Saturday 12 September 2015

VeganMoFo 2015 #12: Recipe Round-Up: The Abundance Diet



12. Tell us about your favourite cookbook!

Oh MoFo, so cruel. I actually cannot possible choose a favourite cookbook. I can tell you the ones that I am not fond of, the ones that I like and the ones that I love, but to pick one out from my collection as a favourite? I can't do it. So I am sharing with you what I have been cooking from my most recently purchased and currently most frequently used cookbook instead.

The Abundance Diet by Somer McCowan is a great cookbook that is packed full of produce heavy, healthy food. It is designed so it can be done as a 28 day plan, or you can just make recipes as you wish. Everything is gluten free (though I used oat milk in the smoothies, so not really), refined sugar free and mostly oil free (there is a little bit of sesame oil). I recently did a seven day mini-challenge while I was recovering from a leg procedure and was unable to exercise. I love the food in this book, because it is delicious and satisfying. I've made heaps from this book, but I am sharing some of my favourites with you here from each chapter.

Mayan Cherry Smoothie: This is a variation on the cherry smoothie in the book, and is without a doubt my favourite of the ones I've tried (I've made about 3/4 of the smoothie recipes so far). Chocolate cherry smoothy with a hint of cinnamon and chili... enough said!
Rating: :D

Mayan Cherry Smoothie


Ultra-Alkalising Green Smoothie: This unusual smoothie has no fruit, except for some lime. It was like drinking a lovely, thick savoury green juice. Somer recommends adding two droppers of stevia, but I don't have stevia (I don't like it) and I didn't feel like I needed to add any other sort of sweetner, it was great as it is!
Rating: :)

Ultra-Alkalising Green Smoothie


Florentine Tofu Scramble: This is delicious! Fire roasted tomatoes, nooch, baby spinach, herbs... it is so yum. I had a 500g block of tofu about to go out of date, which was a bit more than the recipe required, but I just upped the spices a little and added a splash of water. I was a little worried about this initially, because there was not browning of the tofu first, but I didn't need to worry. One of my favourite scrambles.
Rating: :D

Florentine Tofu Scramble


Vegetable Pudla: My first pudla! Chickpea batter mixed with tomato, onion, parsley and baby spinach and cooked in an oil-free non-stick frying pan. It is so easy, so yummy and the serving size is HUGE! I served mine with some chopped tomato and cucumber and a drizzle of tahini on top.
Rating: :D

Vegetable Pudla


Nicoise Salad with Smoky Tofu and Creamy Miso Dressing: This beautiful salad is topped with a tangy miso and caper based dressing. The smoky baked tofu is great, and would be super as a snack or side on its own. Instead of butter lettuce, I just served with baby spinach, and I left off the raw red onion because I'm not a fan.
Rating: :)

Nicoise Salad with Smoky Tofy and Creamy Miso Dressing


Cheesiest Potato Soup: Stop everything and go and make this, it is seriously the cheesiest, creamiest, most satisfying soup ever. I only got three serves out of this, rather than four. You can see here I also stirred a bit of baby spinach through it, and I served it with some BBQ chickpeas (another recipe from the book) on top. You must have this soup!
Rating: :D :D (yes, it gets a second!)

Cheesiest Potato Soup with BBQ Roasted Chickpeas


Cucumber Tzatziki: This is based on the sour cream recipe from the book, which is in itself amazing. I made a half batch of this recipe, and used dried dill but fresh mint. It is great served with vegetables for dipping.
Rating: :)

Cucumber Tzatziki


Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Bake: Apparently this is based on a dish served at funerals, however I am pretty sure this would be a far superior version. Cashew-based cheese sauce coats potatoes and cauliflowers, and in my case some peas and black beans as well, and it is baked in the oven. I found this only really served about 3 (but that is probably because I couldn't stop eating!). Perfect on a chilly winter night, or any night really.
Rating: :D

Cheesy Cauliflower Bake


Roasted Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Garlic-Ginger Sauce: This was the first recipe I made from the book, and it is a winner. The sauce is delicious (she gives some variations on the sauce I would like to try one day as well). I left out the capsicum in the book and instead increased the carrots and zucchini. I took the option of serving this over brown rice (and baby spinach). The tofu is just simply tossed in Braggs and roasted, and is really yummy.
Rating: :D

Roasted Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Garlic-Ginger Sauce


Happiness in a Cookie Bite: Yes, there are desserts in The Abundance Diet, Somer recommends two desserts a week if you are following the plan. These are yummy little balls of oats, nut butter (I used peanut rather than almond), coconut and chocolate chips. They set up nicely in the fridge and hold together well, and are just delightful little snacks of joy.
Rating: :D

Happiness in a Cookie Bite


So there you have it. You will notice that I used a lot of my :D rating, because the recipes in this book tend to be really good. This cookbook will definitely be joining my list of favourites!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post: Month of Gizmo

Nekkid Gizmo


Yesterday I left you with a photo of a furry Gizmo, this is what happened the next day. She got nekkid! When we moved to Brisbane, Gizmo really struggled with the heat and with furballs. Although a shorthair, she was a double-coated girl, so I did end up having her clipped over summer for her last few years. She would get so frisky once the fur was off!

14 comments:

  1. It's hard to believe how many vegan cookbooks there are these days. I keep telling myself I have enough books, but yet, I get new ones, most recently CraveEatHeal, the Non-Dairy Evolution Cookbook and The Gentle Chef Cookbook.

    Your pudla looks great. I never thought of adding tahini on that dish, but it sounds just perfect.

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  2. I only came across Somer's blog recently. These recipes from the book look really impressive and I think it might have to go on my Christmas list. Chocolate and cherry is my all time favourite smoothie combination.

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    1. The chocolate cherry smoothie is so amazing.
      I hope Santa brings you a copy of this book, because I think it is great.

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  3. I never though I would be the one to say this but that salad looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. excellent review!!! You've made so many things that I haven't made. I also love this book SO MUCH. I think the only ones here I've made so far are the pudla (and I am IN LOVE. I eat these ALL THE TIME), and the cookie bites. I need to write down all your other recommendations. Thanks for sharing your favorites! I especially have my eye on the potato bake and the cheesy soup. Mmmm!

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    1. It is such a great book. I bought it on a whim and I am so glad I did. I loved reading the things you have made as well.

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  5. That's a whole lot of :D!

    I was wondering what you were doing to do for this prompt. This cookbook looks so good. I must add it to my library queue. I want the tofu scramble and the cheesy potato soup with the yummy chickpeas on top! And the cheesy potato and cauliflower bake thing! Eat ALL the cheesy things! :D

    Gizmo is nekkid!

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    1. She was so nekkid! The first time she got clipped I cried a little, but then she was so happy.
      I highly recommend all the cheesy things.

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  6. You don't like stevia? And here I thought I was the only weird non-stevia liking vegan on the planet ;p
    The picture of the green smoothie is so great! It looks so incredibly refreshing =)
    I've never even heard of pudla but want some!
    And your rating and description of the cheesiest soup sounds amazing... mmmm.
    That is a really cute picture of Gizmo - I can understand her not liking the heat. Sunny can't handle heat very well, I have to shave her in the summer too ;p

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    1. She really struggled in the very humid Brisbane summers, the clipping made her feel so much better!
      We are not weird, we are sensible non-stevia liking vegans. ;)

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