A New Favourite Book - The Urban Vegan

I have been a fan of Dynise Balcavage's blog The Urban Vegan for years. I love reading about her daily life, her food, her cats, and trying out her delicious Vegan recipes.

Dynise describes herself as having been cooking since the age of seven. She lives in a large city with it's variety of food and has travelled to 30 countries with their special local foods. This is probably why she has many ideas to choose from when she decides to create or adapt a recipe for Vegans.

I was therefore thrilled when Dynise decided to publish a cookbook as I knew I would enjoy it. The book is called The Urban Vegan - 250 Simple, Sumptuous Recipes from Street Cart Favorites to Haute Cuisine. My copy of the book arrived on Friday.

The large format paperback and the fact even the longer recipes fit onto one page, will make it easy to work with in the kitchen. An added bonus to the tasty recipes given are that each one is accompanied by an interesting description. I have one word to describe the dishes...scrumptious. They will be loved by both Vegan and Omnivores. There is even a Happy Hour or Sundowner section as I call it.

The first couple of recipes I tried out were the Sweet Potato Gnocchi with the Basil-Fennel Cream and the Easy Passion Fruit Mousse. They were both delicious.

I suggest you pop out and get this book or order online as I am sure, like me, you will add it to your favourite cookbooks.

Herbs Glossary

W

Wheatgerm Flour: It is used as body massage when mixed with double cream. It is useful for cleansing and softening.

Wheatgerm Oil: It is rich unsaturated oil, rich in vitamin E. It has healing properties.

Witch Hazel: It is made from alder bushes. It is widely used in skin tonics for its astringent properties.

Y

Yeast: Brewer’s yeast is rich source of Vitamin B and Protein. When taken internally, helps acne and dryness of skin scalp. Powdered Brewer’s yeast is used I cleansing facemasks.

Yarrow: Yarrow has grayish, feathery, ethereal–looking leaves and small daisy–like flowers. Yarrow has been used for headaches, fever and influenza. It also cures diarrhea and excessive menstruation.

Yoghurt: It is fermented liquor made from milk; natural yoghurt contains enzymes. It is used as base for cleansing and cleansing facemasks.

Z

Zinc Oxide: It is a heavy white powder. It has mild astringent and antiseptic properties. It is used as dusting powder with benzoated lard to make soothing ointment. Calamine lotion contains a small quantity of zinc oxide.