Vive le Vegan!: Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family [Paperback]

Dreena Burton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

Veganism—the animal-free diet—is here to stay. And Dreena Burton, author of the bestselling The Everyday Vegan, is here to tell you how the decision to “go green” doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice nutrition or flavor, and in fact will make you and your family feel healthier and more alive.

Dreena and her husband became parents three years ago, and their decision to raise their daughter as a vegan from birth has made the need for an animal-free diet that is fully nutritional all the more crucial. But as Dreena demonstrates in Vive le Vegan!, there’s no need to panic: there are simple methods and delectable ingredients you can use that will allow you—whether you’re single or have a family—to become vegan without having to be a rocket scientist. And who said that vegan meals lack pizzazz? Not when you can make:

Berry Hemp Smoothies
Fresh Jicama and Cucumber Slaw
Hearty Roasted Tomato Stew
Carrot-Shitake Spring Rolls
Chipotle Veggie Bean Burritos
Morrocan Chickpea Patties
Apple Cardomom Cake with Creamy Lemon Maple Frosting

The recipes in Vive le Vegan! also don’t over-rely on the use of soy, given recent concerns about over--consumption, and many feature whole grains and hemp. They’re also disarmingly easy to prepare. So it’s time to give up your qualms about the vegan lifestyle and celebrate its vivid possibilities. Vive le vegan!

Dreena Burton is the author of The Everyday Vegan, now in its second printing. She lives in White Rock, British Columbia, with her husband, Paul, and their three year-old daughter, Charlotte.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With its quintessentially vegan-sounding recipe names—Apple-Hemp Muffins, Balsamic-Garlic Flax Oil (to dip with bread), Millet-Amaranth Porridge, Vicki’s Hummus-Quinoa Casserole—this cookbook certainly has a specific audience. But vegan readers are in for a treat, because Burton (The Everyday Vegan) has compiled a trove of (mostly) fast and easy recipes for dishes that promise to deliver flavor and texture, and use fresh produce as well as whole grains (like kamut, brown rice, quinoa and millet), beans (including adzuki, kidney, navy and chickpeas) and flours (such as spelt, barley and oat). All dishes are animal-free, and many are wheat-free, as well. In addition to the recipes (which run the gamut from appetizers to main dishes to desserts), there are sections on feeding vegan babies and toddlers, and a helpful glossary that explains such ingredients as blackstrap molasses and hemp seed nut butter.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Dreena proves that it doesn't take huge amounts of culinary training to learn how to prepare delicious vegan meals. Vive le Vgean! gives you everything you need to get going, all in one fun and inviting book
—Eric Marcus, author of Meat Market:Animals, Ethics and Money (Eric Marcus )

Delicious, unique, and fun recipes make Vive le Vegan! the perfect cookbook for vegan families.
—Erin Pavlina, VegFamily.com (VegFamily.com )

Enthusiastically recommended for vegans, vegetarians, and even meat eaters with an interest in giving their cholestoral levels a break now and then.
—Wisconsin Bookwatch (Wisconsin Bookwatch )

The great thing about Vive le Vegan! is that the recipes are easy to follow.... For committed vegan with families, Vive le Vegan! will be a welcome addition to the kitchen shelf.
—Vancouver Humane Society Newsletter (Vancouver Humane Soc )

Vive le Vegan! welcomes a new vegan cook with open arms.... this is a book to grow into, and a good companion for years of culinary adventure. Vive le Vive!
—VegNews (VegNews Magazine )

Homemakers magazine names Vive le Vegan as one of its 5 Favorite Vegetarian Cookbooks:
While many vegetarian recipes are heavy on cheese and other dairy ingredients, vegan cooking offers the added challenge of omitting all animal products. Not only does Burton meet this challenge with her recipes, but the book also offers many wheat-free and soy-free recipes for those with allergies to these common ingredients. This is her second vegan cookbook (the first was The Everyday Vegan), and it was inspired by her experience as a vegan mother, learning how to provide nutritious, animal-free and delicious food for her daughter. She shares what she's learned about vegan parenting in the chapter "Feeding Your Vegan Baby and Toddler." And as any busy parent will love, the majority of recipes are designed for the time-challenged.
—Homemakers (Homemakers )

Dreena Burton author of the much beloved The Everyday Vegan, has outdone herself.... The recipes are simple, highly nutritious, and most importantly, delectable.... Vive le Vegan! is a marvelous recipe book but also serves as a guide for healthy vegan eating, with information on feeding vegan babies, how to cook grains and beans, and interesting hemp foods. A must for all serious vegan chefs and new veggies alike.
—Earthsave Canada newsletter (Earthsave Canada newsletter )

Vegan cookie challenge: In the chocolate chip category, there was a clear winner. Dreena, the queen of cookies, did not disappoint. Her homestyle chocolate chip recipe from Vive le Vegan stood out against the competition. The judges described being transported back to their childhoods by Dreena's moist, chewy and chocolaty delights.
—Lifelines (Toronto Vegetarian Association) (Lifelines (Toronto Vegetarian Assoc) )

This book is a wonderful resource for the vegan family and those who are looking for wheat free alternatives or wheat free recipes. It also has a whole section at the end for feeding babies and toddlers with a lot of great information.
—Vegan Family Style blog (Vegan Family Style )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551521695
• ISBN-13: 978-1551521695
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #302,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is more than a quality recipe book..., April 8, 2005

By 

Melanie Wilson "mongoliamel" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vive le Vegan!: Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family (Paperback)

...it is an informative book on healthy living. Besides numerous nutritious recipes for breakfast and brunch, baked goods, sauces, spreads, soups, main courses and other things, Burton provides advice for "Feeding Your Vegan Baby & Toddler" which is divided into age groups for 6-9 months, 9-12 months, 12-18 months, 18-24 months and 2+ years. In the section "Additional Notes for Feeding Baby" Burton discusses organic foods, prepackaged foods vs. home-made and food preparation tips.

Another helpful section that offers practical information is "Cooking Guides & Notes" where the author provides guides to cooking grains and beans and other "Cooking Notes." A comprehensive glossary is also useful.

Burton's support of hemp foods is a welcome addition to this recipe book and will hopefully encourage other cookbook authors to feature this nutritious food in their books. Not only does Burton include a section on "Hemp Foods," but she also mentions the importance of hemp in the Introduction.

"This is one of the few cookbooks you will see that features hemp products. Hemp seed nuts and nut butter provide complete protein and essential fatty acids that we can only get from our diet. Hemp seed oil is also rich in the essential fatty acids." (page 14)

Another interesting aspect of Burton's book involves the relatively small number of recipes that contain soy. Burton's reason for minimizing her use of soy is simple. "I suspect that many vegetarians and vegans rely a little too heavily on soy, and while I still include it in my family's diet, no one food should be consumed excessively." (page 14) Burton also includes numerous wheat-free recipes and recipes which feature a wheat-free option.

It's nice to see that vegan recipe books are becoming more popular. Vive le Vegan! is one of the better vegan cookbooks that I've seen as it not only offers a good selection of easy-to-make, nutritious meals and snacks, but it contains lots of other important information as well. Those who turned to vegetarianism due to a love of and respect for animals will want to get a copy of Burton's book and consider taking the next step to veganism. As Eric Marcus points out in the Foreword:

"Many people assume that concerns over cruelty can be addressed by becoming a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and buying free-range eggs and organic milk. Unfortunately, welfare standards for these foods are utterly lacking. And, just as troubling, these foods depend on slaughter every bit as much as their factory farmed counterparts. There is simply no such thing as animal agriculture without suffering and killing - the economics just don't allow it."

Vive le Vegan! will be of interest to everyone looking for interesting, nutritious, cruelty-free recipes.--N. Glenn Perrett

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Cookbook, April 17, 2005

By 

Aimee McNally (Silicon Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vive le Vegan!: Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family (Paperback)

I borrowed this cookbook from our library and love it. The recipes are simple and delicious. I made the Sweet Potato Curry dish for a potluck and received a lot of compliments. I like the format too. The font is very easy to read and the text is not crowded; it's easy on my eyes. She puts comments at the beginning of every recipe, which I really like to read. Also, she includes notes and alternatives in the margins, also wheat-free notes. It does not use a lot of tofu. I have been a vegetarian for 15 years and have used many cookbooks. I have three children under the age of 5 so simplicity and healthy foods are a priority when I cook for my family. This book is one of my favorite cookbooks because it helps me simplify my busy life.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stellar vegan cooking, February 18, 2005

By 

Chef Julie B "Julie" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vive le Vegan!: Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family (Paperback)

This is a terrific cookbook!! I tried several recipes from this cookbook as a culinary student taking my final baking and pastry class and they were great, they even converted to larger yields without a problem. Especially good is the recipe for homestyle chocoalte cip cookies, they are as good or better than the butter and eggs type, even my non-vegetarian friends in class were impressed. Other recommended recipes include the coconut lime cookies, three bean curry tomato soup and miso-curry roasted potatoes.