For many people today's busy lifestyle serves as a convenient excuse to eat junk, but Vegan Express (Broadway, 2008, ISBN 978-0767926171) shows it is possible to eat good and healthful food without having to spend the evening in the kitchen. The book contains 160 recipes that can be whipped up in just 30-45 minutes or even less.
Overview
The recipes included in the book feature e.g. pastas, sauces, soups and many kinds of cold and warm salads. Not many stews and casseroles are included, as they tend to be too time-consuming.
Of the ethnic cuisines Thai food is the most prominently featured, but there are also Italian and Middle-Eastern dishes. There is a small section for desserts including baked goods, some apple treats and tofu-based mousses and puddings.
The book starts with a foreword written by Neal Barnard, MD, president of Physician's Committee For Responsible Medicine. There is also an introduction by the author, which includes information about vegan nutrition, the ingredients used in the book and a listing of her favorite recipes.
Nutritional information is included with each recipe. A bit strangely the time the recipe takes to prepare is not listed. Many recipes also list dishes they pair well with. There are also several pages with ideas for "non-recipe" foods, such as tasty salads or simple pasta dishes.
As with many recent vegan cookbooks, there are no photos elsewhere in the book, but there is a small insert of color photos. The graphical design uses red and green for the text and a script font for the headings. While it looks nice, it feels quite heavy on the eyes to peruse.
To the reviewer who resides in Europe but has many American cookbooks the book felt a bit U.S. centric. Admittedly many cookbooks do not include conversions to metric units, but the selection of ingredients also included many products which may be difficult to locate outside of the States (or even in parts of the U.S.) such as tofu ravioli or vegan caramel syrup.
Food
The recipes tend to be healthy and rich in vegetables, though not necessarily that low in fat. The dishes feature more faux meats (like tofu sausages) and vegan cheeses (but less nutritional yeast) than many other vegetarian cookbooks. Tofu, seitah and tempeh also appear often, but the author prefers not to use textured soy protein or other highly-processed soy products.
In some online reviews Vegan Express has been criticized for "bland" food that lacks spices. The author admits she is not a big fan of garlic (even though it is used in some recipes), which may explain something - in many other vegetarian cookbooks just about all recipes include garlic.
The recipes do contain spices, but perhaps on the low side, especially some of the ethnic dishes. Nava Atlas does not rely much on seasonings popular in some other vegan cookbooks, like liquid smoke, soy sauce, Dijon mustard and maple syrup. Black olives, on the other hand, are used prominently, especially in salads.
Of the recipes tested, the lentils with greens and sun-dried tomatoes ranked the best, being both healthy and flavorful. The strawberry mousse turned out slightly bland and could have used more berries. The maple-glazed pineapple was good, albeit cloyingly sweet. Thai coconut corn soup and chana masala were both tasty, though the reviewer preferred to add a little more spices. All were quick and easy to make as promised.
Vegan Express would be a great cookbook for those who want to eat healthily, vegetarian or not, but especially for vegetarians with children. The quick and easy factor is clearly a benefit, but it also seems that most foods in the book would likely be agreeable to kids and other picky eaters.
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