Product Description

THE CONSCIOUS COOK is a breakthrough in vegan cuisine. By teaching readers how to make truly satisfying and delicious meals without the meat and dairy‚ it makes the shift to a vegan lifestyle easy.

A former steak lover himself‚ Chef Tal struggled for years on a vegan diet that left him hungry and filled with cravings for butter and meat. About ten years ago‚ he decided that the best way to satisfy his dietary desires was to make food that was good enough for "foodies" and could gratify his cravings for rich flavor and fat. The solution? Create vegan meals with substantial proteins that could literally change the way people eat. He studied all aspects of non−meat proteins and today is widely regarded as the expert in the field‚ developing new concepts for meals and sauces and helping to improve textures for food companies such as Gardein (the provider of vegetable proteins used by

Morningstar Farms‚ It′s All Good‚ Trader Joe′s brands‚ and the prepared food department of Whole Foods‚ to name a few).

THE CONSCIOUS COOK features a center−of−the−plate protein in all of its entrees−a first for vegan cookbooks. Seventy−five original recipes are organized by categories that include starters and small plates‚ soups and salads‚ entrees‚ and desserts. Each recipe is accompanied by stunning full−color photographs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #261 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-01
• Released on: 2009-10-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061874338
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Tal Ronnen's assertion is that [The Conscious Cook] will change the way you eat. It will, for the better." (Basil & Spice )

"Tal's recipes are simply fantastic . . . Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian, or committed meat eater, this is a book that can help you down the path of higher-quality, good tasting, humane eating." (Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States )

"What's great about this cookbook is its range and its approach to meatless cooking. No main dish ever feels like a side dish . . . Instead, each meal is made to be complete and satisfying." (fitsugar.com )

"Wow, wow, wow! I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying." (Oprah Winfrey, on Oprah.com )

"You name 'em, he's fed 'em. Tal Ronnen is no up-and-comer-he has long since arrived and taken over the culinary world of veganism." (Rory Freedman, author of Skinny Bitch )

#14 Wall Street Journal Bestseller (The Wall Street Journal )

#3 New York Times bestselling book (New York Times )

Named one of the top ten cookbooks of the year. (Epicurious )

What you'll probably be most conscious of as you prepare the 75 vegan recipes from "The Conscious Cook" is how delicious the food is. (Lisa Messinger, creators.com )

About the Author

Chef Tal Ronnen is the most celebrated vegan chef working today. In the spring of 2008, he became known nationwide as the chef who prepared vegan meals for Oprah Winfrey's 21-day vegan cleanse. He has since catapulted to fame, catering Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's vegan wedding, Arianna Huffington's party at the Democratic National Convention, and the first vegan dinner at the U.S. Senate.

Customer Reviews

Watershed book includes sophisticated use of new vegan products, vegan history, chef bios, and maximum multi-level flavor
This is an extremely sincere high-end vegan cookbook. In the past, vegan cookbooks produced average to sub-average results and include recipes that involve either mixing vegetables (cooked or raw) in various combinations, using frozen pie dough and wonton skins in a couple obvious ways, and simplistic tofu/tempeh recipes that don't taste very good. There are a few breakthrough high-end vegan cookbooks lately from inspired chefs, such as "Great Chefs Cook Vegan," compiled by Linda Long, "Vegan Soul Kitchen" with Bryant Terry and now this one.

This book is more comprehensive than the other two because it goes gives vegan chef bios (many of them vanguard and brilliant)and important vegan restaurant history as well as rationale for eating vegan and ways to use new-to-newish vegan ingredients, such as Gardein (vegan "meat" products; chicken breasts, chicken strips, and beef strips), Earth Balance (vegan butter in solid form), Vegannnise (vegan mayo), Field Roast Italian Style seitan sausages, New Chapter All-Flora probiotic capsules (to culture homemade cashew or macadamia cheese and give it a sharp flavor), tempeh bacon, precooked udon noodles, vegan mozzarella, etc . Also, for people who haven't cooked vegan, recipes are included for ingredients for more involved recipes such as cashew butter, hazelnut milk, Asian slaw, the use of ground flaxseed in baked goods as a substitute for eggs, and new ones such as chipolte cream and tofu ricotto.

Most people would probably enthusiastically eat vegan if they had access to meals of this quality. So, the challenge is to learn how to cook at this level, how to use the unique ingredients, until it becomes easy.

One challenge of vegan are the tofu, tempeh and seitan preparation, because of their high protein content; a couple winner recipes here are Old Bay tofu cakes and cornmeal encrusted tempeh. Recipes with new meat-substitute products bring a welcome level of sophistication and ease to vegan cooking. Additionally, there are presented a number of great unusual grain recipes using quinoa, spelt flour, etc.

For those who haven't cooked vegan or vegetarian, this book will give you contemporary "how-to" that will make your first efforts worthy endeavors and bring your skills to produce multi-level and exotic flavors quickly. No oddball vegan results here. Working from this book is cooking with vegan master chefs, you really can't go wrong. It is the sort of book beginners should cook their way through. By the time they get to the last page, they will be a master vegan cook with a sophisticated repetoire... a very nice endeavor indeed.

I was a bit apprehensive that this cookbook was going to be mainly a promotion vehicle for Gardein because it has been pre-featured on their website, but it is not. It is an excellent vegan cookbook, probably the best quality and most comprehensive one on the market.

must-have book
This book is a must-have for anyone who entertains the occasional vegan or has a family member that is vegan. More importantly, it is likely the best resource out there for those who wish to 'wow' a meat-eater with vegan dishes. These dishes will blow you away, and Tal pays well deserved respect to some of the leading vegan chefs in the world (so a reader has the benefit of their expertise as well). You will not be disappointed with this book - the information is compelling, the photos are exceptional and the dishes are to die for.

Good ideas but too processed
Having been a vegetarian for many years and an on-again-off-again vegan for the last two, I was very excited to see a new high-end entrant to the vegan chef club. Unfortunately, this book doesn't work that well for me. I can get some ideas from the book (and the production value is particularly high) but in terms of daily recipes, this doesn't work. I am not interested in highly processed meat substitutes (even if they are vegan). I also think most of the recipes in this book are quite complex and require much more time than most of us have. I'll consult this book every once in a while but for daily fare, I'll stick with Nava Atlas or macrobiotic chefs. I'm in favor of anything that gets more people eating fewer animal products so if you think this will help you do that, definitely buy the book.