Toni Okamoto

As with all cookbooks, a lot of the recipes required some tweaks for me, but not as many as in most cookbooks.

Vegan: Check. Quick & easy. Check. On a budget. Check.

The thing about this cookbook though is that it is designed for beginning cooks and especially for novice or potential vegans. Yes, even experienced cooks might like it and even long time vegans might like it. I did. A lot of the recipes though are the kinds of things I might make without using recipes and I’m not a particularly experienced cook. She does list ingredients that come from bottles, jars and cans. Not everything is suggested to be made from scratch though most of the recipes are or could be made without convenience foods.

I was touched by how she thanked her single father.

Some of her recipes call for kitchen appliances but not as many as in most of the cookbooks I’ve read and they don’t usually seem absolutely necessary. Tweaks again.

I liked that for some recipes she included her testers’ tips and for some she included her own tips. I like that she had testers!

In the breakfast section, with the exception of the few smoothie recipes (I don’t make them often and I don’t need recipes for them but appreciate her time saving preparation) I was actually interested in most of the recipes, both savory and sweet. Usually I’m all about savory at breakfast time.

In the one pot meal section I would need more tweaks but even there I was pleaanstly surprised how many recipes looked good to me. Yes, a few called for “no chicken” broth and one called for vegan chicken but most of the recipes were naturally vegan and that’s the kind of food I enjoy. For those few recipes it would be easy to use vegetable flavored broth and to add tofu or just leave out the vegan chicken. The Turmeric Veggies and Yellow Split Peas looked really good to me as is.

In the 30 minute meals sections I was surprised by how good the hummus pizza looked to me. I like her taster’s tip about using extra vegetables. Yes, more tweaking with leaving out vinegar in a few recipes but once again most recipes looked good. No tweaking required and the Sesame Ginger Noodles looked delicious.

In the sheet pan dishes and casseroles section I have to say what most drew me is the Scalloped Potatoes recipe. I actually remember having Scalloped Potatoes only once in the over 35 years I’ve been vegan. I like the tester’s idea of adding onions to the recipe. If I borrow this book again this recipe would be one of the reasons.

In the mix and match bowls section the Avocado Cream would be something I’d like to try with bowls. Included are recipes for dressings and sauces but as far as the other ingredients go, these bowls are one example of when I don’t need recipes to make them.

The Snacks section is the same though does profile some interesting ideas and it’s always fun to see various ways to make kale chips, date bars, etc.

Many of the recipes in the Simple Desserts section did look good to me. There is some good variety too even though not that many recipes are included. I love that the author included a recipe from this book’s food photographer. It’s a dessert he enjoyed when young in his native Peru. He veganized his mother’s recipe and contributed it. It’s for Arroz con Leche.

Contents:

Foreword by Dr. Michael Greger

Introduction

Make-Ahead Breakfasts

One-Pot Meals

30-Minute Meals

Sheet Pan Dishes and Casseroles

Mix-and-Match Bowls
(Proteins, Vegetables, Basic Grains and Bases, Condiments)

Make-and-Take Snacks

Simple Desserts

Meal Plan
Acknowledgments
Metric Conversions (there are from U.S. Standard to UK)
Index

I spent a lot of time reading this cookbook but I haven’t made anything from it, yet. (I also unfortunately didn’t take notes so I was able to put in just what I remembered from reading it over about a month.) I wouldn’t mind having this cookbook at home and there are quite a few recipes I might make, either with tweaks or as is. I don’t think this is the ideal book for experienced cooks though, not that they couldn’t get some great ideas for it. I think this book would be most appreciated by new vegans and the vegan interested and by people who haven’t already read a lot of vegan cookbooks. I did like it though and appreciate the quick and (mostly) budget friendly recipes, tips, and other information. I would not hesitate to give this book as a housewarming gift to a young adult moving into a new home, as long as they were vegan friendly at least and maybe to other people too. It’s a good addition to the vegan cookbooks genre. If I was buying cookbooks I might get a copy. I think I’ll borrow it from the library again at some point. 3-1/2 stars and this is another time when it was hard to decide whether to round up or round down.… (mere)

I’ve entered to win this book on Goodreads. I can’t remember another time I’ve wanted to win this much. I’d love to own this book. It’s one of the very few cookbooks I’ve read that I’d actually regularly use. The copy I read I borrowed from the library.

Recommended for all people who like to save money and save time, eat healthfully/fairly healthfully, and cook/eat vegan. These really are time saving and money saving and mostly healthy recipes.

This book is all about saving money and all about health, though while the author did start a plant based diet for health reasons she did come to be vegan also for the environment and animal welfare reasons.

I love that readers are encouraged to play with the recipes because that is what I always do; I never make recipes exactly as they are written. This is a book with room for home cooks to write their notes about the recipes. I love the idea! There are some tips from the author and the tasters and there is also space at every recipe for the readers/home cooks to make their personal notes about recipes. This is one reason that this would be a good book to own.

I love her tips on how to shop to get the exact right amount of ingredients for the recipes. She’s against food waste and I find that inspiring and will adopt some of her suggestions when shopping for ingredients for recipes and also for using leftovers, vegetables just starting to go bad, etc.

There are so many recipes I’d like to make from this book. Yes, I’d tweak many but only a tiny bit. Most look great as they are.

I enjoyed the short little blurbs before some of the recipes, especially the ones that had personal stories about them.

There are colorful, gorgeous and mouthwatering photos for each of the completed recipes. (There are also multiple photos of the author.) The entire layout of the book is attractive and seems easy to use and easy to find its recipes.

The only negative I see is that there is a lot of repetition in the basic foods lists and between the recipes re types of beans, grains, vegetables, spices, but it’s also obvious how easy it would be to substitute alternatives to get a wider variety of foods. The only negative for me is that I don’t have a food processor or blender or even some of the basic recommended kitchen utensils. This author does describe how it’s possible to get what’s useful very inexpensively.

Contents:

Foreword

Introduction
My Story
How To Be Plant-Based on a Budget

Breakfast
Salads
Snacks
One-Pot Meals
Supper Staples
Desserts
Back to Basics
Sample Meal Plan for One

Acknowledgments
Metric Conversions
Subject Index
Recipe Index
About the Author

Some of the dishes I’d like to make that would require very little or no tweaking from me:

From Breakfasts: Five-Ingredient Peanut Butter Bites; Tofu Scramble; Blueberry Banana Muffins; Hummus and Avocado Bagel

From Salads: Quinoa Salad; Perfect Potluck Pasta Salad; Larb Salad

From Snacks: Homemade Hummus; Homemade Red Salsa; Guacamole; Nacho Cheese; Peanut Butter Balls

From One-Pot Meals: Black Bean Soup; Broccoli Potato Soup; Carrot Ginger Soup; Miso Split Pea Soup; Mexican-Inspired Soup; Minestrone Soup; Gumbo; Sweet Potato Chili; Tofu Noodle Soup

From Supper Staples: Tofu with Peanut Sauce; Avocado Sunflower Seed Pesto Pasta; Lentil and Sweet Potato Bowl; Veggie Tofu Pasta; Spaghetti Squash with Marinara and Veggies; Stuffed Bell Peppers; Veggie Chow Mein; Ginger Lime Tofu; Tofu Veggie Gravy Bowl

From Desserts: Four-Ingredient Chocolate Cake; Banana Soft Serve; Aaron’s Grandma’s Banana Bread; Depression Era Cupcakes; Mixed Berry Cobbler; Chocolate Covered Strawberries; Baked Apples; Protein Chocolate Chip Cookies; Pumpkin Pie; Real-Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Her Back to Basics section includes some great recipes too. They’re mostly staple foods such as specific grains, beans, dressings, etc. and special foods such as piecrust, pizza dough, cashew cream.

I should try to make at least a couple of these recipes before I return the book. There is a queue. I’m glad and I don’t mind borrowing it again. I voted for this book for best cookbook in the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards. I’d be delighted if it wins. The author has a blog https://plantbasedonabudget.com/blog/ on her website. This book stands completely on its own and it’s excellent.

The problem is the book and writing this review made me way too hungry!… (mere)