The Inspired Vegan: Seasonal Ingredients, Creative Recipes, Mouthwatering Menus

I took this book out from the local library, and then after reading it, I knew that I needed to add it to my collection of recipe books. He has unusual recipes in here, which you won't find on the average vegan website. In fact, I purchased two more of Bryant Terry's books. They are all superb! I like how he connects music and authors to particular recipes too. A true artist.

I have only tried one full meal from this cookbook but it all looks so good and what I did cook was stellar. I cooked an Indian inspired meal of asparagus and sweet potato curry, saag and tofu, and yellow rice. His spice suggestions were so good. So well seasoned and flavored and rich in flavor but still fresh. The biggest tip I have taken so far is baking the tofu cubes with oil and spices. This achieves a nearly fried crisp without all of the fuss of the tofu sticking to the pan on the stovetop. Since the cookbook is broken up by giving recipes for a full meal, the one thing that would make this cookbook super cool would be a run down of how to multi-talk the cooking. You can do this yourself by flipping between the recipes and checking for duplicate ingredients to prep at once but having it all laid out would be handy. It's not a deal breaker by any means though. Many of the recipes set within full meals can easily be meals on their own as well. I'm looking forward to delving deeper. I can tell already that his spice and flavor profiles are much different that anything other cookbook I have (which is great!)

I bought this book in 2016 and in 2021, I still haven't cooked anything from it. Why? Because most of the recipes won't really feed a family of four if you don't cook all the singles courses of a menu, but just the main course. Moreover, the recipes don't talk to me, I don't feel "inspired" to cook what Bryant suggests. Obviously it's just not enough to be vegan to like this book. Moreover, even though English isn't my native language, I think it's fair to say that I get along with English cookbooks well - but not in this case. Bryant has used a lot of words (maybe slang words?) to name recipes and ingredients and this makes this book really annoying to use for me.

I'm very very happy with this book. The introduction was great- I usually don't read cookbook introductions, I just skip right to the recipes, but the writing in this book is well worth the read. Very inspiring, and not just about veganism. It made me excited to cook and eat, but also excited to pursue the things that are important to me, and to think about my place in the world. The recipes are great. They are grouped into menus, but the author also lists them as 'mains' 'sides' 'drinks' etc, so it's easy to find what you're looking for. The recipes are overwhelmingly on the healthy side of veganism, which I find I always need more of. Lots of green veggies (of course) and beans, and it's not tofu heavy. I think my favorite part is the music and reading material that is paired with each recipe and menu. It reminded me that food is a part of life as a whole and you can't just separate things into convenient categories all the time. What we eat isn't just dinner, it's an experience.

One of my favorite food authors. Always look forward to his recipes!