Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For—From Asparagus Omelets to Pumpkin Pancakes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For—From Asparagus Omelets to Pumpkin Pancakes Reviews

• 
  Melissa

  This is an amazing cookbook. It probably improved the lives of a great many vegans who enjoy attending brunch potlucks. It's incredibly fun to bring something like the Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs (p. 129) to an omnivorous brunch potluck and explode everyone's brain with it.
  
  
  This ain't health food, and it never claimed to be. I've never been one to consume fancy breakfasts in the morning--much more of the breakfast-for-dinner type--and this book is great for that. Tell me you don't want to eat the Classic Broccoli Quiche (p. 41) with some roasted potatoes and one of the many "sausage" recipes in the book. Don't lie, of course you do.
  
  But you shouldn't! This is a delicious book, but don't buy it if you don't want to be tempted to eat unhealthy comfort foods instead of really getting down with some veggies. However, if you want to kick breakfast's butt for realsies, you should get this book. I only make the pancakes from here. I love the gravy recipes at the end of it, the doing-tofu-up-like-eggs recipes at the beginning, and everything in the middle, including some things that are amazing for any meal, like Courico Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa. Yummmmz.
  
  
  I blog about vegan cooking:
  Food and Loathing in the Steel City
• 
  jess

  It's no secret that half the vegan universe drools over everything Isa Chandra Moskowitz touches - but there's good reason! This cookbook, once again, raises the bar for homemade vegan cooking, with singular emphasis on the most important meal of the day: brunch!!!!! Since my household is also part of the cult of Isa, we pre-ordered the book without absolutely no concerns or reservations as to the soundness of our investment. It arrived, and my wife & I held it between us, caressing it and staring into the souls of every photograph. Maybe we're into threesomes after all... is it cheating if it's a cookbook? There are vegan frittata and omelet recipes (I know, right?), a lot of soy-free options, and a detailed walk-thru for making your own fancy vegan breakfast seitan sausages.
  
  For my twenty seventh birthday, I was delightfully surprised with my own vegan brunch: chocolate beer waffles and the individual diner hash browns. We had some execution errors - the heat and greasiness of your waffle iron can make or break with vegan waffles, but the concept of chocolate and beer is worth the risk. The individual diner hash browns were perfect, and I am particular about my potatoes, but they also didn't want to leave the muffin pan & ended up looking squashed and wilted. The brunch turned out less-than-photographic, but so deeply delicious.
  
  While we have yet to cook straight through this book, it is mostly because we have been so busy buying a house, moving, harvesting an over-bountiful garden, and ushering the kid into his eighth grade year. I imagine that once our kitchen is unpacked and a semblance of normality returns, the pornographic vegan food wonders that lie in these pages will spill across our kitchen like a rushing springtime creek when the winter snow melts.
• 
  Lisa Vegan

  This is a wonderful cookbook. I love this cookbook author’s other three books too, and I’m excited about her upcoming fifth vegan cookies book. This fourth one is just as great as the first three. Her recipes always look wonderful but what’s best about this cookbook (as with her others) is that she’s entertaining and she’s funny also.
  
  This book is beautiful and stylish. The layout and colors are gorgeous. The photos of the food are mouthwatering.
  
  The recipes I most want to try (in approximate order) are the mushroom and spinach omelet (I still haven’t tried making the spinach and mushroom Zenmlet from Now and Zen’s 2nd cookbook, a dish I enjoyed in their restaurant many times), the curried cauliflower frittata, the classic broccoli quiche, the cinnamon rolls, the gingerbread waffles, the peanut butter waffles, the potato spinach squares, the jalapeño garlic grits, the pumpkin French toast, the samosa mashed potato pancakes, the baked cinnamon apples topping, and the chocolate drizzle topping, and her version of guacamole too. Yes, there are many, many more recipes. There are many vegan “meat” recipes included, for those who enjoy them; I do not like fake meats, but there was a plethora of recipes for those like me too.
  
  The cookbook is divided into sections: The Savory, The Sweet, The Sides, The Bread Basket, The Toppings, The Drinks.
  
  I want this cookbook author as a friend because I want to be one of her taste testers!
  
  Of course, I read this book just as I’ve decided to try to eat significantly healthier than I’ve done for the past over five years. One goal I have is to make one recipe dish (I don’t usually follow recipes) a week. This is one of the dozen or so vegan/vegetarian cookbooks I’ll use if I actually follow through with this plan.
  
• 
  Laurie

  As with most recipes I've tried of Isa Chandra's nothing has been disappointing. Here's what I've tried so far:
  
  ~Mushroom & Spinach Tofu Omelet (time-consuming and a bit frustrating but totally worth it)
  ~Mushroom Scrambled Tofu
  ~Basic Scrambled Tofu (w/ lots of nutritional yeast; excellent & easy-peasy side dish)
  ~Basic Scrambled Tempeh
  ~Pesto Scrambled Tofu w/ Grape Tomatoes (I cheated & added some fresh mozzerella; it was amazing)
  ~Buckwheat Pancakes (fluffy & delicious, not dry at all like the buckwheat mix I had been using)
  ~Paprika Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
  ~Jalapeno Garlic Grits
  ~Tempeh Bacon Revamped
  ~Sauteed Collards & Sausages (I cheated & used Tofurky sausages, but I really look forward to making my own)
  ~Roasted Portabellos
  ~Navy Bean Gravy (very Yum!)
  ~Cheesy Sauce
  
  I love that there are tons of recipes in this book, more than 175. I also like the fact there are so many easy side dishes. I look forward to delving into the Bread Basket recipes as Autumn returns.
  
  Oh, and I had all of these dishes at dinnertime. :)
  
• 
  Ginny Messina

  I bought this cookbook after coming across a number of its recipes on the web. It is fantastic!
  
  The very best thing about it is that the author introduced me to "black salt" (which is actually pink), known as Kala Namak, which smells and tastes exactly like hard boiled egg yolks. If the only things in this book had been the tip about black salt and the recipe for omelots (using chickpea flour, tofu, black salt, and a bunch of other things) it would have been worth the price. But it has a whole bunch of other wonderful recipes, too, including Chocolate Beer Waffles, Brazilian French Toast, and Fennel Breakfast Risotto.
  
  And the preambles to the recipes are delightfully snarky and funny. What more could you want?
• 
  Sps

  Read previously, but borrowed again to make new things (chocolate beer waffles with cashew cream), remind myself of old (sesame-yam scramble), invent variations on favorites (basic scrambled tempeh & roasted squash), or look at the pictures and think about how I want to make them for
  certain people on a lazy morning (crepes with lemon-berry filling).
  
  
• 
  melissa

  Even though I am no longer vegan and I will eat anything that swims, walks, crawls, flies, slithers, stumbles, or flat out flops onto a plate in front of me (SORRY VEGANS) I love, love, LOVE Isa Chandra Moskowitz and every book she puts her name on. The woman is that good. I heavily anticipate this release. I promise not to make bacon with any of my vegan brunches.
• 
  Martha Smith

  I found 3 or 4 recipes. All the rest contained foods I am allergic to or am avoiding for other health reasons. But I wish I could eat her waffles.
• 
  Morgan

  Thanks to Susan for recommending this one! Great stuff.
  
  ETA: Made the Coffee Chip Muffins this morning. Delish!
• 
  Sherry

  Another vegan favorite!
• 
  mad mags

  I haven't yet gotten around to reviewing this cookbook - but you can see some of the dishes I've made from Vegan Brunch here:
  http://www.easyvegan.info/tag/vegan-b...
• 
  Cactus Wren

  Let me first start out by saying I absolutely ADORE Isa (pronounced "EEE-suh")! I have a few of her cookbooks and they are really positive and encouraging. However, this one I wasn't as impressed with. Some of the recipes are, for my skill and cooking level, cumbersome and difficult. Plus, I live in a small-town area and let's face it, some of these ingredients you just can't find locally (thank goodness for Amazon when it doesn't have to be an "add-on"). She's still fun to read though! Her enthusiasm is so contagious.
• 
  Amy

  I'm convinced that Isa has magical abilities. Here is yet another book where her recipes are out of this world!
• 
  Dana Williams

  I'm still cooking my way through the book, but my most favorite recipe which can either be a great Sunday brunch item or a dessert item is the chocolate beer waffles!
  
  
• 
  Jessica

  All in all, this is a great cookbook that's accessible to beginning cooks and people new to the vegan lifestyle. While it's not as diverse as
  Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, there's a lot going on in these pages. Here are my takes the first five recipes I've tried:
  
  Italian feast sausages: It's worth buying this book for this recipe alone, which is an easy technique to make sausage. I subbed extra vegetable broth and salt for the soy sauce to make it soy-free, and it was great, with the perfect amount of spice. Not only was it as tasty as Gimme Lean or the other commercial vegan sausages (and far cheaper), but now that I have the technique down, I will be making endless variations. I can't wait to add some liquid smoke next time!
  
  Polenta rancheros: Jeff said this is essentially a chili recipe, and he's right, but it's a yummy one, and one that works particularly well at brunch. People in the DC area could easily imagine this dish on the vegan menu at Asylum, especially if it were topped with an obscene amount of Follow Your Heart cheese.
  
  Banana rabanada (Brazilian French toast): This is one of those variation-on-a-theme recipes that make Isa Chandra Moskowitz so popular. You can't go wrong with French toast -- stale bread soaked in a sweet liquid and fried on the stovetop -- and this version was yummy and easy. I particularly liked the instruction to top with both cinnamon and cocoa.
  
  Classic brocolli quiche: I've always made the brocolli quiche from the
  Compassionate Cook: Please Don't Eat the Animals, and this is essentially the same concept, except that it uses a combination of cashews and tofu for the filling, instructs the cook to mince the brocolli smaller, and adds the turmeric to the sauteed vegetables instead of directly to the tofu-cashew mixture. I liked the texture a lot, presumably from the addition of cashews, but the seasonings were a little simple for my taste. Maybe I'll add some fresh basil next time.
  
  Whole wheat herbed biscuits: Drop biscuits are easy, and these were no exception. I liked how the whole wheat pastry flour came out. These were good but a little boring with margarine; next time I'll step it up and make some gravy.
• 
  Kat

  I love this cookbook!!! Isa reigns supreme yet again with her appealing, easy-to-follow recipes for what is typically the most non-vegan meal of the day. As long as you and your friends & family are willing to make it all on a lazy late-morning Sunday, you will never miss out again on omelets, french toast, quiche, pancakes, tasty sides, pastries, etc etc. Add some OJ, coffee, conversation, and good tunes, and you are in brunchy heaven from construction to consumption, my friend.
  
  The recipe for the Chelsea Waffles alone is worth its weight in gold (slathered in maple syrup). They are now my weekend ritual, and when my in-laws stayed with us, they loved the waffles so much that my mother-in-law now owns the book. Mind you, these are meat-loving folks from Maine, and this is now their first vegan cookbook. I LOVE when non-vegans enjoy vegan food enough to realize that it is not all bland hippie tree bark, and that it can be incorporated into anyone's diet, even just in small amounts. Three cheers for Vegan Brunch!
• 
  Lauren

  After making seven recipes from this book, I now feel that I can rate it accordingly. Honestly, I think 4.5 stars is closer to how I feel, but I am generous and tend to round up. Breakfast has always been a favorite meal of mine, and brunch is a brilliant invention. I loved the variety of dishes in this book. Many of them are perfectly suitable for dinners as well (frittatas, quiches, roasted veggies, etc.) The stuffed poblano peppers were a favorite for dinner. I made the zucchini spelt muffins, the jalapeno grits, the pumpkin pancakes, the "Red Flannel" hash, the dill frittata, the tomato rosemary scones, and the aforementioned stuffed peppers. The pancakes did not set as well as hoped, so they were a bit more like pumpkin bread pudding in a bowl with some blueberries and maple syrup, but they were still delicious... and all of the others were quite good too. The variety of tastes - sweet, savory, juices/smoothies, biscuits, etc. - really made this book a winner.
  
  
• 
  Kate Lawrence

  Race you to the kitchen! Isa continues to turn out terrific vegan cookbooks, and I've barely begun to scratch the surface of Veganomicon, not to mention her fabulous Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. She believes brunch is an ideal meal for sharing with family and friends. Vegan Brunch gives great ideas with just enough hand-holding for beginners, but enough challenge for experienced cooks as well. I prepared one of the dishes, Tofu Scramble, for breakfast at a recent family reunion, where it was a hit. Tofu Scramble is basic, but Isa shows how to prepare it perfectly, seasoned just right, and adds options for variations. I decided to prepare the seasoning mix beforehand and take it with me on the plane. I got pulled aside by a security agent, who said that, on the computer monitor, my container of powdered spices looked like a liquid, which is forbidden to carry on, of course. Added a little drama to the trip.
• 
  Gina

  Tomato Rosemary Scones: Very, very good. I'd like to substitute a little wheat flour in for all purpose next time.
  
  Polenta Rancheros: Delicious. The polenta is especially good using vegetable broth for the cooking water. I recommend
  Rapunzel Organ Vegan Vegetable Bouillon with Sea Salt and Herbs. I could eat one of those cubes all by itself. Two issues I had: (1)The tomato sauce/onion mixture is not runny enough to use an immersion blender in the pot unless you have a very deep pot and a lot of time. After it threw specks out all over the walls, I switched to a regular blender. (2)The proportions seem a little weird. I had lots of polenta left over and few beans. Next time I'll either eat a lot more polenta or make less.
• 
  Lauren

  All the recipes I have made out of this book have been delicious:
  
  *Chocolate Beer Waffles (I was questionable at first, but the flavor that comes out of this is amazing. I used Budweiser because that's was was around. Absolutely delicious. Just mix until combined and DON'T overmix or they will come out a bit flat. Also, right after they are mixed, IMMEDIATELY use them in the waffle maker.)
  
  *Scrambled Tofu (Actually, I prefer this to regular eggs :o)
  
  *Pumpkin Waffles (Another yummy waffle)
  
  *Tempeh (I belive it was smoked. The first time I ever made it with soy sauce and it was great!! It didn't last long with my family eating it all up, lol)
  
  Plus, Isa sprinkles tips and tricks throughout and the book is colorful.
• 
  Oswego Public Library District

  Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s cookbook Vegan Brunch is a must for anyone who loves breakfast foods! Check this out if you’re looking for a classic meal like French toast, pancakes, waffles, and hash browns with a delicious vegan twist. Large, colorful photographs accompany many of the recipes. Ingredients are grocery store friendly, and Moskowitz includes variations for recipes and helpful kitchen tips.
  
  Moskowitz is an award winning chef and runs a cooking blog called
  The Post Punk Kitchen. -JM
  
  
  Click here to place Vegan Brunch on hold.
• 
  Anne Holcomb

  This cookbook shows that brunch is the best meal of the day for a vegan diet! The inclusion of a vegan quiche recipe will save the day for our annual new years' brunch, I've been trying to find a good vegan quiche recipe for a few years. Also, the tofu benedict recipe is delicious. While this cookbook uses some ingredients that may be unfamiliar to those who don't spend a lot of time in health food stores, Moskowitz provides wonderfully detailed explanations of what the ingredients are and how to use them. A great addition to your cookbook and recipe library whether you want to eat vegan, vegetarian, don't like eggs, or just want to try some different things for brunch!
• 
  Jenn "JR"

  I have been starting to use some of the recipes in this cookbook and quickly realize - the proportions are intended for a hosted brunch - not for breakfast for two! The "Banana Rabanada" (Brasilian style french toast) turned out to be enough for at least four people - so I might cut down the recipe next time. The frittata recipes are great - as are the scone recipes. I really am having a lot of fun with this cookbook - esp as a way to share my passion with a friend who loves food but who doesn't cook much or know what to cook "vegan" - the book is written well and the pages and recipes are laid out in a very easy to read/digest format.
  
  
• 
  Samantha

  This is a book that will shut everyone I know's faces. I am the only vegan and vegetarian I know. All I ever hear is talk about me only eating salads or chopped veggie platters with dip. I make these dishes, take pictures of them and send it to everyone to make them jealous. Not to mention serve them up to people when ever I can. I love all of Isa's cookbooks. Have them all. I really love the fact that this isn't a "healthy" vegan breakfast book. To me brunch is supposed to be far from anything diet. It's supposed to be a non-stop feast till you roll back in bed due to a food coma. I truly recommend this cookbook for all vegans!
• 
  Rachel

  I really rather liked this Vegan Brunch cookbook, more than I thought I would given that most brunch recipes are heavy in eggs and cow's milk. Honestly though, I'm pretty sure there is nothing that Moskowitz can't make look awesome. I've really enjoyed her other cookbooks as well. There were scrumptious recipes that I wanted to try like Pumpkin Pancakes and Gingerbread Waffles, as well as savory treats like the Potato Spinach Squares. She even managed to make tempeh sound good in the Tempeh Sausage Puff Pastry with the Navy Bean Gravy. Well worth looking at for people who want to add some fun egg and dairy-less recipes to their repertoire. 4 stars.