The Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook by Victoria Moran, JL Fields

The Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook by Victoria Moran, JL Fields ISBN-13: 9781944648688 Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: BenBella Books Released: Dec. 19, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
The Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook is more than a cookbook; it's a complete guide to going vegan, navigating the culinary, nutritional, and social landscape of plant-based eating. Victoria and JL, along with over a hundred certified vegan lifestyle coaches, share more than 100 of their favorite plant-sourced recipes. Inside, the vegan and just veg-curious will find delectable and accessible recipes like:

PB&J Sammie Smoothie
Sweet Red Chili Potato Skins
Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
Sicilian Orange Salad
Best Split Pea Soup
Smoky Black Beans & Greens
Crisp Mocha Peanut Butter Bars


My Review:
The Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook is a book about anti-animal-exploitation motivated veganism. While the authors were aware that not everyone becomes vegan for that reason, this theme came up throughout the book. The last chapter even talked about choosing vegan clothing, furniture, and such. The first part of the book explained how eating vegan doesn't have to be difficult, expensive, etc.

The recipes were contributed by many different people, so they varied from health-conscious to comfort food minus the animal products. This also meant that certain types of food got mentioned multiple times, like 4 different recipes for lasagna. The recipes served from as few as 2 people all the way up to 14 people. Many times, the recipes called for store-bought vegan "cheese," "butter," "meat," or egg replacer. Perhaps this was to make the recipes less complicated or sound more familiar to meat eaters. Tofu and other soy products showed up fairly frequently. Substitutes were suggested if the recipe called for known allergens.

The recipes covered breakfast, snacks, soups and salads, one pot meals (slow cooker, multi-cooker), supper, and desert. There weren't many pictures of the finished foods. I didn't realize until now how influenced I am by pictures to convince me that a recipe will look and taste good. The book seemed aimed at people who are easing into cooking vegan or those curious about vegan snacks and meals. I'd hoped for more health-focused recipes and tips on the unique challenges of cooking vegan (in the sense of being able to make your own recipes).


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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