Customer Reviews

V Cuisine

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Angeline Linardis is a vegan chef and food educator who wants to make vegan cooking accessible and appealing to everyone. Her debut cookbook "V Cuisine" isn't just for vegans, it's for anyone wanting innovative, healthy, and - most of all - delicious meals.

The book is divided up into lots of short sections featuring either a particular ingredient - like Terrifying Tofu, Potato Oasis, and Pasta Perfection; or a meal - Anytime Appetizers, Breakfast Bites, and Modern Mains; or a dish - The Scoop on Soups, Sexy Salads, or Courageous Curries. You can tell by the chapter names, this is not a stuffy cookbook.

The recipes are fun and innovative. I particularly liked the section of Life of the Party Fare. I can't wait to invite some people over to try the Black Bean Tomato Poppers - cherry tomatoes stuffed with a black bean puree, Hot Broccoli Dip to Go Crazy Over made with white beans, and the Wild Rounds - cucumber stuffed with a florescent-colored beet and carrot puree.

The dishes I tried were the Cream of Broccoli Dream - a yummy soup made with potatoes and soymilk and the Powerhouse Chili that my husband swooned over. My favorite entrée was the Creative Cauliflower Curry with Chickpeas made with an assortment of spices like whole cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, cloves and star anise. The Easy Blueberry Muffins lived up to their name because my 8-year-old daughter was able to make them with barely any help from me. I also made the Tofu Carob Brownies which were very moist but perhaps could have been a little fudgier. Next time, I'll add some chocolate chips.

Besides the great recipes, Linardis begins each section with an interesting and informative introduction which might contain a personal story, health information, cooking tips or all of the above. With the tempting pictures and great writing, this book is as fun to read as to cook from. This is definitely a book for anyone who is looking for creative and original recipes.

Review as seen on www.vegfamily.com by Cathe Olson

I bought this book hoping for some new creative ways to spice up my vegan cooking. I have been disappointed after cooking about 10 of the recipes. Out of those 10 I would only use 1. I feel the biggest problem with the recipes are the amounts of spices used and in some cases the choice of spice. One pasta sauce recipe calls for 2 tsp of saffron. Before I added the saffron the sauce tasted great, as soon as the saffron was added it gave it took over completely and changed molding flavors. Saffron is generally only a pinch. In general I found the recipes either bland or too spice heavy. A curry recipe goes overboard on the spice and leaves the food tasting too strong using cardomon pods, whole clover, star of anise, and whole fennel. This was also hard for the guests who had to fish for these various spices so as to not accidentley bite into a cardamon pod or clover. I think there are some great ideas here just poor choices in spice usage.

4/24/2008

V CUISINE
The Art of New Vegan Cooking

By Angeline Linardis

A review by Marty Martindale

(pix of jacket here)

"Do you like to be jazzed? Are you a bit of a rebel? V Cuisine is for vegans, vegetarians and anyone seeking fresh flavors, colors, textures and fun. Never boring, rarely fattening and packing a big nutritional boost, V Cuisine is the evolution of the best of vegan food and cooking." This is Angeline Linardis' opening to her introduction and a warm challenge, indeed, to try new foods in ever-new combinations.

For our health and pocketbook these days, we all need to eat less meat, and these delightfully fresh recipes fill the bill on both these fronts. The old mandate of eating meat every day is simply not in our best interests these days.

OUT OF THIS WORLD ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP
For this, assemble olive oil, garlic, onions, red pepper, a tomato, zucchini, cauliflower, basil, oregano, nutmeg and unsweetened soy milk

BLAZING SUNSET ORANGE GINGER BROTH
This is onions, chopped ginger, orange juice, soy milk, orange zest and green onions

CARROT-LEMON ZINGER
Simply carrots, lemon, olive oil and chopped green herbs

INFINITY DRESSING
Olive oil, soy sauce, cider vinegar and honey

SUPER FAUX CAESAR DRESSING
Olive oil,white vinegar, flaxseeds, garlic and seasoning

NEW POTATOES IN ALMOND CREAM
Olive oil, onion, garlic, blanched almonds, onion powder, lemon juice, parsley, Italian seasoning and slivered almonds

FRESH TOMATO ONION CHUTNEY
Tomatoes, onion, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar

TO DIE FOR PEAS
Frozen peas, olive oil, onion, garlic and Italian seasoning

BLACK BEAUTY BEANS WITH SPICY GREEN OLIVES
Canned black beans, manzanilla olives, fresh roasted red peppers, parsley, green onions, onion powder, paprika, basil, rosemary, red papper flakes and olive oil

WILD RICE WITH SPINACH AND LUCIOUS LEMON CREAM
Cooked wild rice, carrot, celery, green onions, olive oil, flour, lemon juice, unsweetened soy milk, lemon zest, saffron, onion powder, sunflower seeds, grape tomatoesk, raw spinach and seasoning

SPECIAL RAPINI (BROCCOLI RABE) PAELLA
Onion, garlic, olive oil, rapini, red pepper, cooked brown/basmati rice and soy sauce

HOT BROCCOLI DIP TO GO CRAZY OVER
Canned cannelloni beans, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, green onions, parsley, broccoli, sage, dill and paprika

BLACK BEAN TOMTO POPPERS
Canned black beans, garlic, onion, parsley, celery, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin and cherry tomatoes

BARLEY BALLS
Cooked barley, garlic, onion, onion powder, Dijon mustard, light miso, soy sauce, ground cumin, wheat germ and red pepper flakes

SUPREME SPINACH PESTO
Olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, green onions, pine nuts, parsley, fresh spinach and basil leaves

ROASTED TOMATO CHUTNEY
Cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic, mango, jalapeno peppers, parsley, olive oil, cumin, curry powder, tarragon and hot sauce

TOFU CAROB BROWNIES
Medium tofu, vanilla, cinnamon, olive oil, walnuts, carob powder, whole wheat flour, baking soda, icing sugar, vanilla ice cream and soy milk

COCOA MEXICANA
Carob powder, brown sugar, soy milk, cayenne pepper, cinnamon sticks, ground clove or nutmeg and ice cream

Visit the book's website: VCUISINE
Marty Martindale's website: FOOD SITE OF THE DAY