I’m really baffled by this book. I don’t know what to make of it at all. It’s just really weird. The premise seems to be that vegans all live off seitan, tofu and tempeh and need lots of recipes full of other ingredients. Well, I don’t, but obviously I don’t mind the idea. There’s certainly nothing alternative about it though! And there just doesn’t seem to be all that much to eat in the book. Well its got lots of recipes in, but few of them seem to be for meals. It’s also a very odd mixture of Indian food scattered with other foods, and some are really easy pasta dishes next to dishes with loads of ingredients. Some of the recipes have a very short introduction and instructions, whereas others ramble on for pages. It’s almost like its a collection of recipes written by about five different people! I’m not saying that there aren’t decent looking recipes in it, because there are, especially the Indian ones, but it’s quite hard to get into and crack on with. It looks like it’s currently being republished, so I don’t know if anything will change in the new version.
Any recommendations people?
Cooking the Vegan Books 
I haven’t cooked much from this book as well, probably for the same reasons. And since tofu has been used in Asia for ages I don’t see it as a mean meat substitute.
The banana bread is really, really great. It has only a couple of ingredients. The author doesn’t list the baking temperature, though. I’ve had success with 40 minutes at 350°F/180°C.
I can’t get into this at all either. I bought it because there was quite a buzz about it but nothing inspires me from it and I’ve never used it. I don’t always use tofu, seitan or tempeh (especially tempeh as I can’t stand it!) and most of my books have tons of recipes that don’t use those so like you I’m unsure about what the book is aiming for and why it was quite so popular…
I think it’s important that you read the prefaces and intros to the books you are reviewing so that you know where the authors are coming from. It’s really not that strange after reading it.
Recipes to try:
– dry cooked garbanzos
– jimmy crack corn
– banana bread
I do read the prefaces, always. I just don’t agree with the author of this book that other cookbooks are all bursting with only tofu and seitan.