The Natural Vegan Kitchen, review and recipe | Mighty-O wins

The Natural Vegan Kitchen, by Christine Waltermyer, is my kind of cookbook. The recipes are a fusion of vegan and macrobiotic cooking, with whole, unrefined foods that are delicious and satisfying. There are a few more raw foods and less salt as well as more "cultural variety in meals, such as Mexican, Indian and Italian versions of macrobiotic recipes" than you usually find in traditional macrobiotic cooking. The recipes are appealing, well-balanced and easy to prepare, making them suitable for beginners as well as experienced cooks. We loved the meals prepared with Christine's recipes.


Moroccan Stew

I asked my husband to choose a few recipes to test, and he must have been feeling nostalgic, because two of the recipes he chose began with the word, "mom's," as in Mom's Vegetarian Beef Stew and Mom's Potato Salad. He also chose Moroccan Stew Over Couscous.


Mom's Potato Salad

All three of the dishes were easy to prepare and wonderful, though we drastically reduced the amount of mayo in the potato salad because I can't stand gloppy salads. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other salads and salad dressings like Arugula with Pecans and Pears, Creamy Pumpkin Seed Dressing and Raspberry-Poppy Seed Dressing, as well as the lovely-sounding grain, bean and vegetable dishes. Most of the recipes are marked as gluten-free, or can be made gluten-free.


Moroccan Stew over Brown Rice Couscous

I'm happy to be able to share one of the recipes with you, courtesy of The Book Publishing Company.


Mom's Vegetarian Beef Stew served over brown Basmati rice

Mom's Vegetarian Beef Stew (Reprinted with permission. Please do not re-post.)

• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon grapeseed (or other) oil
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 5 cups cubed and peeled rutabagas (we used turnips)
• 4 large carrots, cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1-inch chunks
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• ground black pepper
• 2 cups bite-sized seitan chunks
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas
• 2 tablespoons wheat-free tamari
• 1 tablespoons kuzu starch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water (or arrowroot or cornstarch)

1. Heat the water and oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of the salt. Cook and stir for 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the rutabaga, carrots, broth, remaining salt, and pepper to taste.
3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.
4. Add the seitan, peas, tamari, and kuzu mixture. Cook for 5 minutes longer.
5. Serve hot, with a slice of your favorite bread for dipping.

Christine Waltermyer is the founder and director of the Natural Kitchen Cooking School, with classes offered in New York and New Jersey. With more than a decade of experience in the field of natural cooking, Christine is a masterful chef and teacher, specializing in macrobiotic and vegan cuisines. She teaches cooking classes for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's (PCRM) Cancer Project and has co-taught with legendary natural food leader Michio Kushi at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of the book. All opinions are my own, humble opinions.

Head over to The Book Publishing Company Web site where you can enter to win a vegan cookbook.

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The Mighty-O Donut wins on the Food Network


Miss E tucks into "a pink one."

Sara Beth Russert is The Food Network's first doughnut champion. Sara Beth makes the famous vegan, organic Mighty-O Donuts in the Walingford neighborhood in Seattle, which just happens to be a few blocks from my house. I'm not going to pretend that ANY doughnuts are particularly healthy, but if you look at the ingredient list of a Mighty-O Donut versus a "normal" doughnut, there's a vast difference in both the number and kinds of ingredients you'll find. The ingredient list of a Mighty-O looks pretty much like it would for a baked good you were making at home. Even though I live around the corner, I rarely go there, because I don't eat a lot of fried foods, but I'm still happy that an organic, vegan doughnut won first place! Congratulations Mighty-O! I did head over to Mighty-O the other day with Miss E in tow, and after touching and smelling every flower between my house and the shop, and collecting numerous walking sticks, we each enjoyed a freshly-baked doughnut. Actually, she enjoyed the glazed top half of her doughnut!