Vegan Diner: Classic Comfort Food for the Body and Soul Paperback – March 8, 2011

I ordered and received this cookbook recently. My first impression is that the cover picture and other pictures in the book are beautiful. This book also has a good quality. Great publisher!Now, I believe this is the first vegan cookbook by Julie Hasson. Good for you Julie! I tried several recipes already and everything I tried was delicious. Here are the list I tried:THE BLUE PLATE SPECIAL (under Main Courses, pg 107) - With a name of a dish like that who doesn't want to try it? I know you have to make 3 things to make a blue plate special: Savory Cornbread Waffle, Smoky Potato Scramble, and Creamy Sage and Pepper Gravy but they are all delicious by itself and combined together. I actually made them on a Sunday night and pack them for lunch the next day. I gave my husband an instruction how to eat them: crispy waffle on the bottom, top with scramble and gravy. My husband called me from work after consuming this lunch and said that it was the best lunch that he had lately. We had the leftover for dinner, too! Yummy!BREAKFAST BENEDICTS FLORENTINE (under Breakfast, pg. 48) - we had breakfast food for dinner or lunch. It was great and all the same. I didn't really make my own English Muffin or the veg sausage, shame on me (I used gimme lean, but the I made the Hollandaise sauce from this book. It is a wonderful meal!CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT SWIRL BREAD (under Breads, pg. 57) - Now, this is a WINNER. Hazelnuts, chocolate, and cinnamon? Boy, the combinations will make your mouth water. It turned out to be a huge bread (pictured) and I gave half to my neighbor (now they owe me for the rest of their life) and they loved it. I just microwave for 30 seconds when eating the leftover bread and the chocolate will melt in the bread and in my mouth. It was best when it just came out of the oven. If you love bread, you got to try this! We had this bread for the whole week in the morning with coffee. Oooooooh, so good!QUICK AND HEARTY CHILI (under Soups, Salads, and Sides, pg. 70) - yummy and quick! This is the kind of chili that is not chunky and will be good to put on a veggie dog or french fries (as chili fries). It can win a chili cook off. Really!NOT YOUR MAMA'S POT ROAST WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES (under Main Courses, pg. 117) - It was a great seitan dish and was very easy. I use my crockpot and just left it to do it's own thing while I watch TV. How cool is that? Just be careful of the salt content, especially, if you use a salty vegetable stock. Or the dish will become too salty. I had to reduce the soy sauce and the marmite yeast paste.BARBEQUED RIBZ (under Main Courses, pg. 112) - I know it is not summer yet and it's too cold to bbq outside but I just can't wait. This is my favorite. I used oven's broiler. It's not the same as grilling it but the taste is still great. I am loving it!CHIPOTLE SCALLION DOUBLE CORNBREAD (under Breads, pg. 55) - I like the idea of Chipotle powder and scallions in this corn bread. It tastes good but the texture is a bit odd and gummy. I don't know what I did wrong or maybe I didn't bake it enough. Or maybe the kernel corns were not thawed enough. Really don't know. I may try it again. We had this with Quick and Hearty Chili.We didn't try the desserts yet since I am trying to cut down on sugar but they look good. Julie is always creating great desserts so I don't doubt that they are all delicious.I will try more recipes later and they all look so good. It was a great investment and I will use this cookbook as often as I can.

I learned of this book back in 2012, on the PPK boards. It was one of my earliest vegan cookbooks purchased, because of the rave reviews for so many of its recipes - and my newly vegan palate's memory and fondness of "comfort food".This is one of my top 3 vegan cookbooks - if not for the number of recipes I use regularly, but for the *ADORATION* I have of the ones I make over and over again:Smoky Soy Curls = vegan bacon - best stand-in I've had in the last 2 years; even my visiting omni brother and sister-in-law demand it over my omni husband's usual eggs/bacon breakfast. Amazing as a side to tofu scramble, incredible in BLTs, over the top mixed with a bit of homemade bbq sauce (see below) and topped - with red onion, cilantro, and homemade vegan mozz - on a BBQ "chicken" homemade pizza (using, of course, Julie's homemade pizza dough from her Vegan Pizza book!)Veggies & Dumplings Stew = my favorite vegan dish EVER. I omit the broccoli to keep it more celery/onion/carrot-y, like chicken soup is/was, but I add in a bit of miso for salt and depth, and ALWAYS use some chickenless broth-soaked soy curls. It is HEAVENLY, easy, and ALWAYS hits the spot. Dumplings are amazingly plump and puffy.Rough Rider BBQ sauce = Smoky, sweet, simple, and better than any bbq sauce I've ever made or purchased. It is also forgiving with substitutions as needed.Chocolate Chip Skillet Pie= omni family's FAVORITE dessert, hands-down. Made easily in a pie plate (if no skillet), and still delicious and crisp and chewy.Blueberry Nutmeg Muffins = the ONLY blueberry muffins my omni preteen will touch. After insisting she HATED blueberry muffins, she sampled one of these that I made for company, and immediately served herself two!I can wax poetic, but I hope I've made my persuasive case for these faves above. If you are eating vegan for ethical reasons/animal love, and you loved your pregan comfort food/diner food, this book hits the spot!

This cookbook is amazing! I can't remember exactly what drew me to it but I'm so glad I indulged and bought another cookbook. I have made the Biscuits and Creamy Sage Gravy, Diner Granola, Banana Chocolate Chip Bread, Cinnamon-Sugar Bread, Sandwich Slaw, Q Sandwiches (BBQ), Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets, Ooey-Gooey Brownies, Creamy Tomato Dressing, Diner House Dressing and Great Smoky Mountain Cheeze. Wow, I guess I've covered a lot more ground than I thought!Almost every single recipe is incredibly delicious and comforting. There are so many more I want to try including the cinnamon-orange rolls, chili, onion rings, different burger recipes and numerous desserts but I need more time and calories to spare! I will get around to all of them eventually! :) If you are thinking about buying this cookbook at all, I recommend you go for it just for the Creamy Tomato Dressing and Diner Granola alone!!! I am officially hooked on the dressing. It is creamy, smoky, rich and actually somewhat nutritious as it has tomatoes and nutritional yeast in it. It makes any drab salad taste decadent. You may be thinking, "Granola? Anyone can make tasty granola." Well, Ms. Hasson has perfected it. It is super easy and delicious. Even my carnivorous boyfriend has been demanding I have it on hand at all times. In fact, he made it himself last week. There are about six ingredients in it and it takes about a half an hour to make. I can't stop making it and I'm not sure if I'll be able to go back to the convenience of store brought granola!If you're feeling the need for some yummy, cruelty-free, comfort food, this is the book for you!

My daughter wanted this book and she is enjoying it very much. Would recommend this book to anyone who wants to try a healthier lifestyle.