From the blogger you know and love, a real, made-of-paper book that you can hold in your hands and keep under your pillow at night. Congratulations, Dana Shultz!

The design is quite minimalist, as one would expect. No frills or fancypants ideas here, which is refreshing. Just the everyday basics!

And what the heck did I make out of this book? Read on.

Asparagus Quiche

What’s for brunch? Why not asparagus quiche, is what I always say. This quiche was not super quichey, IMHO, but it was good! Light, savory, tangy, worth the effort of having a second helping. This recipe uses a small amount of hummus, and its flavor was pretty prominent when I made this recipe, which I didn’t expect. Once I moved on from the fact that it didn’t taste as expected, I really liked it. Perfect for mom on Mother’s Day or dad on Father’s Day or yourself on any day.

Spiced Buckwheat Pancakes

I was excited to try these out because the camp I went to as a kid served from-scratch buckwheat pancakes every Sunday, and they were the best! These were great too.

Burrito Bowl

I’m a sucker for a burrito bowl. I loved the green pepper in this one.

Taquitos

So easy and good that I made them twice in a few short weeks. The kind of recipe we all seek: A pantry item standard. An all-seasons dependable. A keeper. Mix up the middles, roll up the tortillas, throw in the oven, pop open a jar of the best salsa ever (Mrs. Renfro’s Roasted Garlic), and you’re all set! They make such a good lunch to take to work, especially with a few plops of creamy avocado to go with. Regrettably, I could not get a decent photo of them once I’d plopped on some watery salsa and settled some slices of lime in the sad little salsa pool. My apologies.

Looking forward to:

The “Cheddar” Beer Soup! Sounds pretty perfect for winter!

Disclaimer: I got this cookbook free for review!

Sisters Jenny Engel and Heather Bell co-wrote the new cookbook Vegan 101 and sent me a couple of recipes. I gave them a whirl!

Absolutely beautiful as it was, the seitan wellington wasn’t a make-again for me (though it could be for you!). I found myself craving more veggie filling, like greens or onions or carrots–I’m not really sure. It was more seitan and lemon juice than I cared for. The accompanying spinach sauce was quite tasty though! I could see making that for drizzling over potatoes or as a dressing for a veggie and quinoa bowl.

I thought I’d spare you a photo of the pumpkin pie. It looked great until I covered it up with foil, not too long after baking, to take to a friend’s house for dinner. I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t have much of a choice! After a half an hour on the Metro, peeling back the foil revealed a pretty sad-looking p-pie. Regardless of the presentation, it was really tasty! The Follow Your Heart vegan egg made it quite custardy. And the spice to sugar ratio was spot-on. I served it up with some of that Coco Whip from So Delicious, which made it a dead ringer for the pies I remember my Gma making when I was little. Nostalgia, here we come!

Spiced VeganEgg Pumpkin Pie

Yields 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pre-made pie crust, thawed
1 can organic pumpkin (15 oz)
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon molasses
½ cup organic evaporated cane sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons neutral tasting oil (Canola or Safflower)
¼ cup Follow Your Heart VeganEgg, plus 1 cup ice-cold water
3 tablespoons un-bleached all-purpose flour

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375°.

Poke thawed crust with a fork and bake empty for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a large bowl or standing mixer, whisk together pumpkin, maple syrup, molasses, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, sea salt and oil. Set aside.    

In a separate bowl, whisk VeganEgg with water until uniform and slightly thick, about 1 minute. Add flour and whisk until uniform.  Add VeganEgg and flour mixture to bowl with pumpkin and whisk filling mixture until uniform.  

Pour filling into crust and bake for about 35 minutes, or until filling is firm. Let cool completely before serving. Pie may be made up to 1 day in advance.  

© Spork Foods, 2016

Disclaimer: I got these recipes and a sample of Follow Your Heart vegan egg free for review!

Produce on Parade blogger Katherine Henry, all the way from Alaska, brings us a big hug of a cookbook.

P&BVC makes me happy on all the levels. Most importantly, the recipes are DELICIOUS, well-written, and unique. You know that chana masala you see in just about every cookbook? Not here, my friends! Every recipe is a fresh idea. And there are loads of dreamy photos. But ALSO, I love how this book lets me fantasize about life in Alaska. Henry makes it seem pretty cozy and relaxed. An annual blueberry backpacking trip? Yes, please. Gorgeous hikes anywhere, anytime? Yes, please. Luxuriously long mornings with time to make swirly savory scallion breakfast buns? Yes, please!

Look at these foods that this cookbook enabled me to make and eat!:

Lo mein. The most delicious noodles with just-right flavors, delicious carrots and green onions. I could eat this by the gallon. And maybe I will!

French toast smoothie. Among other things, it’s made from avocado, nooch, and vanilla! Weird but good.  

OMG, whenever people ask me what’s new, I tell them about these savory aquafaba’d crepes stuffed with fresh greens and tomatoes, Field roast Italian sausage, and pea pesto. On top? Creamy, cheesy cheese sauce! You need this book for this recipe alone.

A sweet potato, quinoa, greens bowl with a fresh lemony blueberry vinaigrette and toasted hazelnuts. I loved it!

S’mores pie. Too much fun. No need for a fancy-pants creme brûlée torch – your oven’s broiler can toast the marshmallows! Did you know that Trader Joe’s marshmallows are vegan now? Good job, TJ. We’re all proud of you.

Ugh, what a great book. Its greatness doesn’t end with these five recipes. Highly recommend!

P.S. This book has a hands-free, stay-open binding, so you don’t need to weight the pages of the book down with other cookbooks or your fruit bowl. Can we make this a standard thing? I would love that. Thx.

Disclaimer: we got a free copy for review!

Jackie Sobon, everybody!* I got to try a free copy of her new cookbook Vegan Bowl Attack. In short: Gorgeous book. Perfect title. Super awesome recipes. Amazing food photog. Would you expect anything less from the amazing, professional food photographer behind Vegan Yack Attack?

In long:

My favorite thing that I made outta this book was the Apple Pie Smoothie Bowl. Smoothie bowls are the next big thing. Or maybe the last big thing. Doesn’t matter. They’re a thing for a reason, and the reason is that they are good. The green apples make this bowl light and refreshing, and the cinnamon-spiced date-almond topping is crunchy, sweet, and addicting. I have an extra apple and can’t wait to make some more of this concoction. 

I had a heck of a time feeding this recipe to my mini Vitamix, but once the plunger-thingy got a’plunging, all was right as rain. Vitamix likes to make you work for its love. And then you feel that sense of accomplishment, and you bond over having been through something together, coming out on the other side. It’s all part of the Vitamix love equation.

I tried two breakfast bowls, too. The Loaded Potato Breakfast Bowl was really savory and the mushroom gravy was RICH (and a little ugly, but it’s not its fault!). The Tempeh Bacon Hollandaise Bowl was pretty cool. I loved the tofu, which I made nice and crispy after smushing some nooch onto the sides of my little tofu triangles. Tofiangles. The Hollandaise was the perfect texture and a pretty nice flavor, despite the fact that I skipped the magic ingredient. That Kala Namak Indian black salt you always hear makes stuff taste eggy. I didn’t have any, but I wanted to eat this bowl!

Omigosh, I made this Corn Salad with Basil Pesto Aioli recipe, and it was sooo good. Fresh, fresh, fresh. You’ve gotta try it.

I am super looking forward to making the Sesame Apricot Granola, and I even have all the ingredients ready to go. Have you ever had granola with tahini in it? I have not, but it sounds so good! There is so much good-looking stuff in this book. Chai Waffle Stick Dippers? Mozz-Stuffed Neatballs? Walnut Chorizo Taco Salad served in a baked tortilla bowl? Mint Chocolate Chip Doughnut Sundae? Cannot wait to eat all the foods! 

I almost forgot to mention: all of the food is food that you can eat out of a bowl! Yes, it’s a gimmick, but it’s a fun gimmick, which is the best kind of gimmick and the only kind I’ll tolerate. Now go get your copy!

*Ed note: we know her and love her! Well, Reina doesn’t know her but the cool kids do. AND WE LOVE HER! 

Italian food + tattoo art = Cecilia Granata’s Mama Tried. Granata, an Italian-American tattoo artist and freelance illustrator, presents her favorite recipes for home-cooked Italian food, including the delightfully named Happy Fart Burger, or Hamburger Scoreggione di Fagioli.

I love that Granata states upfront that she’s unwilling to do any hand-holding, explaining that Italians are used to eyeballing ingredients and adjusting recipes to their taste and what they have on hand. “…don’t be surprised if I ask you to use your intuition to finish making your dinner.” I felt a bit more powerful than usual as I made my own decisions in the kitchen, guided by suggestions from Mama Tried.

Shown below are the seitan scallops with lemon and wine sauce that I paired with yellow peppers with pine nuts and raisins and a side salad. Yum!

P.S. Check out this adorable trailer for this bad-ass book, which stars Granata herself: