The I Love Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook: 150 Delicious and Healthy Recipes Using Foods from the World's Greatest Grocery Store

by Kris Holechek Peters

Whip up delicious vegetarian and vegan meals in no time and on a budget with ingredients from everyone's favorite grocery store - Trader Joe's®

Trader Joe’s is the ultimate one-stop shop to stock any kitchen with tasty, eclectic foods. Plus, vegetarian and vegan items are strictly labeled, making it even more convenient. With The I Love Trader Joe’s® Vegetarian Cookbook and a quick trip to your neighborhood Joe’s, you will be cooking delicious, animal-free meals in no time,

• Tasty Tofu Scramble
• Tuscan Tomato Soup
• Almond-Glazed Green Beans
• Coconut Curry Polenta
• Tempeh Tacos
• African Peanut Stew
• Pasta with Creamy Tapenade
• Roasted Carrot Risotto
• Pumpkin Spice Cobbler

Packed with easy instructions, full-color photos and tips on how to make each recipe strictly vegan, this book takes the guesswork out of serving up amazing meals. Both veteran vegetarians and curious carnivores are sure to enjoy these recipes along with the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle.

TRADER JOE’S® is a registered trademark of Trader Joe’s® Company and is used here for informational purposes only. This book is independently authored and published and is not affiliated or associated with Trader Joe’s® Company in any way. Trader Joe’s® Company does not authorize, sponsor, or endorse this book or any of the information contained herein.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 11, 2012

About the author

Kris Holechek Peters grew up in her grandmother's kitchen, absorbing every flavor and technique until she was able to perfect her grandmother's favorite baking recipes. When she became vegan, Kris learned to create those old family favorites and exciting new baked treats without using any animal products.

Kris lives in the Midwest with her kitties and an excessively large collection of Bundt pans.

Reviews

[Terri Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Trader Joe's and I certainly adore this cookbook in which every single recipe has a vegan option. The book is fun, full of huge page sized photos of each recipe, and easy to use.

Of course you do not have to buy the ingredients at a Trader Joe's if there is not one near you or you just don't want to. The things I love about shopping at Trader Joe's (we were at ours just yesterday) is that they offer some things you can't get anywhere else, their prices are ridiculously cheap (they buy direct and cut out the middleman then package the foods in their own Trader Joe's label), they actually have people whose only job is to help you find stuff, the staff WANTS to help you, and everything is so fresh.

I have tried a bunch of these recipes and they are delicious. My favorites are: Banana Cinnamon rolls, Peanut Butter Cream cheese frosting (with vegan cream cheese),Orange Creamsicle Coffee Cake, Blueberry Crumb Cake, Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes, Cinn-Agave PB Spread (made with cinnamon, peanut butter and Trader Joe's own maple agave syrup blend though you can substitute maple syrup), Quick and dirty Danish (cleverly made with vegan puff pastry ), Joey's Cherry Pie Bars, Fantastic Fry Bread (made with refrigerated pizza dough), Herbed Garlic Polenta Fries, Simple Fruit Salad, Apple Upside down cake, and a whole chapter of tasty beverages. There are lots more- soups, casseroles, sandwiches, salads, drinks, snacks, desserts- great stuff. Highly recommended.

[Bundt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our first Trader Joe's recently opened, so I am thrilled to be able to review "The I Love Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook!" I've long been a fan of Trader Joe's pantry staples, particularly their rice and grain blends, and was looking for new ways to put these pantry staples to use in my kitchen. (If you don't live close to a Trader Joe's, most of the ingredients can be substituted with whatever is available in your neck of the woods.)

Beginning with breakfast, you'll find lots of quick and easy ideas that you can easily put together in half an hour or less, including orange blueberry cornbread muffins, pineapple upside-down pancakes, quick and dirty Danish, spiced apricot farina, and waffles.

You'll also find all sorts of global influences, including Greek (Greek chickpea-laf), Italian (herbed polenta fries, white bean basil spread, Olive my love pasta), Asian (stir fries, gomasio, tofu), Latin (Mexi-bake casserole, tempeh tacos) Midwestern (hot dishes and casseroles) and Middle Eastern, as well as upscale nibbles (heavenly sweet n' savory bites rich with caramelized onions, figs, and blue cheese, or the figgy blue sandwich). Old-fashioned comfort food like grown-up grilled cheese and fancy macaroni bake find their way in too.

For sweet endings, you'll find gluten-free brownies, cakes, kheer (Indian rice pudding made with coconut milk, dried fruit and nuts), amazing everything cookies (featuring nuts, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and banana chips), fall-inspired dishes like gingered bread pudding and fall pumpkin spice cobbler, and cheesecake (regular and vegan versions).

I tried the herbed polenta fries and the Greek chickpea-laf first. I ended up doubling the topping for the polenta fries, and would also strongly recommend blotting the polenta slices before adding the topping; otherwise, they tend not to get as crisp due to the high moisture content. They were delicious with the suggested lemon aioli (vegan), and as good as (or better than) most French fries I've had.

The Greek chickpea-laf is made with Trader Joe's Harvest Grains blend, garbanzos (I used cannellini beans, since it was what I had on hand), lemon juice and oregano (the author is quite liberal with dried oregano; both the polenta fries and the pilaf called for 2 tablespoons each!), with tomatoes, parsley and feta cheese folded in. This would be a great dish for a potluck or picnic; the contrasts in textures and flavors (tart lemon and feta, sweet tomatoes, soft Israeli couscous) was unexpected and delicious.

Recipes are conveniently labeled as vegetarian, vegan (or include instructions on how to make a recipe vegan), and gluten-free when applicable. Also included are sample menus and conversions, however, nutritional info is not provided. For those who need photos to accompany their recipes, there are lots of gorgeous full-color photos for nearly every recipe. One small gripe: the Index only contains recipe names, not recipes by ingredient, so if you're trying to quickly locate, say, a potato dish, you'll have to flip through until you locate one.

Overall, " The I Love Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook" is a great addition to your cookbook collection if you're looking for fast, flavorful recipes that come together quickly.

(Review copy courtesy of Ulysses Press)

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't save a lot of the recipes but the book gets extra points for having glossy pages and photographs for all the recipes.

Really, reading this just made me even more morose about not having a TJ's in GR.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of beans or tofu, but if I was, I'd give this book 5 stars.