Sunday, September 29, 2013

Get Your Cook On!!

Description Provided by Goodreads: How does Isa Chandra Moskowitz make flavorful and satisfying vegan meals from scratch every day, often in 30 minutes or less? It's easy! In ISA DOES IT, the beloved cookbook author shares 150 new recipes to make weeknight cooking a snap. Mouthwatering recipes like Sweet Potato Red Curry with Rice and Purple Kale, Bistro Beet Burgers, and Summer Seitan Saute with Cilantro and Lime illustrate how simple and satisfying meat-free food can be.
The recipes are supermarket friendly and respect how busy most readers are. From skilled vegan chefs, to those new to the vegan pantry, or just cooks looking for some fresh ideas, Isa's unfussy recipes and quirky commentary will make everyone's time in the kitchen fun and productive.


Available: October 22, 2013 on Amazon or Barnes&Noble



Description Provided by Goodreads: Everything you need to know to create delicious, healthy pizza at home without any meat or dairy products.Love a warm, crisp, chewy thin-crust pizza with creamy, melty cheese? Just because you're vegan doesn't mean that you can't bake amazing pizzas right in your own oven. Julie Hasson offers 50 deliciously innovative recipes and simple techniques that will have you making artisan-style, thin-crust vegan pizzas right in your own kitchen. Vegan Pizzais filled with 50 modern recipes from easy-to-make pizza dough (including spelt, whole wheat, and gluten-free crusts), creamy dairy-free cheese sauces, vibrant-flavored pestos and spreads, and meatless and wheat-less burger crumbles. Also included are inventive toppings and pizzas that run the gamut from comfort food pizzas like Chili Mac Pizza, Barbeque Pizza and Eggplant Parmesan Pizza, to fresh vegetable-laden pizzas like Sweet Potato and Kale Pizza, Corn, Zucchini and Tomato Pizza and Asparagus, Tomato and Pesto Pizza. There is even a chapter dedicated to dessert pizzas too, from Babka Pizza, to Berry Pie Pizza and Coconut Caramel Dream Pizza. With helpful information and tips on equipment and techniques,Vegan Pizza shares the secrets to fabulous, easy-to-make, dairy-free, meat-free thin-crust artisan pizza that tastes like it came from your neighborhood pizzeria. Now home cooks everywhere can get baking and make fabulous vegan pizzas in their own kitchens. Available on Amazon

As some of you may or may not know I recently went to Catalina for a tennis tournament. While there my team and I went to a pizza place called Pizza My Heart and one of my friends told me that I had to try the Greek Salad there while one of my other friends made my want to get a slice of pesto pizza. So when faced with the difficult decision of what to get, lol, I decided to get a combo for both the salad and the pizza. While I could only finish the delicious slice of pesto pizza, I had my scrumptious Greek salad the day afterwards on the car ride home. After trying both the pizza and the salad I really craved different favors in my pizza and salad because at home my mom would always make salad that consisted of lettuce, carrots, and no dressing and pizza toppings were the classic cheese and pepperoni. So, I decided to try and find different recipes to try and spice up my food life, which is how I happened upon these two books, "Isa Does It" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and "Vegan Pizza" by Julie Hasson.

Recipes:
"Isa Does It"- I adorned the recipes in this book because they were very unique and creative like the sweet and sour brown rice salad; however this book didn't just have recipes for salads it also had different recipes for dinner and lunch foods, some of my favorites include the cucumber-avocado tea sandwiches and the roasted butternut alfredo. Another thing that I loved about these recipes is that they were healthy and used different ingredients that were unlikely to par well, yet did.

"Vegan Pizza"- I loved the recipes in this book because they were absolutely delicious and healthy! I mean could you ask for anything more? And while I didn't try any of the dessert pizzas I did try the other ones such as the Pesto Pizza and Eggplant pizza. The recipes were fun, delicious, and healthy and I definitely found the different and delicious flavors that I was hoping to find in this book.

Tastiness:
"Isa Does It"- I thought that the recipes I tried from this book were delicious, especially the cucumber-avocado tea sandwiches, which I served with peppermint tea! I also thought that the recipe for the sweet and sour brown rice salad was delicious and innovative because I would have never thought to put brown rice in a salad.

"Vegan Pizza"- Not to brag or anything but I think my pizzas tasted pretty darn good. The pizzas that I did make, such as the pesto pizza were really tasty and even my mother and father were brave enough to try them and they said that it was one of the best things I had ever cooked. Considering I hardly cook and when I do they don't eat it, this is a big compliment.

Facility:
"Isa Does It"- I found that these recipes were pretty easy to follow; although I have to admit that I didn't cook all of these recipes by myself. My mom helped out in the kitchen a little if not I might have, as she said it, "caused a disaster or burned the food". However the parts I did contribute to we're relatively easy.

"Vegan Pizza"- Making pizza is never easy and even though I had my cousin, who works at a pizza restaurant that my mom's aunt owns, help me make the pizza it was still a struggle for a newbie like me; however it was lots of fun making the pizza. I thought that it was really easy to just put the ingredients onto the pizza.


Overall:
"Isa Does It"- I will definitely continue to use some of these recipes and hope to incorporate some of the ingredients used in these recipes in my or my family's everyday cooking. I'm really glad I found this book because it definitely spiced up my relationship with salads. (Hehehe)

"Vegan Pizza"- I was constantly hunger while reading this book and seeing the delicious pizzas! I can't wait to try all the types of pizza recipes in this book one day and I would say that this book is one of those must have cookbooks.


Rating:
"Isa Does It"- I would give this book an 8.

"Vegan Pizza"- I would give this book a 9.



About the Author:

The most important things to know about me: I was born and raised in Brooklyn, I love cats and I love to feed people, myself included. I’m a cooking show addict and I also love the Golden Girls. I try to parlay my love for the kitchen into my love for social justice whenever possible. I’m a strong believer in baketivism. Bake sales, benefit dinners, or outreach via cupcakes, I believe that tastebuds are the perfect vehicle for change.


About the Author:
Julie Hasson is the author of Vegan Diner, as well as 6 other cookbooks (and two more coming out soon). She has over 20 years of experience in the food industry, including serving as a private chef for celebrities and high-profile clients. Julie opened the original Babycakes Bakery in Los Angeles (a wholesale artisan bakery), authored 7 cookbooks (Vegan Diner, 150 Best Cupcake Recipes, The Complete Book Of Pies, 125 Best Cupcake Recipes, 125 Best Chocolate Chip Recipes, 125 Best Chocolate Recipes and 300 Best Chocolate Recipes, with Vegan Pizza and Vegan Casseroles coming out later this year and next), has contributed extensive articles and recipes to Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, and Family Fun magazines, and is also the host of the popular Internet cooking show “Everyday Dish.” Julie has been featured in magazines, newspapers, and on TV and radio across the country, including The Cooking Channel, Better, Better Portland, Good Day Oregon, Martha Stewart Radio, VegNews Magazine, Vegetarian Times. She was one of the hosts of the cooking show 15 & Done, and is the Healthy Cooking Expert on More Good Day Oregon. Julie currently lives in Portland, Oregon, where she co-owns the food cart Native Bowl with her husband Jay. She has recently launched Julie’s Originals, a line of gluten-free baking mixes.

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