It is Here! It is Here!

Give a cheer! It's here! It's here!

Just in time for VeganMoFo, I finally have my very own Veganomnomnomicon!

I ordered it from Amazon on Thursday and it was waiting for me when I got home from work Friday. I spent most of Friday night and Saturday reading it just for fun. I love it. It's beautiful. I'm afraid to get sauces on it (but that won't stop me from making every single one!).

I don't think I've ever been this excited about a book that didn't involve wizards, a flat planet or a thousand-year-old man with a gun.* Wooha!

In addition to the billion fabulous recipes, the book has lists of all the tools and ingredients you need to make your kitchen more than a place that holds the microwave and freezer (Actually, neither of the authors even own a microwave. I'm so awed.) and instructions for grilling and roasting vegetables, including which herbs compliment them best. The book seriously has everything.

The only bad thing about it is trying to decide which recipe to try first. Everything sounds so scrumptious! I'm sure this isn't the way Isa and Terry wanted people to pick, but after reading everything, I flipped to the back to see which recipes were "low fat", are supposed to take less than 45 minutes to prepare and are standard supermarket friendly. There are sixteen of these!

Corn and Edamame Sesame Salad
Sauteed Collards
Sauteed Spinach and Tomatoes
Escarole with Capers and White Beans
Rutabaga Puree
Roasted Portabellos
Soft Poppy-Seed Polenta
Basic Broiled Tofu
Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans
Creamy Tomato Soup
Plantain and Pinto Stew with Parsnip Chips
Marinara Sauce and Variations
Salsa Verde
5-Minute Mango Chutney
Tropical Avocado Salsa Fresca
Cranberry-Chile Dipping Sauce

I think I've narrowed it down to the Soft Poppy-Seed Polenta, Basic Broiled Tofu, Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans and Creamy Tomato Soup. This week is turning out to be a very tomatoey week, so I think I'll stick with the polenta or tofu. Or maybe the tofu on the polenta. My first combination! I'll just need to figure out (and clean!) the broiler first (it's never been used in the eight years we've had the house and is full of dust).

Bottom line: Veganomicon = awesome.

Thank you, Isa and Terry (and testers)!


* Those would be Harry Potter (JK Rowling), Discworld (Terry Pratchett) and The Dark Tower (Stephen King), respectively.