Vegan cooking – cooking without meat, eggs, or dairy – isn’t exactly a concept that appeals to the ordinary cook. But in her first solo cookbook, Kramer shows that vegan cooking is not only easy, it’s also delicious. From healthy dinner entrées to decadent desserts that can all be prepared in 30 minutes or less, Kramer gives us simple, tasty recipes that everyone from the novice chef to the ardent steak-lover can enjoy. But this isn’t just a cookbook; La Dolce Vegan! is also filled with tips and tricks to make vegan living fun and easy. Those interested in implementing vegan principles in their day to day life, or those just curious about more sustainable living, will delight in the extra non-recipe chapters, punctuated by Kramer’s humorous and sassy asides.

La Dolce Vegan! is a cookbook based on the idea that vegan recipes should be quick, painless, and tasty, without the need for fancy equipment or ingredients, and it succeeds at this admirably. Although the recipes are all free of animal products, it’s a collection that can be enjoyed by vegans and omnivores alike. The recipes, over 350 in number, cover all the major meal types, including breakfast, breads, soups, salads and dressings, desserts, breakfasts, and of course entrées, with a wide variety of dishes within each meal category. The majority of the recipes do focus on Western fare, particularly American cuisine, and ingredients readily available in Western supermarkets; Kramer includes some Asian, Mexican, and Mediterranean recipes in the mix, but the overall collection is strongly Western and geared towards a Western audience. Those looking for a more international selection would do better looking at other cookbooks.

One of the highlights of this recipe collection is the inclusion of useful recipes for food items rarely found in vegan cookbooks but highly used in the vegan diet, such as wheat gluten, fake cheese, fake meats, and vegan ice cream. Sweet-toothed vegans will also be sure to appreciate the impressive assortment of dessert recipes, which alone take up nearly a third of all the recipes. There’s also a chapter (“Odds and Sods”) dedicated to those little food items that are usually too negligible to include in a cookbook but make life in a kitchen so much easier, from five cooking alternatives for eggs to instructions for mixing up your own Indian spices.

This is fairly cheap, as cookbooks go, yet still fairly comprehensive in scope - a definite recommend for any cookbook collection. ( )

This book is great because the recipes aren't insanely difficult, which is a problem I've had with other vegetarian/vegan cookbooks. A food processor makes most of them almost effortless! ( )

My favorite of all Sarah Kramer's books. Easy, delicious recipes that can be enjoyed by both vegans and omnivores. ( )