Wednesday, October 26, 2011
VEGAN DINER BOOK GIVEAWAY AND REVIEW!
OUR 1ST WINNER DID NOT CONTACT ME AFTER 1 WEEK, SO WE HAVE ANOTHER WINNER, in2insight! I will contact you. Congratulations!
It's past due for me to do a review AND a book giveaway (see info at the bottom of this post) of my friend Julie Hasson's wonderful book, Vegan Diner, on this blog. If you haven't seen this book, or purchased it yet, you are in for a treat! Not only do we all have some diner favorites that we would love to be able to eat again as vegans, but it looks wonderful, with delectable color photos of many of the recipes, and stylishly retro diner scenes. The content is a perfect combination of familiar and original. There are old favorites like All-American Beer-Battered Onions, Ooey-Gooey Brownies, and Biscuits with Creamy Sage Gravy, and then innovations such as Spelt Chai Pancakes, Vampire Fries, and Philly Seitan Sliders, to name but a very few of the tantalyizing recipes in this book.
Recently we had a couple of really delicious and quick meals from Julie's book that I'd like to tell you about. I had a yen for "macaroni and cheese" the other day, and needed a quick meal at the same time. (Actually, I had just got home from work on the 6:30 ferry. DH usually has dinner waiting for me on Friday nights, but he's been teaching a photography course at the college in Courtenay for a few weeks, so we've both been coming home on the same ferry.) I had heard so much about Julie's Cheezy Mac that I decided to try it. It looked quick and easy-- and it was!
I was out of elbow macaroni, so I used medium shell pasta, and I think I'll use that from now on! The shells make little "cups" to hold more of the sauce, so each bite is sumptuous!
While the pasta boils, you make the sauce, which tastes much richer than it actually is. I cheated a bit and cooked the sauce in the microwave, which worked perfectly.The recipe specifies just mixing the hot pasta and sauce together and serving immediately, which is perfectly fine, but I want a crunchy topping. So, I sprinkled the top with panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) and ran it under the broiler, watching carefully. So it looked like a baked macaroni and cheese:
It was creamy and rich-tasting-- a very satisfying meal!
Another night I made two recipes from Vegan Diner: the Smoky Soy Curls and the Dill and Garlic Potato Salad. They were both very easy to make and we could pretend that, despite the cold weather, we were having a scrumptious summer BBQ meal:
We served the two dishes together on a bed of lettuce with pickled beets and marinated artichokes-- fantastic! I love Soy Curls anyway (you can read about them here), but this simple recipe takes them to a new level! DH devoured them and we both can't wait to try them in a big, messy sandwich! The potato salad was creamy and tangy,complementing the Smoky Soy Curls perfectly. (By the way, DH tends to prefer my cooking, but he's a great fan of Julie's cooking and NEVER looks dubious when I say I'm trying out one of her recipes. He certainly wasn't disappointed in these dishes.)
I haven't even gotten to the desserts yet-- there are so many recipes to choose from! If you'd like to win a copy of Vegan Diner, comment below on why you'd like to lay your hands on this book and DH will choose a winner on Thursday night (the 27th). I'm afraid that the publisher has stipulated that only Americans can join in the contest.
All the best!
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69 comments:
I would love to make more vegan food for my family.
I love the idea of learning how to make the tasty vegan comfort foods that you mentioned are featured in the Vegan Diner cookbook. Especially in time to make the holidays even more tasty and fun for my family!
Hello there! well I would love to lay my hands on this book because it seems to make wonderful recipes however it wouldn't be for me. I like healthy and healthy typically is vegan but I am not. I actually would love to give it to my cousin who is a vegan and scrounges and makes do but doesn't own a book to reference.
I'd prob copy a recipe or 2 for holiday gatherings so he has something to eat as well :)
ngallo58 at gmail dot com
Ooh, I love diners and hate how hard it is to find veg-friendly diner food. Vegan biscuits and gravy?! Yes, please!
This sounds delicious. I am a newly wed that is the main cook in the house which means although my husband isn't vegetarian/vegan "yet" at home he eats that way! I think these recipes would hit home with him!
Just one of the reasons I want this book for the soy curls recipes.
I would really like this book. I am on again off again with the healthy eating- hey I figure it is like quitting cigarettes, each time you try the closer you get to the goal- and I am ready right now to jump back on the bandwagon. I have high cholesterol and now my blood sugar is going up too; I'll be 49 in a few weeks, so this is my chance to do myself a solid before I hit 50. Please pick me!!
I've heard a lot of good things about this cookbook, but that picture of the mac and cheese is enough for me today! And I like fast mac and cheese -- it would be great for my 4 kids who are always hungry.
would love to try the recipes from this book!
This cookbook looks so amazing. I keep hearing about it (mainly the smoky soy curls). I need it!
I've gotten in a rut and am in desperate need of good ideas. Thanks!
No question that I loved diner food as an omni, so pretty much any recipe will work for me! :-) I really really want to try those smoky soy curls...
Great giveaway, Bryanna!
In the rare event that I win this, you can message me on Facebook :-)
I'd like to win a copy because one can never have too many vegan recipes for vegan mac and cheeze and creamy potato salad.
I'd like to win a copy because one can never have too many vegan recipes for mac and cheeze and creamy potato salad.
Being a relatively new vegan and soooo not a great cook, I need books with easy to follow recipes and easy to find ingredients (such as yours that you post and in your Soyfoods Cooking for a Positive Menopause...my first vegan cookbook!). I would love to add a new book which sounds like it has many comfort food favorites included to my meager collection! Thank you so much, Bryanna!
I love all vegan mac and cheese, and I would love to try the one in Vegan Diner!
Reason #1: Mocha.Java.Cake. Sounds amazing!
My stomach actually growled/gurgled when I read your post about the recipes!! If I get the cookbook, I will be sure to try out the recipes and post reviews on my blog, as well!
I would like a copy of Vegan Diner because all the reviews I've read have been great. Also, I love the cover. mmmmm comfort food!
Ooh, I flipped through this at the library but only got to see it briefly because it had a hold on it. I want to get a hold of it for the macaroni and cheese recipe that The Noochy Noodle reviewed so favourably!
My family has mostly converted to veganism but there's one big obstacle that stands in our way - my kids are addicted to macaroni and cheese!
When I saw your description of the Cheezy Mac recipe in this cookbook, I got very excited - this may be the thing that helps us get the rest of the way to being vegan.
I want the cookbook because eating at Chicago Diner every night is cost-prohibitive :D
I'd like a chance to win the Vegan Diner!!! It would be super helpful in creating Christmas dinner for an entirely non vegan family, yay, they are finally letting me do it! holeyjess@gmail.com
oh gosh, i've been coveting this book for some time now! there have been only rave reviews of it and all the recipes sound so amazing -- diner food veganized? sign me up. i personally can't wait to try out the homemade cheeses and those orange cinnamon rolls...
It would be so much fun to cook diner food this winter! I haven't even thought of many of these dishes in years, and it all come back looking at your pictures, only better, as I know there is only life in the food. I would be thrilled to own this book, and my friends and family to eat the food from it!
I would love this cookbook because I am a big fan of Julie's recipes- I have made many and never been disappointed, and I would love a diner-themed collection!
I've had my eye on "Vegan Diner" for a while, and I'm hoping it will bring me out of my sad sad cookbook slump, in which I complain frequently to my own DH that I don't own a single cookbook that I truly LOVE. I have high hopes for this one to be my cookbook soul mate!
I have heard so many good things about Vegan Diner! I had Soy Curls for the first time during a recent trip to Portland and would love to work them into my cooking repertoire!
I have heard so many good things about Vegan Diner. Those Soy Curls look amazing! I had Soy Curls for the first time during a recent trip to Portland and have been looking for ways to use them.
Hmmm, why do I want to get my hands on this book?
Well, first off it's from Julie H. and second, you love it, and as I trust all things vegan cooking to you, it's an easy "sell". :)
Thanks for offering both the review and giveaway.
Cheers!
Everything I've seen from this book looks so good. I want that mac and cheese! Especially with shells; I love how they hold the sauce!
I borrowed this book from the library and everything looks so delicious; the chocolate chip cookie recipe in this book results in some of the best I've ever had! I would love to have more time to spend with this book.
Droooooooool. Everything in there looks so good I feel like going into a food coma just thinking about eating all of it! I just ordered a bulk package of soy curls so I would love to learn more ways of using those. I'm also always looking for more super yummy vegan recipes to show off to my omni friends to prove we eat nothing like rabbits!
I would love this book-my 8 and 10 year old kids want to go vegan after seeinf FOK, and would love a good mac and cheese! MelissaB
I would love this book, because I have a ginormous addiction to comfort food and diner food is the quintessential comfort food!
I'm new to the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle and cooking in general, and I'd love to be able to prove to my omnivorous boyfriend that non-meat meals can be just as tasty as the ones that he cooks!
Fall and winter beg for comfort food - vegan style. Your post on the Cheezy Mac and soy curls is reason enough to want the book
I would love to win this book to add to my vegan cookbook collection, and because the recipes just sound plain delicious.
I would love to win this book because my library doesn't have a copy, and I have been wanting to check it out for a while now!
Courtney
I would love to win a copy of Vegan Diner! I have heard wonderful things about it and I love the kind of hearty, comfort food recipes it includes. Thanks for having such a great giveaway!
I'm on a mission to naturally unblock carotid arteries with a vegan diet. All these great ideas help me to produce wonderful and tasty meals! I would really use this book in a very constructive way!
I've heard loads of great things about this book, so that's why I'd love to win it.
If I win, then I can keep my Jersey boy diner fanatic husband vegan for a long time to come!
Everything I've seen come out of this book has looked delicious. This Cheezy Mac is no exception
I'd like to win because I have a slight obsession with ANYTHING retro. Retro vegan food? Count me in!
I would like to win this cookbook to convince my father that eating this way doesn't mean giving up his favorite foods, just tweaking them a little. I know his fibromyalgia and his diabetes would respond well to a vegan diet, but he still resists.
Ooey Gooey brownies! I am a brownie fiend.
This book looks amazing! I want to come out of this term's midterms comforted by some of that mac!
I'd love to make some tasty vegan comfort food now that the cold weather is settling in!
Mmm I would love it because I've heard really good things about it, and also that mac and cheeze looks soo good!!
I would love to win this book because I love trying new recipes and I could sure make a lot of vegans happy with this food.
I want this book because I love comfort food.
I would like to win this cookbook now that soy curls are easier for me to obtain. I've been eager to use them!
ceevegnashville [at] gmail [dot] com
I am tempted by this book everytime I see it in the bookstore. I think these recipes will help sway a few reluctant family members and friends. Also what better time for comfort food than to enjoy during cooler weather and the holidays. Thanks for the contest, keeping fingers crossed.
I borrowed this book from my library and was really enjoying the recipes, but had to return it so others could enjoy it as well. What I saw of the book definitely made me want to own it - I didn't get to try any of the seitan recipes yet!!!
Why? I think your pictures of the mac and cheese speak VOLUMES... I want to eat my computer screen!
My brother lives a few blocks from the diner and teases me constantly about how yummy the food is...and he's not even vegan! I'd love to be able to make some superdelicious recipes just to show him! :)
I'm always looking for new ways to make vegan comfort food - this book looks amazing!
I'd love to win this book so I can replicate some of these awesome recipes!!
I would love some of these recipes for comfort food.
My husband is a meat eater - so he likes the more 'meaty' things I cook. I gave him 'American Vegan Kitchen' and if I won 'Vegan Diner' I'd give that to him as well. It would be well used!
I would to love this cookbook because one of the things that my kids miss most is diner food. It's also been the hardest for me to replicate on my own. My kids need this book!
I would like to win this cookbook because I JUST had to return the copy I borrowed from my library today!! I'd love to have my own copy so I could make delicious diner food anytime I wanted! :)
I'd love to win a copy because I adore Julie Hasson, she is the absolute bee's knees. I had my first ever soy curl encounter at Native Bowl, and my first (only) time making soy curls at home was with one of Julie's recipes.
Every Friday night we cook food from a different country for our Shabbat guests. We go through the alphabet to choose the countries. When we reach "U," our favorite choice is "United States," and our favorite type of US food is "diner food." It's easy to find meat recipes for our meat eaters, but I'm vegan and so are some guests. I'd love to have this cookbook so i can share the results and tempt them to become vegan.
Because that mac looks delicious!?!
I would love to win this book to give as a Christmas gift to one of my adult children. It is an amazing cookbook full of yumminess.
Bryanna,
Thank you for this lovely win.
The book arrived, and I have had fun making some dishes out of it.
(Also enjoying your WVF very much)
Cheers!
You're welcome! Glad you enjoying them!
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