V is for Vegan: The ultimate vegan cookbook packed full of amazing recipes

Love the fact the author was quirky which reflected in the recipes plus she had fantastic reviews and won the Guild of Food Writers food blog plus other awards. Love the diversity of her recipes and the humour that goes with it. Great price too.

Love the recipes. Type font doesn’t make for an easy read unfortunately.

You are Vegan? You want to try a healthier alternative to meat?My partner became vegan a few months ago and we browsed through book stores to find a good book giving us new ideas.This one caught our eyes, the pages are colourful (not a must) but the book also offers a lot of information in the beginning and next to each recipe some more details and a story behind, it's really interesting and gave us plenty of ideas how to start vegan cooking.

This is a lovely book, with not just recipes but some interesting snippets and facts about being a Vegan. Perfect for my daughter who is just dipping her toes into Veganism, some really lovely looking recipes - I'm looking forward to trying some out

Lovely recipes and lots of helpful tips. My son loves the quick pickled onions.

Have not started to use it yet but was so impressed after reading through it that I sent for one for my daughter.

This book is packed full of ideas for making vegan food as flavourful as possible, with recipes ranging from breakfasts, dips and pickles to light lunches and dinner party desserts. The author takes a LOT of inspiration from world cuisine, meaning that there are no vegan versions of chilli con carne, lasagne etc that some cookbooks have - everything (with the exception of maybe the token hummus recipe!) is truly original. Inspiration and ingredients come from Mexico, Peru, Japan, China, Morocco, Poland, Jamaica and many, many more. Yum!Some of the recipes - Quinoa w/ Hazelnuts, Roasted Veg and Parsley; Carrot, Pepper and Lentil Tagine; South Seas Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup; and the breakfast smoothies - have already become weekly meals for me. From what I understand, the author has lots of experience with hosting dinner parties and this definitely shows, as there are plenty of dishes that are sure to impress guests. Every recipe I've tried has been very tasty, definitely all delicious recipes here.There are some caveats, however, which is why the book doesn't get a full 5 stars from me. Firstly, there are some pretty exotic ingredients here that can be costly and hard to find if you don't live near ethnic shops and need to order online (callaloo, barberries, yuzu paste, green sultanas, banana leaves, hibiscus flowers, edible marigolds, blue potatoes etc). Of course, you can substitute in some recipes but not necessarily in others. Secondly, although some recipes are intrinsically healthy, many involve frying in oil and adding sugar. Also there are quite a few with soy products and chilli, which isn't great if you are avoiding soy for health reasons or can't handle heat (like me!). Lastly, I found some of the dinner recipes a bit lacking - for some of them you need to use your imagination and create your own accompaniment to round out meals like the Uthappam (Indian 'crumpet' with fried onions on top) and Kasha & Bows (pasta and buckwheat with garlic and onions). There aren't photos for all the major recipes which is a shame.Despite these niggles, this is still a vast treasure trove of unique ideas for any vegan who loves to try out new flavours and world foods and is confident enough in the kitchen to tweak recipes to their liking. Overall, I think this is a book I will dip into for years to come when I want to experiment with new and exotic ingredients, whip up some tasty vegan party food or change up my regular diet.

I’m not vegan and I didn’t buy this book hoping to be converted. Like many omnivores, I’d like to eat less meat, but whenever I consciously cut down on the lamb and chicken I find I OD on cheese instead. My vegan repertoire consists of ratatouille and vegetable tempura and I’d like to expand it.In her introduction, Kerstin Rodgers states that many people think of vegan food as brown and boring. Actually, the vegans of my acquaintance seem to subsist mainly on avocadoes. My predominant prejudice about vegan food is that it seems very highly processed. What is it they have to do with soya beans or Quorn to extrude it, compress it, or turn it into little mince-mimicking granules?This is where I trust Rodgers. Having attended her supper clubs, I know that she can bring out intensely savoury flavours without using meat and that her menus always include an abundance of fresh ingredients. Who better to broaden my horizons and introduce me to really tasty food that contains no meat or fish – and no cheese or eggs either?Rodgers is a hugely creative cook, but she reins in her imagination enough to keep the recipes accessible. V is for Vegan has already introduced me to new ingredients and new techniques.This book spans a great mix from simple but satisfying dishes such as the porridge with rhubarb, date sugar and cardamom compote, or the salt-baked potatoes, to the more complex: the beetroot pelmeni, like an Eastern European ravioli would test my clumsy pasta making skills to the limit, while the hibiscus in blue corn enchiladas sounds and looks stunning, definitely a dish to cook for a special occasion.There are ideas here for quick snacks through to full-scale dinner party dishes – and surely the latter will be hugely welcome for non-vegan cooks when trying to come up with meat-free, dairy-free dishes for vegan guests. It never feels right doing separate dishes for some of one’s guests and I reckon there are several dishes here (the enchiladas, above, or the vegan b’stilla topped with rose petals and poppy seeds), which the meat eaters will stomp all over everyone else to get to. Something for everyone here – omnivores included.