This month we review two books that would be valuable additions to anyone's vegan bookshelf. One focuses on dating while the other emphasizes easy raw food preparation.
Dating Vegans: Recipes for Relationships
By Anne Dinshah
American Vegan Society, 2012
Dating can be fraught with challenges, but if one of the daters is a vegan, the gulf between the two people may be so wide that it hinders the development of the relationship. In Dating Vegans, Anne Dinshah constructs a road map to guide vegans and nonvegans in the relationship process. In developing this book Dinshah decided she would only date nonvegans for an entire year. "This book is for both vegans and nonvegans who are dating each other, or for those already in a relationship with someone who maintains contradictory consumptions," Dinshah writes. "Nonvegans will gain insights into the beliefs and concerns of vegans. Vegans will find ideas and strategies for patiently sharing their values." Dinshah, who was raised vegan, admits that her own dates are usually with nonvegans, but she does not compromise her core values. She's vegan at home but "a tiny bit of flexibility allows me to build bridges with nonvegans." Occasionally, she will taste an animal product so that she can develop a vegan version.
Tips for dating a vegan
Top Nine Ways to Get Dumped by a Vegan Chick offers no-nos like eating animal products in her presence, kissing her after eating meat, and taking her to the circus. In Twelve Steps to Win a Vegan Hulk, Dinshah advises taking an interest in what he believes and eats, cooking with him, and going out for a vegan meal. She even goes into sexual territory by suggesting "an evening of strip poker, strip chess, or Twister followed by a candle-lit hot tub."
Create vegan meals for meat lovers
More that 3/4 of the volume is devoted to what Dinshah calls "the meat and potatoes of the book," her dating stories, and vegan recipes she and others cooked when dining with dates. In this section she offers advice on compatibility and holiday issues as well as coping with multiple nonvegan guests. She confesses that most of her dates were not vegan when she met them. "I have never become seriously involved with someone who was absolutely wonderful, except completely anti-vegan," she says.
Vegan success stories
The book concludes with a recipe index subdivided into Main Dishes, Side Dishes, and Desserts. The more than four-dozen easy-to-make recipes feature main dishes like Lentil Garden Stew, Veggie Pie, Brussels Sprout Quinoa Wraps and desserts like Quince Pie, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, and Tiramisu. Dating Vegans is a valuable tool for guiding vegans in establishing relationships with members of the opposite sex. The real life experiences chronicled by Dinshah provide an insight into establishing relationships with people whose views don't match. Anne Dinshah has created a memoir of her own experiences and shares it with others who may benefit. Dating Vegans is not just a book about veganism. It contains not only simple recipes but also valuable lifeskills and human interest stories of people making their way in a complicated minefield of life and love.
Book Publishing Company, 2012
Hotter than ever, raw food gets better than ever in Jennifer Cornbleet's revised and updated raw food MADE EASY for 1 or 2 people, REVISED with over 50 new recipes. Originally published in 2005, the book has sold over 100,000 copies, a testimony to its popularity.
Featured are an expanded array of healthful ingredients and an entire chapter spotlighting 16 green smoothies. Most of the smoothies focus on fruit to temper the greens, while one recipe, Nonsweet Green Smoothie, turns mainly to vegetables with only one-half apple for flavor boost. At the bottom of each recipe page readers will find nutritional analysis for calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, and sodium.
The salads and salad dressings sections are a feast for vegetable lovers who appreciate lively flavors and easy, unfussy preps. Thai Salad is a festival in a bowl featuring gorgeous colors and seasonings that reflect the familiar sweet, sour, and salty flavors of Southeast Asia. Jennifer also suggests an alternative dressing of Mock Peanut Sauce to add enjoyable diversity. Topping her Caesar Salad is an enticing creamy-rich Ranch Dressing enhanced with cashews, lemon juice, seasonings, and fresh herbs.
Satisfy those cravings
People whose lifestyles keep them on the go can still eat well and healthfully raw by turning to page 154 for some surprising tips on gearing up for a trip. What kitchen tools to pack, a raw travel shopping list, and raw travel menus for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner will get one off to a delicious start. Jennifer says, "If you want to go a step further, prepare some of your meals in the comfort of your hotel room. That's the advantage of traveling raw--you don't need a stove."
The book is all-inclusive, beginning with how to set up the kitchen. Also covered are raw basics, tools and techniques, and even suggestions for making seasonings, soaking and grinding nuts, and growing sprouts.
Rather than offering fancy gourmet recipes that require concentrated time in the kitchen, Jennifer provides recipes that are realistic in today's fast-paced world. Easy and healthful are the criteria for recipes that make breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert an everyday can-do.
A knockout dish that's really stacked
Choosing which dessert to serve after dinner may prove to be the toughest decision with so many irresistible temptations. Fans of chocolate desserts can revel in Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Brownies, Chocolate Pie, or a creamy Chocolate Mousse. Those who feast on cakes might adore Spanish Fig Cake or Apple Crumb Cake. Mousse or pudding fans may choose the tempting two-layer chocolate and vanilla mousse.
Green ink is the featured color for the text, borders, and accents throughout the book making it graphically appealing, while several full-color photos of the captivating dishes appear throughout the book. The photos are attractively styled and absolutely make the book feel like a must-have.
Concluding the book is a comprehensive Glossary that includes cooking and food terms, tools and equipment, and ingredients.
raw food MADE EASY for 1 or 2 people, REVISED makes preparing meals easy and uncomplicated. The best part is that every ingredient is fresh and healthy. Some recipes are blessed with as few as three or four ingredients, making it enticing for those new to preparing their own meals. Anyone who can chop and slice will love this book and discover how easy and fun it is to "cook" from scratch.
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