My son brought his own fake "roast" to dinner tonight and the slices looked like prison food.

[pnwmom]

When I had to go off gluten long ago, it was quite an adjustment. I'd joke about it, telling my kids that they should never marry a vegetarian, because that would be too much for me to deal with.

None of them married a vegetarian. My son became a VEGAN.

And I don't really like to cook anyway.

Sigh.

Does anyone know of any good vegan cookbooks with easy recipes that would be good for me and my son?

[MLAA]

1. I'd suggest Vegan 8

Just type Vegan 8 into google or other search engine. All recipes have 8 or less ingredients. At the Thanksgiving feast I went to today the Caesar salad dressing and the gravy were from there. And both were just delicious. Here are two cookbooks that get rave reviews from my group of friends: 'Vegan Richas's Everday Kitchen' and 'But my family would never eat VEGAN!'

[pnwmom]

7. Thanks for the tips! I'll look into these! n/t

[Cicada]

2. India has been refining vegan food for many thousands of years

They have perfected many dishes, yummy on top of yummy. Their seasonings and techniques are odd to us but even if there aren’t Indian markets near you you can get seasonings online. You can search for cookbooks which people say are relatively easy and good. It’s a bit of a challenge but if you work to get good at it I think you will feel a satisfying sense of accomplishment, and many will look forward to eating what you prepare.

[pnwmom]

5. Good point. I generally avoid Indian food because curry is often used

Last edited Fri Nov 24, 2017, 02:32 AM - Edit history (1)

and I'm one of the minority of people who find that curry with cilantro/coriander tastes too much like soap.



But I'll look into it!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Curry and cilantro are two totally separate things.

I'm one of those for whom cilantro tastes like soap (and PLEASE, do not try to comfort me by telling there's only a little cilantro in the dish, because I'll tell you that then I'm only going to sprinkle a few soap chips in your food).

Honestly, I've never found curry and cilantro in the same foods, Maybe I've been lucky.

I love curry. Hate cilantro.

[pnwmom]

11. Curry often contains coriander, which is another name for cilantro.

http://www.dawett.ca/learn-the-secrets-of-good-curry-by-using-these-5-spices/

2. Use cilantro for a fresh taste every time
Most curry recipes include fresh cilantro leaves which are else known as coriander. If you are making curry, de-stem your cilantro and chop it into little pieces and add to your curry. It brings out a fresh and sweet smelling lemony touch to your curry. It is best if you add your cilantro before you remove the pot from the fire so that it keeps the curry tasting and smelling fresh. If you want your cold curry to be alive, just chop some cilantro and add to it while warming. It also makes a good addition to salads and garnish.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. Coriander tastes NOTHING like cilantro.

Maybe that's because I buy the coriander in a jar at the grocery store.

Cilantro is soap chips. I would never, never, NEVER put cilantro in anything. To understand what it's like for me, every time you think you want cilantro, put soap chips in the food. Adding soap chips to make it taste fresh? Are you out of your mind?

To repeat myself, coriander, at least in the form I obtain it, is nothing like cilantro.

Oh, and add some soap chips to your salads and garnish, and then you'll understand.

[pnwmom]

19. Go ahead and keep telling yourself that, since it means you don't mind coriander.

I hate the whole soapy plant and its soapy leaves. You don't have to convince me why you hate cilantro. I know.

https://whatscookingamerica.net/cilantro.htm

Cilantro (sih-LAHN-troh)is the Spanish word for coriander leaves. It is also sometimes called Chinese or Mexican parsley. Technically, coriander refers to the entire plant. It is a member of the carrot family.

Most people either LOVE IT or HATE IT. Taste experts aren’t sure why, but for some people the smell of fresh coriander is fetid and the taste soapy. In other words, while most people love coriander, for some people, coriander just doesn’t taste good.

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves are widely used in Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking, where they are combined with chilies and added to salsas, guacamoles, and seasoned rice dishes.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

20. Coriander, made from the seeds, has nothing of the soap taste.

It is a genetic thing, but please do not try to persuade me that coriander tastes like cilantro. Or vice versa. They are not the same. Not remotely.

I've learned to be very wary of Mexican and much of southeast Asian cooking because of the cilantro.

Again, I challenge you to sprinkle soap chips in your food.

And what is so incredibly distressing, if I make the mistake of not asking if there's cilantro in the guac or the salsa, is to be going along just fine and then WHAMMO!! Soap. Again, not remotely like coriander.

[pnwmom]

21. Why do you keep explaining to me about the soapy taste of cilantro?

You don't have to convince me -- I feel the same way.

But I, like some other people, have the same reaction to Coriander.

From the link I already posted:

Most people either LOVE IT or HATE IT. Taste experts aren’t sure why, but for some
people the smell of fresh coriander is fetid and the taste soapy. In other words, while most people love coriander, for some people, coriander just doesn’t taste good

And here's another article about coriander tasting like soap:

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/genetic-aversion-to-coriander

For many people, coriander is an essential herb. Innumerable regional cuisines rely on it as a basic ingredient. Then there are those who think it tastes like soap. Until now it has been largely assumed that this was just down to those people not being exposed to coriander as kids, as with other foodstuffs people tend to dislike, but it now emerges that there could be a genetic influence at work.

In a paper published on 10 September, and as noted by Nature News, statistical geneticist Nicholas Eriksson and colleagues worked through a genetic comparison of two separate samples of over 10,000 people, one a full range of people of European ancestry who said coriander tasted like soap, the other one of people of all genetic backgrounds who had declared their like or dislike of coriander. The result was a correlation between disliking coriander and two genes -- one associated with enjoying smells, and another associated with linking smells to taste.

This isn't the first time that coriander preference has been linked to genetics, and there was even a study in May that found that there was a distinctive divide between those cultures where coriander where a common herb and those where it was less common -- dislike among South Asians, Hispanic and Middle Eastern participants ranged between three and seven percent, whereas among those of South Asian, Caucasian or African descent the range was between 14 to 21 percent.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

23. I have never been aware that some people find coriander tastes like soap.

So I will plead simple ignorance here.

I will simply repeat that cilantro tastes like soap to me, and coriander doesn't.

So apologies for my ignorance.

[pnwmom]

24. So you're luckier than people who can't stand any part of the plant.

It's not surprising that there would be variations of this, right? Genes are complicated things.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. Ohhh, yes, genes are complicated things!

[pnwmom]

27. You might enjoy this:

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a37014/coriander-is-the-worst/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. Interesting, I have never seen the leaf form called coriander.

I've only seen "coriander" used to describe the ground seed. And in my experience one tastes nothing like the other. So I'm finding it a bit strange that all of a sudden cilantro, the leaf, is being called coriander, the seed.

I do notice that the article is from Cosmopolitan in the UK. Maybe over there they call both cilantro, the leaf, and coriander the seed, by the name coriander, which totally confuses the issue, because even though they're from the same plant, they taste very different from each other. At least they do to me.

[pnwmom]

35. I gave you other American links that also called the plant coriander. I could believe that it

is a regional thing, however, and that in the UK AND in some parts of the US it is called coriander.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

36. Interesting.

Everywhere I've lived there's always been a distinction between the two. Those regional differences can definitely trip you up.

[pnwmom]

37. Do you say lightning bugs or fireflies?

I know which one I think is right.



https://www.quora.com/In-what-regions-of-the-world-is-coriander-cilantro-commonly-used-in-cooking

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

38. Either one equally.

Also, teeter-totter and see saw.

soda and pop are likewise equally placed in my brain.

In my case I've lived in just enough places that certain word pairs coexist in absolute equality.

But cilantro and coriander do not. And in my mind refer to two completely different things, unlike the other word pairs just mentioned.

[pnwmom]

39. Would you believe a dictionary?

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/coriander?s=t

coriander
[kawr-ee-an-der, kohr-]
Spell Syllables
Examples Word Origin

noun
1.
Also called cilantro, Chinese parsley. an herb, Coriandrum sativum, of the parsley family, native to Europe, having strong-scented leaves used in cooking and aromatic seeds used as a seasoning and in medicine.

2.
the seeds of this plant.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

40. All I'm saying is that

up until this thread, I've always seen cilantro as referring to the leaf part of that plant. And coriander to the seeds, ground or otherwise. To me they taste as different as if they were totally different species.

And I've never seen the leafy-soapy smelling stuff at the grocery store labelled coriander. Only as cilantro. I'm pretty sure I've never seen ground cilantro in the spice section, either.

Earlier today I ate at a Mexican (New Mexican) restaurant and asked if there was cilantro in the rice. I was told yes, so I substituted beans. I bet if I'd asked if there was coriander in it I'd have been told no, and then wound up with that nasty taste that I so dislike.

So yes, they are from the same plant, but are so different in flavor that they rightly have different names. Or at least they've always gone by different names in my experience.

[pnwmom]

41. Right. They are so different in flavor to YOU -- but not to everybody. As I said, you're luckier

than some.

[Demsrule86]

43. It is funny people either love coriander or they don't...my daughter hates it...but I make curry for

her without it. I have heard it is a genetic thing.

[fierywoman]

15. This is an Indian vegetarian cookbook

so -- not every recipe -- but it's a fabulous book. Take it out of the library to see if it would work for you.
https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Krishnas-Cuisine-Vegetarian-Cooking/dp/0525245642/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1511504656&sr=8-4&keywords=indian+vegetarian+cooking+book

You know you can make your own curry? They vary widely.

[pnwmom]

16. Thanks! n/t

[mucifer]

3. That's a lot to deal with gluten free AND vegan. I'm a vegan

I personally get vegan recipes from googling and reading reviews.

I suggest for cookbooks you post that question to the Reddit Vegan page. It is very active. There are 100,000 subscribers:

https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/

Good Luck!

[Cicada]

4. Hey thanks for that tip!

[pnwmom]

6. Good idea. Thanks! (And thanks for understanding. Cooking gluten-free AND vegan is a challenge.)

[Demsrule86]

44. One would be a challenge...both? DIFFICULT.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. Don't you just love the internet?

[Docreed2003]

9. Lmao....

I’ve got no Vegan recipes pnwmom, just wanted to share my lol’s at how awful that “fake roast” must have been!! Love ya!

[pnwmom]

12. It was a brown slab of something. My son was vague about the ingredients when I asked him.

As a mother, I felt so guilty . . . that he had been reduced to bringing THAT.

[Docreed2003]

13. Lol...

I’m sure as the amazing Mom you are that you swerved up that brown glob of goo despite your reservations and addressed the mess afterwards!!

[pnwmom]

14. Well, I put a bunch of other things on his plate, too. Green beans and almonds without the butter.

Mashed potatoes with (cough) vegan margarine (that contained palm oil.) Etc.

I vow to do better at Christmas!

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Hope you had a nice day!

[NBachers]

18. There's someone here who's icon is Tofurky. I always got a kick out of that.

[LuvLoogie]

22. I don't understand why vegetarians and vegans look for imitation meat and dairy.

[JI7]

26. yeah, why not just make some pasta dish or something

plus the sides are usually the best part of a thanksgiving meal and there are many veggie ones that can be made.

[Demsrule86]

45. you do need to make sure you get an acceptable amount of protein.

[Lucinda]

48. Many still love things like chicken strips and bacon but don't want meat versions

for ethical reasons.
Some use the alternative products to help them transition to a less processed plant based diet.
I've been experimenting with "Carrot Dogs" - great on the grill when Bill wants his ball park versions and I dont.
There are probably as many reasons why a vegan chooses meat alternatives as there are vegans.

[livetohike]

28. Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson is excellent. Ive been cooking

vegetarian meals for over 40 years. I never got into the faux meat craze. This is a good cookbook and I’ve made many recipes from it.

Also consider the cookbooks of Moosewood Restaurant, Mollie Katzen, and Ginny Callan.

My primers for becoming a vegetarian were Diet for a Small Planet and Recipes for a Small Planet.

There are many great recipes out there that can be modified with vegan ingredients. Good luck and have fun.

[pnwmom]

29. Thanks for the recs! n/t

[femmedem]

30. Check out the Oh She Glows blog: tons of great recipes by cookbook author Angela Liddon.

And then if you like her online recipes, you might want to try her cookbook. www.ohsheglows.com
www.minimalistbaker.com has easy vegan recipes, many of which are gluten-free.
A vegetarian blog I like with plenty of vegan gluten-free recipes is www.cookieandkate.com. Her recipes are generally tasty and simple.

And here is a link to other vegan blogs: https://runningonrealfood.com/20-of-the-best-vegan-blogs-to-follow/ At least one of the blogs is both vegan and gluten-free.

I'm a vegan with vegetarian/gluten-free relatives who joined us for Thanksgiving. Our main dish was a lentil shepherd's pie with sides of sweet potatoes, roasted romanesco and cauliflower, cranberry sauce with lime zest and cocoa powder, and a green salad with apple cubes and balsamic vinaigrette. My daughter-in-law made a gluten-free chocolate bourbon pie. I don't think any of us missed turkey--not even my husband the carnivore.

[pnwmom]

32. Umm, your dinner sounds good. A lot better than what my son had to eat today.

Thanks for the tips!

[Demsrule86]

46. That sounds lovely.

[KatyaR]

31. The Happy Herbivore books are good.

She also has a website--

https://happyherbivore.com/

"Lindsay S. Nixon's cookbooks will save you money by using 'everyday' inexpensive ingredients a0nd save you time with easy, no fuss recipes."

[pnwmom]

33. Thank you!

[Demsrule86]

42. I will ask my daughter's vegetarian friend...she has a number of cookbooks some are Vegan.

I can't eat gluten either...I went to the hospital three times in 17 and was finally diagnosed. It was a bit of a shock but now I realize my 'nervous' stomach was really an illness. I feel way better. Still struggling with baking a bit but I now have more successes than failures. You should also get the kindle and overdrive app if you don't have it...I own a kindle because I love to read...you can take e-books out of libraries. Many libraries even distant ones have ebooks only cards. Lots of great cookbooks at the library and you can use kindle at the library or Amazon which has free books and kindle unlimited for very few dollars per month. You can also use overdrive at the library. Here are some recipes I saved from google for when my Daughter's friend comes over.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/25-plant-based-foods-that-will-turn-anyone-vegan/

http://thevegan8.com/2017/08/25/20-vegan-recipes-that-will-wow-non-vegan

https://www.veganosity.com/vegan-food-to-serve-to-people-who-say-i-dont-like-vegan-food/

Now I make taco bowls quite often with beans and goodies for the Vegan...and also have chicken or beef or pork for me...sometimes I just eat the beans also. with cheese (or vegan cheese now in supermarkets),lettuce, tomato, guacamole, and any vegetable you like with either brown or white rice. I make vegetable soup too for Devin. Also, I make all sorts of eggplant dishes...you can also buy pasta that is vegan and gluten free...one of the sites I gave you has a delicious al fredo. I even see eggs subs in the store now...but you can also make a flax egg.

[irisblue]

47. Vegetarian, Vegan and Animal Rights (Group)

Has several threads with recipes, that I have enjoyed.