Book Reviews
I AM GRATEFUL: RECIPES AND LIFESTYLE OF CAFÉ GRATITUDE
By Terces Engelhart with Orchid
Café Gratitude is a successful raw foods establishment with locations in Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Rafael, California. The staff now shares the restaurants' cuisine in this fantastic cookbook. Sample recipes include mock Farmer-Style Cheese and Pepper Jack Cheese made from cashews, Marinated Kale Salad, Homemade Sauerkraut and Kim Chee, Nori Rolls, Pad Thai, and incredible raw desserts, such as German Chocolate Cake and Strawberry Shortcake.
This book includes beautiful color photos. Nutritional analyses are not provided, and many recipes contain nuts.
QUICK-FIX VEGETARIAN
By Robin Robertson
Most people live a hectic lifestyle these days, and any quick-and-easy vegetarian cookbook is greatly appreciated. Quick-Fix Vegetarian serves up a number of creative vegan dishes, including Herbed Mushroom Crostini (made with garlic, mushrooms, and spices and served on a baguette), Green Olive-Edamame Dip (with edamame, green olives, garlic, and tomatoes as ingredients), Phast Phresh Pho (Vietnamese soup prepared with seitan, scallions, rice noodles, bean sprouts, and more), Panko-Crusted Tofu Cutlets with Lemon-Caper Sauce (consisting of tofu, panko bread crumbs, capers, and lemon), and Chocolate-Cherry Truffles (made with dried cherries, almond butter, sugar, cocoa, and vanilla). Please note that nutritional analyses are not provided, and a few of the recipes are high in fat.
VEGAN LUNCH BOX
By Jennifer McCann
When Jennifer McCann's son started first grade, she realized that she was going to be packing a vegan lunch for him every day for the next 12 years. She put on her creative thinking cap and came up with lots of fun, healthy lunches. To my delight, she's put many of these menu ideas and recipes together in Vegan Lunch Box. Some ideas are quick and easy, but a few take a little more time. Several feature foods from other countries, while others are designed to celebrate holidays. The book includes gorgeous color photos of many of the lunches.
My family has given a 'thumbs up' to all the recipes we've tried, including Cornish Pasties, Lunch Box Fondue, Cheezy Roasted Chickpeas, Polenta Fries, and Tofu Fish Sticks. We can't wait to try more ideas!
Don't think Vegan Lunch Box is just for kids, though. Lots of us adults take lunches to work or school. (Despite the book's title, the recipes even work well for a quick dinner.) Vegan Lunch Box is a great book to add to your collection.
THE FARMERS' MARKET BOOK
By Jennifer Meta Robinson and J.A. Hartenfeld
Nearly every Saturday morning, I shop at a local farmers' market, so you can imagine how excited I was to come across a book focusing on the role farmers' markets play in society today.
This book examines markets in the Bloomington, Indiana, area; however, the information can be applied nationwide. Readers will learn much about the social, ecological, and economic power of farmers' markets.
OMNIBO
By Suzanne Freeman
Omnibo is a creative novella (longer than a short story but shorter than a novel) that will certainly keep its readers' interest. Omnibo are cloned animals, modeled after bonobo apes, created by a hypothetical company named North American DowSanto (NADS).
The inventor of Omnibo produces addicting meat products from the cloned animals. Once people start eating this meat, they want to consume more and more. Demand increases, as NADS had hoped, and the meat they produce becomes increasingly expensive to purchase.
Eventually, a team of NADS employees steals some valuable Omnibo and keeps them as pets. After all, Omnibo are very cute and gentle creatures. At first, the NADS officials are quite upset when this happens since they fear that people no longer will consume Omnibo meat if they perceive Omnibo as pets. However, the company's officials soon realize that people have become so addicted to the meat that they do not care if Omnibo are also companion animals.
Many ethical issues are discussed throughout this brief yet thought-provoking fictional narrative. For example, Rosemary, the novella's main character, is confronted by her brother, Bronson, who is a longtime vegetarian. Bronson brings up animal rights themes and consistent vegan values, despite being in the minority.
THE ABC'S OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AND BEYOND
By Steve Charney and David Goldbeck with
illustrations by Maria Burgaleta Larson
If you are looking for a vegetarian and vegan-friendly children's book that promotes the consumption of fruits and vegetables, you will love The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond. Part I consists of poems describing fruits and vegetables in alphabetical order. Cute drawings accompany each food item. This section would be especially good for children between the ages of 4 and 6.
Part II of this book contains vegetarian recipes using fruits and vegetables, many of which are vegan or can easily be made vegan. It also includes jokes/riddles, fun project ideas, recommended books and websites, and more. This section is in alphabetical order as well and is suited for older children, from the ages of 7 to 12.
Readers should definitely recommend that their local library purchase this book.
EARTH VOICE FOOD CHOICE
By Todd Winant Earth Voice Food
Earth Voice Food Choice is a wonderful multimedia tool for parents, teachers, students, food personnel, or anyone concerned about the food served in school lunches. It includes a manual in book form, a documentary in DVD format, and a website where users can access handouts and additional information. The goal of this project is to demonstrate how a plant-based diet can be simple and how it can serve as a solution to many of the problems that the United States is facing today. Another goal is to encourage the serving and eating of more whole grain products and organic plant foods.
Readers will learn why what they choose to eat or not eat affects our environment, including the water we drink, the soil needed to grow food, and the amount of energy depleted to produce crops. Animal welfare issues, such as factory farming, are introduced, and the impact of diet on health is also discussed.
Most importantly, this project explains how school lunch programs in this country are run and provides suggestions to promote change. Kid-friendly quantity recipes are provided.
