Reviewing Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! by Celine Steen and Tamasin Noyes

I'm guessing you know that I love Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! by Tamasin Noyes and Celine Steen by now. I'm hoping you have a copy ordered already but if you don't you can always take a moment to go leave a comment and enter to win a copy here (http://threeandahalfvegans.blogspot.ca/2012/08/food-network-monthly-cookalong-theme.html).

First off, I can't say enough about how amazing and wonderful this book is. These two incredibly talented women came together and made some serious sandwich magic. The book itself if beautiful and full of Celine's mouthwatering photography. It makes you want to reach into the book and grab one. The book has a sandwich for everyone with all kinds of different flavour combinations and global inspiration. Some are ones you have heard of, some are completely new creations that you wouldn't have ever thought of but are so glad that Celine and Tami did.

I was lucky enough to test for this cookbook which means awhile back all I ate was sandwiches for a few months. I was a dedicated tester for you...okay for me but you guys totally reap the benefits in the long run. I won't lie...most of the time my comments consisted solely of  "OH MY GOODNESS! I LOVE IT!!! BEST SANDWICH EVER!" but I feel it helped Tami and Celine get the best recipes possible to you in this book. I'm not lying when I say previous to this book, I loathed seitan...I thought it was tasteless and bready but then along came No Cluck Cutlets and Moo-Free Seitan and I was converted. These have become staples in my house being made by the double batch and handily frozen for future use. The tempeh bacon also changed my mind on something I thought I didn't like, tempeh. I became a tempeh lover after trying out their tempeh bacon and the Country Sausage Breakfast Sandwich. I realized I didn't like flavourless tempeh but loved it when it was marinated and baked/pan fried. I now crave tempeh and twitter about it endlessly. These are just the staples...Tami and Celine expertly combine these staples (and others of course) with spreads, breads and veggies to make the most delicious sandwiches ever. I realize some people might think, "What's so hard about making a vegan sandwich?" but really sandwiches were one food that I always loved prevegan but had a hard time figuring out what to do with once I ditched the meat and cheese.

Some of my favourites from the book are:

- the Unfishwich which totally surprised me because I haven't eaten fish since I was four and figured out that fishstick=fish and I didn't want to eat fish. They are crispy on the outside, tasty and well seasoned on the inside thanks to a seasoned marinade and are accompanied by one of the most delicious dressings and crisp cucumber slices. We just had them again recently with the whole family and everyone said they were super good!

- Maple Nut Pie Wafflewich which is basically like eating pecan pie on a waffle for breakfast. You can serve it with another waffle on top but I love it open faced with lots of topping!! It is buttery, sweet and nutty and great for a special breakfast or any day ending in the letter Y.

- Hollandaze'd Asparagus Rounds were a big surprise to me too. I have never tried Hollandaise sauce and always thought it was...well yucky. Turns out it is really tasty especially when combined with roasted asparagus.

 - Greek Burgers shown here topped with roasted potato wedges but since testing I have made them many times and topped them with all kinds of stuff. The best combo is tomato, lettuce, red onion and a few kalamata olives. I've even cut them up and made them into a wrap on a thick Greek style pita. They are the best flavoured seitan I've had. They are bold and the seasonings you put in them actually shine through.

- The Chickpea Shawarma is another one I have made again and again since testing! Marinated, roasted chickpeas make an excellent filling in this wrap which are combined with a most scrumptious tahini based dressing and fresh veggies for a healthy light lunch.

- Party Monster!!! I was just telling Tami the other day that every time I talk about this sandwich I feel the need to yell the name out (for the record it has to sound like Ozzy in the beginning of Crazy Train). This sandwich is of epic proportions and full of delicious vegan deli slices and veggies. It is great for parties because you can serve it up room temp or hot and it makes a lot in one go.

- Pan Bagnat was a sandwich I hadn't head of previous to testing but I'm so glad we were introduced. This mammoth sandwich is stuffed with all sorts of veggies (like asparagus and portobellos) and is drizzled with the perfect vinaigrette. It's another one that you can make for a party since it is best made ahead and holds nicely and again...it's huge!!

- The Banh Mi was one that I really didn't think I would love so much but I did and now I crave it all the time. The mix of the quickly pickled veggies, seasoned Moo-Free Seitan and creamy mayo on a crusty bread is just magic. Now I know what I'm making for supper tonight...

So if you haven't already entered my giveaway, I'm sure you are ready to now! If you aren't the lucky winner, you should definitely pick up a copy and treat yourself to any of the amazing sandwiches in it since it was hard to narrow it down to just these for this post even! This book has so many that I would consider favourites and the great thing is you can mix and match from recipes to create your own signature sandwich creations.

Edited to add: There were some bonus smaller recipes that didn't make the book. Celine has added a page for these and here is the link http://havecakewilltravel.com/noroomrecipe/

Also Tami has a post that corrects any small errors in the book and here is that link http://www.veganappetite.com/2012/08/vegan-sandwiches-errata.html

My First Pie from Vegan Pie in the Sky

I was so happy this morning to find my copy of Vegan Pie in the Sky by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I had been patiently awaiting it's arrival since I heard about it, then pre-ordered it and even more so since the email saying it had been shipped.

I immediately flipped through to see all the delights it held and as I flipped one page honestly just stopped and stared me in the face. The book was picking a pie for me and it seems this book totally has my number! It stopped on Curried Macaroon Pie and I was like..."HECK YA!". I love the combination of curry and coconut and couldn't wait to take a bite of this pie. I quickly went through the ingredients and thanked the pie gods that I had everything I needed on hand. One quick substitution was made in the gingersnap crust, Speculoos cookies! I had found a few packages last weekend and hadn't really done anything with them yet other than eat them (which is an excellent application for these cookies I might add) and I thought they would work perfectly as a sub for gingersnaps.

I grabbed my springform and went to work and in about an hour I was pulling the most delicious looking pie out of the oven. The smell while the caramel cooked was enough to drive me a bit mad and when I had licked the bowl after scraping most of the filling into the pan, I knew it was going to be good but once I saw those slightly caramelized coconutty edges and smelled the faint hint of curry powder I knew it was love. I patiently waited for a bit for it to cool and as soon as I thought it was okay, I sliced into that pie and served myself a little slice. Don't tell, it was before supper! It is so incredible! It is sweet and spicy but not too much, the curry powder blends so perfectly with the sweet caramelized coconut and the edges are seriously the most addictive thing ever. The Speculoos crust works perfectly with it as well and I now think all crusts should be made with them, always! What is in those cookies?!? As I took my first bite of it, Ryan came in the room and just looked in my direction (and my pie's direction) and I just said "no, it's all mine". I'm joking of course...maybe...I'll let him have a slice or two I guess! This is definitely a great first impression from this cookbook and I am definitely going to try out a lot more...don't worry Banoffee Pie, I hear you calling me!

Don't let it fool you...it's a complex tasting pie with a simple look

This is the bite you will fight someone for...trust me!

My First Cookbook Review

I cant even believe how many amazing vegan cookbooks there are out there right now! I know I have about 15-20 out on my bookshelf right now and about 10 more on my Christmas wish list. One book that caught my eye even when it was only available for pre-order was Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson. Julie is a busy woman! She and her husband run a vegan food cart in Portland (Native Bowl is totally on my to-do list), writes some kick butt cookbooks, family life, judging Vegan Iron Chef comps, and more! You can check out Julie's blog at http://www.juliehasson.com and check out Facebook for the Vegan Diner page.

When I first got the book in my hot little hands was literally giddy! I love the cover even, bright and clean with classic diner style. I flipped through and read each recipe name and the little blurb and felt like I could hear Julie's voice. I love when that comes through in a cookbook, making you feel like the author actually loves these recipes and wants to share them with you. The book starts out with a great intro to the ingredients you will find in the book that you may not be completely familiar with and a list of equipment as well. All the ingredients were pretty standard fare and I think the only ones I don't have in my pantry were soy curls and malt powder which I am now on the hunt for. Always a good start when you don't feel like you have to seek out a bunch of different products to use the book.

The day starts with breakfast and so does Julie. There is something for everyone in the section from granola to apple spice coffee cake to two different scrambles and even donuts! In my house breakfast is usually a sweeter one like waffles or pancakes so I decided to delve into the Crispy Banana-Cinnamon Waffles! I was intrigued by the secret ingredient of these waffles, crispy rice cereal, and the flavors of banana and cinnamon are a favourite around here. First off I loved that Julie went with a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour and there is no sugar in them either! Now these are waffles I can feed my family and not feel any guilt about. And you know what's great...they taste awesome and are so quick to make too! I swear I had them together before the waffle maker had preheated, now that's quick! They taste like warm, crisp banana bread, the cinnamon was just right and even without anything on top they were perfectly sweet and tasty. The maple syrup we drizzled on top just heightened all the flavours and made them feel extra special. The recipe says it makes a larger batch and it does, I got 12 pieces out of one batch which is awesome because we had extras leftover that I put in the freezer for a few quick breakfasts down the road.



Mac taste testing the batter for the waffles

Crispy Banana-Cinnamon Waffles

Next up is a chapter dedicated to breads! Mmm bread! It had English muffins and burger buns, garlic dill bread and biscuits. I read through and was amazed at how quickly the burger buns went together so I just had to try them. How can 5-6 ingredients and like 40 minutes prep/rise and 15 minutes of baking produce a burger bun?! It just seems like that should be more complicated but it's really not! These buns are not like the ones I get at the store...they're better! They are soft and tasty and amazing! I won't be buying those buns with all those words I can't pronounce anymore for sure. These are so quick and easy I could easily make them the day that we are planning to have veggie burgers. My son helped me shape the buns and was quite impressed with himself as well. He opted for no sesame seeds and couldn't even wait til they cooled to try it. He had half of one with butter while it was still warm and really enjoyed it. He was enjoying it so much I had to try! Then at lunch time later on that day he asked for the other half of his bun with almond butter and jam. He's really diggin' these buns!

Soups, Salads and Sides was up next and I dove right into those All-American Beer Battered Onion Rings! I love onion rings and now only eat them when I make them. They are definitely a treat now but that's okay...they're supposed to be! Haha! Unfortunately I didn't catch a picture of these but that just shows you how good they were! I wasn't thinking about cameras or pictures, I was thinking about eating up some onion rings. The batter is lightly spiced which adds a nice flavour to the coating, nothing worse than a bland onion ring. The instructions are to deep fry them in a deep pot but I opted for using my deep fryer since I'm a little bit of a chicken when it comes to deep frying. I like that the fryer tells me the temperature of oil as well. I served these up and everyone dug in and loved them! They taste just like what you would get at any diner, they weren't overly greasy (hey they are fried after all!) and they were really easy to put together. A+ in my books!

For the Main Course, I decided to let my husband pick. He flipped through and he went with Philly Seitan Sliders. I have to agree...they look awesome in the picture so it wasn't a hard sell for me. Ours were less slider more sub bun sized since I wanted to make these for a weekday supper and it needed to be quick and that's what we had on hand but they were so delicious, I don't think it mattered what kind of bun it was on. It has thinly sliced seitan sauteed with onions and peppers all stacked onto a bun then drizzled with a cheesy sauce! I highly recommend the optional cheese sauce with the addition of umi plum vinegar. Without it, it was good, with it, it was perfection. Ryan really enjoyed these as they were something he always ordered pre-vegan when we were out somewhere. It's nice to be able to whip up a great vegan version of them anytime. They are so quick if you make the seitan ahead of time and the cheese sauce only takes minutes and a good blender to make.



Look at that cheesy sauce!? So good!

Now for the sweetest part, DESSERT!! Julie didn't just give you a few to pick from, she gave you 24 desserts! Come on now, that's awesome! I have a major sweet tooth so I'm happy when a cookbook doesn't skimp on the best part. I decided that I couldn't make just one dessert for this review...I had to make two! I picked one that I thought Ryan and my mom would enjoy and one that I though Mac would enjoy so everyone could have something sweet. I went with the Ooey Gooey Brownies for the chocolate lovers (aka Ryan and my Mom) and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for the non-chocoholics (that's me and Mac). First I made the oatmeal raisin cookies and will admit I had a bit of trouble with them. I baked them and they spread like crazy so the next batch I halved the dough and didn't flatten them and then they worked perfectly. They taste great and are easy to put together for sure! Mac really loved them and happily shared one of the gigantic ones that spread with me. I even dipped mine in a glass of soy milk which I don't usually do but this cookie seemed like it would be even better if you did.

The Ooey Gooey Brownies went much easier. They are so quick to put together I think it took longer for my oven to preheat! They baked perfectly in 20 minutes and the icing was so easy yet so tasty. Got to love when it works out like that, tasty doesn't always mean complicated. I served them up to my in-laws as well as Ryan and my mom and everyone really loved them. They kept saying how fudgey and chocolate-y they were and they all had at least two so that's a ringing endorsement! I will definitely be making these again and again since they are one of Ryan's new favourites.

After all the yummy things we have tried from this book so far I can definitely highly recommend it to anyone who loves diner classics and pretty much anyone who loves food. Everything we tried so far has been delicious, quick and easy to make. I will keep cooking my way through all the recipes since it was honestly very hard to narrow it down to these few for this review. It would have been a very long (alright longer) post if I had made all the recipes that initially jumped off the page at me screaming "Make Me!"

Now go show Julie some love and pick up a copy of Vegan Diner, if you haven't already! Or maybe you will win one sometime soon...maybe from this very blog! (Check back tomorrow!)