Book Review and Giveaway - "Blissful Bites" by Christy Morgan

As I mentioned in my last post, I was recently sent a copy of Blissful Bites: Vegan Meals That Nourish the Mind, Body, and Planet, the new cookbook from Christy Morgan, to review. I have been following Christy on Twitter for awhile now and her comments never fail to make me laugh or inspire me to try something new in the kitchen, so I was interested to find out what her recipes would be like.

First, a bit about Christy: she is a vegan macrobiotic chef. She was trained at The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts in Austin. She teaches classes and gives lectures about how to change your life through healthy cooking. And she has a blog called The Blissful Chef where you can find tons of information about vegan cooking, recipes, etc. It's safe to say that this chick knows her stuff!

Now, onto the book... let me start by saying that it's absolutely gorgeous. I love that it is paperback rather than hard cover because it is easier for me to use in the kitchen and lighter to carry around. Christy's introductory comments pulled me in right away because it's quickly apparent that her food philosophy is very similar to my own. She urges you to listen to your body and feed it with the foods that make it feel best. When your diet focuses on fresh, organic produce, whole grains, lean proteins, etc. you just end up feeling better -more balanced, calm, and energized. It's not about stigmatizing foods and labelling them as "good" or "bad", but simply about being intuitive. There will always be a time and place for an indulgence or two, but the goal should be to stay away from caffeine, sugar, white flours and highly processed foods, since they tend to drag you down physically. Common sense, really.

I know all of that is easier said than done, but flipping through Blissful Bites, I was amazed at how many of the recipes called to me. Christy makes eating well seem very appealing and not at all like you're giving anything up. The book is divided into categories like "Breakfast and Brunch of Champions", "Delectable Vegetable Sides", and "Healthier Desserts You Crave". Each of those categories is further broken down by season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Anytime. This really helps you to focus on fruits and vegetables that are in-season and readily available. I love that! Cooking seasonally and locally is always a goal of mine, so this is right up my alley. 

Christy also marks each recipe with applicable icons for raw, gluten-free, soy-free, low or no oil, and less than 45 minutes making it very easy for people with special diets to quickly find recipes they can enjoy. Because Christy is also a private chef, she has marked some recipes as "Chef Favorites" and "Fan Favorites" based on those for which she's had the best feedback. And there are beautiful full-color pictures of most of the recipes, which always helps you to know that you're on the right track when tackling something for the first time.

I had a REALLY hard time figuring out which recipes to test first because they seriously all look so good! One in particular really stood out to me and that was the Veggie Stuffed Pasta Shells with "Mama Mia Magnifico Sauce" and Tofu Ricotta Cheeze. As someone who suffers from acid reflux, I am always looking for ways to cut down on trigger foods like tomato sauce, and the "Mama Mia Magnifico Sauce" contains no tomatoes whatsoever! I had to give it a try. The base is butternut squash (which is pretty genius, since it has a texture very similar to crushed tomatoes when it's cooked and blended) and it is given a red hue from  grated beets. I was surprised at how much it looked like the real thing! 

I knew it would be tough to get Johnny to try this one since he is serious about his Italian food. But I explained this was not meant to taste exactly like tomato sauce. Rather, it was more like a vegetable sauce that should be judged on its own merits. He finally gave it a shot and he totally loved it! I was equally impressed and coming away from dinner without that acid feeling in my throat was a big bonus.   

My lovely mother-in-law and brother-in-law were in town this past weekend, so I thought it'd be fun to make brunch for everyone one day. The Pumpkin Spice Pancakes sounded too good to resist, so I made up a batch of those and they were very well received. They are a great spongy, fluffy consistency and are perfectly spiced. Johnny was once again the lone holdout, busying himself with his fruit salad before daring to try the pancakes (I guess he has something against pumpkin due to his dislike of pumpkin pie). I left the room for a minute or two and when I came back, he had gobbled up three pancakes and also had his foot in his mouth.

I was a bit more hesitant to serve the Sizzling Tempeh Bacon to everyone as I knew my MIL and BIL had never had tempeh before. But they both really enjoyed it and my MIL even said she would cook it at home if I gave her the recipe! You can buy some pretty good pre-packaged tempeh bacon at the store, but it doesn't really compare to making it yourself. This version is slightly sweet, salty and smoky - the perfect accompaniment to any breakfast or brunch.   

I plan to cook many more recipes from Blissful Bites and highly recommend everyone pick up a copy for themselves. If you are lucky enough to be in one of the cities Christy is visiting on her book tour you should definitely go! Here are some upcoming dates:

Thursday, March 15th @ 5:30pm - Roots Market, Washington, D.C. - book signing with food samples

Saturday, March 17th @ 4:15pm - Whole Foods Tribeca, New York, NY - cooking class and book signing

Monday, March 19th @ 6:00pm - Sun in Bloom, Brooklyn, NY - dinner, cooking demo and book signing

Tuesday, March 20th @ 6:30pm - Whole Foods Market, Dedham, MA - cooking demo and book signing

For additional info on any of these events or for additional dates, visit Christy's web site here.

*** BenBella Books, the publisher of Blissful Bites, has graciously offered to send a copy of the book to one of my readers! To enter to win, just leave a comment below saying what blissful food is to you. The deadline to enter is Saturday, March 17th at 12:00pm EDT. Good luck! ETA: We can only ship to addresses in the US or Canada on this one. Sorry international peeps, I'll get you next time! ***

Book Review - Appetite for Reduction

For Your Consideration...
Bhutanese Pineapple Rice and Hoisin Mustard Lettuce Wraps

So did everyone watch the Oscars? What did you think? I surprised myself by seeing every Best Picture nominee this year with the exception of Winter's Bone, which I will have to check out soon. My favorite nominated movie was True Grit, I'm just a sucker for those Coens. My favorite category ended up being Best Documentary (feature length). I thought Exit Through the Gift Shop, Gasland, and Inside Job were definitely some of the best movies last year... yet another sign that I am becoming a hippie I guess. 

I thought this year's awards were a bit slow. I am a huge James Franco fan, but he seriously seemed stoned or exhausted during the show. Somehow his chemistry with Anne Hathaway was a lot better during the promos leading up to the Oscars, but totally fizzled on Sunday night. And the big award winners were very predictable, so that also made things a bit boring. The biggest shocker of the night was that I didn't cry once! Usually, someone's acceptance speech makes me blubber like a baby, but it just wasn't happening this year. (I did shed a few tears during Oprah's Oscar show yesterday, though. Those damn PS 22 kids are just so cute!)

Growing up, the Oscars were always such a big deal in my family. We'd always cook a fancy dinner and gather around the TV to root for our favorites. I like to keep the tradition alive and cook a nice dinner for the big night. This year, I decided to make a few recipes from a new cookbook I ordered. It's called Appetite for Reduction (Guns 'N Roses reference - sweet!) by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. For those not familiar with her, she's a bit of a goddess in the vegan community. She used to broadcast a cooking show called The Post Punk Kitchen from her tiny apartment in Brooklyn with Terry Hope Romero. The two of them wrote several cookbooks together, such as Veganomicon and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Appetite for Reduction is a great book, because it focuses on low-fat, healthy vegan recipes. Sometimes vegan cookbooks can be all about taste and pay little or no attention to calorie and fat content. So far, every recipe I have tried from this book has been a success, so I highly recommend picking up a copy! My favorites are the Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Apples (woah!), Hottie Black Eyed Peas and Greens, and Black Beans in Red Velvet Mole. For Oscars night, I made the Hoisin Mustard Tofu Lettuce Wraps and the Bhutanese Pineapple Rice recipes (though I couldn't find Bhutanese red rice, so I just used brown jasmine). The lettuce wraps were awesome, I have never used yellow mustard in an Asian dish before, but the taste was surprisingly good! And pineapple with rice... it's hard to go wrong there.

Sadly, Johnny's schedule is all messed up because he was working on a big show for school, so he slept clear through dinner and did not get a chance to test out the food. But he's definitely been a fan of other recipes from this book, so I think it would get his stamp o' approval! If you want to try a few of Isa's recipes before you buy one of her books, head on over to The Post Punk Kitchen's site, there are tons of recipes and lots of helpful veganriffic info there. Enjoy!