Dreena Burton - Let Them Eat Vegan!: 200 Deliciously Satisfying Plant-Powered Recipes for the Whole Family

Combining a simple design with oodles of valuable veggie cooking info and mouth-watering recipes, Burtons latest cookbook features celebration recipes and is every bit as good as her previous books, the now-classic The Everyday Vegan and the impressive follow-up Vive le Vegan!.... Vegan cooking is always a celebration when Burtons books are in the kitchen.

Monday Magazine

You dont have to actually be a vegan to enjoy Dreena Burtons cookbooks and to make them a part of your usual kitchen library. This is healthy, nutritious cooking suitable for a family or anyone interested in eating for optimum health.

January Magazine

Dreena has the know-how and a knack for whipping up inviting, festive dishes in minutes that anyone can enjoy as healthful weekday fare.... her Gimme Chimis is a mouth-watering creation that features nutritious ingredients in a south-of-the-border-style sauce with a touch of fire.

Vegetarians in Paradise

LET THEM EAT

Vegan!

ALSO BY DREENA BURTON

The Everyday Vegan
Vive le Vegan!
Eat, Drink & Be Vegan

Copyright 2012 by Dreena Burton
Photos by Hannah Kaminsky

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor Boston, MA 02210.

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Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

First Da Capo Press edition 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7382-1575-4

Published by Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.dacapopress.com

Note: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. This book is intended only as an informative guide for those wishing to know more about health issues. In no way is this book intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with the advice given to you by your own physician. The ultimate decision concerning care should be made between you and your doctor. We strongly recommend you follow his or her advice. Information in this book is general and is offered with no guarantees on the part of the authors or Da Capo Press. The authors and publisher disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book. The names and identifying details of people associated with events described in this book have been changed. Any similarity to actual persons is coincidental.

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With love to Charlotte, Bridget, and Hope.

When I started writing vegan cookbooks and later blogging about my journeys as a plant-powered mom and home cook, vegan was still kind of a dirty wordone synonymous with deprivationand signaled an image of sprouts and a slab of wan tofu. Thankfully, in the past decade or so, veganism has come a long way. Ive seen big changes in the food offerings and how we eat. When I first began eating vegan, there were very few substitutes for dairy products and meat and just a few nondairy milks. So we vegans had to be creative with the basics: beans, grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruit. I continued to create recipes in this framework while noticing more and more vegan convenience foods become available. The surge of animal-free packaged foods was accompanied by a swell of vegan support and excitement: We could have treats and substitutes that were as good as (or sometimes better than) their nonvegan equivalents. For a period of time, attention focused on these processed foods and recipes using refined ingredients and analogues, showing how exceptional or sinful animal-free foods could be.

But of course, theres always a rub: While these foods might qualify as vegan, they arent always healthy. Im not entirely against these foods. I understand that meat and dairy substitutes help people adapt their meals within their cooking comfort zones. Plus, we can all enjoy convenient treats when the bulk of our diet is wholesome. As youll soon see, I shamelessly enjoy my ice cream! And, our girls enjoy an occasional veggie dog when we have burger night. But, we dont rely on vegan meats and other processed foods for our regular meals. My recipes wont have you veganizing a ground meatbased recipe with veggie ground round, or using vegan sour cream to make an artichoke dip. The tricky thing with processed foods is, because they are so convenient, they can comprise the bulk of the vegan diet, while the real (whole) foods are abandoned.

The reverse should be true. Whole foods, and lower-fat recipes based on plant power, should comprise 90 percent or more of our diet (optimally 100 percent, but Im a realist and appreciate that most people need a little wiggle room). My own meals are filled with greens and beans, nuts and whole grains, and an abundance of veggies. When I create recipes, they unfold with health in mind and plant-powered foods in practice.

In recent years, Ive seen the shift away from vegan junk foods back to the healthier basics. And, thanks to greater awareness of veganism in popular culture, we are now seeing folks who would never before have a plate without a piece of meat on it, coming to the table and leaving completely satisfied.

Eating vegan is about so much more than not eating animal foods. We know the importance of choosing whole plant foods, and largely organic and local foods, over highly processed foods. Thats the health power of a plant-based diet. Eating a wholefoods vegan dietwith respect for lower-fat recipes featuring colorful, nutrient-dense vegetables and fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seedsis where its at. These foods are the basis for delicious, nourishing, and, satisfying meals for everyone at the tablefrom the pickiest toddler (trust me on this one) to the green smoothiedrinking spouse (trust me on this one, too). When we focus our diet on plant power, we feel better, look better, and want to do better. Before long, we find ourselves getting hooked on healthy foods. And why wouldnt we? When they taste delicious, make us feel good, improve our overall health, and are cruelty freewhats not to love?

Much like the recipes in my previous books, these recipes represent the nutritious (and delicious) snacks and meals our family eats. These recipes take it a step further, however. Unlike in my previous books, you wont find any white flour herenot even for cakes or cookies. And, while my cooking roots began with the beans, grains, nuts, and veggies basics, I provide more variety than ever before with this book. When I first started eating vegan, I, too, fell in the trap (albeit for a short while) of eating too many white-flour-based products such as pasta and bread. Now my recipes eschew white flour, and my cooking overall is more diverse, with a variety of vegetables and leafy greens, plenty of legumes, nuts and seeds, and whole grains. And, while some recipes are on the richer side, many more are lower in fat, so you can eat them every day.