Tracy's Top Ten

If I was moving to another continent, or a little shack in the woods, and I had to limit the number of cookbooks I took with me, to say, ten, these are the ones I would pack:



Vegan with a Vengeance

For original flavourful recipes, and veganized versions of old-favourites, this cookbook beats all others, hands down. Most of the recipes require some effort and planning, but the cook is well-rewarded with a fantastic meal.



150 Vegan Favourites

This is a great book for “quicker” weeknight dinners. I’ve made most of the dishes and haven’t been let down (flipping through my copy, most of the pages have my note “Good!” written on them). Many of the recipes contain beans or lentils, which I love. There isn’t a lot of tofu in the book.



Vegan Planet

This must be the largest collection of vegan recipes in a printed volume, save my sister’s kitchen binder. I like how the flavours of different parts of the world are featured, and most things I’ve tried have come out well. This book is a great buy for the price.




Mangoes and Curry Leaves

This is a beautiful travel journal and cookbook in one, adorned with breathtaking photographs. While it isn’t completely vegan, or even vegetarian for that matter, the food from the Subcontinent is generally very vegan-friendly. The recipes call for oil instead of ghee, and the wonderful stories are worth reading, even if you ignore the recipes from the meaty chapters.



The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

My recent obsession with bread brought me to this book to learn artisan bread techniques. Most of the general bread recipes are vegan in that they use flour, water, salt and yeast, but I wish more of the recipes for holiday breads were vegan.



The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet

Again not all vegan, but great for weeknight dinners when you don’t have time to do a lot of chopping.



Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

This is not a vegan cookbook, but when I’m looking for how to cook something, or for a basic recipe that I might be able to veganize, I look here. Not everything I’ve tried from this book has turned out well, though. The Tortilla Soup was hotter than Hades.



Jump Up and Kiss Me

Not strictly vegan, but great spicy dishes and the ones I’ve made have been over-the-top fantastic.





Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen/Vegan Italiano

Some of these recipes were good, especially the pasta dishes. I couldn’t really choose between these two cookbooks, as for my palate, they are virtually identical. If pushed, I would choose Vegan Italiano first.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

This is a super dessert book, with cute cupcake photos. It would make a great gift for anyone. My only complaint is that eating cupcakes makes me gain weight.