Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Let us eat vegan!

We have been loving our new cookbook, Let Them Eat Vegan! by Dreena Burton. We've enjoyed everything that we've tried so far, and have lots more recipes tagged to try. It's healthy, but in a gourmet way. The flavour combinations are sophisticated and the recipes centre on veggies, beans and whole grains - which really suits the sort of food we've been eating a lot this year, anyways.

Our first try from the cookbook was Jerk Chickpeas. I googled it afterwards, and found it all over the internet - my first choice of recipe was one that had been released as a teaser! But I can see why - they were easy to make, and very delicious. We made ours on the BBQ, rather than the oven, roasted some eggplants in them as well, and made them spicy. At the end of cooking, we mixed through some rocket from the garden, and put them in wraps.

White Bean Mashed Potatoes were a yummy and healthy side dish, but a bit more work than I prefer side dishes to be. Potatoes, pumpkin and cannellini beans mixed together were creamy and rich without being super fatty. We had them with eggplant parma, tahini-garlic gai lan, and roasted radishes.

Andy wasn't sold when I told him I would make Lemon-Infused Mediterranean Lentils. He doesn't like the idea of brown lentils just generally, even though when I do cook them, he generally likes them. The same happened with this dish - he liked them so much, he ate two HUGE bowls full. I didn't follow the recipe exactly - I added some zucchini and eggplant to the mix, and made it saucy, and it was fantastic served over rice. The saucy-stewy lentils were a great cold-weather meal, but the lemon juice and zest kept it from feeling stodgy.

Tonight's dinner was similarly "based on" with lots of changes, this time based on Yellow Sweet Potato Chickpea Pie with Basil. I used orange sweet potato and cannellini beans instead of chickpeas. This was much better than most of the quiche-type things we have made in the past, partially because it doesn't try to be a quiche at all. The slight sweetness from the sweet potato, the aniseedy basil, and the creamy beans all combined into something magical. Andy suggested (and I agree wholeheartedly) that these would be great at a party in mini form.


 This is my current go-to book for recipes when we've got veggies I can't decide what to do with. I'm very glad I got this book!


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't tried those recipes but I have made little notes in my copy! I am yet to go wrong with a Dreena recipe :)

Kari said...

What a great set of meals - I think I'd love this book. It's quite refreshing to see recipes that aren't too far off what I already do but just make things a bit more exciting.

Joey said...

I love it when you find a new cookbook that keeps giving. Jerk chick peas look great!

I can see why Andy changed his mind on the lentils - yum!

What else have you got tagged to make?

Emma said...

Excellent...I've been wanting this book and that quiche thing just sold me.

Mel said...

I keep hearing so many good things about Dreena's cookbooks, I must add one to the ever growing collection soon. I love the sound of jerk chickpeas and the lemony lentils look great too.

Susan said...

One of my favourite books. :)

Carrie™ said...

I've recipe tested for Dreena a couple of times now and did so for this book. That sweet potato chickpea pie was one of our favourites. Also the nutty burgers are worth a try. They were a big hit. So was the smoked paprika lentil soup. I could go on and on about the yummy recipes. For a dessert, try the lemon almond cake - the one where you boil the whole lemon and use all of it in the cake.....it's soooooo good!

K said...

I've recently got that cookbook, but so far all that I've made is the sweet potato stew which is great. I'll give the lemon lentil recipe a go thanks!