The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Over 100 Vegan Recipes to Glow from the Inside Out by Angela LiddonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you had told me a few years ago that I'd ever own a vegan cookbook, I might have laughed. It isn't that I have anything against veganism, but I am a fairly committed omnivore. But my best friend had been exploring moving increasingly toward a plant-based diet, so she got me this book for Christmas. As someone who actually does READ cookbooks, I feel confident in reviewing it here. Liddon has a very approachable, non-preachy style. She gives an overview to different types of oils, flours, and nuts, etc as well as techniques. I could do without some of the cutesy names for the recipes, but Liddon is also fairly self-aware of her tone: "I'm sure it sounds cliché coming from a vegan..." she tells us when she tells us how excited she is about the "Salads" section. The recipes are divided into sections: breakfast; smoothies, juice & tea; appetizers; salads; soup; entrées; sides; power snacks; desserts; and homemade staples. Very useful is the "basic cooking chart" which gives basic cooking times for lentils, quinoa and the like. The food photography is quite nice, and there are photos of Liddon and her husband peppered throughout the book. She does, in fact, seem to glow.
Of the recipes, strong standouts (that I tried) are: Healing rooibos tea, Sweet potato & Black bean enchiladas with avocado-cilantro "cream" sauce (scare quotes mine); Crowd-pleasing Tex Mex casserole, Our Favorite Veggie Burger. The Lentil Walnut loaf that some folks claim is "better than traditional meat loaf" is well...not better or worse, but definitely different. I felt it could have had better flavor, and I think I'd make the lentils in curry next time. I prefer more of the recipes in Oh She Glows Every Day: Simply Satisfying Plant-Based Recipes to Keep You Glowing from the Inside Out, Liddon's second book, but this is a solid cookbook for anyone looking to get into plant-based cookbook.
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