Veganize This! Cookbook Review

"Until I read Veganize This! by Jenn Shagrin, I had mistakenly assumed – like many people – that there’s always a limit to what dishes can be “veganized.” But vegan chef Shagrin proves that she can veganize even the most seemingly impossible recipes, including Jumbo Lump Jackfruit Crab Cakes with Spanish Garlic Mayonnaise, Quatto Formaggio White Truffle Macaroni & Cheese, Chicken-Fried Tofu Steak, and Coconut Ice Cream Pie. Her best-known vegan version is “Twinkies®”, which she spent more than two months perfecting! The recipe is for the original vanilla-flavored version, but you can get creative with other flavors to create your favorite “Twinkie®”. Apart from the 200 animal-free recipes, my favorite part about Veganize This! was Shagrin herself. A comedienne by day, she infuses this cookbook with funny asides and an overall humorous tone – one section of the book devoted to wheat meat is called “Hail Seitan! And His Followers.” Shagrin also incorporates her vegan wisdom in a “Shaggy Kitchen Tip” with each recipe, which is especially helpful for some of the more challenging recipes. Whether you’re a recent convert looking for tasty animal-free recipes or a life-long vegan in need of some new recipes, Veganize This! is a fun and delicious read – a must for any vegan kitchen."

"I found the Veganize This! cookbook to be really useful and filled with lots of unique Vegan recipes, things a Vegan never thought they would be able to eat. With her brazen and sassy style of writing, author Jenn Shagrin grabs your attention right off the bat (even if you aren't vegan!). Maybe it's the spunky title with exclamation point included, but it sure got my attention. As far as the recipes, I especially found her  Cheesy Vegan Corn Chips (page 123) to be a must-make item, it looks simple enough and delicious. Likewise the Vegan Peanut Butter Dream Pie (page 214) sounds equally delectable. Don't even get me started on the Vegan Twinkies (page 198) I'm still trying to get over that those can even exist. So as far as Vegans go, or even just the adventurous eater, this cookbook's got what you need."

"This cookbook is ideal for anyone who has a sense of humor and/or any interest whatsoever in meat free and dairy free recipes. This cookbook is totally made for vegans, as it has some terrific vegan recipes. From holiday dishes to barbecue fare, think of this cookbook as a vegan survival guide for a meat eating world. However, even meat eaters will swoon over recipes like Vegan Twinkies and Vegan Meatballs. If you're not convinced that vegan recipes are for you, just check out the color pictures in the middle, and you will soon be drooling. Plus, I loved how much author Jenn Shagrin's offbeat sense of humor and unique storytelling really permeates this entire book. Reading each recipe, you can almost feel Shagrin standing next to you talking about each recipe. Even you are the farthest thing from a vegan, there is still a recipe in this cookbook that you will enjoy."

"Veganize This!: I was reluctant to even crack open this book because I'm pretty much the exact opposite of vegan. Reading vegan recipes only manages to send me further into reverie about the succulent superiority of real animal products. Although Veganize This! impressed me with a ton of inventive recipes for meat and dairy substitutes, I trudged through it unwillingly, grumbling about how there's no vegetable product that could seriously compare to real pancetta. But then I encountered the Vegan Jumbo Lump Jackfruit Crab Cakes with Spanish Garlic Mayonnaise and Warm Saffron Nage. I'm allergic to shellfish, and I could really care less about all the other crustaceans that eliminates from my diet, but crab is one of those divine foods I can't live without. In fact, I love crab so much that I sometimes sneak a bite and suffer through the rest of the day trying to itch the inside of my inflamed throat with my own tongue. The idea of a food that even comes close to the experience of real crab cakes is beyond tempting. So thank you to Jenn Shagrin, the author of Veganize This!, for creating the first vegan recipe I've ever actually wanted to try. Want to know the second? Vegan marshmallows, also from Veganize This! Whatever fluffy white blobs you're buying in a package from the grocery store don't contain anything you can recognize, so at least vegan marshmallows don't have any "real" foods to compete with, right?"