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Big Vegan

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Veganism has been steadily moving toward the mainstream as more and more people become aware of its many benefits. Even burger-loving omnivores are realizing that adding more plant-based foods to their diet is good for their health and the environment. Big Vegan satisfies both the casual meat eater and the dedicated herbivore with more than 350 delicious, easy-to-prepare vegan recipes covering breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Highlighting the plentiful flavors that abound in natural foods, this comprehensive cookbook includes the fundamentals for adopting a meat-free, dairy-free lifestyle, plus a resource guide and glossary that readers can refer to time and again. Eat your veggies and go vegan!

544 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2011

98 people are currently reading
385 people want to read

About the author

Robin Asbell

18 books10 followers

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5 stars
143 (40%)
4 stars
99 (28%)
3 stars
80 (22%)
2 stars
23 (6%)
1 star
8 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for P..
2,416 reviews97 followers
February 15, 2016
I've been hoarding this library book at my house. It has some really nice salads and fantastic sides - lots of spreads that you can make, put on toast with an avocado, and have a lunch. I haven't really gotten into the mains or the baking, but I see myself coming back to it in the future. It has a ton of sauces & condiments, like mushroom gravy, raita, vegan mayo, etc, and different enticing granolas and breakfast stuffs.

Things I made:
- Smoky Maple-Tempeh "bacon" - for when you want to be fancy and not buy the preseasoned stuff
- Toasted Chickpeas and Pumpkin Seeds with Chipotle - I can't stop making this. You can eat it with rice and some tomatoes and it's like lazy spicy falafel, or put it on a salad for extra protein.
- Chipotle-Black Bean dip - amazing. simple.
- Makedonitki Sordalia - potato & pistachio/vinegar spread. Pairs well with rice cakes if you're into that.
- Cabbage Salad w/ Sesame Vinaigrette - I liked the dressing, would use it on something else
- Moroccan Carrot Salad with Dates and Almonds - Just about the only thing I've made with dates that doesn't let their disgusting sweetness take over
- Sushi Bar Seaweed Salad - So easy! Revelatory for me.
- Cobb Salad with Smoked Tempeh
Profile Image for Jacqueline Mackenzie.
1 review8 followers
April 9, 2013
I have over 300 cookbooks because I gave up eating meat in 1979. I have owned a meat-free restaurant and I LOVE to cook. I my opinion, Robin Asbell is the finest mentor for the world. She covers most cultural bases, but always with her own "twist." I am considering giving away my other books because Robin is my "Vegan Kitchen Goddess." I don't need anyone else.
Profile Image for Sophie Rayton.
777 reviews46 followers
September 13, 2018
I read the eBook version of this cookbook. The writing is very good and it's all very comprehensive but there were hardly any pictures and a lot of information making it feel like more a textbook than a cookbook to me.
It is possible the print edition has more photos.
Profile Image for RH Walters.
870 reviews17 followers
March 25, 2013
Food poems that you can eat. One of my favorites is the potato salad Provencal that includes artichoke hearts, celery, parsley, olives, capers, garlic, lemon and onion. Hungry now?
Profile Image for Book Grocer.
1,181 reviews39 followers
August 29, 2020
Purchase Big Vegan here for just $15!

Vegan or not, this a superb recipe book to add to the collection. Big Vegan has you covered from breakfast to dessert, with recipes that are easy to follow and truly delicious. Well worth checking out.

Alicia, The Book Grocer
1,924 reviews
September 29, 2022
i approached reading this book with some trepidation - another monster vegan book that tries to do it all. However, the book is well put together, with delicious "new" recipes in most food categories. The book does a great job of staying away from being preachy, trying to just replicate meat recipes, or so laden with avocado or almond substitute recipes as to be boring. This book is none of those things. Instead you find well thought out recipes that cover a wide swath of international flavors, neither simple nor overly complex. recommended.
Profile Image for T.
31 reviews
January 24, 2016
Some of these recipes are great (like the baguette French toast with sautéed apples and cream cheese; easy and delicious) HOWEVER there are many issues with this cook book:

1) Not enough pictures, too much text.
2) some recipes have only 2 steps listed, but each sentence in the dense paragraph of each "step" could really be a bullet point in itself. The author crams too many instructions into one "step"
3) Many of these recipes have healthy ingredients, but the end result isn't that healthy. They either require a lot of oil or margarine, or a lot of syrup and sugar. You can try not including these ingredients, but then the meal might not taste good. It's possible to have great tasting vegan food without all that added fat and sugar
4) There're many unhelpful/boring recipes which simply require you to mix together a bunch of raw ingredients and cook them. There're too many stir fry's. I was expecting more dinner meal recipes with substance and more to eat besides a heap of vegetables
Profile Image for Erin.
49 reviews1 follower
September 10, 2022
Everything looks so good, I don't even know where to start!

I haven't taken the plunge into full veganism yet, but for the past few years, I've been trying to eat many more plant-based meals on a regular basis. I've found a lot of great vegan recipes, but most of the time they're recreations of classic recipes that typically use meat and dairy. Not in this book, many of these recipes aren't trying to mimic animal products and they are letting the plant-based ingredients sing!

There are hundreds of recipes in here. It will take me years to try them all. On top of that, I love that these recipes range in difficulty, skill level, and the number of ingredients. I will say that a beginner cook might be overwhelmed by a lot of the recipes, but if you love spending time in the kitchen this is a great one for you! It's definitely helping me to think more creatively about vegan cooking.
Profile Image for Sara.
451 reviews
February 23, 2017
Het eerste kookboek dat ik bovenhaalde voor deze Vegan MoFo was Big Vegan van Robin Asbell. Het boek is al een aantal jaren in mijn bezit, maar ik heb er nog niet erg veel uit klaargemaakt. De naam zegt het zelf: het is een superdik boek met heel veel recepten maar jammer genoeg weinig foto’s.

Van A tot Z
Big Vegan staat vol lekkere recepten die bovendien makkelijk te bereiden zijn. In het begin van het boek krijg je wat meer info over veganisme, koken, bakken, voedingsinfo, ingrediënten, … Verder is het boek onderverdeeld in verschillende hoofdstukken...

Lees hier verder: https://veggiesara.wordpress.com/2016...
Profile Image for Tamara.
1,459 reviews637 followers
November 24, 2011
The title doesn't lie. This thing is BIG. It would take forever to try every recipe in here.

A good mix of recipes with hands-on ingredients along with some "out of the way" ingredients. Some recipes with crazy long ingredients lists and some with less than 4.

If you're going vegan, I would imagine this cookbook would take you from beginner through immediate and into advanced over the course of a few years.

Recipes I'll probably try:
Crispy Sesame Kale
Almond-Apple-Date Breakfast Burrito
Sweet Potato & Edamame Shepherd's Pie.

Profile Image for Joy Urban.
104 reviews3 followers
April 26, 2012
I got this because I had seen a couple recipes from this book on the internet and wanted to see more, and I think it's interesting to use alternative ingredients. Also, I'm trying to eat less animal derivatives because I know it's healthier (and kinder). Anyways, a lot of these are pretty tasty.

Although I will admit to cheating a little bit: a lot of the ingredients can be pretty expensive, and I have such an aversion to tequila that blue agave syrup makes me gag, so I just used normal sugar :X
Profile Image for Jenny.
500 reviews7 followers
April 18, 2016
This is solid Vegan cookbook in that it has inventive and new recipes that work and are tasty. It also has vegan alternative recipes of classic meat based recipes for those who would like to recreate dishes they used to love.
I just wish there were more photos and better quality at that (They look dated) and that there are with the recipes.
Profile Image for Emily.
111 reviews
May 6, 2012
Looking forward to making my own mock duck!
Profile Image for Jan Wood.
3 reviews1 follower
October 11, 2012
Loved the sheer volume of recipes but missed the pics!!
4 reviews
November 6, 2013
Every recipe I've tried so far has been delicious. This is a huge collection of recipes, and most are reasonably easy to make.
Profile Image for HadiDee.
1,690 reviews6 followers
Read
April 2, 2021
Have made several recipes from and they've all been good. I like the way the recipes are laid out and it's become one of my most used cookbooks
Profile Image for S.
255 reviews1 follower
August 15, 2014
This has so much good, basic info and also features inventive recipes based from every corner of the world.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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