Tofu, setian, tempeh, tofu, seitan, tempeh.... it seems like so many vegans rely on these products as meat substitutes. Isn't it time to break out of the mold? Taking a fresh, bold, and alternative approach to vegan cooking without the substitutes, Dino Sarma brings you over 100 fully vegan recipes, many of which draw from his South Asian roots. Sharing his jazz-style approach to cooking, Dino also discusses how you can improvise in your own cooking with simple ingredients and how you can stock your kitchen to prepare simple and delicious vegan meals quickly. Whether you love tofu, seitan, and tempeh or hate it, Alternative Vegan shows you how to let the favor shine through by cooking simply with fresh ingredients. One pot meals, and big salads; basic broccolo, demonic mushrooms and Asian roasted potatoes; international dishes such as Pakoras, Flautas, Bajji, and Kashmiri Biriyani; simple snacks and appetizers like hummus canapes and no-cheese pizzas; drinks and desserts using fresh fruits: pomegranate and wine slushy, poached pears in mulled wine, jackfruit granite....and a whole lot more!
From a young age, I've been around lots of people, with my mother and father at the helm, keeping things that way! My father is a priest (among other things), and my mother is the matriarch of my family. Under her creative hand, I learned how to combine food together in interesting and simple ways that keep people coming back for more. When she was younger, she would go all out and make elaborate dishes, involving long ingredients lists, and complex preparations. As she gets older, however, she uses the wisdom of her years to simplify her cooking, and make it just as delicious.
Suffice it to say that I learned from her well. You can usually find me talking with or to someone, somewhere. If it isn't my coworkers, it'll be my friends or family. Sometimes, it's that random stranger who's stuck in the same situation (such as waiting in a queue for something, or stuck at a very hot bus stop), who can commiserate with me. When I'm not talking with someone, I'm doing that good old fashioned introspection thing. Both are fine by me, and I enjoy both at different times.
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