Oh She Glows Cookbook: review, recipe, and giveaway

As I read reviews of Angela Lidden's new cookbook, I was mentally trying to figure out how I could possibly fit another cookbook into my collection, because it was obvious I would have to buy it. Described as a book lush with gorgeous photos of fabulous recipes, it sounded like just the sort of cookbook I would spend hours perusing. I love a good cookbook with lots of beautiful images. I had resigned myself to buying a copy when the publisher unexpectedly offered me a review copy. That was an offer I couldn't refuse. And, yes, it's filled with glorious photos, and yes, the recipes look and sound deliciously tempting.

The Oh She Glows Cookbook provides a great deal of basic ingredient, how-to and kitchen equipment knowledge, as well as insight into the author's personal health journey. The chapters include: my natural foods pantry; my favorite kitchen tools & equipment; breakfast, smoothies, juice & tea; appetizers; salads; soup; entrées; sides; power snacks; desserts; homemade staples; and basic cooking chart. There are more than 100 recipes included in the collection, and each one is introduced with an engaging paragraph by the author, Angela Liddon.

Terrible night/no light photo of wonderful brownies. Bah humbug.

I was delighted to find a familiar recipe in the collection. Although I am acquainted with Angela's beautiful blog, Oh She Glows, (really, who isn't — it's one of the most popular vegan blogs on the Internet), I had only made one of her recipes before — gluten-free chocolate almond brownies. They were terrific, and may be the only brownies I'll ever make again. I served them at a dinner party, and they were a huge hit — no one would ever guess they were gluten-free. The recipe in the cookbook, is essentially identical to the version on Angela's blog, so you can give it a try if you'd like to sample one of her sweet treats.

In 2009, Angela created an energy bar so popular, her enthusiastic fans practically demanded that she sell them, so she started a one-woman bakery where she cranked out 500 glo bars a week. By herself. Since I had all the ingredients on hand, it seemed like a good idea to whip up a dozen of the celebrated bars — they looked and sounded so good. They were easy to make, and I have to say I like them better than just about any other bar I've tasted. They are filled with wholesome  ingredients, and not too sweet. I'm going to share some with Miss E and her family, tonight, and keep some in my freezer for me. Angela has included two of her many glo bar recipes in her cookbook, and the one I made is the classic glo bar. And guess what? I searched and found the recipe online for you. You can see it here. (I made mine with puffed rice and sunflower seed butter.)

The publisher sent me a list of recipes I could publish, and my decision on which one to choose was based on two factors — the ingredients I had on hand, and the one my son wanted. There were two recipes on the list I could make without going shopping, and they both sounded good, but my son had been hit by a potent bug that laid him low, and put him into the hospital overnight, and I wanted to bring him food, so he got to choose. When I offered the two options, he and his girlfriend chose eat your greens detox soup. The soup uses ordinary pantry ingredients, with extraordinary results. I made the recipe pretty much as written except I didn't have enough fresh mushrooms, so I subbed half the mushrooms with reconstituted dried shiitakes, and added the mushroom soaking water to the broth. I also used half kale and half chard since I couldn't quite harvest enough of either from my little container garden. I didn't use nori, and I did add freshly squeezed lemon juice (and some fresh chives). I thought the soup was wonderfully rich and intense, and I highly recommend it. (Look below the recipe to see how I used the leftovers.)

Eat your greens detox soup
Serves 3

• 1 1/2 tsp coconut oil or olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups sliced cremini or white button mushrooms (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
• fine grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 to 3 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 2 large nori seaweed sheets, cut into 1 inch strips (optional)
• 2 cups torn kale leaves
• fresh lemon juice, for serving (optional)

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.
2. Add the mushrooms, carrots, and broccoli, and stir to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper and saute for 5 minutes more.
3. Stir in the ginger, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon, and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant.
4. Add the broth and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10-20 minutes.
5. Just before serving, stir in the nori (if using) and kale, and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, if desired.

Reprinted by arrangement with AVERY, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © GLO BAKERY CORPORATION, 2014.

The soup was so flavorful that I used some the next day to top a noodle bowl. I added some leftover lima beans to the soup, for protein, and separately cooked bean thread noodles. The leftover soup made a perfect noodle bowl, as the intense flavor held its own when combined with the noodles. (To cook the dried noodles, I placed them, nearly covered with water, in a small glass container, and microwaved them for one minute. I turned the noodles over and microwaved one additional minute. They were perfectly cooked and ready to use. You could also pre-soak them in warm water until softened, then add them to the soup pot to cook for a few minutes, or cook them separately in a small pot if you don't want them to soak up all the soup stock.)

FYI, most of the recipes in the Oh She Glows Cookbook are gluten-free, or can easily be made gluten-free, if that is a concern of yours. If it's not a concern, don't worry about it — it probably won't even enter your mind as you make the recipes. Though the techniques are easy, and the ingredients accessible, the results are wonderfully complex and satisfying. There are so many tempting dishes in The Oh She Glows Cookbook that I can hardly wait to get back into the kitchen; enlightened miso power bowl and creamy vegetable curry beckon. This is a book you might want to own!

The giveaway is now ended and the winner has been notified.

Avery, the publisher of The Oh She Glows Cookbook, has generously agreed to send a copy of Angela's book to one lucky reader of my blog in the U.S. or Canada in celebration of U.S. Veg Week, April 21 to 27. There are no hoops to jump through on this blog — just leave a comment (with a link to your blog or email address), by midnight, April 15, and you'll be entered to win. I'll randomly select a winner using the random number generator. ( It's important that I can reach you to tell you if you are the winner, so be sure your entry links to a contact email.)

Full disclosure: The book was sent to me free of charge with the expectation of a review. All opinions are my own.

Naturally Sweet and Gluten Free: review, recipe and giveaway

Today's my day to host a stop on the blog tour for Ricki Heller's new cookbook, Naturally Sweet and Gluten-Free. I just want to say before I begin, that you need this book. Whether or not you have food sensitivities, you probably have friends who do, and how great would it make you feel to be able to make your friends a fabulous dessert they can enjoy? Not to mention that you will love the desserts, too, because this isn't just a great gluten-free dessert book, it's a great dessert book. Period.

Seriously, Ricki is the wizard of healthy, allergy-free desserts — maybe because she's had lots of practice in dessert-making and-eating. With a monster sweet tooth, she's struggled all her life with sugar cravings. When health issues forced her to rethink her diet, she developed new recipes that were both indulgent yet suitable for her new way of life.

Ricki says, "As more and more of us seek a healthier diet and lifestyle, finding a dessert that tastes great without contributing in some way to ill health can seem like an impossible task. After all, isn't a 'healthy dessert' an oxymoron? We're left wondering: is it possible to enjoy authentic desserts without consuming any of these unhealthy foods? With this book, I hope to prove that you can have your cake and great health too!"

A pan of freshly baked butterscotch blondies, cooling.

There are 100 recipes for wonderful desserts that look and taste amazing. Everything from cheesecakes to cupcakes to butter tarts to bundt cakes, whoopie pies, cookies, ice cream and raw cookie dough bites have been perfected for your table. In addition to the recipes and lots of gorgeous photos, there are more than 30 pages of information covering topics like supplying the pantry, ingredients, tips and techniques, and kitchen equipment. Speaking of ingredients, it's true that if you are already cooking and baking to accommodate allergies or other health issues, your pantry may be stocked with foods many people have never heard of, but many of our pantries may be missing some of the less typical ingredients. If using recipes with unusual ingredients has you worried, fear not, Ricki provides loads of substitutions for less common items. Don't have coconut sugar on hand? It's OK to use regular sugar. You may even find that expanding your pantry to include a few new ingredients, can be a good thing.

One of my favorite recipes from Ricki's first cookbook was Butterscotch Blondies. (recipe to follow) In fact, I was so fixated on the blondies that I almost couldn't make anything else. (Click here to see the old recipe on her blog.) In her new book, Ricki has updated the recipe to make it gluten-free and allergy-friendly without compromising the yummy flavor and great chewy texture. Of course, the blondies were the first thing I made from Naturally Sweet and Gluten-Free, and it took a lot of will-power to make myself try another recipe rather than making the blondies again and again. (I didn't have goji berries so I used dried cranberries, but next time I'm thinking of using dried bananas.)

But, in the interest of maintaining a balanced diet, ahem, I whipped up a batch of Easiest Almond Cookies. When I was a child, my family used to go to Philadelphia's Chinatown every Sunday night for dinner before visiting my aunt, uncle and cousin in West Philly. To complete the meal, I always ordered an almond cookie for dessert. When I saw Ricki's recipe, I was eager to revisit my childhood memory. Ricki doesn't place an almond in the center of her cookies, but I just had to press one into each cookie so they would look like the ones from the Dragon Gate restaurant. Ricki's cookies are chewier and a little less sweet, but just as delicious as the ones I remember.

When I first saw Ricki's recipe for Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, on her blog, I was skeptical, to put it mildly. Rather than being made with a stick of butter, it's made with sweet potato. Eewww, right? I was so surprised by the ingredients, I had to try it for myself, and now it doesn't even seem weird to me. The taste and texture are fabulous, and everyone I've served it to loves it as much as I do. Actually, no one has a clue the frosting contains sweet potatoes — and I don't always tell.

Sellers Publishing has given me permission to share Ricki's recipe for Butterscotch Blondies, and I've provided links to the other recipes mentioned in my post. In addition, the publisher will send a free copy of the cookbook to one of my readers, randomly selected from the commenters. If you want to be eligible to win, please be sure your comment is connected to an email address so I can contact you. The book drawing is limited to North America, but please don't let that stop you from leaving a comment. I love comments! If you live in North America and wish to be entered in the drawing, please type 'book' after your comment. The contest is open until midnight, Oct. 19.

Butterscotch Blondies with Chocolate Chips and Goji Berries                Makes 16

These are a favorite dessert in our house. They are rich tasting and chewy, and the combination of lucuma with coconut sugar and coconut nectar is, I think, very reminiscent of butterscotch. I love using dried, super-healthy goji berries in these bars, but dried cherries or cranberries work just as well. In fact, feel free to stir in any additions you like, as long as you keep the same proportions. For instance, one alternative I really enjoy is pistachios and chopped dried apricots. ~ Ricki

• 1 cup (135 g) Ricki's All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Mix (see page 22)*
• ¾ cup (75 g) whole oat flour (to make your own, see page 35)
• 3 Tbsp (45 ml) lucuma powder
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
• ½ tsp (2.5 ml) baking soda
• ¼ tsp (1 ml) fine sea salt
• 1 tsp (5 ml) xanthan gum (use only Bob’s Red Mill brand if you are concerned about a corn allergy)
• ⅓ cup (25 g) coconut sugar
• 1 Tbsp (15 ml) water
• ½ cup (120 ml) coconut nectar
• ⅛ tsp (.5 ml) pure stevia powder or
• ¼ tsp (1 ml) pure plain or vanilla stevia liquid, or to taste
• ⅓ cup (90 ml) sunflower or other light-tasting oil, preferably organic
• 1 Tbsp (30 ml) pure vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp (1 ml) rum, butterscotch, or brandy flavoring (optional)
• ½ cup (100 g) unsweetened carob chips or dairy-free dark chocolate chips
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) dried goji berries, cherries, cranberries, or dried fruit of your choice

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚F (170˚C). Line an 8-inch (20-cm) square pan with parchment paper, or spray well with nonstick spray.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, lucuma powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. 
3. In a large bowl, mix the coconut sugar and water until the sugar begins to dissolve. Add the coconut nectar, stevia, oil, vanilla, and flavoring, if using, until well blended. Gently stir in the chips and gojis.
4. Pour the dry mixture over the wet ingredients and stir to blend. You will have a thick and sticky batter. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through baking, until a tester inserted in the center comes out just barely clean (a moist crumb or two is fine). Take care not to overbake, as these will dry out! The top may fall a little as it cools; this is fine. Allow to cool completely in pan before cutting into squares. May be frozen. 

*You can use your favorite GF flour mix, Bob's Red Mill GF flour mix, etc.

This material is copyrighted. Please do not reproduce without the publishers permission.

Full disclosure: I received the cookbook without cost. All opinions are my own. I was not paid for my review.

Roasted squash and yam soup with poblano peppers / veganmofo 2009

I recently did a review of Anna Thomas' new cookbook, "Love Soup." I know I said in my review that the next soup I planned to make was a roasted eggplant and garbanzo bean soup but when Anna Thomas herself left a comment on the post recommending her roasted squash and yam soup with poblano peppers, well, what could I do? I had to try it. Just like the other two soups, it was rich and wonderful. We made it with butternut squash instead of the kabocha or buttercup from the recipe because that's what the co-op had. Other than that, and forgetting to drizzle the finished soup with olive oil, we made it "by the book."

I found a youtube video of Anna Thomas making her roasted turnip and butternut squash soup. This should give you an idea of what one of her soups is like. Because she adds a small blob of mascarpone to each bowl as a garnish - unnecessary I think - the soup as she serves it isn't vegan. You could whip a little tofu cream cheese and add it if you felt the soup needed it, or just serve it as is with the other garnishes.



As it turns out, because of a mailing issue, I just got another copy of the cook book. So, lets have a giveaway! If you leave a comment telling me you want this book, I'll randomly choose a winner and send it off. You have until midnight Oct. 15, to leave a comment.