The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook: Fresh, Fun, and Delicious Vegan Recipes That Will Entice and Satisfy Vegetarians and Nonvegetarians Alike

If you're vegan, one thing you sorely miss is ranch dressing. If you only make the Black Creek Ranch Dressing recipe, you will have already spent money wisely. The recipes in this book are easy, delicious, rich, and outstanding. Try the Kissed French Toast, and you will want to make it for everyone you know. I have the pleasure of living close enough to eat in Native Foods restaurants, but if you don't, please do yourself a favorite and buy this book. Heck, even if you do live close enough, you can make some yummy treats at home. Includes recipes for vegan bases, in case you don't have access, and it is a very informative, entertaining book as well.

My boyfriend and I had the pleasure of visiting a Native Foods in Los Angeles while we were visiting for a friend's wedding. The food was absolutely fantastic. I snapped up the cookbook immediately, and we've been whipping up some of the same dishes served in the restaurant. Right now, I'm addicted to the Thai slaw, because the Sesame Orange Vinaigrette dressing is the best! The Rockin' Morroccan marinade is also fantastic. Honestly, there are too many to name. You just need to buy the cookbook and find out for yourself.

This book was recommended to me by a vegan chef whom I hired to teach me how to cook some healthier meals. The Tempeh pate recipe (serve it w/plain, unsalted rice crackers, mmmm . . . ) is worth the price of the book alone. I have tried the tempeh provencal recipe, and I didn't find that to my liking, but I think some of my ingredients weren't of the highest quality and may have been old . . . I have eaten at the Native Foods Restaurant a couple of times and the food is excellent - if you get a chance eat at one of her locations (I frequent the Westwood one). She has a website: http://www.nativefoods.com/I have eaten a lentil soup, a cauliflower "Cream" soup, a baja surf ("fish") taco and the Bali Surf Burger at the restaurant. Unfortunately, only the Surf Burger is included in the recipe book - but all were FABULOUS. I am no culinary expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I am picky and these recipes are easy to follow - and that Tempeh Pate, you just have to try it (a sidenote: the deglaze recipe for the tempeh can get a little salty, so I used 1/4c of soy sauce for the deglaze instead of the 1/2c the recipe calls for)!Even though I haven't had the chance to try many of the recipes, I am looking forward to trying more . . . judging from her restaurant fare and the pate recipe, I'm confident this book will earn a prominent place in my cookbook library!

Tanya Petrovna is the head chef of the popular Southern California based "Native Foods" restaurant chain. In The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook Petrovna draws upon her many years of professional and personal experience to put together a vegetarian cookbook that offers diverse and delicious menus offering her fellow vegetarians delicious, guilt-free options for the dining table. After an informative 3-part introduction ("Native Foods and Me", "The Vegetarian Lifestyle", "Passionate about Organics"), Petrovna goes over the basics of vegetarian cooking from how to equip the kitchen, to a glossary of cooking terms, to overview explanations of basic vegetarian ingredients. Then come a wealth of recipes that have as their common denominator an adherence to vegetarian sensibilities and terrific taste! From Shallot Mushroom Gravy; Tanya's Tempeh Salad; and El Bruncho Burrito; to Bali Surf Burger; Tangerine Yams; and Mexican Hot Chocolate, these are dishes that would grace any table and satisfy any appetite.

We recently returned from a vacation in Palm Springs and had the good fortune to eat at both locations of the Native Foods Restuarant. The food was delicious, so much so that we ate there 5 times in 9 days. We sampled a variety of sandwiches, wraps, tacos, bowls and a desert or two and then bought the cookbook The cookbook contains recipes for most of the dishes we ate and the recipes are clear, concise and produce yummy results. Vegan food never tasted so good (and we are not vegans).