A few months ago, one of my husband’s relatives gave us a vegan cookbook- Naturally Gourmet by Karen Houghton. The recipes are all pretty simple and easy and, so far, all of the dishes have been VERY tasty! I actually made every single dish at our recent Christmas dinner from recipes in this book:
- Lentil Roast
- Zucchini Casserole
- Whipped Potatoes
- Dinner Rolls
- Pear Pie
I’m a pretty big fan of pumpkin pie, so I’ve been extremely interested in finding a good vegan pumpkin pie. This cookbook just happens to have the best vegan pumpkin pie recipe that I have EVER tasted!
Other recipes I’ve made and really liked:
- Brazilian Salad
- Lentil Soup
- Eggplant & Garbanzo Ratatouille
- Indian Lentils and Rice
- Mushroom Gravy- my husband really loves this one!
- Vegetable Pot Pie
- Pesto Pizza
- Apple Walnut Muffins- YUM!
As you can see, the recipes don’t have fancy names. They usually don’t have fancy ingredients either, which I like. My ONLY complaint would be that sometimes they call for processed products (such as Better Than Sour Cream). However, a lot of the recipes don’t, and often you can make your own substitutions. Oh, and here’s the really great part- EVERY recipe in the book is accompanied by a full-page beautiful color picture of the finished product. As a visual learner, I really respond to this type of cookbook, and so do my digestive juices 🙂 I also love that the cooking directions are simple and to-the-point. Read-with-a-dictionary words can be fun, but not when I’m a hurry to get some dinner on the table.
Here’s something you can try at home right now- a mushroom gravy recipe that I adapted from the one in Naturally Gourmet.
Vegan Mushroom Gravy
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup raw cashews
- 2 cups water
- 2 T cornstarch
- 1 T La Chikky Seasoning (or similar MSG-free vegetarian chicken or beef seasoning)
I really love this stuff
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3-4 fresh mushrooms
Blend water and cashews until creamy. Add cornstarch, vegetarian chicken seasoning and salt. Blend well. Add mushrooms and blend briefly. Cook gravy in a kettle until thickened, stirring frequently. Serves 6.
Many of the recipes in Naturally Gourmet use their version of this basic gravy recipe. I changed it just a tad based on the ingredients I preferred or usually had on hand. It is delicious over mashed potatoes, in a vegetarian pot pie, or over toast! If you like it, I would highly recommend this cookbook, especially if you’re new to vegan cooking. It’s my current go-to when I’m looking for weekday recipes to try.
