09/29/2013

Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero

When I heard Vegan Eats World was coming out, I got excited. Namely because of the author, Terry Hope Romero. She always finds a way to turn vegan food into something delicious, gorgeous, and with my personal favorite Vegan Pie in the Sky which she co-authored, creates vegan desserts that cook up perfectly.

Romero entertainingly starts the introduction with “What If the World Was Vegan?” She brings up her philosophy that the building blocks of cuisine are not meat or meat products per se, but the so-called supporting elements in recipes – the grains, the herbs, the spices. If I think hard on that, she is right. Pasta is but pasta (or, for non-vegans, chicken is but chicken), and it is the vegetables, fresh herbs, fruits, nuts, and more, that transform a simple dish into one that is uniquely Thai or Chinese or Italian. Vegan Eats World travels the globe and gives the reader a little bit of each ethnic cuisine, vegan-style.

Whether or not you are familiar with vegan cooking, the first section Kitchen Cartography: Mapping Your Way to a Brave New Vegan Cuisine is a helpful one. She talks about mise en place (one of THE most important things I learned in culinary school LOL), knife basics, cooking terms, ethnic and regional ingredients, kitchen equipment and even shopping lists. Good stuff to review before tackling the different recipes which touch on the following cuisines: Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, European, Latin American and Caribbean, Asian, Indian, Thai, and African.

I love how the chapters are separated not by region but by menu item giving me the freedom to mix it up and serve a multicultural meal in one sitting. The chapters are: Spice Blends; The Three Protein Amigos: Tofu, Seitan and Tempeh; Pickles, Chutneys and Saucier Sauces; Salads, Spreads and Sandwiches; Soups; Curries, Hearty Stews and Beans; Dumplings, Breads and Pancakes; Asian Noodles to Mediterranean Pasta; Hearty Entrees; Robust Vegetable Entrees and Sides; Rice and Whole Grains: One-Pot Meals and Supporting Roles; and Sweet Beginnings.

My son has his favorites but my daughters are adventurers in the kitchen. And if one won’t try something, the other will dig right in so no matter what I try I have one of them tasting right along with me. Carrot salad is just one of those things that I cannot for the life of me get any of my kids to eat, though. Something about raisins and carrots suspended in sweet mayonnaise or bland vinaigrettes leaves a bad taste in my mouth, let alone theirs. But, carrots are plentiful at the house and everyone loves them. Enter the Harissa Carrot Salad. Major hit all around. I think it was the lemon-cumin combo that did us all in, with a just a little sweetness from the orange juice and agave nectar.

The recipe is below, and is excellent with Israeli couscous for lunch.

vegan eats world

Harissa Carrot Salad

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Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 pound carrots scraped and sliced into matchsticks or shredded
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil harissa Paste recipe on page 43 in the book or 1/4 teaspoon each cayenne pepper and ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon agave nectar
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions
 

  • Place the carrots, raisins, and cilantro in a large mixing bowl. In a liquid measuring cup whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the carrots. Use tongs to toss everything together and serve immediately.

Book Information:

Author Information:

From Vegan Eats World: 250 International Recipes for Savoring (and Saving) the Planet by Terry Hope Romero. Reprinted courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong Books.

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher and any opinions are my own.

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Filed Under: Cookbooks, Healthy Cooking, Recipes
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