, B&N).



As always, Robin is very thorough and imparts tons of information in this newest volume. As the title indicates, this book turns non-vegan ingredients and recipes into delicious vegan ones! Robin starts with a pantry list then moves into ingredients to know and also shares a few basic tips and tricks. Then come the recipes!

The chapters range from DIY Dairy-Free and Egg-Free, Too, and Plant-Based Meats to Vegan Charcuterie and Instead of Seafood, to list a few.

I decided to test the book thoroughly and make as many of the ingredients at home as was called for in the recipes - because although Robin gives you basic recipes to veganize, she also assembles those recipes into a dish.

For my first main recipe I chose to make Cheesy Sausage Biscuits because I figured it would make a wonderful breakfast dish with some tofu scramble. This recipe includes DIY ingredients such as vegan butter, Maple Breakfast Sausage, nondairy milk and vegan sour cream. Although all of these recipes are in the book you can certainly use store-bought ingredients when you like. I decided to make the sour cream and the sausage:


The sausage was easy and quick to make and it was as promised: delicious.

The sour cream was just as easy to prepare and just as tasty. I used the remaining sour cream to make a salsa-ranch dressing. Yum!


When you add all these ingredients together, it makes this cheesy, sausage-y, fluffy and buttery biscuit. We all really enjoyed these! In fact, the biggest problem was that I didn't make enough!


The next main recipe I wanted to make was Cheesy Steak-Out Sandwiches. This recipe needs Vegan Worcestershire Sauce, Cheddary Sauce and either portobellos or seitan. I chose to make Baked Seitan Roast because I have a mushroom hater in the family.


I am a seitan lover and this simple roast was wonderful, especially in this sandwich.  I also made the Cheddary Sauce, which was equally amazing and brought this sandwich up another level.


Wrap all these scrumptious ingredients into a freshly baked roll and you have this perfect sandwich! If you are wondering if mushrooms would do this justice, I can assure you that it would!


This book is definitely an asset to your collection - or the beginning of your collection of cookbooks! It is unique and varied enough that the book is worth its price in gold. It has recipes such as scrapple, hot dogs, wellington, ribs, omelets, feta, butter, jerky, pepperoni, sea scallops, fish-free fillets, oyster sauce, kimchi, pasta, ganache, and the list goes on!

Robin has offered to share a recipe with you and since I focused so much on seitan for my review, I wanted to show you some more range and am sharing Robin's Clam Free Chowder.

After the recipe, be sure to enter the contest to win Veganize It! from Robin and her publisher. It's easy to enter - leave a comment (and be sure I can contact you, should you win!) Contest is open to US residents only and will conclude April 3, 2017. Good luck!

Photo by William and Susan Brinson.






Text excerpted from VEGANIZE IT! © 2017 by Robin Robertson. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Photo by William and Susan Brinson.

CLAM-FREE CHOWDER

Oyster mushrooms star in this vegan interpretation of New England clam chowder made with diced potatoes, onion, and celery with a creamy, cashew-based broth. If oyster mushrooms are unavailable, substitute white button mushrooms, chanterelles, or a combination of both.

SERVES 4

2 tablespoons vegan butter
8 ounces oyster mushrooms, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 celery rib, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dulse or nori flakes
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
½ cup raw cashews, soaked in hot water for 1 hour, then drained
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1 Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the same pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until softened. Stir in the potatoes, bay leaves, dulse, thyme, Old Bay, salt, pepper, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and then decrease the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender. Remove the bay leaves and stir in the liquid smoke.

2 While the soup is simmering, blend the cashews and 1 cup of the almond milk in a high-speed blender until smooth. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the cashew mixture and the remaining 1 cup almond milk. Stir in the reserved mushrooms and heat the soup for a minute or two until hot. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Serve hot, garnished with the parsley.


44 comments:

  1. I would love to win this cookbook. It has so many tasty recipes!

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  2. Pick me! Would love to try the biscuits!

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  3. Robin's recipes are the best! Please enter me in your giveaway!

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  4. I have several of Robin's cookbooks, and this sounds like it would be a great addition to my collection.

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  5. Oh my - those biscuits! Looks like Robin wrote another great cookbook!

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  6. Love Robin Robertson. Vegan Planet was one of the very first vegan cookbooks I bought. Would love to add this to my collection

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  7. OMG, my mouth is watering, I really would love this cookbook, want to make baked seitan roast. My almost 8 year would love to find that sandwich in his school lunch box!

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  8. Would love to win! Thank you

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  9. That sounds yummalicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'd love to enter the contest and see the other recipes in her book!! Snehasrao@gmail.com

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  10. I will work hard to be worthy of winning this book. mark.writer@gmail.com Thank you!

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  11. Ooh, looking good! :) The biscuit looks like something my fiance would go for, and he's not a vegan.

    My email address is theautumndandelion@gmail.com

    Thanks!

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  12. It's my birthday this weekend and this would be a great gift!!! troubletribs@hotmail.com

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  13. *insert heart-eyed emoji* I've been eyeing this marvelous book for months now and from what I've gathered it seems nothing short of spectacular and indispensable, and I feel that it's probably, like, THE ideal resource for proving to non-vegans that eating plants is everything but boring or restrictive, and that one absolutely does not need to "miss out". So all in all I'd be overjoyed if I was to win , especially as it would mean that I could make the recipes for others too and try to get them to eat more friendly food :)))
    piaapiaaa@aim.com

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  14. I am so intrigued by the cheezy biscuits. I would love to win this book!

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  15. WOW. Both of these recipes are totally fool-worthy, and I'd love to give them a whack in our kitchen! Thanks for the recommendation -- CHEERS.

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  16. Another great book! Another great review of the book! Another terrific vegan recipe! And Another AWESOME chance to win! I always love hearing about new and new-to-me vegan cookbooks! I would LOVE to win this because I enjoy veganizing anything I can. I'm on a kick of making vegan sour creams at the moment. I have never made my own Seitan! Sounds interesting!!!!

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  17. Love her books - have three of them! Can't wait to try the recipes in this one. I know they're going to be great! vlmarvin70@gmail.com

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  18. This looks great!! @stephr669 on twitter

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  19. Your review and the photos you posted makes me want this book!!!

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  20. All of these look amazing and I cannot wait to try the Chowder. I would love to add this new cookbook to my collection. Thank you for the opportunity to win it.

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  21. I love Robin's recipes, they're so easy & versatile, especially for a weeknight. That sandwich looks delicious and the soup absolutely lush!

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  22. These recipes look amazing - another book that needs to be added to my collection.

    she_devil_biker@yahoo.ca

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  23. What a beautiful cookbook. Thank you for the chance to win it. :)
    aimeesavon@hotmail.com

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  24. Looks like an excellent book. Thank you for the giveaway!

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  25. My favorite vegan recipe is Vegan Jambalaya! I'd love this book for new ideas.
    Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net

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  26. I'd love to use more plant-based recipes. I noticed that I'm not getting enough veggies into my diet.

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  27. I would be so thrilled to win this! I am hoping to go vegan this year and I would love this cookbook for my growing collection!

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  28. I love Robin's books. Vegan Planet was one of the first vegan cookbooks I owned, even before I was actually vegan!

    gaia at cinci dot rr dot com

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  29. I've got a few of Robin's books and I'm looking forward to this one. Those biscuits look amazing. (vegchic at gmail)

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    1. Jody, you are the winner of the book! I'll be emailing you in a bit. Congratulations!

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  30. Yum! Just found out about this book the other day from another blog. Looks pretty awesome!

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  31. I really MUST try this! And the best part is that my (rural) local store has oyster mushrooms! karengdelaney {at} yahoo /dot/ com

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  32. Robin's new book sounds like the ideal addition for when you just aren't sure what ingredients would work together. As a newer vegan I would love to have her book it sounds delicious and very helpful. Thank you.
    Fowler317@hotmail.com

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  33. I just borrowed this book from our local library, and there are so many recipes I would like to try. It would be great to have my own copy. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  34. Looks interesting and full of comfort foods. Not a fan of mushrooms but looks like might be able to substitute. Wonder if there are any substitutions for cashews as have a family member allergic to cashews, and mangoes but can eat other nuts and fruits.

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  35. I was wondering if you used your low temperature baking method for the seitan roast or if you followed the baking method from the book (oven or slow cooker)? Thank you!

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    1. Hi Terry,

      I didn't. I will usually try to make recipes the first time as written in the book. It did come out with a bit of seitan flavor but because I was using it with a bunch of other strong flavors I decided that even if it did come out less than perfect it would be okay in the sandwich. If you are thinking of baking it low, then I recommend 275F and about double the time from 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. You can test it at 1 1/4 hours by pressing on it - if it feels soft it needs the extra 15 minutes, if it is firm it is good. That seems to be my rule of thumb - 275F and the time doubled.

      Zsu

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    2. And I just noticed the date of your comment! Yikes! I'm so sorry this slipped through the cracks - I've been focused so much on school that I missed this!

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    3. Hi Zsu,

      No worries at all. Thank you so much for your response. I will definitely try baking it at low temperature and see how it comes out.

      Terry

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    4. I'd love to know how it goes for you.

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    5. I made it this morning. It is the best seitan I have ever made. No "seitan" gluten taste nor after-taste. The original recipe required that I put the seitan roast in the oven a second time but I didn't. I just baked it at 280F for 1 1/2 hours (my Breville oven doesn't have a 275 setting).

      Thank you Zsu for sharing your baking method. :)

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    6. That sounds perfect! Just the way I like seitan. It was my pleasure to share, and I'm very happy it worked well. I'll add the note to my copy of the book. Thanks, Terry!

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Thanks for your comment! I'll check if it's spam and post if it is not. I appreciate your time and effort for commenting! ~ Zsu