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

I own at least a dozen vegan cookbooks and this is by far my favorite. Whenever I want to make nutritious comfort foods--which is pretty much everyday--I turn to this book first. I have tried nearly every recipe in Vegan Vittles and have only been disappointed by about three of them--all the other recipes yielded fantastic results that everyone in my family enjoyed.

I highly recommend this book to folks who are new to vegan cooking and cooks who want hearty, traditional American veg food without too many expensive exotic ingredients, heavy spices, or mock meats.

You can read more of my opinions about this book on SuperVegan.com.
http://supervegan.com/blog/entry.php?id=790

I have been vegan for more than 5 years, and I have about 20 vegan cookbooks. Vegan Vittles: Second Helpings is my favorite.

I discovered the original Vegan Vittles a few years ago when I was looking for the perfect vegan pumpkin pie recipe. I found that and more in Jo Stepaniak's classic book. I was so happy when she published this revised and expanded edition of the original. All of my favorite recipes are in here. I'll just name a few: Maple Walnut Granola, Chickpeas a la King over Buttermilk Biscuites, Southern Fried Tofu, Potato Kale Soup, Noodles and Greens, Messy Mikes, Golden White Cake with Rich Fudge Frosting, Butternutty Chowder, Mahvelous Millet Loaf, Rich Chocolate Pudding Pie, Farmhouse Stew...I could go on and on. In fact, I haven't encountered a recipe in this collection that I don't love.

I often prepare these dishes for my omnivorous dinner guests, and always get rave reviews from them as well. This cookbook serves up a variety of "veganized" familiar dishes. The ingredients are very wholesome, pure, and healthful. But this health food is actually comfort food. I always turn to this cookbook when I'm searching for that comfort food fix.

The recipes are very simple, and the directions for preparation are very clear. The design and layout for the book is very user-friendly.

Most of all, I love this book because it has a lot of heart. The descriptions of the animals living at Farm Sanctuary are all very inspiring. The book is brimming with compassion and positive energy.

I think that this book is a must-have for any vegan cook, or for anyone at all who is interested in good, wholesome, delicious food.

The thing about the author is that I think she may have been vegan for a little too long--not that that's a bad thing by any means, but she's forgotten what some things really taste like. I've been a vegetarian for a long time, mainly vegan and three months ago I finally decided to commit. For instance, I just made the brownie recipe and they are not so good being that they taste like silken tofu dusted with cocoa. When things taste "vegan," which many of these recipes do, it's hard to cook these things for other non-vegans. Some of these recipes take some time and it's disappointing when you've cooked a meal for other people and they try to assure you that it's good(and you know they're thoughtfully lying). The cheese recipes are not so good either, so I just buy Follow Your Heart cheese and I'm satisfied. There are some useful baking tips in here and I can't deny that I don't appreciate the authors stance on the treatment of animals and people like her who make it easier to be vegan. BUT I might recommend that someone who really wants authentic tasting vegan substitutions that they look elsewhere.

I've been a Vegetarian for a while and a Vegan since July 2007. This cookbook has so many wonderful recipes. The recipes are not 'weird' like some other cookbooks, which is what I like. The stories of the saved animals are very touching.