Dreena Burton - The Everyday Vegan: Recipes & Lessons for Living the Vegan Life

The Everyday
Vegan

The Everyday
Vegan

RECIPES & LESSONS FOR
LIVING THE VEGAN LIFE

Dreena Burton

THE EVERYDAY VEGAN
Copyright 2001 by Dreena Burton

4th Printing: 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may use brief excerpts in a review, or in the case of photocopying, a license from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

ARSENAL PULP PRESS
Suite 101-211 East Georgia Street,
Vancouver, BC V6A 1Z6
arsenalpulp.com

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for its publishing activities.

Book design by Lisa Eng-Lodge
Production assistant Judy Yeung
Food photography and cover photograph by Greg Athans
Food styling by Nathan Fong
Author photograph by Rob Krochenski
Printed in Hong Kong

CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA:
Burton, Dreena, 1970
The everyday vegan

Includes index.
ISBN 1-55152-106-7

1. Vegan cookery. 2. Veganism. I. Title.
TX837.B87 2001 641.5636 C2001-911289-0

ISBN13 978-155152-106-0

Dedication

To my husband, Paul, for your extraordinary support, loyalty, and love.

Table of Contents

THE RECIPES

Acknowledgments

Deepest love and gratitude to my husband Paul: you are unconditionally loving and supportive in everything we do; I could not ask for more in a husband and best friend. I am truly blessed to be part of your team, and give thanks for you and our precious daughter each day. To my lovable cats Sarabi and Mookie, for all the companionship and lap warmth provided over the years.

To my mother and father who gave so much to ensure that opportunities would always be available for my sisters and me: Mom, you are a remarkable woman, loved and respected by so many for the kindness and generosity you continually show as a mother and friend.

To Al and Doreen Smith: your dedication to lifestyle change during trying times inspired me to share my knowledge further. Your commitment is appreciated by all who can benefit from many more years of your love and your renewed enthusiasm for life!

To my friends and family who supported this book and appreciated my vegan meals: special thanks to my dear friend Tanya Wilkshire; I greatly appreciated the feedback you offered through testing and sharing my recipes. Thank you as well for your incredible enthusiasm for my cooking, and for your acceptance of vegan eating (including tofu!). To my sister Diane, for all of the great vegan meals we shared at her home, but mostly for the ones she delivered to us after our baby was born. To her husband Bill, for sharing his knowledge of the publishing industry with me. To Evan Roche, who contributed his creativity to develop some fun names for my recipes such as Swallow-It-All Banana Balls! To our friends, Brian and Amanda Eydt, for the brainstorming fun; Brian, I am glad to have you as my financial advisor (rather than my marketing consultant wheres the meat sorry, you know I cant resist poking fun!). To my former business colleague, Trevor Adey, for the professional development I experienced working with you for three years. The confidence and maturity I gained has been invaluable to this project, as well as others I will work on in the future.

To the skilled professionals who helped to bring this book to life: Li Eng-Lodge for design work; Greg Athans for food photography; Nathan Fong for food styling; and Rob Krochenski for my personal photo on the back cover.

To the organizations and individuals who assisted with the primary research for my book, including Gary and Naty King, EarthSave Canada, the International Vegetarian Union (IVU), and Dave Smith, as well as all of the respondents to my survey. Thanks also to Sterling Haglund for your hard work to repair my computer, which crashed at a less than convenient moment; to Paul Knowles for your time and insight, which was of great help; and to Marilyn Thiessen and Carolyn Downey for introducing us.

To all of the individuals and groups, who choose the healthy and compassionate vegan lifestyle, and support activities towards its increased presence and growth in society. Special thanks to Ingrid Newkirk, one of the most gentle and caring people I have had the pleasure of meeting.

Of course none of this would be possible without the vision and co-operation of everyone at Arsenal Pulp Press, especially Brian Lam.

T here are two ways to interpret the title of this book. In one way, The Everyday Vegan is for committed vegans looking for ideas, recipes, and instructions they can use every day of the year. In another, the book is for average (i.e., everyday) people who want to start eating healthy but dont know where or how to begin. In fact, The Everyday Vegan is a great resource for both.

Obviously, I would love to see everyone adopt this healthy diet every day of the year. Our environment would be cleaner, our bodies healthier, and our animals happier. However, I realize that not everyone will change their eating habits overnight. I also know that it is better for people to embrace this delicious, nutritious way of eating occasionally rather than not at all. So use this book if you want to enjoy cooking and eating delicious vegan foods, whether it is every day or any day.

There is no mystery to vegan cooking. If you have been previously stalled by start-up questions What ingredients do I use? What exactly are they? Where do I get them? What do I do with them once I get them? How do they taste? you will find the answers here. I frequently use a number of ingredients that may be new to you, but there is an entire section detailing what these ingredients are and where you can find them. There is also a tips and how-tos section to help you with cooking techniques and ingredients you may be unfamiliar with. And within the individual recipes, sidebar notes outline substitution ideas, serving suggestions, and other general tips.

The recipe directions are fairly lengthy and detailed, but this does not mean they are complicated; in fact, most are quite easy to prepare. I simply wanted to provide you with instructions clear enough for any cooking level. As an amateur chef, I have learned from cookbooks, cooking shows, literature, and plain experimentation, which proves that anyone can make these recipes!

As for taste, these creations are truly delicious. Vegan food can taste fabulous! Many people who have tried a vegan recipe that is bland or otherwise unappealing think every vegan meal must be the same; this is simply not true. A little experimentation and an open mind are all that is needed to see how scrumptious vegan foods can be! As an example, some soymilks taste awful, but others are excellent. And salads can be wonderful, but vegans cant survive on lettuce alone. The meals I cook have great variety and substance, and friends are often surprised when they eat with us. You too will be surprised when you use these recipes.

An important note about my recipes: you obviously will not find butter as an ingredient, but you also wont find margarine or other hydrogenated oils. Many vegan cookbooks use margarine to replace butter in dishes, particularly for baking and desserts. I eliminated margarine from my diet several years ago, along with other products containing hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. While there are non-hydrogenated margarines available, you will see that I have simplified my cooking by using oils such as olive and canola.