Veganomicon_ The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook - Isa Chandra Moskowitz [4]
This book owes a huge debt to our secret fleet of recipe testers scattered across the globe like poppy seeds on a bagel. Thanks to the miracle of this Internet, we’ve had the support of this tireless bunch of testing maniacs cooking and giving us feedback for many months during this book’s development. Each recipe has been tested by several people, from new cooks to old hands, from teenagers to grad students to dads to grandmothers. Their feedback and guidance informed this cookbook every step of the way.
VEGAN FOOD = NORMAL FOOD
And there is a larger reason why we wrote this book. Our mission in life is to prove that vegan food doesn’t have to be repetitive, difficult, or inaccessible. So let us bore you for a few moments with our culinary philosophy.
People tend to think that the way we eat is the way it always has been and the way it always will be. But food is in constant flux, traveling all over the world and taking root from one continent to the next. The foods that are available to us influence our entire culinary identity, and that identity is ever-shifting. For example, we think of Italian food as loaded with tomato-y goodness, yet the tomato was not widely used in Italy until the eighteenth century, which in the grand scheme of things is a pizza throw away from present times. Just like that, our definition of what makes a complete, satisfying meal can forever change. In today’s world, average folks are evolving and learning that dinner need not be defined by a big ol’ chunk of meat surrounded by a few bits of overboiled vegetables.
The beauty of this culinary whippersnapper (vegan cuisine) is that it draws influences from every part of the world to create an entirely new way to eat. And we explore the dickens out of that in the Veganomicon: stuffing samosa filling into baked potatoes, throwing apples into green chile, tossing lemongrass into risotto. Tradition always starts somewhere, and we hope that something in these pages will inspire a few new seedlings of tradition to take root.
With love from Queens & Brooklyn,
Terry & Isa
ABOUT THE ICONS
You might be wondering what all those cute little icons right at the beginning of each recipe mean. Behold, the mystery revealed! With just a flick of the eye muscle you’ll know if a recipe is gluten free, low fat, or soy free. You’ll also know whether you can just shop at Giganto-Mart or need to make an additional stop at the Organic Natural Wonderland grocery, before cooking dinner—plus an approximation of how long things will take once you’ve procured all your ingredients.
SOY FREE
Recipe doesn’t contain tofu, tempeh, soy milk, soy sauce, or any other soy-derived product.
GLUTEN FREE
No wheat, vital wheat gluten, or other gluten-containing flours or grains, such as rye. We can’t vouch for ingredients that might contain gluten on a very small scale (for celiacs who require a strict gluten-free diet), but all of the major gluten offenders have been accounted for in these recipes. Several recipes marked gluten-free call for soy sauce; be sure to use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce.
LOW FAT/REDUCED FAT
Usually less than 2 tablespoons of oil in the entire recipe, so we figure it’s got to be low fat (or lower fat).
UNDER 45 MINUTES
We’re experts at the 2-hour recipe, but we know that you busy types want to know how long it will take you to do something. Of course, the 45 minutes doesn’t include time spent yapping on the phone and running into the living room to watch some television. Many recipes with this icon take just 30 or even 15 minutes to prepare.
SUPERMARKET FRIENDLY
In a perfect vegan world, the local supermarket always has nutritional yeast and whole wheat pastry flour, right next to