Cookbook Review #2 of 4/ Minimalist Baker's Everyday Cooking

This blog post will appear in four parts, each part being a review of one specific book. Part 2 of 4  follows below:

The Minimalist Baker's  website was one of the first resources that I found when I began my research into a plant based way of eating. I experimented with an apple carrot beet ginger juice.  At this stage of the game, everything was brand new to me: juicing, macro bowls, bean burgers from scratch and tofu prepared in an infinite number of ways. It was all a little exotic and foreign, particularly the flavor profiles. I found Dana Schultz's site (AKA The Minimalist Baker) to offer a generous number of introductory recipes that helped me get used to some basic vegan ingredients and ways of preparing food.

Most food/cooking bloggers/authors have a "point of view" or a cooking aesthetic. There tends to be a concentration on categories of food (vegan, vegetarian, paleo, etc.) coupled with something a little less objective and more touchy-feely. Terms like "comfort food", "clean eating",  "simple ingredients" or "raw food" can give the reader an idea of the bloggers food philosophy. As mentioned in my first post, sometimes cookbook authors/food bloggers may have a partiuclar regional influence as well. An example may be that the author focuses on "southern comfort food." 

Schultz's claim to fame, as the title of her blog suggests, is that the recipes require ten ingredients or less, take 30 minutes or less, and only require one bowl. She is generous and welcomes all eaters to her blog site. As an aside, and I do recommend reading Dana's blog, the site itself has a fun, hip feel to it. Her voice is kind of light hearted and quirky. There is very little personal talk, just enough for some interest but not so much that you are rushing to the recipe part because of TMI.

Her cookbook, Minimalist's Bakers Everyday Cooking: 101 Entirely Plant Based, Mostly Gluten Free, Easy and Delicious recipes, is based on the same premises as her website and has the same kind of feel. She offers easy redo's of many familiar recipes. These are recipes that we may all recognize, such as a classic lasagne or 3 bean chili, only made with vegan ingredients. She has also included a wide variety of typical vegan foods as well as the more unusual: have you ever had a spicy jackfruit sandwich? There are many recipes to get a new vegan intersted in cooking. The book covers all of the bases, offering breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas as well as dessert and essential vegan condiments. There is also a section in the back which lists essential vegan pantry items and to Schultz's infinite credit, a list of nutrtional information for each recipe. The book is thorough, with quite enough information to get the new vegan started but also to keep the attention of those who have been eating a plant based diet for awhile.

The cookbook is setup in some very helpful ways. Prep and cook times are provided for each recipe. Ingredients are broken down by step and the steps themselves are very logical. It's always good for me when the photo of the finished food and the recipe can each be viewed simultaneously. This isn't always possible so expect that for this book, you may be flipping back and forth between pages to get the complete recipe. All in all, this book is a great read and fun to use. It's a good size and lays flat on the counter too. Double bonus!

I have made several of her recipes so far with good results. The Thai baked sweet potatoes are good and the chili is now my main chili recipe. I also made the carrot, potato and chickpea curry recipe. That was quite good too. There are many recipes left to explore and I feel confidant that they will turn out well. This cookbook would be good for someone with some basic cooking experience. The directions are easy to follow and the cooking terms quite simple to understand. The beautiful photography helps to enhance the whole experience!

I have one major complaint and a comment about this book and the recipes offered.  The first issue has to do with both the font size and the font selection. The font size is just a little too small and the font style is a little too complex. (It actually feels like there may be several font styles in use though I couldn't say for sure.) This sounds nit picky but for anyone with mildly poor eyesight, both things will be a problem. Many of the fraction numbers are impossible to make out without squinting and in general, the fonts could be darker. The workaround here is of course good lighting and a magnifying glass at hand. The second issue has to do with nutritional requirements. If fat, sodium, and cholesterol intake are considerations for you, please know that many of the recipes will need to be modified. (This isn't a specific diet type of book, so I wasn't expecting recipes conforming to any guidelines anyway.) The problems are not enough, however, to deter anyone interested from purchasing the book.

I hope that the above information is helpful for anyone searching for a good and solid vegan cookbook. Be sure to check out Dana's blog as well where you can test out some recipes and get a feel for things before purchasing the book.

Stay tuned for the next review!

Libby