Customer Reviews

The Tropical Vegan Kitchen: Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Dishes from the Tropics

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this book, as well as Donna Klein's other books, "Vegan Italiano" and "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen." My son is allergic to dairy, soy, eggs, and beef, and we try not to eat too much meat, so these books have been great! "The Tropical Vegan Kitchen" does have some recipes with soy in them because it includes the tropical regions of Asia, but there are also plenty of soy-free recipes as well. So many vegan cookbooks just tell you how to use soy to pretend you are eating meat. Klein's books have real recipes that are healthy, tasty, easy to make and use ingredients you already have if you frequent the produce section or farmer's market.

This cookbook contains many great recipes! So far, I've tried Caribbean-Style Potato Vegetable Curry, Thai Pumpkin Curry (yes, I like curry), and African Beans and Potatoes. All three recipes were easy to follow and turned out great. Nutritional information appears at the end of each recipe. For uncommon ingredients, Klein suggests where you might find them, although I haven't had to go out of my way yet. One thing I find odd, though, is there are only 225 recipes - this book is a bit thin, and there isn't as much variety as you'd think there could be. For Klein's Mediterranean recipe book, for which she had fewer countries to work with, she came up with over 300 recipes. Pages 10-12 of the "Tropical Vegan Kitchen" list around 100 tropical countries, yet they merit 25% fewer recipes than her other regional cookbook. I wish there were more recipes here, or at least fewer Thai recipes (the most common country of origin in this book), which would have left more room for recipes from Haiti, Borneo, or Suriname.

I am not a vegan but I simply love this book! I do, actually, live in the tropics so the ingredients are fresh and readily available. Either way, however, I feel that she does not use extravagant ingredients as I have found in other vegetarian/vegan cookbooks. Even if you do not live in this climate, you can find all of these ingredients in most grocery stores.

The recipes are simple and tasty. I sometimes do change a few of the recipes or add a bit more to them but this is more personal preference than a necessity.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to add a bit more spunk to their daily diet. If you like tropical fruit, trying new things and a variety of cuisines..then you will enjoy this book.

I am an avid meat eater and I LOVE this cookbook. I know how to cook a steak or make a burger, I don't need a cookbook for that. What I look for in a recipe is that 3-5 ingredient combination that defines the dish and is oh so tasty, this cookbook hits a bulls eye EVERYTIME. So far I have made about a dozen recipes and they have all become favorites. I have had a few good cookbooks come through my kitchen in the past but this one is by far the most consistent in it's ability to deliver.

I have two other cookbooks by Donna Klein, The Mediterranean Vegan, and the Vegan Italiano, and I love them all. [[ASIN:1557883599 The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen]; [[ASIN:1557884943 Vegan Italiano: Meat-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free Dishes from Sun-Drenched Italy]. She never ceases to amaze me with her wonderful, easy, authentic collection of recipes from around the world. The recipes are basic recipes of everyday foods, but with a spin on them. Ingredients which are native to countries within and around the tropics have been added. They include countries, regions, and islands such as Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East and the Florida Keys. These ingredients are easy to find in big chain grocery stores, whole food markets or specialty stores. If you love fruit in your food, then this book is for you because most of the recipes contain a form of fruit, i.e. fruit juice, chunks, slices, or coconut milk, etc. I am not that big of a fan on fruit or coconut in my foods, I prefer to eat them separately, but hey this is still a good book because some recipes, a few, don't contain fruit at all.

I received this cookbook for Christmas and it is amazing! The thai red curry recipe is the best ever! Fastly becoming my favorite cookbook.
Give it a try, your family will thank you.

I really love Donna Klein! Her books are just so fantastic! And Tropical Vegan Kitchen is my favorite cookbook of her collection! This cookbook is like a little sunshine in our lifes! From the about 25 recipes I make in this book, my favorites are (but they are all excellents, naturally) : Avocado-Mango Crostini, Philippine-Style Eggplant in Coconut Cream over Rice, Island Bean Burgers with Caribbean-Style Creole Sauce, Thai Sweet Potato Curry, Cambodian-Style Hot-and-Sour Eggplant (soooo nice) and Hawaiian Mango-Nut Sweet Bread.
Miam Miam

So far I've only made one recipe, the Thai Pumpkin Soup, but it was worth the price of the book. Wonderful layered flavors.

This is my favorite cookbook, which is saying something because I own several cookbooks that I will rescue in case of fire. I have made many of these dishes for my parents and coworkers, none of whom are vegan or even vegetarian and all of whom have asked for the recipes or requested I make the dish again. My 7-year-old daughter loves the recipes, as well. Nothing too complicated here, so she can even help make them. The author also provides the nutritional information of each recipe, which is very helpful for those of us monitoring certain dietary intakes.

If you're looking for delicious, easy to prepare recipes, you should definitely get this cookbook.

I like the wide variety of recipes that this cook book offers. They are relatively easy and time efficient. I loved the pomegranite-lentil-raison stew.