I always enjoy Mark Bittman and his recipes. I got this because my son has anaphylaxis dairy allergies and thought we may get some good ideas for some breakfast and lunches - as well as the recipes from dinner. There are some, but the book is greatly hindered by the reliance on tofu and I’ve marked it lower than normal Mark Bittman books as a result. My son is allergic to soy and I try to limit it to a “once in a while” food due to a personal need to limit my estrogen (I have endometriosis which already has excess estrogen), as well as the issues around non-organic soy and GMO’s. I would be much more excited about vegan recipes that don’t just replace meat, dairy or eggs with tofu! And I think most people feel the same way and would be more likely to incorporate into their daily lives.

Mark Bittman is an excellent author and a couple of his cookbooks are my main go to cookbooks. This is a good cookbook, not as good as some of his others. it was surprising that the end of the book had decidedly non-vegan recipes.

Love the orange and black soup and the African peanut soup. Checked this out from the library but I think I'm going to have to buy this one.

Possibly my new favorite cookbook - includes a month's meal plan and plenty of variation ideas for each recipe. He makes it all sound so easy!

I need quick breakfasts and easy-to-pack lunches to keep my husband well-fed around his work, and most cookbooks don’t touch on those areas. We now have smoothies from the VB6 cookbook nearly every morning, which has nicely also cut down on my tendency to get beignets at our local cafe. One of my favorite features of this cookbook–something that far too few cookbook authors indulge in–is a willingness to include variations on each recipe. This helps you adapt recipes to your tastes, and means that the cookbook contains much more than it looks like it does.

This goes back to those smoothies I mentioned: the smoothie recipe includes four basic recipes as well as suggestions for varying seasonings and flavors beyond that. The basic smoothie recipe is for one serving, but is easily multiplied. I liked the melon lime smoothie, although if I had it to do over I’d use the silken tofu instead of the non-dairy milk; melon is watery, so the smoothie was very thin even with the addition of ice. The strawberry balsamic smoothie is really delicious. My favorite, however, is the cherry vanilla smoothie. Where most vegan smoothie recipes that I’ve tried clearly would work better with milk–the non-dairy milk is obviously a substitute–this recipe is truly meant to work with the non-dairy milk. Almond milk flavor works perfectly with the vanilla and cherry; I tried it once with regular milk and it was actually better with the almond milk. Besides the smoothies there are some other delightful offerings–I admit I needed to add a little extra sweetening to the Autumn spice baked oatmeal, but I’m hoping to gradually work my way out of that need. It’ll definitely be a matter of taste, but then it’s really easy to add a little honey over top.

Other breakfasts include “chorizo” tacos (made with spiced tofu); no-bake pumpkin custard (I must try this one!); broccoli scramble; orange-peach parfait; and grain nuts with fruit.

My favorite of the lunches is a very easy-to-pack Sweetgreen Quinoa Salad. It includes corn, grape tomatoes, and fresh basil. I absolutely love it, and it lasts well. Not all of the lunches can be saved for later; many are meant to be served right away. Some can be reheated; others can at least be refrigerated for a few hours. The recipes are delicious and not overly complex. Some examples are caponata mixed rice; curried spinach and tofu; vegetable pot pie; eggplant meatballs; and peas and carrots salad.

The snacks chapter provides more items that I like to include in a lunchbox, or of course snack on when I’m trying to hold out until dinner. The cucumber quickles came out very well–vinegary, spicy, and just a little sweet. There are variations provided for pickling other vegetables as well (cauliflower, carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, radishes). I also particularly like a chipotle tofu-based ‘mayo’ meant to go with carrots. Spicy and delicious.

Bittman doesn’t go halfway on the dinners, definitely taking advantage of their more flexible nature. There’s a red paella with scallops, for example; mussels in coconut broth; chicken with fennel salad (variations include chicken cutlets with celery and watermelon salad, and pork medallions with fennel and apple salad); crisp pork on green papaya salad; vegetable curry with lamb.

The desserts chapter is good too. I find many vegan desserts are still clearly substitutes, that need to be taken on their own merits rather than compared to their ‘normal’ equivalents. I quite enjoyed the gingery mango pudding made with silken tofu. It’s never going to be the same as a richer, sweeter pudding made with dairy, but if you’re trying to stick with things that are good for you then it’s a delicious alternative. I find that the stated number of servings in these recipes lead to generous servings, which, when you’re trying to get people to switch to less fatty, more vegetable-heavy foods is a good way to go.

I truly enjoyed Mark Bittman’s “VB6 Cookbook,” and we plan to keep using it–in particular for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks.


[NOTE: Review book provided for free by Blogging for Books]

Visit my site for a review that includes photos from our own cooking: http://www.errantdreams.com/2014/07/review-the-vb6-cookbook-mark-bittman/

The opening section defines what VB6(vegan before 6) is, classifies vegetables and other ingredients by type and includes a monthlong sample menu. This is followed by a series of recipes that are vegan, but otherwise unrelated by ethnic origin or ingredients. I've cooked many of Bittner's recipes in the past, and they are good, so you can safely use them. However, I would prefer recipes to be organized in some manner.