Review: "Vegan Holiday Cooking from Candle Cafe"

I have gotten to the point with vegan cookbooks that I thought there was nothing new or better than the ones I had – but I was blown away by Vegan Holiday Cooking from Candle Café.

The recipes are divided by celebration:  the big game, lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day. Passover Seder, Easter brunch, Cinco de Mayo fiesta, 4^th of July backyard barbecue, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.  The book ends with a resource guide for those who can’t find some ingredients locally – I have not found that to be a problem.

I have made three of the recipes so far: 

“Gefilte Tofu” (50).  To look at the recipe, I thought, “This is never going to work.”  However, it tasted very much like Gefilte Fish.  I was very happy with it and served it at a family gathering on whole grain crackers.

“Swiss Chard & Chickpeas” (53).  I love chickpeas, so I thought I would give this recipe a try.  It was so creamy and satisfyingly flavorful; I ended up eating more than a serving at a time.  A simple combination of chard, chickpeas onions and garlic – wonderful!  This recipe is going to be a regular in my repertoire.

“Pumpkin Seed Crusted Tempeh” (119).  I decided to go against the suggested sides and make this dish and serve it over a bed of mixed greens.  After pouching the tempeh, the pieces are dredged in egg-replacer and water and then coasted with the pumpkin seed crust.  Since I do not use oil, I pan fried them in vegetable broth, which meant they were not as crusty, but still delicious – the tempeh became creamy with a slight pumpkin taste around it. 

I look forward to making more recipes from this cookbook.  If the three I have made thus far are as good, this will be one of my favorite cook books.

Highly recommended.

[This review appears on Amazon.com and on my blog.  I received this book for free from WaterbrookMultnoma Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.]  


http://smile.amazon.com/Vegan-Holiday-Cooking-Candle-Cafe-ebook/dp/B00JI58UD2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421167106&sr=8-2&keywords=vegan+holiday