Have fun while eating well - Cookbook Giveaway

SPORK-FED by Jenny Engel & Heather Goldberg

My rating:  4 of  5 stars

I love cookbooks.  But not just any cookbooks.  They have to have attractive photographs (call me shallow, but I need the visuals).  They have to feature recipes that don't require me to drive two hours to find the ingredients.  And they have to have interesting text in addition to the recipes.  As a long time vegetarian, if they contain veggie recipes that are new to me, that's an added plus.  The new vegan cookbook Spork-Fed has all this and more. 

Engel and Goldberg are sisters who own and operate Spork Foods, a  California company that provides vegan cooking lessons in both group and private settings, as well as individual consultations on how to eat healthily.  Their website, www.sporkonline.com even offers on-line cooking classes.  There is no preaching in this cookbook -  the sisters have a fun open attitude toward food and their genuine enthusiasm for showing people how to eat well and deliciously at the same time is infectious. 

One of the things I love about this cookbook is the way the recipes are presented.  The directions are clear and easy to follow and each recipe has an introductory paragraph containing suggestions on how to serve the creations.  Each recipe also has two fun sections dubbed The Sporkie Scoop.  For your smarts gives interesting, little-known facts about one or more of the ingredients, and For your parts does the same with respect to nutritional aspects to the recipe.  The only thing that I can see some perceiving as a negative is that the recipes tend to have rather long ingredient lists. While that is not a deterrent for me, it may be for those who are looking for dishes that can be assembled in a matter of minutes.

The book is divided into the standard sections: appetizers, soups &salads, sides, main dishes, desserts and brunch.  There is a list of resources for obtaining many vegan products and reading material on issues of diet and health.  Finally, a "suggested menus" section provides ideas for pairing recipes to make 12 different themed meals such as "throwback to the 50's", "fancy pants" and "hold me-comfort foods." 

When I received Spork-Fed, I do what I usually do with any new cookbook, that is, I turned to the desserts section!  While they all sound delicious, two recipes in particular caught my eye:  Crispy Green Tea Cookies and the Apple Pie Milkshake.    They are both interesting to me because I have never made anything like either of them before.  A quick rundown of the recipes in the other sections makes it clear why this cookbook would be popular even with those who don't adhere to a vegan lifestyle, as there dishes in each section that seem comfortingly familiar:  corn cakes with a smoky paprika sauce, velvety carrot soup, creamy tomato soup, creamed onions with a whole wheat bread crumb topping, scallion pancakes, potato gnocchi, sweet potato biscuits and gravy.  On the other hand, for those who have a wealth of veggie recipes in their repertoire, I daresay that there are many in this cookbook that will be a breath of fresh air.  Contemporary, cutting-edge combinations such as miso-glazed japanese eggplant, seitan wellington with a creamy spinach sauce, and pear fig and sage tarts with a roasted garlic aioli are just a few of the novel offerings.

I am happy to have added this cookbook to my shelves and I think you will be too.  In addition, Spork-Fed would make a lovely gift for the vegetarian/vegan in your life, as well as the meat-eater who likes to mix it up once in a while.

I received a copy of Spork-Fed from the publisher, St. Lynn's Press.  Spork-Fed was released in October 2011.

Thanks to the generosity of St. Lynn's Press, I have one copy of Spork-Fed to give away to one lucky reader of this blog. To enter, please leave a comment on this post. Entries must include an e-mail address either in the comment, or by e-mailing me at
Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Entries limited to US residents only and no P.O. Boxes please.  Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry. Book will be mailed by the publisher. Winner will be notified by e-mail, and will have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within that time, another winner will be selected. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on November 9, 2011. Good luck to all!

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food-related posts.  Stop by and see what's cooking this week!