When I first bought Voluptuous Vegan, I was a bit intimidated by it. It’s arranged in an unusual way – not starters, main courses, desserts – but around whole meals. Nowadays I find that sensible, but back then when I didn’t cook as much I got scared and thought it ws too much work – and didn’t even realise that I could mix and match, and not bother with some of the elements of the meal if I didn’t want to. This is a perfect book if you want to spend some time cooking but you can enjoy some of the dishes even if you don’t. My only complaint is that I can’t get hold of some of the ingredients, like burdock, fiddlehead ferns, delicata squash and hominy, but that’s not the author’s fault, and there’s plenty of dishes I can make. And when I do, they never fail to impress.
I’ve got a few other Myra Kornfeld books – they aren’t vegan or even vegetarian, but I do like her cooking style. I haven’t made much from the other two (Healthy Hedonist and Healthy Hedonist Holidays), so do let me know if you’ve got any recommendations.
If you’d like to try some of the things I enjoy, these are my favourites:
Moussaka
Curried chickpea tart with fennel cauliflower sauce, herbed coconut chutney and spinach
Chilli and cornbiscuit casserole with guacasalsa
Shepherd’s pie
Pumpkin, sage and pecan ravioli
Tofu-Leek tart with pine nut crust and french lentil sauce
Cooking the Vegan Books 
Thank you for the nice review. Everything I mave made from that book so far turned out great. It’s awesome for entertaining guests.
This takes me back! I received this book as a gift years ago, and well remember those pumpkin, sage, and pecan ravioli, which I considered such a weird combination but couldn’t resist trying anyway, and was so glad I did. Myra was ahead of her time…
I borrowed this from a friend a while ago and whenever I open it I get overwhelmed and put it back on the shelf. So, thank you for this helpful review!!
That tofu leek tart…oh mama!
If you read Amey’s blog “Vegan Eats & Treats” you’ll find lots of recommendations from Healthy Hedonist.
I enjoy this book, I love the menu suggestions! It’s just finding days with the time to do it. 😉
I’ve been considering buying this book for ages! I may have to take the plunge.
I too made the curried chickpea tart as my first dish from this book and it was really nice, although quite involved if you cook the other dishes as well.
Seems to have become a ‘special day’ cook book rather than one I dip into often, but nice results when I do