Preparing vegan food isn’t that difficult, but it does take a little thought and care (and sometimes creativity) to ensure that what you make is both good and good for you. That’s why vegan cookbooks are so popular; they really do help people navigate plant-based diets by giving helpful tips on how to stock a pantry, substitute ingredients, and certainly how to make some omniovre favorites completely vegan.
One of the most common questions any vegetarian or vegan gets is, “Where do you get your protein?” Fun fact: Protein can come from food other than meat and cheese! This question is probably more commonly posed to athletes, which is why ultra-runner Matt Frazier first started his blog, No Meat Athlete. He teamed up with Stepfanie Romine, also a plant-based athlete, to create The No Meat Athlete Cookbook.
This book isn’t really targeted to or particularly relevant to people who aren’t athletic (some recipes may be too high in calories for a couch potato), but it is really great for people who are. The book is packed with recipes to help people who work out a lot get a healthy amount of calories along with protein and other vital nutrients. The recipes are broken down by type of meal, to make arranging into a meal plan easy. There are also great tips for making a meal plan that works right for each individual. The recipes are generally easy to prepare without a lot of prep and cook time (great for getting people back into their training). Bonus: a whole chapter devoted to “flavor boosters,” components that help turn a bland collection of veggies into a great meal, such as cashew tzatziki sauce, miso gravy and tahini barbecue sauce.
Another vegan cookbook released recently is Vegan for One, written by Ellen Jaffe Jones (who also wrote the great Eat Vegan for $4 a Day) and Beverly Lynn Bennett (who wrote Spiralize! Among many other great plant-based cookbooks). The recipes in Vegan for One are meant to help solo diners create cost- and time-efficient vegan meals that also taste great. One cannot live on veggie burgers alone (though I came pretty close while I was in grad school).
As with many vegan cookbooks, there’s good information included about how to shop and stock your pantry and even how to store fresh fruit and vegetables to reduce spoilage (much of this info is great for people who are just starting out on their own). The rest of the book is set up according to type of meal and even includes snacks and desserts.
Main dishes include breaded tofu (I highly recommend it) vegan mac-and-cheese and barbecue tofu. Tofu doesn’t have to be terrible, as this book demonstrates. The side dishes are also inspired (such as candied ginger baby carrots and lemony couscous with vegetables and almonds) and can be adapted to use with non-vegan meals just to reduce the amount of animal products in your diet (every little bit helps).
Each recipe has nutritional information (so it’s great for meal planning) as well as storage tips in case you have leftovers.
Both The No Meat Athlete Cookbook and Vegan for One are available for sale online.
