Product Description

Put the yum into your meals with more than 85 mouthwatering vegan recipes!

When Lauren Ulm went vegan, she faced the typical onslaught of questions from acquaintances
and more than the occasional wince from unsuspecting dinner guests. Vowing to
prove that vegan food can be decadent and delicious—and not a bland stand-in for 'normal'
food—she created a blog, veganyumyum.com. What began as a hobby became an obsession,
winning her not only legions of vegan and non-vegan foodie fans, but also the 2008 Best
Veggie Blog Award from VegNews magazine.

Here in her debut cookbook, Lauren shows that vegan food is anything but dull, with her creative
and quirky twists on everything from crowd-pleasing appetizers to indulgent desserts, from easy
weekend breakfasts to speedy weeknight dinners, plus holiday- and company-worthy fare you can
serve with pride.

Blueberry Waffles with Lemon Icing • Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake • Stuffed Banana Berry French Toast
Sweet Chili Lime Tofu • Tahini Lemon Rice and Beans • Corn Fritters • Eggplant and Basil Stuffed Tomatoes
Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto • Crispy Sesame Kale • Moroccan Spiced Root Vegetable Home Fries • Smoky Miso
Tofu Sandwiches • Cannellini Bean Soup with Pan-fried Croutons • Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger-Soy Sauce
Chipotle Basil Corn Chowder • Baked Mac and Cheeze • Gnocchi with Thyme Vinaigrette • Lime Peanut Noodles
with Seitan, Kale, and Carrots • and much more . . .

With most ingredients both readily available and budget-friendly, Vegan Yum Yum shows anyone
how to go gourmet the vegan way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5669 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 290 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780757313806
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Lauren Ulm, "Lolo," is a vegan foodie and founder of veganyumyum.com who lives in Boston with her husband and two cats. She is not a chef, has never been to culinary school, and she's not a professional photographer (but she has fun pretending!) When she went vegan in 2002, the kitchen became her favorite room in the house, and still is today. She has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and has been featured in Vegetarian Times. Visit http://veganyumyum.hcibooks.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

When I started my blog, veganyumyum.com, in late 2006, I never dreamed it would turn into a book. In fact, I never really even imagined anyone would read the blog. I'd post a recipe with a photo, and I was absolutely dumbfounded one day when someone commented on the site to say they had made a recipe and liked it.

My original goal was that other vegans would find my recipes helpful and tasty. I certainly know what it's like to stand in front of the refrigerator without a clue about what to make. I also hoped that nonvegans would stop by, and the whole idea of vegan food, if they weren't already familiar with it, wouldn't seem so bad. I wanted nonvegans to see my food and think, 'Yum, I could really go for that!' as opposed to, 'Ugh, vegans.'

Once people find out that my husband and I are vegan, they proceed to ask us a lot of questions (I'm sure you've fielded these questions as well, if you're vegan). Some of the questions involve ethics, factory farming practices, and hypothetical 'But would you eat eggs if . . .' situations, but one question persists: What on earth do you eat?

While I rattle off the list, what most people usually picture is unappetizing steamed vegetables, a pile of beans with a sprig of parsley on top, and a block of wobbly tofu. They either haven't had any experience with vegan food or the experience they had wasn't a good one.

When I first went vegan three years ago, it was a bit of a mystery to me, too. I was totally amazed that you didn't need eggs and dairy for baking, and that the resulting treat tasted just as good. Or that with a little imagination and a few swaps, you could make decadent things like doughnuts, cupcakes, and a macaroni and cheese that rivaled my mom's and weren't just pathetic vegan stand-ins for the 'real' versions. It was then that I became sort of obsessed with creating vegan food, both savory and sweet—recipes that would be enjoyed by even the staunchest carnivores.

Now my husband and I have a running joke; whenever I make something ridiculously over-the-top and decadent, we chow down with glee and declare as sarcastically as possible to each other, 'Man, it sure sucks to be vegan! I'm so hungry and unsatisfied!'

Would I want each and every person to try a vegan doughnut and declare him or herself a vegan convert? Sure. A much more attainable goal, however, is much less dramatic. I want to provide vegans with an armory of fantastic recipes they can serve to their friends and family with pride.

If you've just gone vegan and find yourself in need of kitchen skills—fast—I want you to have a book full of step-by-step recipes that will make you feel like a pro in no time. And I'd simply like people not to cringe when I tell them the cupcake I'm offering them happens to be vegan. You don't have to be a vegan to eat like a vegan. You don't have to be a vegan to put together a vegan meal. You don't have to be vegan to like vegan food! I really, truly hope this book convinces people of these things. And, of course, if you are convinced, I hope going vegan is something that you seriously consider.

Confessions of a Vegan Foodie

Confession time: I'm not a chef, and I've never been to cooking school. All of the photographs in this book were taken by me. The food pictured here was made in my tiny kitchen and eaten by my husband and me immediately after photographing it (even if sometimes it was slightly colder by the time we finally got to eat it). I point these things out because I think it's important for you to know you can make food that looks and tastes just as good. It's all real food you can make in your kitchen, starting today. You don't need to be a chef or a food stylist to sit down to meals like these.

My point is that great food is just that—great! A lot of great food is vegan, and you can make it for yourself starting here. Bon appétit!

What to Expect When You Go Vegan

If you're thinking about going vegan, congrats! I know it seems like a big change, and it is. But it's not as hard as you think. You'll probably be curious to try the vegan versions of your old favorites. Vegan cheese, vegan milks, vegan meats. It can get expensive, and I guarantee you it'll be at least somewhat disappointing. The best advice I can give you is to focus on fresh, whole foods at first. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give some of the specialty products a shot; you never know what you like until you try. But stay open-minded and take the time to learn how to make foods that you really love, not poor imitations of foods you no longer eat. That's the secret to being vegan and loving it.

That being said, there are a few specialty products that I can recommend that might make your transition easier.

• Earth Balance Margarine:
Most margarines have whey in them. Earth Balance is 100% vegan, and in my experience, the very best butter replacement there is.

• Silk Soymilk:
Everyone has their favorite soy milk. It really is worth it to try different brands to see what your favorite is. Personally, I find Silk to have the best flavor and texture, and it won't curdle in your coffee like other nondairy milks can. The refrigerated version is different than the nonrefrigerated version. Personally, I like the refrigerated one.

• Vegenaise Mayonnaise:
This one is by far the winner when it comes to vegan mayo. There are other brands out there, but this is the only one I buy
.
• Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese and Sour Cream:
Tofutti makes a killer cream cheese and sour cream. Other brands just don't stack up in my opinion.

• Vegan Cheeses:
There are all sorts of cheeses out there. Many are pretty gross. My three favorite cheeses are Teese, Sheese, and Dr. Cow. Teese cheese is made by the Chicago Soydairy. It melts fabulously, so it's great for anything you'd normally put mozzarella on. Sheese cheese has a wonderful cheesy flavor (I love the smoked cheddar!), but it doesn't melt, so it's best on crackers or in sandwiches. Dr. Cow makes wonderful, hand-crafted nut cheeses that don't have any scary ingredients in them, perfect for a gourmet treat.

• Nutritional Yeast:
I had no idea what nutritional yeast was before I went vegan. You'll find that most vegans use it and love it. Not only is it a nutritional supplement (offering a full assortment of B vitamins, including a vegan source of B12), but it also lends what most people describe as a 'cheesy' flavor to your food. I disliked it at first, but now I use it quite frequently. Give it a shot on some salted popcorn as an experiment!

There are all sorts of wonderful and delicious foods out there (and in this book!) that will show you what being vegan is all about. You can be compassionate to the planet without giving up great food. It's a myth that vegan food is boring, flavorless, and uninspired. No one has to choose between compassionate living and delicious meals. You can be the best cook your family and friends know, and not in spite of you being vegan—but because you are.

©2009. Lauren Ulm. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Vegan Yum Yum. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Customer Reviews

worth the wait
I wasn't sure if I would buy this book since I've seen a lot of the recipes
on Laurens blog but am really glad I did.
There is a nice mix of recipes that are easy to follow with extra photos to demonstrate and most of the ingredients you'll already have.
When I get a new cookbook I want to try it out right away and it's frustrating when you have to go shopping first.
It's well laid out and easy to read, I like how the 30 minute recipes are clearly marked in the contents.
There are photographs of each recipe and everything looks delicious.

fun and yummy resource
I love this cookbook! Since I follow her blog, I wasn't sure whether this cookbook would be worth my time, but it's been wonderful. Lots of recipes and lots of information are packed into this book. I own a lot of vegan and vegetarian cookbooks, and this one offers truly different and exciting recipes, as well as serving as a resource for basics (like pancakes) and standbys (like a new take on the tofu scramble).

My favorite recipes in this book: blueberry waffles with lemon icing; stuffed banana berry french toast; aloo matar; caramelized leek and spaghetti squash polenta with white sauce; dal makhni; delicata squash stuffed with cherry-almond couscous; chana samosas; sesame ginger seitan dumplings; crispy sesame kale; black bean soup; spicy tomato chickpea soup; baked mac and cheeze; hurry up alfredo; lime peanut noodles with seitan, kale, and carrots; pad see ew; blueberry grunts; and sheera. As you can see, I had quite a lot of favorites!

One of the things I really appreciate about this book is the variety of recipes and ingredients. Ulm has a CSA, and says that a lot of her recipes were created based on what she got from it on a given week. I have one too, so I'm able to enjoy her recipes that involve lots of seasonal vegetables, farm-exclusive delights like delicata squash, and the experience of having so many leftover veggies and clippings that vegetable stock is the best use of resources. Then there are plenty of recipes with more basic ingredients, that can be found at any grocery store, even in my small college town. The more hard-to-get ingredients I can find a little ways out of my way at natural food stores.

It's true that some of the ingredients are unusual -- my closest grocery store seldom carries bok choy or kale, let alone Chinese broccoli and whole Indian spices -- but these recipes all include helpful substitution suggestions and I find cookbooks like Veganomicon to be much worse in this regard, especially when it comes to prices and explaining their function/necessity in the recipe. (And as I said above, I get plenty of kale from my CSA!)

Rather, my biggest problem with this book is that I'm lacking a lot of the equipment that she has, and there is not much in the book itself to help. What's the use of "readily available and budget-friendly ingredients" if I can't make the recipes without investing in specialty equipment? While I have a well-stocked kitchen (lots of pots and pans, mixing bowls, good knives, a blender, a food processor, a chopping bowl, a mortar and pestle, a pastry knife, various baking and loaf pans) most of my cooking equipment is basic and on the low end. But according to this book, I can't make a number of her recipes and drinks because the motor on my blender isn't fast enough. In fact, she says that only a Vita-Mix, a piece of equipment that would cost me as much as a month's rent, may be the only blender good enough. And there's nothing suggesting she tried it on other blenders. I don't appreciate being told that a recipe "may" require a Vita-Mix. Didn't she have testers who couldn't afford one? Couldn't she have tried it with a food processor? Can I have a hint of whether trying to blend these ingredients would be a waste of my time and money? Couldn't she include suggestions on what to do if you don't have a microplaner, a spice grinder, or a mandoline?

My only other complaint is minor, which is that I love reading cookbooks, and while this one was essentially well-written, it was a lot like a blog. Not a big surprise, but I like a bit more formality and editing from my recipes. Not that I'm demanding a formal paper, just that a consistent voice, structure, and confidence on the part of the author likewise instills confidence in me about the recipes. The background was usually interesting, and the alternatives and suggestions were helpful, but sometimes felt like I wasn't reading a completed recipe. I don't want the author's casual assurance that "this will taste great, I promise": I would hope you would think everything in your recipe book tastes great! And it certainly does, so don't be wishy-washy about it.

I don't understand the 1 star review ragging on the photos. It's not true that a good camera is all anyone needs. The beautiful photographs also show her understanding of composition, presentation, lighting, and photography generally. I like this in a cookbook and personally it instills further confidence for me in the book's author! Yes, it's true that beautiful photos don't make a cookbook inherently good as some reviews certainly seem to be suggesting, but the recipes in this book are amazing enough that the photos are a wonderful bonus and a treat to have hard copy!

Like other reviewers, I appreciated her casual attitude when it came to veganism. I am a vegan myself, but that doesn't mean I enjoy being condescended to about what a horrible thing it is to eat animal products. This is a book of delicious animal-free recipes, and that's that.

Essentially, all of my problems with it were anticipated from reading her blog. And all my excitement about it too! I'm so glad that this book is finally in print. If you have any trepidation about buying this book, look over her blog and decide whether you would like having a lot of these recipes and a lot of recipes in a similar style in print to keep in your kitchen. I for one love it!

Amazing photos! Amazing recipes!
I am not even vegan...at least not yet! The photos in this book blew me away--everything looks so delicious--and whether you are vegan, vegetarian, or even a fast-food junkie, there are recipes in this book that you won't be able to resist. I feel SO healthy when I make one of Lauren's creations! The 30-minute meals listed in the contents are great for those nights after work when you don't really feel like cooking. This will be my new go-to gift for the foodies in my life--it is beautifully illustrated with both how-to photos and the finished product. YUM!