The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining Every Guest at Every Occasion [Paperback]

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2009

"The Vegan Table leaves nothing to be desired—Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is the Martha Stewart of the movement!"—Rory Freedman, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Skinny Bitch

"It's delightful, it's delicious, it's a de-lovely book!"—Sarah Kramer, author of How It All Vegan (GoVegan.net)

"Within minutes of reading The Vegan Table, I was in my kitchen making one of Colleen's favorite recipes. My wife was amazed. This is a wonderful book that you will want to give to all your vegan and non-vegan friends!"—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, bestselling author of When Elephants Weep and The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food

Entertain in Style—Vegan Style

The Vegan Table is your one-stop source for creating the perfect meal for your friends and family. Whether you’re hosting an intimate gathering of friends or a large party with an open guest list, author Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, crowned the “Vegan Martha Stewart” by VegNews magazine, will answer your every entertaining need.

Inside you’ll be treated to practically limitless recipe and menu ideas, making it easy to satisfy any and all palates and preferences. From romantic meals for two to formal dinners, casual gatherings, children’s parties, and holiday feasts, you can keep the party going through every occasion and season.

Recipes include:

—Pumpkin Curry

—Roasted Red Pepper, Artichoke, and Pesto Sandwiches

—Creamy Macaroni and Cashew Cheese

—Elegantly Simple Stuffed Bell Peppers

—Pasta Primavera with Fresh Veggies and Herbs

—Tempeh and Eggplant Pot Pies

—African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

—Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Onions

—Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

—South of the Border Pizza

—Tofu Spinach Lasagna

—Blackberry Pecan Crisp

—Flourless Chocolate Tart

—Red Velvet Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Celebrate the joy of plant-based cuisine with The Vegan Table, your ultimate at-home dining and entertaining guide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Vegan Table leaves nothing to be desired—Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is the Martha Stewart of the movement!”

—Rory Freedman, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Skinny Bitch

“The doyenne of compassionate living has done it again, delivering a beautiful, thoughtful, intelligent book brimming with delectable, cruelty-free recipes and clever entertaining ideas. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau truly is a star in the vegetarian universe.”

—VegNews Magazine

“Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has done a great service to the vegan community with her books The Joy of Vegan Baking and now The Vegan Table. The decadent recipes and colorful photographs in her books show the world how sublime veganism can be!”

—Jennifer McCann, author of Vegan Lunch Box and

Vegan Lunch Box Around the World

“It's delightful, it's delicious, it's a de-lovely book!” 
                                                  —Sarah Kramer, author of How It All Vegan (GoVegan.net)

Patrick-Goudreau,  Colleen. The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for  Entertaining Every Guest at Every Occasion. Fair Winds: Quayside. Jun. 2009. c.304p.  photogs. index. ISBN 978-1-59233-374-5. pap. $19.99.  COOKERY

Patrick-Goudreau’s attractive second cookbook (after  The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and  Sinful Sweets) features seasonal menus for occasions ranging from  “Romantic Dinners for Two” to “Feasts for the Holidays.” Her sophisticated but  mostly uncomplicated recipes will appeal to nonvegans and vegans alike, and  dozens of sidebars offer tips on entertaining, information on ingredients, and  more.  -- Library Journal, June 2009

About the Author

The Joy of Vegan Baking author Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is the founder of Compassionate Cooks (www.compassionatecooks.com), an organization whose mission is to empower people to make informed food choices and to debunk myths about veganism. A recognized expert on healthful plant-based cuisine, Colleen has appeared on the Food Network and is a columnist for VegNews magazine. Visit her Web site for The Vegan Table at www.vegantable.com. She lives in Oakland, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Fair Winds Press (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592333745
• ISBN-13: 978-1592333745
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Entertaining
  • #64 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Occasions

More About the Author

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is an exhilarating speaker, a powerful writer, a talented chef, and a persuasive advocate whose success can be measured by the thousands of people whose lives have been changed by her compassionate message. With a master's degree in English literature and a command of traditional and new media, Patrick-Goudreau fosters change whether she is writing books, speaking to live audiences, hosting her podcast, or producing videos.

Addressing the spiritual, social, and practical aspects of a compassionate lifestyle, Colleen is the author of three cookbooks - The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Table, and Color Me Vegan - and two compassionate living books - Vegan's Daily Companion, and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. She has appeared on the Food Network and PBS and is a contributor to National Public Radio and The Christian Science Monitor. As a public speaker, she is represented by Random House Speaker's Bureau http://www.rhspeakers.com/speaker/colleen-patrick-goudreau.

Visit Colleen at her website, ColleenPatrickGoudreau.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 140 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartfelt thank you to Colleen from Sacramento, CA, May 19, 2009

By 

P. Wales "pamw23" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining Every Guest at Every Occasion (Paperback)

Some background - This past mid-April, my husband and I attended the 5-Day McDougall Program in Santa Rosa, CA. Colleen was there as one of the chefs giving a cooking demo/lesson to help us learn how to cook food for our new healthy diet. My husband has always been an omnivore and swore he would never give up meat (but he was willing to attend the 5-day session with me). I have been what I call a fat 'imperfect vegan' for over 20 years (cheese, butter and oil were my vices). Enter Colleen. She prepared a few dishes out of this new book and passed around servings for us to eat. My hubby said: Babe, if we can eat like this all the time, I'll never miss the meat. And I agreed. We adopted a lowfat vegan diet that week, and have not looked back. I have cooked several of the recipes that Colleen gave us that week (all from the book) and they are all yummy. I have ordered the book because I want more. Colleen, I hope you are reading this: You are a wonderful, witty, talented chef. My husband and I loved your your cooking, and your wonderful sense of humor. Dr McDougall, Mary, Jeff, and Doug helped us adopt this new healthy diet, but you definitely sealed the deal. The 'No-queso Quesadillas' have been our go-to snack when we need a little something-something, now! Since April 15, I have effortlessly lost 15 lbs and my hubby has lost 12. Thank you SO much! We hope to see you again!

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely book, but..., August 29, 2009

By 

Suasoria918 (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining Every Guest at Every Occasion (Paperback)

Like most people I was eager to get my hands on Patrick-Goudreau's second book. One cannot live on sweets alone, and her first book on baking is one of my go-to titles. The Vegan Table is a far more attractive book, full color, beautiful photography, and all the tidbits on vegan food and living we've grown to expect. The recipes I haven't tried look very good, and the ones I have tried turned out well, with the exception of the chocolate espresso ganache cake FAIL. (To be accurate, the cake was delicious, but the topping and glaze were a miserable failure.)

However, I absolutely loathe the organization of this book. As cookbooks go, and I have dozens, I feel it was an experiment gone awry. The book is divided into meals for two, four to six, six to ten, and so on. If I'm interested in finding an entree, I have to flip through five chapters. The chapters are further divided by the four seasons. I appreciate eating seasonally, but this goes too far. At the very least a master list or index of apps, soups, salads, entrees, etc. would have made sense. If I want to make cornmeal-crusted tempeh for just my husband and me, I have to adjust the quantities since it's under "formal dining for six to ten." Granted, one would probably adjust for servings with any cookbook depending on your family size, but this system feels much more complex and unwieldy. I can think of several more effective ways this book could have been organized with respect to seasons and the appropriateness of each recipe for various styles of entertaining. As is is, I find it very difficult to use in the way one normally uses a cookbook. ("I need a main dish with beans," or "what can I do with all this zucchini?")

All that aside, the book is very well written and the recipes are mostly rather simple, with some sophisticated 'touches' and seasonings to make them feel more special. There are no ingredients that a well-stocked pantry wouldn't have on hand already, or that would be difficult to find in most large grocery stores. Even when an unusual ingredient is listed - kudzu root comes to mind - the author suggests a far more accessible substitute (arrowroot, in that case).

Perhaps the best thing to be said about the book is that it doesn't waste the cook's time with an abundance of "veganized" versions of foods omnivores typically like to eat. Most vegans who cook already have a favorite tofu scramble or lentil loaf recipe, and while these are included, by far the majority of the dishes are just good, original, vegan food. So I give Patrick-Goudreau credit for developing and marketing her own style of dining and entertaining, instead of writing "The Joy of Cooking...Vegan Style."

Despite the challenges in the book's structure, I absolutely recommend it.

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My new favorite cookbook, April 29, 2009

By 

J. Y. Baker (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining Every Guest at Every Occasion (Paperback)

I have a pretty big cookbook collection, but this is the first one I've seen that I actually want to try EVERYTHING! Even if you aren't vegan, you will find many delicious additions to your menus here. There are great tips for people new (or even not-so-new) to vegan cooking, and interesting information on subjects like edible flowers, high tea, and what they *really* ate at the first Thanksgiving. I've been looking forward to this book's arrival for a long time, and I agree with another reviewer who said it exceeded expectations. (I've already tried 3 recipes & all were delicious!)