VEGAN SOUPS AND HEARTY STEWS FOR ALL SEASONS
BY NAVA ATLAS

Review by

Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons
(Broadway Books) ISBN 978-0767930727 076793072X

Veganism is an ethical way of eating, which respects other living things, according to Nava Atlas. Her 168-page vegetarian cookbook has more than 120 recipes for appetizer, main course and dessert soups, vegan stews and quick breads, muffins and scones to accompany them.

Vegetarian cooking

You don't have to be on a vegetarian diet to enjoy Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons. Organized by season, each chapter has a brief introduction and an index of vegetarian soups and stews.

Nava Atlas begins each meatless recipe with a description of the dish and its ingredients. For example, she describes vegetarian goulash as a meatless Hungarian goulash, made with seitan, a high-protein, low-fat meat substitute. Some recipes include vegetarian food quotes.

The introduction to the vegan cookbook features recipes for basic vegetable stock, onion and garlic broth, simple miso broth, basic dashi and Asian mushroom broth.

Alternatives to meat protein

Meatless soups and stews use beans, lentils, soy yogurt, tofu, non-dairy cheese, peanuts and other protein substitutes for meat. Tastes depend on the flavor and freshness of the main ingredients and seasonings.

Eight full-page color photos depict curried red lentil soup, mock chicken noodle soup, taco soup, puree of spring greens, whole wheat vegetable muffins and other completed dishes. Pencil sketches illustrate vegan food and ingredients.

Dairy alternatives for vegans

Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons recipes use dairy alternatives — rice milk, non-dairy sour cream and Silk creamer, a soy-based cream substitute. The vegetarian cookbook features a vegan sour cream recipe, made with tofu or non-dairy sour cream, rice milk or Silk creamer, lemon juice and salt. Nava Atlas describes several non-dairy cheeses made from soy, rice and almonds.

An Accompaniments chapter has recipes for vegan muffins, scones, yeast and quick breads to go with soups and stews. Recipes range from onion rye scones and oat walnut muffins to chapatis. It also explains how to make garlic croutons and frizzled tortilla chips to top soups.

Nava Atlas provides advice on freezing soups. For example, don't freeze soups with raw ingredients.

Sample vegan recipes

Potato, cheese and green chili soup. Hot beet and potato borscht. Spaghetti squash stew. Broccoli, apple and peanut soup. Spanish garbanzo stew. White bean and hominy chili. Swiss chard stew. Puree of asparagus with soba noodles. Okra rice gumbo. Creole eggplant soup. Tomato mango coconut cooler. Classic gazpacho. Vanilla fruit cup soup. Green chili cornbread. Cheese and herb corn muffins.

Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons

Contents

Introduction and Basics
  • Cooking notes
  • Notes on ingredients
  • Explanation of nutritional analyses
  • Stocks and broths
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
  • Summer
Accompaniments
Index

Author

Nava Atlas has written eight other vegetarian cookbooks.

Other books by Nava Atlas:

Vegan Express


Return to Food & Drink Index