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Urban Vegan: 250 Simple, Sumptuous Recipes from Street Cart Favorites to Haute Cuisine
Over 250 recipes organized by themes including cafe culture, breakfast at the diner, lunch cart, urban garden, haute cuisine, “just desserts,” and happy hour. At-a-glance icons signify which recipes are low-fat, fast, omnivore-friendly, kid-friendly, and frugal. Also included are essential tips covering vegan cuisine, an overview of the vegan pantry, and numerous menu ideas that will please even the staunchest omnivores!
228 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2009
9 people are currently reading
636 people want to read
About the author
Dynise Balcavage
3 books20 followersAuthor of Pies and Tarts with Heart, The Urban Vegan, and Celebrate Vegan.
Runner. Reader. Traveler. Cat mama.
Runner. Reader. Traveler. Cat mama.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 14, 2010
Four must try recipes for me: Real Hot Chocolate (with vegan marshmallows but not with the optional alcohol), Potatoes with 40 Cloves of Garlic, Vegan Cut Out Cookies with the icing, and the Macho Fudge Sauce. They’re definitely not the healthiest recipes in the book! I also noted nine other recipes that I’m particularly interested in, but those four look the most irresistible. I also love the instructions and ingredients for making soup stock.
I’m a city person and a vegan and I was intrigued enough to buy and read this book.
I loved the layout of the book and I found it very enjoyable to read; it was a pleasure to read it cover to cover. There’s much good basic information given about cooking and about veganism, about entertaining, and all sorts of other tidbits, and it’s all given in a friendly manner.
The recipes contents sections are: Café Culture, All-Night Breakfast at the Diner, Lunch Cart, Soup Kitchen, The Melting Pot, House Party, Urban Garden, Haute Cuisine, Just Desserts, Saucy Vegan, Happy Hour.
I like that the recipes had useful icons when applicable for: low fat (actually some weren’t if not adapted), fast to make, omnivore friendly, frugal (this issue comes up a lot throughout the book), and kid friendly. I also liked that at the beginning of each section and at the top of each recipe page there’s some extra information: cooking tips, a story, other extra information; I found it all interesting.
Also included are menu ideas (using some of the book’s/recipe’s themes/icon topics, and also seasonal, international, etc.), metric conversion tables, animal rights & other related resources, a glossary that I needed to use a couple of times, and an index. I enjoyed the box with the recipes for homemade bath products too.
For those cookbook users who care, there are no photos included. I didn’t mind, although I do prefer photographs of the completed recipes in my cookbooks.
I don’t expect that this will be a staple cookbook for me, but quite a few of the recipes look worth making, and I did enjoy the book. My favorite part of the book is how the author stresses the social aspect of eating.
Edited to add: I used to enjoy picnics as a child and up through my mid-twenties, but not since then. This book's description of various types of picnics has renewed my interest.
I’m a city person and a vegan and I was intrigued enough to buy and read this book.
I loved the layout of the book and I found it very enjoyable to read; it was a pleasure to read it cover to cover. There’s much good basic information given about cooking and about veganism, about entertaining, and all sorts of other tidbits, and it’s all given in a friendly manner.
The recipes contents sections are: Café Culture, All-Night Breakfast at the Diner, Lunch Cart, Soup Kitchen, The Melting Pot, House Party, Urban Garden, Haute Cuisine, Just Desserts, Saucy Vegan, Happy Hour.
I like that the recipes had useful icons when applicable for: low fat (actually some weren’t if not adapted), fast to make, omnivore friendly, frugal (this issue comes up a lot throughout the book), and kid friendly. I also liked that at the beginning of each section and at the top of each recipe page there’s some extra information: cooking tips, a story, other extra information; I found it all interesting.
Also included are menu ideas (using some of the book’s/recipe’s themes/icon topics, and also seasonal, international, etc.), metric conversion tables, animal rights & other related resources, a glossary that I needed to use a couple of times, and an index. I enjoyed the box with the recipes for homemade bath products too.
For those cookbook users who care, there are no photos included. I didn’t mind, although I do prefer photographs of the completed recipes in my cookbooks.
I don’t expect that this will be a staple cookbook for me, but quite a few of the recipes look worth making, and I did enjoy the book. My favorite part of the book is how the author stresses the social aspect of eating.
Edited to add: I used to enjoy picnics as a child and up through my mid-twenties, but not since then. This book's description of various types of picnics has renewed my interest.
August 27, 2011
Her writing style is a little annoying...corny jokes and she comes off a little pretentious. Also, this is less urban vegan and more global vegan. Which is fine, just not what I expected.
August 13, 2012
I have a ton of vegan cookbooks, and this is definitely not my go-to one. I dig that the urbanity the author refers to in the title is none other than Philadelphia, PA, otherwise known as "my parts" (although I've relocated to Pittsburgh), and I really like that she's wearing a necklace that I ALSO OWN on the cover, rad. But the thing is, the recipes have mostly not been anything too special.
Did not like:
Spicy Indian Eggplant - Too spicy, really, meaning it contained too many spices, not that it burned my mouth or anything. I think to make Indian food well, you have to, like, slow cook all those spices or something so they mellow and don't cause you pain.
Portobello Burritos - This was just some boring crap. Should have known to go to Viva Vegan! for any kind of Latin vegan food.
Marsala Mushroom Crepes - The crepes were fine, the innards were only just ehh.
These recipes are fine, but nothing special or stand-out:
Eggplant Parma - This calls for just sprinkling nutritional yeast into it which is just wrong, BUT, it's actually an OK recipe if you don't know how to properly make eggplant parm.
Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach - Plain jane, but OK.
Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake - This is a fine and dandy coffee cake, I wouldn't make it again, but I'd certainly eat it if someone else made it and offered me some.
Clara's Pasta E Fagioli - I was really looking for something I could make out of my pantry without going to the store and this fit the bill, which is fine! But, I gotta say, a person could do better than this recipe.
Actually, I make these next two all the freaking time:
Fettucine Alfredo - This is what I make when I have nothing to eat and don't want to go shopping because I keep all the ingredients on hand (pasta, Earth Balance, some kind of non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, salt, cornstarch). I always add some sun-dried tomatoes, which is one thing she suggsts.
Super-Sonic Sunflower Squares - BAM! We got a winner! Oh yes, now this is a terrific recipe. It's great for when you want to bring a recipe to a party that is naturally gluten and soy free but still vegan and really, really great. Oh yes, how I love it, I do do love it.
Did not like:
Spicy Indian Eggplant - Too spicy, really, meaning it contained too many spices, not that it burned my mouth or anything. I think to make Indian food well, you have to, like, slow cook all those spices or something so they mellow and don't cause you pain.
Portobello Burritos - This was just some boring crap. Should have known to go to Viva Vegan! for any kind of Latin vegan food.
Marsala Mushroom Crepes - The crepes were fine, the innards were only just ehh.
These recipes are fine, but nothing special or stand-out:
Eggplant Parma - This calls for just sprinkling nutritional yeast into it which is just wrong, BUT, it's actually an OK recipe if you don't know how to properly make eggplant parm.
Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach - Plain jane, but OK.
Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake - This is a fine and dandy coffee cake, I wouldn't make it again, but I'd certainly eat it if someone else made it and offered me some.
Clara's Pasta E Fagioli - I was really looking for something I could make out of my pantry without going to the store and this fit the bill, which is fine! But, I gotta say, a person could do better than this recipe.
Actually, I make these next two all the freaking time:
Fettucine Alfredo - This is what I make when I have nothing to eat and don't want to go shopping because I keep all the ingredients on hand (pasta, Earth Balance, some kind of non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, salt, cornstarch). I always add some sun-dried tomatoes, which is one thing she suggsts.
Super-Sonic Sunflower Squares - BAM! We got a winner! Oh yes, now this is a terrific recipe. It's great for when you want to bring a recipe to a party that is naturally gluten and soy free but still vegan and really, really great. Oh yes, how I love it, I do do love it.
February 2, 2011
This would make a fabulous present to give to a vegan/vegetarian/tasty eater. Lots of quick and easy stuff and all really inventive. The french toast sandwiches thingies are ridiculous (Pain Perdu). And there's a creamy avocado dressing with sesame oil, agave syrup and some other crap that will freak you out. The bottom line is that all these recipes are fun and celebratory and not at all bland.
The french toast things get filled with tofutti cream cheese, jam, spices, vanilla then put in a casserole dish and filled with a rice milk custard to soak up then you bake it and top with maple syrup. A gooey explosion! Boner appetit!
The french toast things get filled with tofutti cream cheese, jam, spices, vanilla then put in a casserole dish and filled with a rice milk custard to soak up then you bake it and top with maple syrup. A gooey explosion! Boner appetit!
March 13, 2014
Had some pretty interesting recipes. Some interesting flavor combinations. There were a few that I can't bring myself to try just yet, but one day. There were a few hard to find ingredients but all of them are easily replaced if you can't get them. I liked the variety in the different dishes and in the proteins. The only con to this book is there was no pictures.
July 7, 2015
I am looking forward to trying some of these recipes, especially the sauces that will be useful in dressing up many dishes. I also enjoyed the appendix at the end that paired recipes in the book together for themed menus.
April 9, 2010
A good vegan cookbook, more fancy than everyday recipes. I did not make any of the recipes but would consider purchasing for my cookbook collection.
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March 9, 2013Gourmet vegan & great ethnic recipes
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August 22, 2012good
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews