Dever - Vegan bowls : perfect flavor harmony in cozy one-bowl meals

Also by Zsu Dever

Everyday Vegan Eats

Vegan Bowls: Perfect Flavor Harmony in Cozy One-Bowl Meals (Copyright 2015 by Zsu Dever)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except in the context of reviews and fair reference, without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 13: 978-1-941252-17-8

First Edition, September 2015

Vegan Heritage Press, LLC books are available at quantity discounts. For information, please visit our website at www.veganheritagepress.com or write the publisher at Vegan Heritage Press, P.O. Box 628, Woodstock, VA 22664-0628.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dever, Zsu, 1972-

Vegan bowls : perfect flavor harmony in cozy one-bowl meals / Zsu Dever. -- First edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-941252-15-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-941252-16-1 (epub : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-941252-17-8 (prc : alk. paper) 1. Vegan cooking. 2. One-dish meals. I. Title.

TX837.D38 2015

641.5636--dc23

2015017269

Photo credits: Cover and interior food photography by Zsu Dever. Incidental spot photos from stock photo sources.

Cover Photo: .

Disclaimer: The information provided in this book should not be taken as medical advice. If you require a medical diagnosis or prescription, or if you are contemplating any major dietary change, juice fast, or change in your exercise habits, consult a qualified health-care provider. You should always seek an expert medical opinion before making changes in your diet or supplementation regimen. Neither the publisher nor the author are responsible for readers health issues.

Publishers Note: The information in this book is correct and complete to the best of our knowledge. Website addresses and contact information were correct at the time of publication. The publisher is not responsible for specific health or allergy issues or adverse reactions to recipes contained in this book.

Vegan Heritage Press books are distributed by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

dedication

To my remarkable and brilliant children, Catt, Mikel, and Kati. Your support and encouragement have been invaluable and deeply appreciated. May your dreams, too, come true.

contents

whats for dinner?

I f the answer to this question is hard to come by, perhaps its because life has again taken hold of your day and youre busy with everything from kids, family, work or school to social media, a good book, friends, cleaning, or maybe just the adorable cats on Instagram. We may only notice that its dinnertime when the clock strikes a certain hour or our internal alarm goes off and the stomach starts to rumble. At that point, any lofty plans to spend a few hours in the kitchen cooking up a storm fly out the window.

S o, what is for dinner? It can be restaurant food, convenience food in a box, or a can of beans and rice with a green salad (again). Of course, there is also the old stand-by peanut butter sandwich or bowl of cereal that I remember all too well from my college years.

W hat if I told you that tonights dinner can be Veggie Lasagna or Sambal-Glazed Tempeh? How about Enchiladas with Pumpkin Cream Sauce or warming Tex-Mex Risotto? Now, what if I told you that all four of these dishes are complete meals served in a cozy bowl, with protein, starch, vegetables, and satisfying flavors and can be made in less time than it takes to pick up take-out?

I ts true for all the recipes that Ive hand-picked for this book of bowl meals. But these recipes are more than just meal components served in a bowl. I aim to show you that bowl food is way more than the sum of its parts. The recipes in this book are all about great food combinations and ingredients working in harmony. Where the ingredients might be ordinary when served separately, but when combined my way, the individual components of every Vegan Bowls meal complement each other in an exciting way.

L ike all families, mine is swamped with sports, school, work, play, and much-needed family time. We dont have the luxury, especially during the week, of spending hours in the kitchen, so dinner has to be fast and convenient, but still wholesome and healthy.

H ealthy meals are especially important in our busy, fast-paced lifestyles, and thats where this book can help. The recipes range from grilled dishes, grains, and sauts to breakfast bowls, dinner salads, hearty soups, and pastas. I share with you tips and tricks to help you get in and out of the kitchen fast. This gives you more time to enjoy your meal and your family, all the while cooking up healthy, great-tasting dishes.

W ith Vegan Bowls you can make satisfying, well-balanced meals that your family will love, using fresh, whole ingredients that require only a minimum amount of preparation time.

W elcome to my way of cooking and to my delicious bowl meals.

one | all about bowl food

T he popularity of bowl meals is evidenced by the growing number of bowls featured on restaurant and food truck menus. When we tuck into a bowl meal, we have a few reasonable expectations. First,it should be uniquely satisfying. Second, it should be a complete meal, requiring nothing supplemental beyond, perhaps, an optional piece of crusty bread. In addition, the food should reflect a balance of flavors and textures. It should be easy to eat, seldom requiring more than a fork or spoon. And the bowl should be portable, allowing us to enjoy our meal anywhere, making for a casual mealtime experience.

W ith Vegan Bowls you can enjoy everything you love about bowl meals right in your own kitchen. In addition to satisfying these basic expectations, the bowl recipes in this book range from familiar comfort foods to creative, beyond-the-ordinary bowl meals.

O n top of being delicious restaurant-quality meals, these cozy bowls can be ready in around 30 minutes. Special care was taken in composing these dishes, and the directions are precisely crafted to seamlessly flow from one component to the next. I have also included Quick Tips to help you get dinner, lunch, or breakfast on the table as quickly as possible, as well as suggestions tailored for each recipe. Because of the unique way in which the recipes are written, it is possible to go from cutting board to dinner table in record time.

This book is all about flavor, nutrition, speed, and balance. Its also unique in the sense that each of the more than ninety recipes is a complete meal in itself. The bowl components require no additional recipes with the exception of optional basics in chapter 2 that you might choose to make in advance.

Balance is the key to creating delicious and nutritious bowls. The tried-and-true bowl of rice, vegetables, and beans is the bowl-food blueprint, and it works beautifully. It contains protein, starch, and vegetables. Add a sauce to the bowl, and the separate components are now a harmonious unit. However, the recipes in this book are not just variations on replacing the beans with another protein or substituting another starch for the rice; these bowls go way beyond the scope of plain rice, beans, and vegetables.

This book presents three basic kinds of recipes:

• traditional
• semi-traditional
• original

The traditional bowls include such recipes as congee, which is made in almost every country in Asia, each region putting its own spin on this mainstay dish. Centuries of recipe development cant really be beat, but Ive given these traditional recipes a few vegan tweaks to make them just right. Each one already contains a protein (albeit, in most cases, not vegan), a starch (typically rice), and some sort of vegetable.