The Voluptuous Vegan: More Than 200 Sinfully Delicious Recipes for Meatless, Eggless, and Dairy-Free Meals (Paperback)

~ (Author), George Minot (Author), Sheila Hamanaka (Author) "Of all the components of a meal, soup is the most versatile..." (more)
Key Phrases: arrowroot slurry, cup basil chiffonade, mellow barley miso, Southeast Asian, United States, New Mexican (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Sound like an oxymoron? Myra Kornfeld argues that choosing to be a vegan does not mean you have to deprive yourself--rather, you can pamper your palate with luscious, healthy food. There are those who advocate salt-free, fat-free, flavor-free food, but Kornfeld sets the record straight right from the beginning. She uses salt for seasoning, and reminds us, thank goodness, that you need fat in a healthy diet. Clear instructions, a chapter on ingredients (including sections on grains, greens, and beans--how to buy them, cook them, and use them), and a short primer on equipment make this a good book for beginners. More accomplished cooks will appreciate Kornfeld's innovation. She isn't afraid to use herbs and spices, and she knows the capabilities of her ingredients. In a simple Rich Stock recipe, for instance, she calls for celery root, and explains in a note that you can substitute celery, but that the root gives a much deeper flavor. Kornfeld's food is voluptuous in presentation, too: Smoky Chestnut and Sweet Potato Soup calls for a dash of rum, and it's served with toasted, chopped hazelnuts and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg; Hominy, Tomatillo, and Squash Stew is topped with Ginger and Lime Cream made from tofu; and a Fennel, Orange, and Pomegranate Salad is so beautiful and the flavor so complex, you'll swear you're eating four-star cuisine.

The book is a little difficult to navigate, as it's divided into "meals." So if all you're looking for is a side dish, you'll need to set some time aside to peruse the whole book. Every recipe starts with a few words of wisdom, usually information on the ingredients or a description of the final product. The final chapter is on desserts, and here Kornfeld really gets voluptuous. The recipes include Cranberry Orange Tart, Chocolate Pudding Tart, and Lemon Pudding Cake with Blueberry Glaze--there's no depriving anyone of anything here! Vegans will appreciate the creative and inventive approach, but this cookbook is also useful for nonvegans. Everyone knows someone who's trying to avoid meat, dairy, or eggs, and with loads of ideas for light meals and interesting side dishes, we can entertain our friends and eat healthy at the same time. --Leora Y. Bloom

From Publishers Weekly

Formerly in charge of daily specials and desserts at New York's vegetarian Angelica Kitchen, Kornfeld manages to bring new life to the vegan palate in this better-than-average collection of animal-product-free food. The book starts off with the usual general instructions, but the level of detail is a pleasant surprise: not only do the authors (Minot is a New York City-based writer) explain cooking equipment and appliances, they also provide instructions for cutting vegetables into half-moons, quarter-moons, matchsticks and so forth. This tendency to go the extra mile pops up in the recipes, too, almost all of which are accompanied by tips, things to watch out for, and ingredient definitions. More important, the recipes are tasty. Plenty of vegetarian cookbooks contain recipes for squash soup, but few of those are made with coconut milk, lime juice, basil, leeks and shallots like Kornfeld's Butternut-Lemongrass Soup. The book contains only three chapters: one on soups, one on desserts, and one with the recipes organized into menus (for example: Warm Chickpea Salad with Artichokes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes followed by Fresh Corn, Millet, and Rice Croquettes, Jalape?o-Potato-Tofu "Cream" and Olive Tapenade). The authors explore the usual ethnic vegetarian territory but turn up new ideas, like Arepas and a complex Moussaka. Many of these items use soy products as substitutes, like Shepherd's Pie with a tempeh filling, Seitan Bourguignonne, and Herbed Ravioli with Porcini Pesto and Tofu "Ricotta." As definitive proof that vegans don't have to give up rich desserts, the final chapter includes a Chocolate Pudding Tart and Chocolate Coconut Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting. This volume should delight vegans looking to satisfy their gourmet tastes. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter (October 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609804898
• ISBN-13: 978-0609804896
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #122,947 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wow, March 11, 2003

By	jumpy1 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I am writing this because of the person who said the recipes were bland -- i couldn't believe it! So far I am not only impressed with this book, but genuinely thrilled to have found a really gourmet cookbook for balanced, healthy vegan meals. If I'm having people over they don't even notice there's no meat. It's so elegant, and the ingredients come from across the globe (you do have to carry a lot of groceries for some of them!). The issue I think someone would have is, one must have access to good health food and specialty stores and special produce. You have to have a food processor, blender, spice grinder etc. and the recipes have many elements so it takes a while to complete. But the results for me, so far, are wonderful. I wonder if the person who found it bland was using old spices and substituting ingredients? I am a trained chef, and I think the recipes are somewhat complicated, so can imagine that the average cook might find some of them time-consuming to reproduce adequately. If that is the case, my advice is, make sure you've got the necessary equipment, get fresh organic produce, grind your own spices (or use brand-new ones) and leave yourself an entire afternoon to do it right.

105 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Taste of Heaven!, December 2, 2000

By A Customer

Anyone, vegetarian or carnivore, who is looking for a useful and delicious collection of recipes should own a copy of this book. I eat a broad range of foods and didn't think I'd be that interested in exclusively vegan dishes, but I've been pleasantly surprised. Every dish I've tried from this book has been incredibly rich-tasting and delicious. Last night I served the Caribbean Black Bean soup at a gathering and it was the hit of the party; it had amazing depth of flavor. Despite the complexity of tastes in these dishes, the recipes are all very easy to follow, and every step is explained clearly, so even if you're a novice cook, you shouldn't have any problem creating incredible meals. There are lots of cool cooking tips, and the book is actually quite fun to read. It's also beautifully laid-out and designed, and the cover is a knock-out! The Voluptous Vegan would make a great gift for anyone who wants to avoid animal products, who is allergic to dairy, who is trying to eat healthier, or who just wants to learn how to prepare scrumptious, delicious meals and desserts. I HIGHLY recommend it!

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent in every way, November 30, 2000

By	P. Kunkel "Paul K." (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like many Americans, my early culinary history included prodigious quantities of meat. If it walked, crawled, could fly or swim, and could be subdued long enough to be thrown onto a grill or tossed in a pot, we ate it. I never realized how unhealthy and boring my diet was until I experienced a meal at a vegetarian restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the amazing fat-free combinations of grains, vegetables, beans, sprouts, fruits, nuts and seeds that made me feel more healthy and alive than I ever had before.

After moving to New York, my taste for vegetarian food soon led me to Angelica's, where I indulged on the exotic yet simple cuisine of Myra Kornfeld and the other chefs who have made the corner of 2nd Avenue and 13th Street a mecca for all vegetarians.

After feeding us so well for so many years, Myra has finally shared her secrets in this wonderful book. More than a collection of recipes, the book tells us a philosophy of food and its preparation that is so enjoyable, you almost forget how healthy it is. Myra lays out the ground rules of vegan cooking in a simpler, less intimidating and more elegant way than I have ever seen before.

Myra divides her recipes into three logical sections that make using the book a pleasure. Soups and desserts are treated as separate chapters (which is smart). Everything else (entrees, side dishes, salads and accompaniments) is arranged in a series of meals that are perfectly combined (from a nutritional standpoint), complimentary (taste-wise), balanced in terms of difficulty (each menu contains one challenging and two easy-to-prepare dishes) and regional in flavor (with menus that evoke the tastes of Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa). By arranging contents into meals rather than individual dishes, Myra ensures that we will always get the right result (no weird combinations). And the recipes themselves are amazing. Trust me, the African Groundnut Stew is worth the price of the book all by itself.

Add in Myra's glossary (which discusses ingredients and cooking techniques in detail), resource list, drawings and elegant writing style make this book the second most enjoyable thing about the vegan experience. The first, of course, is the food itself.