Hot for Food Vegan Comfort Classics: 101 Recipes to Feed Your Face
by Lauren ToyotaPublished on February 27th 2018
Pages: 240
A fun and irreverent take on vegan comfort food that's saucy, sweet, sassy, and most definitely deep-fried, from YouTube sensation Lauren Toyota of Hot for Food.
In this bold collection of more than 100 recipes, the world of comfort food and vegan cooking collide as Lauren Toyota shares her favorite recipes and creative ways to make Philly cheesesteak, fried chicken, and mac 'n' cheese, all with simple vegan ingredients. Never one to hold back, Lauren piles plates high with cheese sauce, ranch, bacon, and barbecue sauce, all while sharing personal stories and tips in her engaging and hilarious voice. The result is indulgent, craveworthy food - like Southern Fried Cauliflower, The Best Vegan Ramen, and Raspberry Funfetti Pop Tarts - made for sharing with friends at weeknight dinners, weekend brunches, and beyond.
This would be a great cookbook for people who want to move to a vegetarian or vegan diet but are hung up on all the foods that they won’t be able to have anymore if they give up meat. The book starts with several pages of recipes devoted to making substitutes for bacon from several different vegetables. It moves onto using cauliflower as a base for vegan fried chicken. A lot of the book concentrates on making vegan versions of meat-based favorites.
I don’t really have any comfort foods that contained meat. I don’t like fried foods. A lot of the recipes in this book don’t appeal to me for those reasons. Others are familiar to people who have been vegetarian for a long time.
What did appeal to me as a long time vegetarian was her section on sauces. She has a very simple vegan mayo recipe (Why does prepared vegan mayo cost a fortune?) and then uses it as a base for several dressings, including my favorite, Thousand Island. I’m definitely going to try that when my current bottle of dressing runs out. She also has basic recipes for cake and frosting and then shows multiple flavor variations. If I baked much, I’d be all over that.
I am going to make the cover recipe this week. It is a buffalo style baked cauliflower sandwich. I’m going to make the cauliflower in slices and combine it with salad fixings for dinner.Â
This book also has the most delightfully insane recipe I think I’ve ever seen. It is for a double decker veggie burger topped with both Thousand Island and BBQ sauce (yum) but then, then, the buns are made out of ramen noodles. Why are the buns made out of ramen noodles? Because you can.
I love everything in that recipe. Sure, I’ve only had them separately but what could go wrong? I’m a bit concerned about the ability to fit it in my mouth so I would make a single burger. You know, it’s healthier that way. I even bought some ring molds to make the buns. It will happen someday. In the meantime, Thousand Island and BBQ may be my go to burger dressing.Â
Looks like fun
We have a few vegan relatives, so this one might give me some ideas for perking up meals — like the sauces and mayo.
I sometimes have to make vegan for friends so I will check this book out.
I think many people are beginning to realize the benefit of a healthy plant based diet. Replacing heavy, fried, food with a vegan alternative seems to defy the reason for being a vegan which I would assume is not just for humane reasons but also for better health. This cookbook might have interested me 30 years ago when I first made the transition, but not now. Thanks for the honest review..
I think if I were to decide to go Vegan or Vegetarian I would not be looking for a meat substitute. There are so many delicious meals out there that don’t contain meat.
When I think of vegan food I would like to eat, I think of cuisines based on vegetables, such as the cuisine of India and Southeast Asia, the Buddhist cuisine of Japan, or the non-meat and non-dairy foods of Jewish tradition. Pretend meat that is supposed to be like real American fried comfort food strikes me as very unappealing. I’m glad you seem to be in somewhat agreement with me. Also thanks for the warning about that cookbook, which sounds utterly wrong for me.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com