What's the Best Cookbook for New Vegans? (Part 1)

Chloe Coscarelli's books are the books I recommend to every new vegan. Her recipes are easy to make and consistently amazing.  Well, some are just okay, but nothing is ever bad.  Ever.  Some reviews confuse me because they knock her books for not being healthy.  FYI vegan doesn't automatically mean healthy.  If that's what you're looking for, then go look for someone who claims to make healthy vegan food, don't knock someone who doesn't.  I think her recipes are the ones that can convince non-vegans that vegan food is good because it tastes like the things they are used to eating.  Her books are my go-to, especially for desserts when I go to parties.

Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen is pretty pasta focused, but amazing.  You have to make the apple cake.  Takes 5 minutes to put together, with an amazing result. You can feed any of these recipes to a non-vegan or even someone lactose intolerant and they'd never believe these recipes weren't full of butter and cream.

Chloe's Vegan Desserts is an amazing collection of easy to make desserts.  The lemon poppy seed muffins are amazing! Don't be a cheap ass like me and use almond milk instead of a can of coconut milk, it really does make a difference.  Bake some vegan treats yourself for an eighth of what they cost at vegan bakeries.  Then with all that money you save, go buy her new book.

What's great about those two books is also great about Chloe Flavor, the recipes have minimal, easy-to-find ingredients and simple instructions.  Normally, I'm the type that wants a picture per recipe, but I don't mind that this doesn't have that.  I know her recipes are going to be good, so if my choices are more recipes or more pictures, I'll take more recipes.

So far I've made the French Toast, Sweet Tamale Cakes, and the Fiesta Mac & Cheese.  The French Toast was really good, using something similar to a crepe batter to coat the bread.  The tamale cakes were a little sweet to me, similar to cornbread.  But the siracha mayo you serve it with was banging!  I wasn't sure about the Fiesta Mac & Cheese, it did have a picture and it wasn't that pretty.  Even my daughter, who likes mac n' cheese any way she can get it, was unsure about this one.  The end result was so good! Full-flavored, rich and creamy, it reminded me Hamburger Helper sans dead cow.

IS IT VEGAN-FRIENDLY?  Of course.  

WOULD I BUY IT?  Hell yes.  Bottom line, Chloe Coscarelli makes great food.  If you get to go to her restaurant, go, it's worth it.  In the meantime, go buy Chloe Flavor, and then go buy her other books.  These are the recipes that will convince your family and friends that vegans aren't sitting around eating nothing but salad, tofu, and Buddha bowls.  You can thank me later.

I received a free copy of this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.  There was no obligation to give a positive review, and if you read my blog, you know I'm a tell-it-like-it-is kind of girl.  I mean what I say and say what I mean, that holds true for my review.