Customer Reviews

Vegan Planet: 400 Irresistible Recipes With Fantastic Flavors from Home and Around the World (Non)

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book makes an excellent gift for someone just starting to explore the vegetarian lifestyle. Surprisingly, it is also an excellent resource for the tried-and-true vegan.

For those just familiarizing themselves with the vegan diet, the author explains all potentially new terminology and describes common ingredients used in vegan food preparation: tofu, seitan, and miso for instance. For the most part, his recipes use readily-accessible ingredients, available in most supermarkets. In the rare cases where exotic ingredients are called for, the appendix lists mail-order sources for those who may not live near a natural food store.

The book starts with an excellent first chapter on nutrition. The author notes that a vegan diet provides all essential nutrients, though without proper supplementation it can be deficient in vitamin B12. This deficiency is often considered by those reluctant to switch to a vegetarian diet as the "Achilles Heel" of a vegan diet. In fact, having just one easily-remedied deficiency makes the standard non-vegan diet look pretty awful in comparison. While a standard dairy-and-meat-based diet may not be deficient in vitamin B12, it is certainly problematic in its propensity to cause heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, and a wide range of other serious illnesses. In fact, as the author points out, a comprehensive set of long-term studies on diet and health done at Cornell University indicates that 80 to 90 percent of all cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other forms of degenerative illness are directly linked to the consumption of meat and dairy products. Talk about an Achilles Heel!

Interspersed between the recipes in this book are lots of hidden gems including lists of 10 environmental reasons to go vegan, 12 really great health reasons to go vegan, 7 great reasons to eat soy every day, and 9 compelling ethical reasons to go vegan. The author provides useful kitchen tips, such as stove-top cooking times for 15 kinds of grains and for 13 different beans. Nutritional profiles are provided for many foods, including the vitamin, mineral, and fatty acid content of 16 different nuts and seeds and 10 different kinds of sea vegetables.

For those interested in switching away from use of white sugar, the author introduces the alternative natural sweetener called stevia. He also provides guidelines for using maple syrup in place of white sugar in baking (indicating how to reduce the liquid in your recipe when you use a liquid sweetener instead of sugar). Furthermore, the author explains how to bake using egg alternatives.

Gosh, I haven't even mentioned the recipes themselves yet! The collection of tempting tasties covers the whole spectrum from A (Adzuki beans) to Z (Zucchini). 20 chapters of recipes provide great ideas for tasty chutneys, gnocchi, curries, pizzas, burgers, pancakes, "cheesecake", and so much more. This is the most comprehensive vegetarian cookbook I've ever come across.

This book is a great addition to any library of cookbooks, helpful to vegetarians and soon-to-be vegetarians alike. (Even meat-eaters won't feel deprived by the very creative recipes in this book.) I can't resist giving Vegan Planet my highest recommendation.

I'd been a long-time lacto-vegetarian and recently decided to take the plunge and cut out the dairy as well, and in doing so, decided that I needed to find some new cookbooks to go along with this lifestyle change. Though many of my vegetarian cookbooks offer some vegan recipes as well as some vegan alternatives for non-vegan recipes, I was still finding that I didn't have much to draw from. Not every vegetarian recipe can be easily substituted for, and not all vegan substitutions come out tasting all that great. After hours spent at bookstores sifting through vegan cookbooks and asking myself "how many of the recipes from each will I actually, truly try making?" I settled upon Vegan Planet, and I'm quite glad that I did.

I love that this book is more than mere recipes. For example, the whole first chapter is called "Vegan Basics" and includes several worthwhile informational tidbits. Robertson includes descriptions of differences between each of the various meat alternatives, such as seitan, TVP, and tempeh, and various ways to buy and cook each. Also included in this first chapter are sections on stocking the vegan pantry with a list of staples every vegan should have in their kitchen, a section on what it means to buy organic, and a section on how to avoid hidden animal products. Robertson also addresses vegan health concerns such as making sure you're getting enough protein, and the infamous vitamin B12 issue.

As for the recipes themselves, with 400 recipes to choose from I'm sure everyone could easily find dishes they enjoy in this weighty tome. Some recipes I would recommend are the Udon Noodles in Shiitake-Ginger Broth, the Tofu and Vegetable Lo Mein, the Yuba-Wrapped Seitan and Vegetable Rolls, as well as the various pizza recipes. Most do not require any hard-to-find ingredients, and many do not require an excessive amount of time in the kitchen to prepare, making this a great cookbook for those with busy lifestyles (though I would recommend a food processor to cut down on prep time) who don't want to sacrifice colorful and flavorful foods from their diet. So many cookbooks on the market have a few great recipes that one might turn to over and over again, but this one has several.

Some small downsides to this book, though far overshadowed by the pluses, include the lack of pictures and lack of inclusion of nutrition facts. Furthermore, as with any cookbook, there are a few recipes that are not going to appeal to every taste. For example, I had to throw out the vegan macaroni and "cheese" as my husband and I found it simply inedible (though I believe it's just difficult to find a truly enticing vegan substitute for that particular dish). However, as was previously stated, these minor quibbles should not be a deterrent to picking up this great addition to anyone's kitchen.

Overall, this is a great cookbook for someone making the switch to veganism, the "occasional" vegan looking for healthy, low fat recipes, or the seasoned veteran looking to add a few new dishes to their repertoire. Very highly recommended!

I've made a load of the recipes in this book and many of them are very decent indeed. Nonetheless I think there are some things about this book that haven't been touched upon by other reviewers that you need to know...

1. No pictures. Maybe because I'm used to more lavishly illustrated British cookbooks (Delia Smith, Jamie Oliver, Gary Rhodes etc.) that the complete absence of pictures hits so hard, but I do think the book would be better with some nice photos. It looks so dated without them, like the sort of cookbooks my granny has...

2. No nutritional information. Which I thought was odd for a book espousing the health benefits of a Vegan diet. It would have been very useful to have some kind of nutritional breakdown for each recipe.

3. Authenticity, or lack thereof. The 'Fantastic Flavors from Around the World' have been desperately Westernised :-( The Thai soup is nothing like a Thai meal, the Indian foods contain celery and sweet potato... Personally I would have preferred to see recipes more sympathetic to their country of origin. In the breads section for example one of the side notes babbles on about some traditional flatbreads from around the world, however NONE of these are offered as recipes and instead the usual variations of banana/seed/nut breads are trotted out again. The sesame & cumin flatbread is fantastic mind you but once again it's a poor interpretation of an Indian naan bread.

4. 400 recipes eh? More like 300 with a number of variations. Shame that. Still most of those 300 are good.

The recipes in this book are great, I think it gets more creative than a lot of vegan recipes I've seen and they usually turn out great if followed closely. That being said, I find that this cookbook suffers from the same issue I find with a lot of vegan recipes, which is that often the recipes call for a lot of ingredients. Often the recipes will have ingredients such as a vegetarian worchestire sauce that you need to turn around and make. In other words, I find these recipes time intensive. I think another good measure of how time intensive some of these recipes are is the number of ingredients required to make them, which is often around 15. When I have the time and feel like cooking, I bring out this book. But most days when I'm looking to make something fast I don't have the time.

My wife and I have found this vegan cookbook to be one of the best that we own. Our reasons:

1) It is concise and the recipes are generally simple
2) The recipes call for well-known ingredients
3) The recipes are generally not expensive to make
4) The recipes always "turn out"
5) The results are delicious

I'd recommend this cookbook to anyone, meat-eaters and vegans alike.

As a lover of food and cooking, when I became vegan nine months ago I began experimenting with a wide variety of new recipes and new ways to make old favorites. I bought several vegan cookbooks and scoured the web in search of ideas and advice. I made 3 or 4 new dishes every week. This was one of the first books I bought and despite later purchases and the wide variety of recipes available on the web, I come back to this book again and again. Many cookbooks, vegan and otherwise, contain a few gems, some recipes that are interesting looking but which I couldn't really see myself making, and quite a few that I'm simply not attracted to. This book is cover-to-cover great recipes (more than 400) that I could see myself making if I haven't already. As well as familiar items creatively done like sandwiches, salads, soups and various veggies, many recipes borrow from different ethnic cuisines (Thai drunken noodles, baked sweet potato and green pea samosas, etc.) but are accessable and easy enough to prepare that they're not daunting. There are recipes suitable for parties and entertaining, special occasions (including a chapter on desserts), and casual every day meals. Overall this is just a really fantastic cookbook. I highly recommend it.

This book is great for anyone who enjoys variety. There are many dishes to choose from and divided into categories to make it pretty easy for you. I enjoyed the curry dishes in here, the Red Bean and Sweet Potato Curry is fantastic. I did not care if it had pictures because I do not really need them. (But if you like to follow pictures of each dish this is not the book for you) Once you have been cooking for some time you like to ad lib on recipes to add your own extra flair and you can do that with these recipes. I did not think they were bland at all. You need to have great spices and fresh ingredients for any recipe to turn out in any cookbook. Most items (except for some of the oriental dishes)can be found at your local supermarket.
The majority of recipes are really easy, and there are a few more time consuming for weekend meals. I definately recommend this book to anyone who enjoys vegan cuisine, with simple ingredients and great flavor.

Dear Robin Robertson,
Thank you for writing your wonderful cookbooks. I have both Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes and Vegan Planet. I have been a vegetarian for 11 years and a vegan for a year and a half. Your cookbooks have truely enhanced the quality of our meals! The Black Bean and Sweet Potatoe Enchiladas are the most amazing things I have ever eaten. Last night I made the Pizza Bandiera and it was so good we ate the entire thing! Thanks for making it a pleasure to be a vegan and cook healthy, quick and easy meals. I have made ten recipes from the book so far and all have been outstanding. I am looking forward to trying all the rest of the recipes. I am taking a weeks vacation soon to do spring cleaning and stay home and cook. Take care and keep up the good work. If I could only have one cookbook in my kitchen I would choose Vegan Planet.
Sincerely,
Christina

Also recommended: Also recommend Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook by Robin Robertson the Mexican Tortilla Bake alone is AMAZING!

Normally I never buy a cookbook without pictures, but because of the sheer volume of the thing, I had to take it home with me from the bookstore anyway. Someday I hope to try all the recipes in here, because every single thing I have ever made from this book is great. My favorites include the Alfredo Style Fettuccine, Fettuccine with Red Lentil Sauce, the cheesecake recipes (i modify them using their basic method to make flavors like cookies and cream), Baked Samosas, Pierogies, Gnocchi, Not So Dirty Rice, and basically the rest of them too. Buy it now!! I only wish there were nutrition facts for the recipes, but I can hope for a reprint some day with that info.

Updated 11/11/07 to mention that although my favorite cookbook award now has to go to Veganomicon, I still adore this book. I don't use it as often as I used to due to my dinners being taken over for almost a year testing recipes for V-con, but I will go back to Vegan Planet! I still love every recipe I've made from this and there are so many more I still can't wait to try. I've now had this book for 4 years and this is one that I will never phase out.

All I can say is wow! The recipes for the most part use ingredients you can find at any larger supermarket. So far the prep has been comparable to most cookbooks, from start to actually eating it seems to be 30 - 60 minutes. The Italian Wedding Soup, Thyme Scented Wild Mushroom Bisque, Ultimate Shepards Pie, Cheesy Potato Chili Gratin, Maple Pecan French Toast and the Apple Cinnamon French Toast are all fabulous!!! The only thing I don't like about this book is the lack of a nutritional analysis for each recipe. This is definitely my most used vegan cookbook.

The recipes in this book tend to be of the "stick-to-your-ribs" type and leave you feeling very satisfied. I personally am not a fan of the type of vegan or vegetarian cookbooks that give you nothing but recipes for odd things like "quinoa with barley and dandelions", that just does not appeal to me and while this book does occassionally make use of some whole grains like quinoa, there are plenty of recipes that are "normal". Things like the recipes mentioned above for gratins, pot pies, chilis, pastas, and other vegan versions of foods I grew up with.

I highly recommend this book for vegans and vegetarians.