We love. This book. The “Vegan Bowls” concept is straightforward : balanced meals that fit in a bowl. Authored by Zsu Dever who “hails from a long line of culinary professionals and restaurateurs”, we appreciate that she knows what she is doing in the kitchen, but keeps things simple for the rest of us.
She opens with some basic recipes on staples like vegetable broth and corn tortillas, but isn’t a bully about making things from scratch. The information is there for those who want (or need) to make everything from scratch but readers can buy veg broth just as well. Ma’am speaks my language already.
The rest is organized by bowl type: grain bowls, sauteed bowls, pasta bowls… you get the idea. There’s something for everyone and the options are diverse, both regionally (e.g., Asian noodles vs Irish stew) and by mealtime (e.g. salads and soups vs breakfast).
For our first attempt, we took on paella. This is a familiar, personal dish for both of us – Jen having studied in Spain, Ash being Persian (hence, speaking the first language of saffron). This recipe didn’t disappoint! We’ve tried a couple variants on vegan paella over the past year, and this one is definitely the favorite.
The recipe is perfect as-is, but to suit our taste, next time, we’ll probably turn up the spice to give it a little more heat and a touch more saffron. Jen didn’t love the lima beans in this context so may try a substitute bean next go-round. The zucchini we’ll chop down to size even more than was recommended and roast the tomatoes (instead of sautee) .
Bonus: this recipe taught us a new, important word: soccharat – the flavorful crust that develops from rice at the bottom of the pan. Always wondered what that was called.
NouVeauGan 