Vegan Comfort Classics by Lauren Toyota

In this bold collection of more than 100 recipes, the world of comfort food and vegan cooking collide as Lauren Toyota shares her favorite recipes and creative ways to make Philly cheesesteak, fried chicken, and mac 'n' cheese, all with simple vegan ingredients. Never one to hold back, Lauren piles plates high with cheese sauce, ranch, bacon, and barbecue sauce, all while sharing personal stories and tips in her engaging and hilarious voice. The result is indulgent, craveworthy food - like Southern Fried Cauliflower, The Best Vegan Ramen, and Raspberry Funfetti Pop Tarts - made for sharing with friends at weeknight dinners, weekend brunches, and beyond.

I loved this vegan cookbook, it had delicious recipes with common and easily found ingredients. The pictures were gorgeous. My favourite section though was the how to make sauces from scratch vegan. In my local supermarkets I can't yet get vegan sour cream, ranch dressings, mayo etc etc. so to be able to easily make my own at home is awesome. I've tried three of the quick easy sauces so far the gravy, sour cream and aioli. Honestly, can't wait to make more.

Only negative I can really think of for this book is that the main meals do require some time commitment looking on average about 30-45 minutes to make a dish, but this is the same with her great free recipes on her youtube channel so you just have to be inspired and motivated to try them.

Overall, this is a fantastic book for those that are vegan, looking into veggie lifestyle, lactose intolerant or just looking to try tasty new recipes.

Tasty: Latest and Greatest - a cookbook by Buzzfeed

Tasty, Buzzfeed's popular cooking brand, delivers both comforting and healthy weeknight dinners for meat-lovers, vegetarians, and vegans alike, plus treats like ice cream, chocolate desserts, and rainbow recipes galore. You’ve been mesmerized by their top down recipe videos, but there’s still something about having a tangible album of edible deliciousness at your fingertips. Enter: TASTY LATEST & GREATEST. This cookbook is just that: 80+ winning recipes, anointed by fans like you, that have risen to the top of the heap, powered by likes and comments and shares and smiles and full bellies. They represent how you’re cooking today. Whether it’s a trend-driven dish like a pastel glitter-bombed unicorn cake or a classic like lasagna, every recipe has staying power. Now you can deliver on the promise of a great dish whenever the urge strikes. Get ready—your cooking is about to go viral.

From the good people who created the online Tasty videos, Tasty Latest And Greatest is a collection of over 80 fan favorite recipes. As they point out in their introduction the recipes are designed for taste and fun. After all, what’s the point of being in the kitchen if it’s not fun?

Most of the recipes included are quick and easy to make using easy to access ingredients. There are however one or two recipes which they call “Special Projects”. These are somewhat more challenging, but worth the effort.

After a brief introduction the recipes are divided into several categories:

Party
Country Fair
Sweet
Classic
Vegetarian
Best Ever
Around The World
On Trend
Bombs And Rings

As with the Tasty brand itself, there’s nothing typical about this recipe book. For instance the Classics category includes puffed pastry followed by gnocchi, chicken cordon bleu, and there is even as pepper steak and a beef stew recipe included in the chapter. This may seem a little eclectic together but they certainly are classic recipes.

All the recipes include a brief introduction, and the serving size. For the most part the directions are simple and easy to follow, but in some cases somewhat imprecise. For instance, the Pizza Bombs directions indicate that you should cut the mozzarella into cubes, but unfortunately doesn’t say what size of cube. Given that too much mozzarella could actually overwhelm the other ingredients, this is a bit of an issue.

I did like that several of the recipes are extremely easy. For instance there is the “Easiest Three Ingredient Desserts Ever Four Ways” page. This was four different dessert recipes all with only three ingredients. Couldn’t get much easier than that.

Some of the recipes have a full-color photo, some even have photos of the step-by-step process. For the most part the ingredients used are, as promised, easily sourced. With only 80 recipes, I was surprised at the variety. There really is something here for everyone and every occasion.