Customer Reviews

Vegan Yum Yum: Decadent (But Doable) Animal-Free Recipes for Entertaining and Everyday

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love this cookbook! Since I follow her blog, I wasn't sure whether this cookbook would be worth my time, but it's been wonderful. Lots of recipes and lots of information are packed into this book. I own a lot of vegan and vegetarian cookbooks, and this one offers truly different and exciting recipes, as well as serving as a resource for basics (like pancakes) and standbys (like a new take on the tofu scramble).

My favorite recipes in this book: blueberry waffles with lemon icing; stuffed banana berry french toast; aloo matar; caramelized leek and spaghetti squash polenta with white sauce; dal makhni; delicata squash stuffed with cherry-almond couscous; chana samosas; sesame ginger seitan dumplings; crispy sesame kale; black bean soup; spicy tomato chickpea soup; baked mac and cheeze; hurry up alfredo; lime peanut noodles with seitan, kale, and carrots; pad see ew; blueberry grunts; and sheera. As you can see, I had quite a lot of favorites!

One of the things I really appreciate about this book is the variety of recipes and ingredients. Ulm has a CSA, and says that a lot of her recipes were created based on what she got from it on a given week. I have one too, so I'm able to enjoy her recipes that involve lots of seasonal vegetables, farm-exclusive delights like delicata squash, and the experience of having so many leftover veggies and clippings that vegetable stock is the best use of resources. Then there are plenty of recipes with more basic ingredients, that can be found at any grocery store, even in my small college town. The more hard-to-get ingredients I can find a little ways out of my way at natural food stores.

It's true that some of the ingredients are unusual -- my closest grocery store seldom carries bok choy or kale, let alone Chinese broccoli and whole Indian spices -- but these recipes all include helpful substitution suggestions and I find cookbooks like Veganomicon to be much worse in this regard, especially when it comes to prices and explaining their function/necessity in the recipe. (And as I said above, I get plenty of kale from my CSA!)

Rather, my biggest problem with this book is that I'm lacking a lot of the equipment that she has, and there is not much in the book itself to help. What's the use of "readily available and budget-friendly ingredients" if I can't make the recipes without investing in specialty equipment? While I have a well-stocked kitchen (lots of pots and pans, mixing bowls, good knives, a blender, a food processor, a chopping bowl, a mortar and pestle, a pastry knife, various baking and loaf pans) most of my cooking equipment is basic and on the low end. But according to this book, I can't make a number of her recipes and drinks because the motor on my blender isn't fast enough. In fact, she says that only a Vita-Mix, a piece of equipment that would cost me as much as a month's rent, may be the only blender good enough. And there's nothing suggesting she tried it on other blenders. I don't appreciate being told that a recipe "may" require a Vita-Mix. Didn't she have testers who couldn't afford one? Couldn't she have tried it with a food processor? Can I have a hint of whether trying to blend these ingredients would be a waste of my time and money? Couldn't she include suggestions on what to do if you don't have a microplaner, a spice grinder, or a mandoline?

My only other complaint is minor, which is that I love reading cookbooks, and while this one was essentially well-written, it was a lot like a blog. Not a big surprise, but I like a bit more formality and editing from my recipes. Not that I'm demanding a formal paper, just that a consistent voice, structure, and confidence on the part of the author likewise instills confidence in me about the recipes. The background was usually interesting, and the alternatives and suggestions were helpful, but sometimes felt like I wasn't reading a completed recipe. I don't want the author's casual assurance that "this will taste great, I promise": I would hope you would think everything in your recipe book tastes great! And it certainly does, so don't be wishy-washy about it.

I don't understand the 1 star review ragging on the photos. It's not true that a good camera is all anyone needs. The beautiful photographs also show her understanding of composition, presentation, lighting, and photography generally. I like this in a cookbook and personally it instills further confidence for me in the book's author! Yes, it's true that beautiful photos don't make a cookbook inherently good as some reviews certainly seem to be suggesting, but the recipes in this book are amazing enough that the photos are a wonderful bonus and a treat to have hard copy!

Like other reviewers, I appreciated her casual attitude when it came to veganism. I am a vegan myself, but that doesn't mean I enjoy being condescended to about what a horrible thing it is to eat animal products. This is a book of delicious animal-free recipes, and that's that.

Essentially, all of my problems with it were anticipated from reading her blog. And all my excitement about it too! I'm so glad that this book is finally in print. If you have any trepidation about buying this book, look over her blog and decide whether you would like having a lot of these recipes and a lot of recipes in a similar style in print to keep in your kitchen. I for one love it!

I've been a longtime fan of the author's blog and was really looking forward to her cookbook. Indeed, the recipes I've tried so far have been very good - my favorites so far are the hurry up alfredo, the sesame broccoli tofu, and the baked chana samosas. However, my book arrived already looking tattered and worn, and the pages started to fall out after using the book for the first time. I stopped at a local Barnes and Noble to check their stock of this book and all of them seemed to have similar issues, so I don't think it's just my copy. It's a shame the publisher didn't see fit to put more work into making a cookbook that is both tasty and functional.

I purchased this book as a gift for my daughter for her 15th birthday. I liked that each recipe had a picture, knowing that would make it easier for my daughter to choose a recipe to try. I still do most of her cooking and had been very confused as to how to meet her vegan requirements and make something for her to eat other than stir fried vegetables. Over the past couple of weeks we have made about 10 different recipes and everything has been outstanding! Lauren's combination of tastes, textures and spices are clearly tried and tested! We love her chickpea/artichoke salad, black bean soup, rainbow rice and creamy risotto! Everything has been Yum Yum! We look forward to making our favorites each week and have multiple recipes marked to try for weeks to come.

i am not easily impressed, but this book did impress me. i have a sizable collection of cookbooks, and a growing selection of Vegan and Vegetarian cookbooks, so a cookbook has to be really something to earn 5 stars from me.

are there faults? sure. many of what i might call "faults" are clearly the result of the style of the cookbook (based on the author's blog) or the tastes of the author. The only non personal taste fault i will give this book is a lack of outright statement as to whether a recipe can, or cannot, be done without her choice of equipment.
She has a Vita Mix. Many vegan and raw foodies eventually get one, but a vita mix or a blend tec industrial blender do things your average store bought blender just CAN'T. i would have been much happier if she had one of her testers try the vita mix dependent recipes out to see if they work with a regular blender. This would normally knock a star off, but the rest of the book was SO good, that i just couldn't do it.

there is a good mix of "fussy" and "fast" recipes in this book. yes there are some fancy things that need some serious prep time, but there are also quick foods. She does assume a fairly stocked Vegan pantry,but all the ingredients are clearly named or explained, and most of the odd ball ingredients have listed substitutes... although if you live in a big city you should be able to find all these things in an Asian or Indian grocery. (i live in Philadelphia and had no problem)

there is one big plus for me. you see i happen to be allergic to garlic and raw onions. this makes most Vegan cookbooks an exercise in frustration, since those ingredients are used frequently in vegan cooking to punch up the flavor. ALL of the recipes in this book can have the garlic left off without any problems... including such yummy dishes as Vegan Alfredo sauce, which also makes a great creamy tasting sauce for topping vegetables. (garlic is a listed optional ingredient, so you garlic lovers can just add garlic) This includes her dressings and sauces! which usually are horribly disappointing when you leave out the garlic, so a HUGE plus if you cannot, or do not want to, eat these things.

Every recipe is illustrated with a color picture. She even tells you when the picture has a garnish or something that isnt in the recipe..and why (like i tried this, and it doesn't taste right, leave it off). i will say that a few of the pictures don't do justice to the recipe, and point out that this is the price you pay for not having a "food stylist" doing the photos.....MOST of the photos are worthy of any food magazine, however.

Everyone will have varying tastes re: what they like to eat + this review is a reflection of my personal food interests. If you like to eat wheat, tofu, seitan, soy milk, or processed sugar, the recipes in this book are for you however, if you want to steer clear of those food items, I would not recommend this book b/c most of the recipes contain a few of these food items. I liken this book to eating @
"Millenium" Vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco...the focus of which is tofu or seitan, rather than focusing on inventive ways to create meals without tofu or seitan. Just voicing my personal preferences.

just how lucky I was that this was my first vegan cookbook.

I could just make the recipes as written and end up with something truly delicious.

In fact, at times, I could mess up the recipes (Grilled pear, walnut and cabbage salad AND brocoli dahl come to mind) and still end up with something truly delicious.

My second vegan cookbook taught me what a privilege that is. With that second book, I have to taste and re-season every component of every dish. I think if I had bought that second book first, I would have decided that vegan cooking was either too bland or way too hot or just too much work.

What a pleasure it is to be able to trust VeganYumYum. What an abomination it is that the other cookbook has the same score on Amazon...over binding issues? It makes me sad because that cookbook could turn off future vegans, instead of arming them to grow as cooks.

Which brings me to my second point, I learned skills that allowed me to be a home cook, like how to dry-fry/pan-fry tofu. I learned to make a roux. I get how to use nutritional yeast for yummy goodness.

I don't buy cookbooks to read through extensive culinary analysis of food cultures. In fact, I honestly rarely have time to read anything more than the recipe (ah, third vegan cookbook, how you tricked me into reading about the cultural history of empanadas with your long, long recipe-like intros).

So, I appreciate Ulm separating "side bar" issues from recipe information. Again, as a young cook, I need that simplicity. It helps me focus on what I need to get done.

I didn't even realize Ulm's informal tone in her sidebars until I read another Amazon review. I think the informal tone likely arises because Laura is a cook, not a chef. In fact, the book reads like the cookbook of my childhood: the amazing, local-cooks-only, kitchen institution that is Creme de Colorado. It is a book for cooks by cooks. If an informal tone is a sin, I'm happy to eat so well here in Hell.

Creme de Colorado was one of my mom's bibles. She was and is an amazing cook. She was always armed with her favorite "go-to" books: Colorado Cache, Creme de Colorado, Colorado Collage... Her cookbooks are filled with quick, penciled-in warnings (Good!, Skip, Amazing!) as well as all the necessary notes (more chili powder, 1/2 the cheese, etc.)

In fact, I'm lucky enough to have one of her go-to books, complete with warnings AND notes (though this Velveteen Rabbit-esque gift is less cookbook, more piles of pages as the binding gave out ten + years ago).

I feel like VeganYumYum very well could be the annotated cookbook I give to my kids. As of yet, the only warnings fall along the lines of good, omni fave and awesome. My notes include how not to screw up next time. If the VeganYumYum I give my kids is a pile of pages, it's a pile of pages. At least I know they will find great food in the heap.

Vegan Yum Yum is full of tasty recipes, most of which are quick and easy to prepare, with a few more complicated ones, that aren't necessarily difficult, but are time consuming. The one problem I have with the book, is that the layout is horrible, with some of the recipes going on for three pages. For some of the longer recipes, this is warranted, but for some the additional content is unnecessary, and sometimes makes the book difficult to use in the kitchen, however some of the space is taken up by beautiful pictures, which are hard to complain about.

I am not even vegan...at least not yet! The photos in this book blew me away--everything looks so delicious--and whether you are vegan, vegetarian, or even a fast-food junkie, there are recipes in this book that you won't be able to resist. I feel SO healthy when I make one of Lauren's creations! The 30-minute meals listed in the contents are great for those nights after work when you don't really feel like cooking. This will be my new go-to gift for the foodies in my life--it is beautifully illustrated with both how-to photos and the finished product. YUM!

Having been a diehard Isa Chandra Moscowitz and Dreena Burton disciple, I am new to the Lauren Ulm consortium of fans, but I have arrived and am so glad to be here! This is, hands down, an incredible cookbook. On an esoteric level, it offers the eye candy that most of us crave when venturing into new recipes and is testament to Ulm's aptitude as both cook and artisan. The photographs that accompany the recipes are crisp, colorful, instructive and mouthwatering. Also, the pics are very helpful in helping the novice cook get a gander at what he/she is aiming for in the final product.

The recipes? Impeccable! They vary from easy to more involved, but all of them that I've tried so far have delivered on taste. I value that they range from ethnic (Creamy Broccoli Dal) to simple comfort food (Baked Mac and Cheeze). It's also lovely to have a cookbook that both meets the needs of my vegan diet and the finicky taste buds of my children. The Weekend Pancakes Made Easy live up to the "easy" and have proved to please my picky-eating daughter. Also sweet and wonderful: Miniature Baked Donuts. The clever packaging of rice in Ulm's version of Onigiri has catalyzed many a "yum" in our house. I could feast on the "Salads" section alone. The Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad is my personal favorite, but the Grilled Pear, Walnut, and Cabbage Salad has wowed my recent dinner guests. The smoky miso tofu from the Smoky Miso Tofu Sandwiches is delicious and a great staple to have in the fridge. The recipes seem forgiving: I made the Hurry Up Alfredo without margarine and nutritional yeast and still, it came out delicious.

Ulm is truly a welcomed addition to the pantheon of Vegan Goddesses who make vegan cooking an inspiring and exciting endeavor. The recipes are easy to follow because of Ulm's careful and meticulous instructions that are packaged through "steps." Her creative flair is shown through each recipe as each one offers a little something special not often seen in most cookbooks: the frying of a spinach leaf, the wrapping of a wonton, the beauty of the chocolate dipped miniature donut. It may sound silly, but Ulm seems to care about the food she prepares, which makes each recipe in her book unique and worthy. But Yum Yum? Absolutely!

Besides being a beautiful book and very easy to use (with tidy ingredient lists and step-by-step instructions, as well as a photo and cute commentary to go with each dish)I really appreciated her use of whole foods as opposed to cookbooks that utilize many processed soy products. Rather than creating recipes that merely imitate non-vegan food, she explores vegetables, grains, and seasonings on their own terms. Great for any foodie who enjoys real, whole foods and beautiful dishes.

Note: although this book is fairly inexpensive, it contains quite a volume of recipes, as well as a good variety--main dishes, salads, desserts, even drinks.