Crossroads: Extraordinary Recipes from the Restaurant That Is Reinventing Vegan Cuisine

I have both the hard copy and the Kindle copy. I use it so much that I wanted to be able to access the recipes at all times. Lots of full-color photos throughout the book and the directions are easy to follow. I am not vegan, just vegetarian and it is so easy to modify the recipes and even add meat for my hubby.

This is a beautiful cookbook that inspires me to cook vegan. In the first week, I've made 4 recipes. I made the puttanesca sauce last weekend. There weren't any adjustments to make up for the anchovies that are usually in this sauce, but it was still delicious. I made 3 dishes last night for "tapas night" - balsamic roasted mushrooms, wrinkled potatoes with parsley vinaigrette and spice roasted garbanzos. Most of the recipes are veggies (like mushrooms, cauliflower, butternut squash, kale, corn, tomato) with pasta, farro, flatbread and/or beans (garbanzo). Flavors tend to be Mediterranean - basil, dry sherry, sherry vinegar, balsamic, mint. Recipes include things like: Hearts of Palm "calamari" with cocktail sauce & Lemon Caper Sauce, Pappardelle Bolognese, Vegetable Bouillabaisse with Rouille, Acorn Squash Ravioli with Kale & Black Garlic Butter Sauce, and Grilled Garden Vegetable Lasagna with Puttanesca Sauce. I have over 100 cookbooks, of which, about 20 are vegetarian/vegan. I don't like the ones that feature faux meat products, seitan and tempeh as much. Crossroads is one of my favorites.

Going vegan is all about learning (or in my case, re-learning) how to cook! This is an exceptional selection of vegan dishes that are GUARANTEED to satisfy any customer! I had the good fortune to dine at the actual CROSSROADS restaurant in Los Angeles, and I was blown away. This book literally teaches you how to make many of the items on the menu. Over the last 4 months, I've cooked my way through the entire book, and without being aware of it, this cookbook has made me into a vegan expert! I now know all the tricks for substituting butter, cream, animal meats, etc. And I've been introduced to tons of new ingredients: Smoked Sea Salt, Guajillo Chiles, Kite Hill Almond Ricotta, Nutritional Yeast Flakes, Dried Porcini Mushrooms, and Cashew Cream to name a few. The recipes will challenge you and make you a better cook all around -not to mention the IMMENSE gratitude you'll get from whoever tastes your cooking!

Reviewing this cookbook was a bit difficult as I was not sure if I should rate it 4 or 5 stars. The pros: The food is absolutely delicious. I now tried the following recipes: Mint Vinaigrette, Flatbread Dough, Butternut Squash-puree flatbread with mustard greens and fried brussels sprout leaves and Tagine flatbread with eggplant and minted spinach. Although I mostly tried the flatbreads for now (I will update my review when I try more recipes), everything was so delicious and flavorful, I thought I was dinning at the restaurant, but in the comfort of my home and at a much lower cost! Cons: I was disappointed to see that this cookbook is using a lot of vegan processed ingredients, for instance Kite Hill almond ricotta (Kite Hill products are used through the book since the author is part of the team developing Kite Hill artisan almond cheeses, as explained, page 77) , Field Roast Italian-Style vegan sausage, etc... Of course, these products can easily be substituted by homemade versions either found online or in other vegan cookbooks. I personally prefer cookbooks that are not using expensive vegan processed food or provide homemade options. I decided to keep the 5 stars rating because the food in this cookbook is clearly superior! If your like this type of vegan cookbooks, I would also like to recommend the new cookbook "Love is served" from Cafe Gratitude. Everything is made from scratch and the food is as good as in the restaurant. The book is also the most beautiful vegan cookbook I own (get the sturdy hardcopy!) with a picture for each single recipe!

If you enjoy special vegan protein products like "gardein," consider this a five-star book. Otherwise, theres a smaller selection of recipes, but still delicious-looking.

I don't understand some of the criticisms. This book has some technical aspects, but all the ingredients are available in any reasonably sized city, say greater than 20 to 30,000, that has a healthy market. The beauty of this book is to create elegant vegan creations that rival meat-based foods. This is gourmet food. If you want basic veggie burgers, go online! Highly recommended. My only quibble is that I would like nutritional info, and some lower fat alternatives. This is not exactly the vegan stuff Dr. Esselstyn had in mind!

I got this as a gift for my Mom. My husband & I are Vegan (6 years) and my 83 year old mother has waded enthusiastically into this lifestyle by experimenting with Sunday dinner at her house. She's become familiar with Nutritional Yeast, Flax Seed, Quinoa & Tofu, and has a number of Vegan cookbooks. This one seemed special and had some adventurous recipes, and the narratives are intelligent. She's already served up a couple of the selections, with delicious and beautiful results. I haven't yet spent a lot of time with the book, and plan to some Sunday soon. She raves about it. So I may just have to get my own copy.

Received this in last week. Made and love Scoty's Marinara sauce. Have been on a tomato recipe binge as availability of fresh tomatoes wanes here. Have ingredients for the Spicy pepper jam, Minestrone, Grilled veggie lasagne with Puttanesca Sauce. Love that can use canned tomatoes too! Vegan 2 years, cook for self and friends so not a chef! Beautiful pictures, detailed instructions. Look forward to tackling the more advanced offerings! Have many wonderful vegan cookbooks. This one I will grab and use every week! Thank you, Chef!