Vive Le Vegan!: Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family

I am so glad I bought this book because now I finally have truly good recipes for vegan sweets. Dreena, unlike other authors that shall remain nameless, actually TASTED her cookies and brownies before putting them in a cookbook! I have made the Peanut "Better" Cookies, Double Chocolate-Almond Explosion Cookies, and the Fudgy Brownies, and they were all delicious and had great texture. I promise you can not tell the difference between these and butter & eggs recipes. I also made the Chipotle Veggie-Bean Burritos (alas, woman cannot live on cookies alone) and they were great. Get this book, as well as her other one, The Everyday Vegan.

I borrowed this cookbook from our library and love it. The recipes are simple and delicious. I made the Sweet Potato Curry dish for a potluck and received a lot of compliments. I like the format too. The font is very easy to read and the text is not crowded; it's easy on my eyes. She puts comments at the beginning of every recipe, which I really like to read. Also, she includes notes and alternatives in the margins, also wheat-free notes. It does not use a lot of tofu. I have been a vegetarian for 15 years and have used many cookbooks. I have three children under the age of 5 so simplicity and healthy foods are a priority when I cook for my family. This book is one of my favorite cookbooks because it helps me simplify my busy life.

...it is an informative book on healthy living. Besides numerous nutritious recipes for breakfast and brunch, baked goods, sauces, spreads, soups, main courses and other things, Burton provides advice for "Feeding Your Vegan Baby & Toddler" which is divided into age groups for 6-9 months, 9-12 months, 12-18 months, 18-24 months and 2+ years. In the section "Additional Notes for Feeding Baby" Burton discusses organic foods, prepackaged foods vs. home-made and food preparation tips. Another helpful section that offers practical information is "Cooking Guides & Notes" where the author provides guides to cooking grains and beans and other "Cooking Notes." A comprehensive glossary is also useful. Burton's support of hemp foods is a welcome addition to this recipe book and will hopefully encourage other cookbook authors to feature this nutritious food in their books. Not only does Burton include a section on "Hemp Foods," but she also mentions the importance of hemp in the Introduction. "This is one of the few cookbooks you will see that features hemp products. Hemp seed nuts and nut butter provide complete protein and essential fatty acids that we can only get from our diet. Hemp seed oil is also rich in the essential fatty acids." (page 14) Another interesting aspect of Burton's book involves the relatively small number of recipes that contain soy. Burton's reason for minimizing her use of soy is simple. "I suspect that many vegetarians and vegans rely a little too heavily on soy, and while I still include it in my family's diet, no one food should be consumed excessively." (page 14) Burton also includes numerous wheat-free recipes and recipes which feature a wheat-free option. It's nice to see that vegan recipe books are becoming more popular. Vive le Vegan! is one of the better vegan cookbooks that I've seen as it not only offers a good selection of easy-to-make, nutritious meals and snacks, but it contains lots of other important information as well. Those who turned to vegetarianism due to a love of and respect for animals will want to get a copy of Burton's book and consider taking the next step to veganism. As Eric Marcus points out in the Foreword: "Many people assume that concerns over cruelty can be addressed by becoming a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and buying free-range eggs and organic milk. Unfortunately, welfare standards for these foods are utterly lacking. And, just as troubling, these foods depend on slaughter every bit as much as their factory farmed counterparts. There is simply no such thing as animal agriculture without suffering and killing - the economics just don't allow it." Vive le Vegan! will be of interest to everyone looking for interesting, nutritious, cruelty-free recipes.--N. Glenn Perrett

This is a terrific cookbook!! I tried several recipes from this cookbook as a culinary student taking my final baking and pastry class and they were great, they even converted to larger yields without a problem. Especially good is the recipe for homestyle chocoalte cip cookies, they are as good or better than the butter and eggs type, even my non-vegetarian friends in class were impressed. Other recommended recipes include the coconut lime cookies, three bean curry tomato soup and miso-curry roasted potatoes.

I bought this cookbook about 2 weeks ago and have since made several recipes out of it, all of which have turned out great. My favorite is the canellini bean and yam hummus, which is SO good that I could eat it daily. This is a great cook book for anyone, whether youre a new vegan, longtime vegan, lazy vegan or not vegan at all. The recipes in the book are for the most part simple, dont rely too heavily on soy and dont require the use of really obscure ingredients. I also like that most recipes are wheat free or have wheat free options. This cookbook is definitely going into my rotation.