Words cannot express how much I love this cookbook. Everything I have made from it has been fantastic. I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian, but this book has inspired me to become a vegan. The food in this book is so great. Even my meat eating husband and my two children love the meals I have made from it. The pasta dishes are our divine! Try the Penne Vodka and the Basil Cilantro Pesto!!

This book is a must for every kitchen!

This is a great cookbook! Every recipe I've tried has been great...well, except for the chick peas with BBQ sauce wrapped in kale leaves, which is was not so hot - but I had kale and there's only so much to be done with it - and they get an A + for originality on that front! The way the book is written if hip and clever. Just a warning that grandma might be a wee confused by it! I have made the coffee-chocolate bundt cake - which is so moist and several other desserts which were all well received. I only have a few tiny complaints - one being that the spice amounts are too low - I have doubled the spices in all the recipes I've made and I think the results have been perfect and would have been pretty bland if I'd stuck to the book - but that's nothing unique to just this cookbook. The only other issue is that sometimes the amount of food made is too much and it's hard to anticipate. For instance, I made a lentil stew recipe that made so much that I was eating it every day for a week. Granted it was good, but now I know for sure to cut it in half.

I do a lot of vegan cooking, and am often bored by how unimaginative many vegan recipes are. With this book, however, boredom is far, far away! The variety and attention to detail, mixed with the authors' humor, makes this book unbeatable. My favorite cookbook of all time!

I love to cook and, after becoming vegan, I really needed something basic and practical as well as user-friendly for my non-vegan family. So many of the recipes consist of foods I already serve, such as the sweet potato and pear casserole. Everybody loved it! Most helpful within this book is the section on what to keep in the cupboards. With the exception of two items (agar and nutritional yeast), I have found all I need in my regular grocery store. It's a great recipe book!

My sister was raving about this book, so I decided to get it, even though I'm vegetarian but not vegan.

Wow. I haven't been so excited about a cookbook in a long time. Looking through the book, the recipes really pique my interest with their interesting flavor combinations. Quinoa salad with Mango and Cilantro (this has scallions, vinegar...surprising, and YUMMY). Edamame and Corn salad with Sesame (soy sauce and toasted sesame oil really make this one). I also really enjoyed the scone that has currants (I used raisins) and caraway seeds. My husband looked at it and expected a boring raisin scone. The caraway seeds make it a whole new experience. What a thrill.

Nothing bland or boring in these recipes, they're all exciting and absolutely delicious. I must have cooked 5 or 6 recipes from this book in the first week, and everything I've tried has been a success and well received by guests and husband. Highly recommended!

I made an extremely vegan recipe from this book for a friend who's a rabid carnivore, and i didn't get a luke-warm "umm, that's tasty", I got an "OH my GODDD, that's FANTASTIC!" So, newbee vegans, fear not. You can not only please yourself with this innovative, fun and complete book, you can dazzle your carnivorous friends, too. And old-bee vegans, i trust there are some oh-so-fab recipes here that you haven't run into anywhere else. If you're new, there are also tons of tips so you'll have more than the first clue of what you're doing. Finally, if you're all tactile and designy like i am, you'll find this book a pleasant size, feel, and easy on the eyes for just pleasure reading, or posted on a stand while actively tackling a recipe. My favorite vegan book so far!

I purchased this book as a gift for my sister and mother in Texas. They expressed great delight with it, saying they will incorporate many new ideas from the book into their daily meals as Vegetarians. Even though they are not Vegans, there are many ideas from the recipes they can use as they do adhere to certain Vegan leanings. The pictures are plentiful and appreciated. I am pleased I bought it as a gift for them.

My experience with vegan cookbooks has been that there's a great variability in the recipe results. However, everything I have made from this cookbook has come out beautifully; even terrified-of-vegan-food carnivores have loved them. Who knew parsnip chips could be so tasty!

Thank you Fatfree Vegan Kitchen for highly recommending this cookbook. For our family this is fairly new adventure and this book will be part of us for our lifetime. We have enjoyed each and every recipe we've tried to date. It is our goal to win over the younger members of our families to a healthier stronger lifestyle. Thanks for being a part of this endeavor.

I buy cookbooks for the reading as much as for the cooking. This cookbook is great on both fronts. It's really fun to read and I was so compelled by the recipes that I got to cooking right away. The food is interesting and flavorful and really creative. I was hesitant to get a cookbook with only a few photos (though the full-color centerfold photo section is beautiful), but now this is one of my favorite cookbooks.

I love this cookbook. The recipes are fun, easy and best of all almost all of the ingrediants can be found in your local supermarket. So far I have loved everything that I have made from this book. My favorite is the chick pea cutlets..

OH MY GOD! This is the best cookbook I have ever used in my life!
You've got to buy it right now, if no for other reason than to make the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies! They will forever change your life!
You also have to try the Creamy Tomato Soup, the Baja Tacos, the Chickpea Cutlets, and the Chile-Chocolate Mole! .....Hell, you just gotta try all the recipes! I've made most of them by now, and they are all just perfect!
BUY THIS BOOK!!

As an experienced cook, but a new vegan (I had never even been a vegetarian before), this cookbook is just what I needed, and I'm so grateful that I found it!

True to its name, this is a behemoth of a cookbook that covers a huge amount of ground. It gives respectful attention to all types of meals, from mains to soups, salads to casseroles, sandwiches to cookies. My favourite is the "Mix & Match" section, which has many recipes for what would usually be called 'sides' - small dishes of vegetables, grains, tofu/tempeh/seitan or legumes - that you can combine however you like to form a solid and diverse meal. There's also a very useful 'basics' section where all sorts of things are explained, from knife techniques to how to cook most major grains and legumes.

The recipes have a diverse range of regional influences, from Mexican to Northern Slavic, from Southeast Asian to French. The authors don't timidly follow the traditions of all the cuisines they borrow from, but neither do they clumsily make one big homogenised mess of them. Instead, they confidently, but respectfully, borrow from all sorts of cuisines to make a diverse range of dishes that, even if they are unorthodox, still make sense.

I've heard complaints from vegans that many vegan cookbooks are too health-food'y, to the point of being boring or unappealing. Not this one. Don't get me wrong, the overwhelming majority of recipes in this book are most definitely very healthy: fresh vegetables, legumes, and various other wholefoods feature prominently and abundantly. But as you peruse the recipes, you get the distinct feeling that this is a book that, more than anything else, celebrates food. When I first decided to go vegan, I was apprehensive about how limited my diet would become - this book, however, has put my mind forever at ease in that regard.

A good tendency of this cookbook is that the dishes all seem to be very 'do-able'. Although the recipes rarely call for processed ingredients or lazy shortcuts that would compromise quality and flavour, neither are they overly laborious. So far, I haven't found a recipe that looked too hard to bother with, and most of them I could happily make on a weeknight.

I really like the way the recipes are presented. Each of them gives an estimate of the preparation time, has directions that are clear and concise but not clinical, and provides a short 'prologue' from the authors (a feature that's sorely lacking from many cookbooks). These prologues often give you a good idea of the character of the dish, what it goes well with, and some potential pitfalls to look out for while making it. And the girls write with such a pleasant style and great sense of humour that they're worth reading just for that.

Of course, no cookbook is perfect, and neither is this one. Firstly, for a non-American, the ye olde measuring system they use - with ounces, 1/4 inches, Fahrenheits and all the rest of it - is distracting. Secondly, and more importantly, the recipes - in my experience - have been a bit hit and miss. But when I say "miss", I don't mean that they didn't work, or that they were dreadful, but simply that they weren't as terrific as I'd hoped. However, I've never met a cookbook that didn't have some misses, and the Veganomicon hit-miss ratio has so far been pretty good. Furthermore, when the dishes have been good, they've often been fabulous.

Since the cookbook has its imperfections, I was going to give it 4 stars. But then I thought about what it is that I ultimately look for in a cookbook. I concluded that I want a cookbook that will make reliably good dishes, several of which will become lasting favourites, forever enriching my repertoire. If the cookbook is really good, then it will also excite me about food; it'll be a book I can depend on to inspire me when I'm feeling low on ideas and motivation to cook. The Veganomicon has not only been a reliable source of good dishes, but it is flooding my repertoire with new favourites, so far rivalling any cookbook before it in this department. I have also found its pages to be full of inspiration. Before I bought it, I was excited about becoming a vegan for ethical reasons. Now I'm also excited about it for culinary reasons. 5 stars.

Veganomicon, along with Isa's previous Vegan With a Vengeance, are the go-to cookbooks in my kitchen. I use other cookbooks, sure, but these are the ones that are spattered with sauce, splashed with water, and generally look like they've survived a culinary war.

There's a little bit of everything in this cookbook; quick recipes that I can whip together without too much planning or special ingredient shopping as well as more complex dishes that I can use for fancier gatherings.

I just bought this book a few weeks ago and have already made quite a few recipes out of it, and everything has come out wonderful!

I tend to have bad luck when cooking from vegetarian/raw/vegan cook books but the authors were spot on with this collection.

I use this book to plan 75% of my meals and have not been let down yet.

It also lists soy free, gluten free, sugar free, recipes and
has a section on how to correctly cook vegetables
and includes a party menu guide

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This cookbook has really helped my partner and me with our transition to a vegan diet. I really thought it would be harder for us, but with this very comprehensive cookbook it has almost been a breeze. I make a batch of the Cesar salad dressing almost every week! I have also made the BBQ Tofu, the plantain and pinto stew, and the cornbread. All fantastic! I can't wait to try the brownies, the homemade seitan, and the mac daddy mac and 'cheese'. I recommend this book to anyone, and most of the items can be made to satisfy non-vegans too.

Over the years I have found very few cookbooks that actually contained new material. The recipes are interesting, tasty, and varied. This book will be a classic. We have ended up giving five copies as gifts. I am not a vegan but have found this book to be an interesting source of culinary inspiration.

This book has tasty dishes that are easy to make. I have had many dinner parties where I only used the recipes in this book and everything has been a hit. It is a great addition to your library of cookbooks.

I just find the recipes in this book are far too involved for everyday cooking.. I was disappointed with this purchase.

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook Fantastic cookbook that covers recipes from the easy and basic to more complex using a wide range of readily available, easily found grocery store items. The results are fantastic and would encourage even non-vegans to give veganism a try.

Great book. Has a forward worth the read alone that is packed with information. Also, next to recipes with ingredients that are not so common, there is an explanation in a hi-lighted box so you don't have to go looking it up. My only reason for not giving 5 stars is the fact that a lot of the recipes contain soy, which I choose not to eat, unless it is fermented. Otherwise it's a must addition to your vegan cookbook collection. AND - it's hardback!

Mine is by no means a vegan household, but how could I resist a book with this title? By the time I had found the authors' explanation, I was in love with the book: "...a big vegan cookbook needed a big vegan name. (But just to be on the safe side, don't read this cookbook backward at the stroke of midnight.)" So I checked it out of the library a month ago Shhh! I KNOW I need to bring it back!

The clever introduction makes the case that "vegan food = normal food." The authors move on to a saucy explanation of prepping and cooking terms and some ingredient-specific advice, endlessly entertaining and informative. Take polenta: "Polenta has been called many things, each more insulting than the last: cornmeal mush, grits, porridge. But it got a new lease on life in the '90s when foodies started referring to it by its proper name and charging twenty dollars a plate for it." They follow with basic polenta-cooking instructions.

I had planned to browse and move on. I don't like to cook fiddly things -- no ravioli-making for me -- and I never seem to have enough of the right ingredients for vegan cooking. But what a surprise this book was! Even with no tempeh or miso on board, a quick pass through the front of the market gave me all I needed for some of these yummy recipes.

We loved the Israeli Couscous with Pistachios and Apricots (confession: I used regular couscous) and the Herb Scalloped Potatoes. I was planning to make Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta Sandwich but we ate the roasted eggplant before I got the olives. My favorite recipe so far: Jalapeno-Onion Skillet Corn Bread.

There are many other recipes I'd like to try: Fresh Rosemary Foccaccia, Roasted Portobellos, Chickpeas Romanesco, Penne Vodka; and every single thing pictured in full color in the middle of the book. Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook ends with menu suggestions: My Own Private India Menu, Greek to Me and You Menu, Smash Your TV Dinner Menu. Just the names make you want to throw a party, don't they?

Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero are vegan veterans, and their knowledge and enthusiasm permeate this practical book. I recommend it as a workbook for healthier eating and just for the fun of it, too.

Linda Bulger, 2008

This has become my favorite, go-to cookbook. By my last count, I have tried 52 of the formal recipes, plus several of the vegetable cooking suggestions, since I bought the book in February. I love the layout of the cookbook--it is by far the most browsable cookbook I own. The recipes are straightforward, with lots of helpful comments on ways to save money, cut calories, and where to find or how to substitute unusual ingredients. For the beginner cook, there are ample details on cooking techniques, e.g. the hows and whys of deglazing a pot, grinding coriander seeds, making a roux. I have learned many new cooking techniques.

The recipes themselves are eclectic and fun. My favorites include the creole stuffed peppers, grilled yuca tortillas, cholent, marinated baked tofu, eggplant-potato moussaka, whole wheat soda bread with millet and currents, and the vegan ice cream. I've only encountered two duds so far (potato latkes, smoky collard greens), which I think is a pretty good record, considering I've sampled over 50 recipes. After all, tastes differ... As a dedicated vegetarian cook for many years, I wasn't expecting to learn much from the "How to Cook a Vegetable" section at the beginning. I was wrong. They had many helpful guidelines for preparations I hadn't yet tried, with seasoning suggestions. Who knew that oven roasted asparagus and brussel sprouts were so delicious? I didn't!

I would strongly recommend this cookbook to anyone looking to branch out and experiment. If you are pressed for time, the cookbook offers useful time estimates for every recipe. I use this to guide my selections: busy week night?--it better be ready in under 40 minutes! The flavors are exciting for the adventuresome palate, with enough comfort-food thrown in to make you feel at home. This book will be treasured in my kitchen for years to come.

I became a vegan this January...think of it as a new year resolution! I wasn't sure where to start since everything I eat had some sort of dairy product in it, including chocolates. I'm not a huge cook and have never owned a cookbook before. I am one of the people who uses oven for storing pots and pans I never use. When I first opened the book, I thought it wasn't for me. Then just few days ago, I made my first dessert out of the book...a cupcake. It was surprisingly easy and I can't stop having those cupcakes. Then I tried another appetizer which also turned out to be amazing. Overall, this book might seem a bit overwhelming to those who don't cook, but if you're a vegan, you've got to have this book. And if you're not, you should definitely try it!!

I am not currently vegan, but was looking for a cookbook that would focus on natural and vegetarian foods without relying on dairy and eggs the way many vegetarian cookbooks do. I picked this book up at my local library, hoping especially to find some recipes that would provide alternatives to commercially/industrially produced vegetarian convenience foods.

Out of all the cookbooks I've ever thumbed through, this is the one that had me running to the kitchen the quickest to try out recipes. I instantly whipped up a batch of Almesan (5 minutes!) and Hot-sauce Glazed tempeh from ingredients I already had in my fridge & pantry. Both were very simple to prepare and in each case the results were more than the sum of their parts. (In fact, the hot-sauce tempeh was the best tempeh I've ever eaten.)

I agree that the book could benefit from another pass by an editor. Some of the instructions are not as clearly laid out as they could be, and another reader pointed out that some ingredient lists seem incomplete. However, I have not had difficulty understanding the recipes as a result.

I've flagged so many more recipes to try that I will be buying my own copy. Soon!

I have a lot of vegan cookbooks. Including Vegan with a Vengeance, which I thought was my favorite. That is until I bought Veganomicon.

This is the best cookbook I've ever had. I use it for everything from a simple quick dinner for my family, or what to make for my omnivore friends and parties.


If you only buy one vegan cookbook, this should be it!

This cookbook rocks. After digging through so many preachy vegan cookbooks overladen with stockmaking and tofu pressing (it's in here, too, but somehow not as oppressive) and impossible-to-find, insanely expensive ingredients, I'd nearly given up on finding a good, healthy, easy cookbook (I'm not 100% vegan, though this was a plus).

The writers' tone is fresh and funny, the food is easy to prepare, and they've even tagged supermarket friendly recipes for those of us who don't feel like making that extra trip to the health store just to make lunch. The pictures are great (too bad they're crammed in the middle, but that just keeps them from getting splattered, I suppose) and the recipes I've tried even look like the pics--no small feat. My one eensy quibble is that ingredients occasionally get lost--for example, in the pineapple-cashew-quinoa stirfry, you roast 4 oz. of raw cashews, remove them from the pan, and never hear of them again. Granted, it's not rocket science--the cashews have to go back into the mix sometime, so I just threw them back in again at the end--heavenly. The food is incredibly flavorful, refreshingly non-fussy, and the section at the beginning on how to cook vegetables, grains, and beans is a godsend for the memory challenged like yours truly.

The writers mention that their goal for most of the recipes is to create dishes that you can make again and again and won't need the cookbook for after making the dish two or three times. They've done it. I can imagine easily improvising some version of a lot of the dishes in there after a time or two of following the recipe, and substitutions are often recommended--nothing rigid about it, yet you know it'll come out tasting good.

While a little tighter editing would have been nice, it's the first vegan cookbook that I've actually used and enjoyed. The pages were splattered within two days of its purchase, and even my carnivorous bf likes everything we've tried. Two huge thumbs up!

I checked this book out of the library after seeing so many rave reviews on Amazon. At first, I was really excited to get started on the recipes. The table of contents listed some great flavor combinations and the writing is quirky and descriptive. But, I found errors in all 4 of the recipes that I have tried so far. This book should have been edited more thoroughly. Errors include:

1) Leaving out listed ingredients (OK, sooo when am I supposed to add the broth? Mustard Sauce)
2) Wasteful quantities of ingredients that were just thrown away (Chili Cornmeal-Crusted Tofu called for dipping tofu in mixture of 2 Tbsp cornstarch and 1 cup soy milk on you only really use 1/4 cup!)
3) Totally wrong cooking times. (On weekdays, when a recipe says it will take 20 minutes, it is frustrating when the prep is 20 and the baking time is another 20 minutes - Samosa Stuffed Baked Potatoes and Chickpea Cutlets).

The best recipe so far has been the Samosa Stuffed Bake Potatoes. I have not tried any of the baked goods or desserts. And I will try another few recipes before returning the book. But overall, I thought it was a pretty big disappointment.

Everything I've tried so far has been wonderful. The recipes are easy to follow and even better, easy to tweak a bit with no ill results if the exact ingredients listed aren't readily available. My only complaint: with a family of three picky children, there aren't quite enough recipes that appeal to vegetarian children who hate vegetables!!

I began an affair with veganism over the last few months. Isa's other book, Vegan With A Vengeance got me started and Veganomicon might take me all the way.

I love her writing style. She usually has great tips on where to find things and what can be subsituted (or NOT). Some of my favorites so far have been the Tempeh Shepherdess Pie, Samosa Stuffed Potatoes and all of her tofu marinades. Had I never seen her recipe for Tempeh Crumbles, I may have never touched the stuff. Outstanding.

Most of these recipes are not low-fat or low-carb or whatever it is that folks are looking for these days. This book teaches you how to make vegan food that tastes amazing though.

Thanks Isa and Terry!

I've tried 13 things since I got this book a few weeks ago, and I still haven't been disappointed. I not only like the recipes that I've made - I LOVE them!

These girls really do have a knack for creating delicious vegan meals.

Often when someone learns I eat a Vegan diet they will say "you don't eat meat and milk and eggs, what do you eat." And I'll respond "everything else." I'm posting this one comment in the review section for seven Vegan cookbooks because these seven cover a lot of "everything else." For several weeks I have been rotating these cookbooks-cooking a new recipe from that day's cookbook each time. And my biggest difficulty in doing this is that I now have favorites from each book that I must bypass, for now, to try a new recipe. If you think about what you eat you may find, like me, that you repeat the same dozen or so meals each week. This method of cookbook/recipe rotation has helped me break out of my menu rut. I've had a few meals flop, but the good to excellent meals have far exceeded the flops. Here's the list-all purchased from Amazon.

Vegan Success-Daffron & Byrd
Quick-fix Vegeatrian (actually vegan) Robertson
Vegan Fire & Spice-Robertson
Vega Vittles-Stepaniak
The everyday Vega-Burton
Veganomicon-Moskowitz & Romero
Vegan with a Vengeance-Moskowwitz

Veganomicon came out during the time when I was still a locto-ovo vegetarian, but starting to eat less dairy and was seriously considering going vegan. Before I felt that vegan recipes would be too hard, too time consuming, too weird, but after buying Veganomicon I found that opposite was true. I love all of the recipes I have tried and most of them are extremely healthy. Almost six months later I am still vegan and I owe part of that to Veganomicon! I highly recommend this cookbook!

After being vegan for about a year, I was looking for some new recipes... I checked this book out from my library and after making only the chickpea cutlets I immediately came on Amazon to order this book (they are that good!) This book is an essential addition to any vegetarian kitchen, but also enjoyed by people who want some meatless variety in their cooking. Don't think about it - buy it!

When I decided to become vegan at the start of the year, I began to look for alternative menus for my family. I enjoy cooking and feel it's really important we all eat together every night. I also have an eight and ten year old and pleasing them is pretty darn important.

Thank goodness for this book! It has tasty deserts, easy (and complicated - for when I have time!) dinner menus and the kids have given many items a thumbs up. I would DEFINITELY buy it if you're vegan, considering vegan, or just enjoy cooking different foods. It's a staple. Not to mention a very fun read!

If you have a lot of time to spend grocery shopping and cooking, then this is a great book. However, as a fairly busy person, I was very disappointed. The author's idea of a quick meal is one that takes 45 minutes or less to cook. My idea of a quick meal is one that I can serve in under 15 minutes. In case you are wondering, I'm not a vegan, but I eat vegan & raw foods every night for dinner which usually consists of salad, chilled raw soup and cooked vegan entree, and dinner is usually on the table in under 20 minutes after I start making it. I find I can come up with a tasty dish with 8 or less ingredients.

Almost every recipe in the Veganomicon has a massive ingredient list - yes there are a few that do not, but most do. Preparation times are extensive. I was disappointed to see there were very few recipes that did not require cooking as I like to have some raw food in my diet. Also, many of the "quick" recipes take twice as long to prepare as most of what I cook. Yes, I do my shopping in the produce section and I cut or prepare fresh veggies every night.

Also, the way she put spices together in this book was different. I did not enjoy any of her combinations. If you are thinking about buying this, I suggest you borrow it from the library and try a few recipes first. I'm wondering if most of the reviewers were so excited about having a "veganomicon" that they posted glowing reviews before trying the recipes.

Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule, Vegan with a Vengeance : Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock) may be the perfect all-purpose vegan cookbook: not only does it contain a wide selection of vegan comfort foods (hummus, numerous baked, marinated, and curried tofu and seitan recipes, mac and cheeze), but it also incorporates many low-fat, soy-free, and gluten-free vegan recipes (great for those of us like me who are allergic to soy, avoid gluten, and are on a low-fat diet).

If you're looking to move beyond bland tofu, Veganomicon offers international recipes from the Middle East (curried carrot dip, Mediterranean-style cashew-cucumber dip, lentil salad, chickpea-quinoa pilaf, lentils and rice with caramelized onions and spiced pita crisps), India (saag, samosa, red lentil cauliflower curry), Italy (risottos, polenta, pastas), Greek (moussaka, phyllo pie, baked lima beans), Asian (nori rolls, stir fries), and Latin recipes(mole, chili, quinoa salad with black beans and mango). To round out the list, there are numerous breakfast ideas, breads, desserts, dressings, sauces, and even sample menus to get you started.

The writing style is hip, funny, down to earth, and most importantly, easy to follow. There are several great guides to varieties of grains, legumes, and veggies, cooking instructions, and cooking and prepping guides. There is a liberal sprinkling of Jewish humor throughout, which I appreciated. In addition, there are numerous updates of Jewish comfort foods such as cholent, tzimmes kugel, latkes, blintzes, borscht, and kasha (trust me, finding dependable, delicious updates of vegan Jewish recipes is not always easy; try Rabbi Gil Marks' Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World if you're looking for a year's worth of Jewish vegetarian delights from around the globe).

My only gripe would be that there is no nutritional info, and the "low-fat" flag is based on a recipe containing two tablespoons of oil or less. However, for anyone following a very-low-fat diet such as the Eat More, Weigh Less: Dr. Dean Ornish's Life Choice Program for Losing Weight Safely While Eating Abundantly (10% of calories from fat, no oils, nuts, olives or avocados), two tablespoons is two too much, but it's a minor observation.

Overall, this is a great addition to your kitchen, especially if you're new to veganism and are longing to move beyond the blah processed vegan foods out there. Many of the recipes are time-consuming, but the end result justifies the means. Also, the authors have thoughtfully flagged recipes that call for hard-to-find items.

Accessible, well-written recipes, a fun tone, and great tips. I've been using this cookbook at least twice a week since getting it as a Christmas gift and even with plenty of big basics at my disposal from my omni days (Cook's Bible and Joy of Cooking, e.g.) I still learn new things. I'm a confirmed bachelor and new to veganism in general; it helps to have something that makes cooking a fun, relaxing activity instead of a harrowing chore and this book delivers. It's really a five-star book but there are quite a few typos.

I said "best cookbook ever," not "best vegan cookbook ever" because this book seriously blows the pants off any cookbook I have ever used before for ease of use, clarity of instruction, creativity, and consistently delicious food. I have been a serious cook for many, many years and was an excellent cook well before I started becoming interested in veganism. I know good food. I have built a collection of well-reviewed vegan cookbooks but it's easy to see just from looking at Veganomicon and Vegan with a Vengeance which books I use most.

Just in the past couple of weeks, I've made blueberry corn pancakes for a weekend breakfast; hearty and healthy banana oat scones to take with me for breakfast after the gym; Corn and Edamame Salad for a brown bag lunch; a fancy dinner for guests of Seitan Picatta with olives and green beans, Caesar salad, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and apple tarts; Vietamese Seitan Baguette with Savory Broth Dip (my omni boyfriend loves this one); Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions and Spiced Pita Crisps; Sauteed Seitan with Mushrooms and Spinach; and Leek and Bean Cassoulet. Everything has been absoluetly amazing and the kind of food I don't feel I have to explain if serving to meat eaters.

I could go on and on. The point is that these women know how to make vegan food accessible. Their recipes are satisfying on so many levels that I usually forget that I'm eating vegan food and just think, "mmmmmmm." I can't rave enough about this book, nor its predecessor, Vegan with a Vengeance. Any vegan who likes to eat should have both on his/her kitchen counter, ready to flip to a recipe for tonight's dinner, and tomorrow's breakfast, lunch, snacks...

A month ago, after I'd been vegetarian for the larger part of a year, I became a vegan. However, I didn't have the slightest idea what to cook... Nor could I cook at all - my soups were bland, my pastries and pancakes salty and bitter, and overall, my food was inedible. I lived off of microwaveable treats.

I stumbled upon the Veganomicon and bought it on the spot. Each recipe I've made from it has either been worth its weight in gold. I've cooked a number of them for my family, all of whom are omnivores, and they've loved them all.

This cookbook is filled with well-tested recipes that would be a welcomed addition to anyone's kitchen. Isa and Terry write in a fun, conversational style and provide enough hints that even a novice cook will have success.

It is a fantastic way to introduce yourself to cruelty-free cooking!

This is one of the best cookbooks I have read, vegan or otherwise. The conversational tone and extensive instructions are welcoming to cooks of all skill levels, from beginners to pros. The organization is both logical and creative. The books begins with a discussion of equipment and technique, then moves to basic instructions on how to cook a grains, vegetables, and beans. A particularly useful section of the book is the "mix and match" section in which recipes for various entrees and sides are provided so that the chef may craft his or her own meal based on personal preferences and on-hand ingredients. Furthermore, the book contains several indexes by category--soy free, gluten free, low fat, under 45 minutes, and supermarket friendly, so that the user may quickly find recipes catering to those needs without browsing the entire book. The structure of the book alone puts it a cut above the average cookbook.

I have cooked extensively from this book, and the recipes are fantastic. I have served the dishes to vegetarian and meat-eating friends alike, and no matter the audience, they are well-received. Isa and Terry have a true knack for combining flavors and textures. The recipes range from traditional to exotic and simple to complex.

I highly recommend this cookbook to those of any skill level or dietary preference!

After only a few months in my kitchen, this cookbook has become a tried and true addition, complete with food splatters and dog-eared pages. I've made simple meals and snacks, dinners for friends, desserts, and it's all been great. Most of my friends eat meat, and they've loved the vegan meals I've cooked from Veganomicon. I'm not an experienced cook, but I find this book easy to use and fun to read. I can't wait to explore it more, because there are so many recipes that I'm not sure I'll ever run out of inspiration.

Because now I know I can do it and I will enjoy it!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this cookbook! Or shall I say Fantabulous Feastbook! I seriously have made something new each day for the last week from this cookbook. I've shared the dishes and desserts and the reviews are fantastic from meat-eaters to veg*ns alike. I've never wanted to keep a cookbook on my counter all the time, but I have to with this because ever since I bought it, I am constantly going to it. I don't even want to eat out because I know what I can make at home will have way more flavor and appeal.

The photo of the chickpea cutlets were seriously the reason I bought this. They do not disappoint.

I never even knew vegan baking could be good, but the wheat-free oat chocolate chip cookies and the chocolate walnut cookies....well, let's just say I shan't be using any other recipes from now on. Why would I when I've found my two new favorite cookie recipes. (Of course I will still have to try the others in the cookbook. :-)

I've already given away two copies as gifts!

I have enjoyed all of Isa's and Terry's books and this one is no exception. These recipes are so original, unique, and delicious! I cannot WAIT for the next book.

As for the nasty review that claimed the book is preachy etc., that reviewer simply must have been having a rotten day. This is my favorite cookbook, hands down. There has not been a single dish in here that I haven't been able to serve to omnis- these recipes appeal to everyone.

Great work!!

Accessible, well-written recipes, a fun tone, and great tips. I've been using this cookbook at least twice a week since getting it as a Christmas gift and even with plenty of big basics at my disposal from my omni days (Cook's Bible and Joy of Cooking, e.g.) I still learn new things. I'm a confirmed bachelor and new to veganism in general; it helps to have something that makes cooking a fun, relaxing activity instead of a harrowing chore and this book delivers. It's really a five-star book but there are quite a few typos.

Clique-y, self-righteous, flippant, preachy, too much cutesy talk, and not enough good recipes! The authors are focused on the "we're so different, aren't we special" nose-thumbing aspect of veganism. Is this really what cooking without animal products is all about? Drawing lines in the sand? Shouldn't it be about creating tasty, healthy foods?

There are lots of heavy, beany, spicy dishes that taste a lot the same and take longer than the book allows. Too many soy-based items. Many recipes that are nut, oil, and sweetener-laden = fat fat and more fat.

Physically, the book looks and feels like a college text book - plain layout, cheap paper, 2-color printing, color inserts (in other words - cheap. The only plus here is that it seems DURABLE).

They're preaching to the choir - we've already bought the book, so there's no need to convince us that we should seek vegan recipes - enough with the off-putting holier-than-thou tone that permeates the book! This is my first vegan cookbook, and if it's supposed to be the benchmark for vegan cooking books (and the overwhelmingly positive number of reviews certainly point to that, and indeed, they are what made me order the book to start with), I'll go back to Vegetarian Coooking for Everyone and The Expanding Light Cookbook and sub items where I need to. I might use Veganomicon a couple time a year, but I'm disappointed that it won't be the staple I thought it would be. Sadly, if there were a half-star, that would be my rating.

Finally! A well organized vegan cookbook that actually uses ingredients that can be found in South Carolina!!!! I am drooling over the recipes. I sat down with bookmarks to pick the coming months recipes, and I want to make EVERYTHING! I look forward to many rewarding years with this one.

My wife is a meat eater and she liked it. We made mosakka, mango quinoa,and cholat. Very good, very doable recipes. I have bought a lot of stuff from amazon and this is the first time I am writing a review.

This cookbook is fun to read even if you never cooked from it. That would be a loss, however, as the recipes are excellent. Best of all, they aren't the same old recipes you find in other vegan cookbooks, so you'll find new and interesting recipes to try. As always, the cooks bring mouthwatering baked goods to the vegan cook.