Julie Hasson - Vegan Diner: Classic Comfort Food for the Body and Soul

Copyright 2011 by Julie Hasson

Photographs 2011 by Steve Legato

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010925946

ISBN 978-0-7624-3784-9

Cover and interior design by Amanda Richmond
Edited by Kristen Green Wiewora

Special thanks to Silk City Diner, located at 435 Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia, for graciously allowing our photographer to shoot inside the restaurant. Additional thanks to Crate & Barrel, King of Prussia, PA; Scarlett Alley, Philadelphia, PA; and Open House, Philadelphia, PA for loaning dinnerware, flatware, and table linens for the photographs.

Typography: Brownstone, Gotham, and Lomba

Running Press Book Publishers
2300 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371

Visit us on the web!
www.runningpresscooks.com

Contents

First and foremost, I want to thank my awesome husband Jay. Without you, I would not be able to do what I do. I am so incredibly lucky to have you in my life! You are always there cheering me on, making me laugh, picking up the slack when I go deep into my recipe-testing zone, listening to me talk endlessly about food, taste-testing (even when youre not in the mood), and just being an all-around groovy guy. I love you!

A giant thank you to my incredible children, Sydney and Noah. You guys rock! I am eternally grateful for your taste-testing, recipe suggestions, and patience while I was buried in the kitchen. I love you guys!

I also want to thank everyone involved with putting this book together. Lisa Ekus, my stellar super-agent, its always a pleasure working with you. Kristen Green Wiewora, my editor at Running Press, for truly believing in this project and making everything come together so beautifully. Jane Falla, who not only believed in this book, but helped me put together a fantastic proposal. Steve Legato for your photos, Virginia Villalon for your great proofreading and copyediting, and Amanda Richmond for making this book look so cool.

Mom, thank you for introducing me to tofu, home-grown vegetables, homemade bread, asparagus soup, and for sharing your love and enthusiasm of food. Youre the best! Jon, thank you for being an awesome brother, always talking food, with me, and of course, always making me laugh. Dad and Ellen, thank you for your love and support, and Dad for passing on that dish-obsession gene. Louie, thank you for your love and support.

I also wish to thank Bryanna Clark Grogan, for introducing me to so many wonderful vegan recipes as I first embarked on my vegan journey. You paved the way for a whole new generation of vegan cuisine. And last but not least, thank you to my wonderful crew of taste-testers, who so enthusiastically tested out these recipes, always giving me your honest feedback: Donald Blum, Gabrielle Pope, Jenny Howard, Thalia Palmer, Ana Cruz, Aimee Kluiber, Arine Mentink, Jenni Mischel, Kim Lahn, Jeff Klein, and Sheree Britt. A big thank you to Bobs Red Mill, Earth Balance, Madhava, Butler Foods, Freddy Guys Hazelnuts, and Nielsen-Massey Vanillas for generously sharing products for the testing of these recipes.

Welcome to Vegan Diner! Come on in, grab a swivel seat at the counter and order yourself a cup of joe.

Diner food is as American as apple pie. My memories of dinner out usually meant eating at a favorite neighborhood diner. We all have one or maybe even two favorite places. I have very fond memories of being squished into slippery Naugahyde booths, with my grandmother on one side and my pesky little brother (forgive me Jon) on the other. It was where we could order pancakes for dinner, or a blue plate special slathered in gravy. From the moment I entered the diner, my attention was drawn to the tantalizing array of glistening berry pies, huge slabs of chocolate cake, and perfect parfait glasses layered with chocolate pudding and clouds of billowy whipped cream. No matter how full I was from dinner, I was a master at making room for dessert.

So it was of no surprise to me that I found myself veganizing diner specialties as my diet changed from vegetarian to vegan. I love food too much to not enjoy a stack of hotcakes dripping in maple syrup or a plate of biscuits and gravy, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, or a big slice of banana cream pie. No way, I love my comfort food too much!

As I conducted cooking classes over the past couple of years, students would always say to me I would think about going vegan, but I love gravy too much, or My doctor told me that I need to cut meat, dairy, and eggs out of my diet and I dont know how Ill ever live without my comfort food. I would always follow with But you dont have to give up your favorite foods. You just need to learn to make them in a new way! So it became my mission to develop diner-style recipes and comfort food favorites that have all of the wonderful flavors and creamy textures that we all love, done with a vegan twist.

I loved the challenge of cooking vegetarian meals. You quickly learn that one cannot live on peanut butter sandwiches and bean burritos alone. The real fun began in creating vegan recipes for my friend, Heather, when she came over for dinner. It had been easy for me to rely on eggs and dairy in my diet, but I soon realized that there were many other ways to achieve similar results.

So as they say, the rest is history. After giving up dairy, eggs came next. I quickly learned that scrambled tofu for breakfast can be just as fab as eggs (if not better!) and that baking without eggs is totally doable. Although were taught that pancakes, cakes, and cookies need eggs for structure, this is not necessarily true. Through trial and error I learned that in addition to commercial egg replacers, soy flour, ground flax, and soy yogurt make excellent egg replacers. In fact, sometimes you dont even need a substitute at all. The kitchen became my laboratory and I set out to learn as much as I could.

Lets just say that through all of the experimentation, transformations, and recipe veganizations, the delicious diner-style comfort food of my youth has been recreated exactly as I remember. The food that we all grew up on and enjoyed in those springy Naugahyde booths has merely been transformed. The recipes in this book can be used across the board from quick weeknight meals to weekend brunch to Thanksgiving and holiday get-togethers. I hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as I do so a piece of our nostalgic past will continue to live on, with fond memories of people, places, and great food.

Good Eats!

Agar Powder : Also sometimes referred to as agar-agar. Agar is a seaweed product that is used to gel liquids. It is used in place of gelatin (which is derived from animals). Agar is rich in calcium. The powder, which is what I use, is much more concentrated than agar flakes. They are not interchangeable.