Years ago, when I came out to my mother as a vegetarian, she replied, “But you don’t like vegetables.” She was partly correct. I just didn't care much for the vegetables I grew up with. But I’d begun to be exposed to a lot of new types of vegetarian food that I’d had no access to in my younger years. There were, however some dishes from my childhood that I found hard to give up and had to adjust to my new diet. Specifically, all those beans flavored with ham (which I now flavor with
Liquid Smoke) and sweet potato casserole with marshmallows.
Another child of the South, Bianca Phillips, found herself in a similar predicament. And when she moved from being vegetarian to vegan, she faced the horror of giving up macaroni-and-cheese and ranch dressing, too. A good Southern girl simply cannot live without ranch dressing! And thus, Vegan Crunk was born, a food blog dedicated to demonstrating that you can still eat great Southern food (sometimes with a nice twist) without any animal products.
Now, Bianca’s got a cookbook so that you can make Southern and Southern-inspired vegan dishes at home. Cookin’ Crunk: Eatin' Vegan in the Dirty South includes Southern staples such as a vegan Ro-Tel dip and country-fried tempeh steak (as well as the aforementioned mac-and-cheese and ranch dressing) to Southernized versions of more international cuisine such as black-eyed pea hummus and a Southern fassolada.
Each recipe is accompanied by helpful notes, nutrition facts and charming stories about the dishes and their inspirations. She also includes a useful section at the beginning of the book to help you stock essentials for the vegan pantry as well as a note on the appropriate pronunciation of “pecan.”
There are a number of recipes that I plan to try very soon. At the top of the list is making homemade seitan, which I hope will be toddler-approved. I’m also considering this recipe for Nutty Mushroom Quinoa, which might be making its way to my husband’s family’s Thanksgiving dinner:
