In her newest effort, Hassan (125 Best Cupcakes) offers a cookbook that will be a boon to vegan cooks who crave diner-style food like crispy banana-cinnamon waffles, beer-battered onion rings, sloppy joes, pot roast, and pineapple coconut cream pie. Desserts and baked goods rely heavily on soy or almond milk, vegan margarine, and flaxseed meal. Main "meat" dishes like smoky seitan roast (which can be sliced and used to make sandwiches) depend upon more hardcore vegan ingredients like vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast flakes, chickpea flour, and TVP (textured vegetable protein). One of the more intriguing recipes is for Barbecued Ribz, essentially a dough that is baked in the oven, scored into strips, slathered in homemade barbecue sauce, and grilled. Hassan includes a glossary of vegan ingredients in the front, a list of online resources in the back, and lots of food photos and diner images (salt and pepper shakers, booths, barstools) throughout. This is a book for the committed and adventurous vegan cook; it's inspiring and fun. (May)
Kim Barnouin, co-author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, Skinny Bitch
VEGAN DINER is one of those cookbooks that inspires you to cook. The recipes are accessible and mouth-watering, and will definitely bring out the foodie in those who read it. It brings vegan cuisine to a whole new level!
Dynise Balcavage, author of The Urban Vegan
Nothing could be finer than eating at Julie's diner! Her animal-free, diner-inspired dishes elevate diner chow from trashy to classy, and the recipes are so easy that you'll make them again and again. Only thing that's missing is a big-haired waitress who calls you 'Hon.’
Nava Atlas, author of Vegan Express
From hearty breakfasts to swoon-worthy desserts, VEGAN DINER proves that even the coziest of comfort foods can be re-created in fantastic plant-based versions. So enjoy a classic Blue Plate Special or Barbecued Ribz, washed down with a malted and topped off with a banana pudding pie. These fun, guilt-free retro recipes are as good for you as they are kind to the planet.
Mark Reinfeld, co-author of The 30-Minute Vegan
Incredible decadence and down-home vegan goodness! Julie has created a masterpiece of healthy comfort food.
Celine Steen, co-author of 500 Vegan Recipes
Follow the foolproof directions in Julie's snazzy and impeccable latest work that includes creative and mouthwatering dishes, such as My Big Fat Greek Scramble and Vampire Fries, and turn your kitchen into the only diner of the neighborhood that is sure to leave no taste bud unsatisfied, while keeping all animals safe and happy.
Bryanna Clark Grogan, author of Nonna’s Italian Kitchen
I am so delighted with Julie’s new book! Not only does it look wonderful, with delectable color photos of many of the recipes, and stylishly retro diner scenes, but the content is a perfect combo of familiar and original. You’ll find old favorites like All-American Beer-Battered Onions, Ooey-Gooey Brownies, and Biscuits with Creamy Sage Gravy alongside Spelt Chai Pancakes, Vampire Fries, and Philly Seitan Sliders, to name but a very few must-make recipes in this book.
Fran Costigan, author of More Great Good Dairy-free Desserts Naturally
VEGAN DINER is packed with inspired veganized versions of classic diner foods, and then some! Novice, vegan or omnivore, all are sure to enjoy Julie Hasson’s clear, creative recipes that will take you from breakfast waffles to gooey brownies and everything in between.
Kirkus Review, 3/15/11
A former meat-lover puts a vegan twist on the diner experience.
A Portland-based cookbook author and online food-show producer (The Complete Book of Pies, 2008, “Everyday Dish”) recalls her love of the distinctive comfort food she enjoyed as a child “squished into slippery Naugahyde booths” in neighborhood diners. Unwilling to sacrifice those indulgent diner specialties after converting to veganism, Hasson began a series of “recipe veganizations” hoping to recapture their essence without compromising food ethics. The result is 116 recipes featuring vegan substitutions like agave nectar for sugar in Cinnamon Orange Rolls and Rough Rider Barbecue Sauce, and the hearty meat-replacement seitan (processed wheat gluten) swapping out for beef in Philly Sliders and Not Your Mama’s Pot Roast with Roasted Vegetables. Six sections run the gamut from bread-heavy breakfast recipes to particularly tempting main courses like nutritious burger and cutlet variations that incorporate quinoa grains, mushrooms, cashews and panko breadcrumbs. Dessert ideas include flaxseed cookies and soymilk brownie, pudding and pie variations. A minor misstep is a meatless Quick and Hearty Chili concoction that doesn’t quite translate from accompanying photograph to recipe. For home chefs new to the vegan revolution, Hasson offers two explanatory indexes: “Vegan Pantry” takes the guesswork out of many key (and possibly unfamiliar) recipe ingredients, and “Special Equipment,” a less-essential but still beneficial kitchen resource.
Even meat-lovers may find some tempting, healthful substitutions in this worthwhile homage to the diner-dedicated vegan.
Publishers Weekly, 4/4/11
“ …a boon to vegan cooks who crave diner-style food… This is a book for the committed and adventurous vegan cook; it’s inspiring and fun.”
Oregonian, 4/4/11
"The recipes and beautiful photos make this a good starting point for people curious about trying more plant-based food, and the list of vegan pantry essentials does a good job explaining unusual ingredients.”
Outblush.com, 4/3/11
“The ultimate in cruelty-free comfort food.”
Library Journal, 5/13/11
"Hasson (125 Best Cupcake Recipes) writes that many students in her cooking classes don’t want to give up their favorite foods. To counter that excuse, she here includes many favorite American dishes as vegan delicacies. She first lists vegan pantry items (such as agar powder, egg replacer, and tofu) and special equipment (blender, metal measuring cups, and whisk). While this book doesn’t include nutritional information, it’s a fun vegan cookbook—featuring, e.g., Mocha Muffins, Diner Donuts, Vampire Fries, Mushroom Burgers, and Ooey-Gooey Brownies. Sure to add some variety to weeknight meals. "
Rapid Growth, 5/19/11
"It is a cookbook that has captured not only my imagination, but also my appetite… This book's premise is simple. Rather than be told that to be vegan you must be willing to live your life on an endless diet of peanut butter sandwiches and microwave bean burritos, this Portland author and producer of the online cooking program "Everyday Dish" has created the definitive guide to recreating those dishes you thought you could never indulge in again..."Vegan Diner" breaks down those walls with not only easy-to-follow recipes of ingredients found in most cooks' kitchens, but creates those menu items with visually stunning results… This is probably the first vegan cookbook to come out that not only speaks to many who are asking for options, but "Vegan Diner" is sure to satisfy the hunger in those seeking an alternative to the 'we have a salad' reply."
Hungry Vegan blog 10/11/11
“… you'll think you've died and gone to vegan diner heaven! The book is sprinkled with gorgeous food photos to whet your appetite and vintage diner shots that will put you in the perfect mood to plan your diner-style meal!”
Delicious Living Magazine
“If you know someone who has considered going vegan but can’t bear giving up creamy, gravy-laden favorites, hand them this fun-loving book… I love the easy-to-read, retro-color fonts and forget-the-diet photos.”
Ethical holiday gift guide at Pomp & Circumstance
“This cookbook, by Julie Hasson, is just what you’d expect; diner staples done cruelty-free and healthfully, when possible. From my experience with the recipes so far, I’m smitten. . I tell you, once someone begins experimenting with these recipes, friends will be jonesing to visit their house after hours rather than the ordinary neighborhood haunt. If you enjoy diner style food, which, if it’s vegan I do, too, this cookbook is a kitchen essential.”
Post Punk Kitchen, theppk.com
“Julie knows her way around vegan meats, that’s for sure. Definitely run out and buy Vegan Diner for its beautifully styled photos and amazing recipes.”
