A Review of America Test Kitchen’s The Complete Plant Based Cookbook

The Complete Plant Based Cookbook

Plant-based diets have been all the rage recently, with everyone trying to eat less meat and include more plant proteins in their meals. Just take a look at all of the meat substitutes in the refrigerated and freezer cases these days. In our home, we’re trying to eat a Mediterranean-style diet with less red meat and more seafood and vegetables, but sometimes, you need inspiration. That’s why I was interested in this book. Many plant-based recipes I tried in the past weren’t something I would make again. Some were not very satisfying and others weren’t good enough, so I wanted to see if this book could change my mind.

The Complete Plant Based Cookbook gives recommendations and ideas for stocking a plant-based pantry and includes successful substitutions for things we’re used to and okay with eating, but others may want to remove from their diet, such as egg whites. Did you know that the liquid from canned chickpeas, known as aquafaba, can be whipped like egg whites or give texture and structure to dishes and baked goods? Cashews have also become a widespread substitution for cream and dairy products in vegan recipes, but how about jackfruit in place of shredded chicken or pork? This book helps build a plant-based meal from menu suggestions and what they call “Building-Block Recipes” that will be your go-to for many recipes in the book if you’re only eating plant-based foods. These include ways to prepare a fish sauce substitute and “Cheez” Sauce.

However, if you’re like me and want to add more veggies and eat less meat, and are fine with the other ingredients (like fish sauce), there are options for almost all of the recipes to use dairy products, such as regular milk instead of soy milk and regular cheese instead of vegan substitutes. If you’re counting calories, carbs, and proteins, they also include nutritional information at the back of the book. With everything from baked goods, to salads and soups, to main dishes and desserts, this book could become a bible for people on serious plant-based diets and others wanting to eat healthy meals without meat.

We enjoyed many recipes from this book, including a few salad dressing recipes, but I’m going to give cauliflower the spotlight for my two choices. The first pick is Creamy Curried Cauliflower Soup. I love Asian-inspired flavors with curry, ginger, lime juice, and coconut milk (my husband and I both do), so I first opted for this recipe. And it did not disappoint. It was rich and creamy (blended in the Wolf Gourmet High-Performance Blender). I liked the contrast in texture with the browned florets to finish the soup, along with the crunchy green onions and drizzle of oil. It was elegant and satisfying enough for a meal, so we didn’t have anything other than a green salad to go along with it. This soup would also make a lovely starter for a dinner party with an Asian-themed menu.

Everyone loves a good pasta dish, so I also chose to include Campanelle with Roasted Cauliflower, Garlic, and Walnuts. I enjoyed the textures and flavors in this dish with the curly pasta, roasted heads of garlic (two whole heads), and roasted cauliflower. Both of these roasting techniques lent an extraordinary but subtle sweetness to the pasta. A lot was going on in the final dish that’s finished with chopped parsley, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and chopped toasted walnuts. We also liked extra grated cheese to finish, using imported Parmigiano Reggiano in place of the vegan substitute. I added a little more red pepper flakes than suggested, as we prefer dishes with a little more kick. The pasta was a beautiful and satisfying dish, and we didn’t miss the meat a bit. It would be a lovely recipe to serve to guests for the main dish or side dish. It also held well and made excellent leftovers the next day.