Book Reviews
Vegan Vietnamese
by Helen Le
Helen Le is well-known for her cooking videos and cookbooks. She has a huge worldwide following. Her latest cookbook, Vegan Vietnamese, serves up a variety of dishes, including Vegan Fish Sauce, Pickled Carrots and Daikon, Green Fresh Spring Rolls, Sweet-and-Sour Seitan, Lemongrass Chili Tofu, Grilled Eggplant, Pho, Bá Mi, Sticky Rice Dumplings with Coconut Filling, Spicy Cassava Fritters, and Grilled Banana Wrapped in Sticky Rice. The photography throughout the book is positively mouthwatering.
Although some of the ingredients found in her recipes may be unfamiliar, the author provides clear descriptions, along with where to purchase them. Another helpful feature is that each recipe is rated by ease of preparation. More complex dishes are labeled advanced, and others are listed as basic and are easy to prepare.
Vegan Vietnamese (ISBN 978-1-6310-6930-7) is a 184-page hardcover book. It is published by Rock Point and retails for $24.99.
Debra Wasserman/VRG Co-Coordinator
Oodles and Oodles of Vegan Noodles
by Cheynese Khachame
Who doesn't love noodles, the perfect comfort food? In this cookbook, Cheynese Khaachame (a vegan influencer living in France) shares a wide variety of creative vegan noodle-based dishes, including cold noodle soups and salads, sautéed noodle dishes, hot noodle soups, and more. She also offers a section called basics offering recipes for Vegetable Dashi, Chinese Cabbage Kimchi, "Oyster" Sauce, "Fish" Sauce, and Homemade Udon Noodles. Finally, the book's last chapter consists of miscellaneous noodle dishes, such as Dandan Noodles, Japanese-Style Udon Carbonara, and Noodles in Black Bean Sauce.
The introduction to pantry staples is extremely helpful and the beautiful photos throughout will entice you to start cooking right away!
Oodles and Oodles of Vegan Noodles (ISBN 978-1-89101-126-9) is a 128-page book. It is published by The Experiment and retails for $22.95.
Debra Wasserman/VRG Co-Coordinator
The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook
by Linda Tyler
Linda Tyler is the creator of GraciousVegan.com and a regular contributor to Vegan Journal. Her cookbook offers a wealth of information on the best plant-based foods she says fight inflammation, common inflammation-related conditions, the role diet plays in chronic inflammation, and a discussion of foods to minimize the chances of inflammation. The cooking guide lets you see how long to cook various whole grains on your stovetop or in a pressure cooker, as well as how much liquid to use. Linda also provides a list of dishes and foods that can be frozen and prepared at a later date.
Helpful tips are sprinkled throughout as you prepare anti-inflammatory dishes. This includes cooking with water or broth instead of oil, roasting vegetables without oil, air-frying foods, baking burgers, and steaming vegetables in a pressure cooker.
Among the delicious recipes with gorgeous photos are Orange-Spice Granola, Lemony Farro and Bean Salad, Yellow Curry Soup with Black Rice, Savory Quinoa Cakes, Baked Spring Rolls, Kung Pao Soy Curls, and Walnut and Date Caramel Tart.
The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook (ISBN 978-1-5107-7735-4) is a 288-page book. It is published by Skyhorse Publishing and retails for $24.95.
Debra Wasserman/VRG Co-Coordinator
