Quick-Fix Vegan: Healthy, Homestyle Meals in 30 Minutes or Less (Volume 4) (Quick-Fix Cooking)

When my boyfriend went vegetarian last year I wanted to show my support for his healthy lifestyle change so I picked up Robin Robertson's [[ASIN:B002PJ4K1Y Quick-Fix Vegetarian: Healthy Home-Cooked Meals in 30 Minutes or Less]]. We're just out of college and we live on a pretty strict budget so we were able to quickly and affordably make the recipes out of that cookbook with very little fuss! Not only that, but as a non-vegetarian I was absolutely loving the meals we were making!

So when he told me he was going vegan, I knew I had to pick this up for him for his birthday! And, much like with Quick-Fix Vegetarian, I'm glad I did!

Robin Robertson never fails to deliver on really scrumptious recipes that are easy to make and affordable. We're usually able to pick up 90% of the ingredients listed within at our local Trader Joe's and only occasionally do we have to go to Whole Foods to find a rare item. This makes making dinner very budget-friendly.

Here are some of the recipes we've tried so far and have adored:

The Jerk Seitan and Vegetable Skillet - Even though I still eat meat, I think seitan is a great and very tasty substitute. And, as a bonus, you don't end up feeling all bloated and heavy after mealtime.
Black Bean Sunburgers - We were always spending a pretty penny buying black bean burgers in bulk at Costco, but this recipe showed us how to save money making our own! They freeze really well so it's great being able to make a bunch at a time and saving them for later. Super tasty!
The Tiramisu Parfaits - These are TO DIE FOR tasty! One of the things my boyfriend has struggled with is how a lot of vegan deserts end up tasting dry or brittle. It was nice to whip these up and they taste just as good (if not better) as the real thing!
Easy Artichoke Puffs - I absolutely adore artichokes, so I could wait to try this one. We made these when we were having (non-vegan) company over and everyone ate them right up. Our guests loved them just as much as we did.

What I like most about this cookbook is the variety. Every course of a meal is covered and Robin Robertson doles out some very practical advice in the introduction of the book about the vegan lifestyle as well as how to properly equip your kitchen and stock your pantry for preparing these meals. I would definitely suggest this book as a first cookbook for anyone thinking of making the transition over to veganism. This book isn't too intimidating for beginners, but still has a great sense of variety for more experienced diners.

I honestly think you can't go wrong with this book, vegan or not, especially for this price! If you pick it up, you'll be glad you did!

I was so excited that Robin Robertson came out with a new cookbook. Roberson's books have long been a staple at my house, but with her new book, Quick-Fix Vegan, I think she's outdone herself.

According to the book cover, Quick-Fix Vegan contains 150 "healthy, homestyle meals" that can be prepared in "30 minutes or less." Unlike other "quick" cookbooks that rely heavily on jarred sauces and prepared foods, the recipes in this book are made largely from whole, unprocessed foods . . . foods I have on hand and feel good about serving my family.

The chapter of Starters and Snacks includes Moroccan Pumpkin Hummus, Super Nachos, and Easy Artichoke Puffs. I made the vegetable fritters--a mixture of shredded onions, potatoes and vegetables, held together with flour and nondairy milk--for my family and they were a huge hit. In fact, I've made them several times since, varying the vegetables, herbs, and flours with excellent results. The leftovers, if there are any, go great in the kids' lunchboxes. It was a bit challenging to get the fritters all cooked in under 30 minutes, but getting several skillets cooking at once does decrease the cooking time (though adds to the cleanup time).

I'm a big soup fan--especially this time of year--and Robertson includes some great ones. We loved the Creamy Greens Soup made with kale and coconut milk; and the Cream of Mushroom Soup was sublime. I haven't had a chance to try any of the Speedy Sandwiches or Snappy Salads, but am looking forward to making the Sloppy Portobellos, Seitan and Slaw Wraps, Freeburgers, and Burmese Ginger Salad.

The selection of Stovetop Suppers and Pasta Express dinners include a variety of veganized international favorites like Tofu "Scampi" with Spinach, Jerk Seitan and Vegetable Skillet, Korean Hot Pot, and Skillet Lasagne. I made the Tofu Skillet Scramble and it was super quick and easy, and very flavorful. The book also includes recipes for condiments, gravies and chutneys, and desserts like Pear Turnovers, which I am dying to try, and Molasses Ginger Cookies with blueberries.

Every recipe I tried worked well. The instructions were clear and simple. The ingredients are ones I had on hand or could find easily. Some of the recipes do take longer than 30 minutes to prepare. For example, the baking time for the Portobellos Stuffed with Chickpeas and Chard is 25 minutes. But you still need to prep the ingredients and cook the chard for 7 minutes. So read over the recipes carefully if you really are pressed for time just to be sure.

My recommendation? This is one of the best cookbooks I've found in a long time. The meals are great for families--nothing too outlandish, but nothing boring either. It is definitely the first one I'll turn to in the busy months to come.

As an expat who spends most of my time living abroad, I was looking for ideas for easy vegan recipes that I could make with local produce and ingredients. Unfortunately, nearly every recipe in Quick-Fix Vegan calls for ingredients that are only available in American supermarkets: vegan sour cream, vegan cream cheese, vegan yogurt, Old Bay seasoning, vegan puff pastry, frozen vegetables, jarred roasted red peppers, canned beans, premade marinara sauce. It's not worth it to pick up the cookbook and get excited about a recipe then find I can't make it, or that assembling it from ingredients I do have would take exorbitant amounts of time (e.g., soaking and cooking dried beans). I prefer to cook with fresh, plant-based ingredients rather than processed "shortcut" ingredients.

If you are in an area with limited access to vegan processed foods, or if you prefer recipes made solely with fresh whole foods, look elsewhere.

I love the way Robertson starts this book, "As much as I love to cook, most days I'm too busy to spend much time in the kitchen." That simple sentiment is exactly how I feel most nights. I want to have a delicious, wholesome homecooked meal every night ... but I don't always have the energy to cook it. In the absence of a live-in vegan chef, this book is going to be my savior for late evenings and low enthusiasm. The recipes in this book are straightforward, without a lot of exotic, hard-to-find ingredients. I highly, highly recommend the One Pot Pasta Primavera (pg 67). The pizza dough is also super easy to put together, nearly foolproof, and great to have on hand for a quick dinner.

There is not one single picture in this whole book!!!
How is anyone supposed to know what it is or what it will look like?
MORONS!!!

Worst purchase ever!!!

Vegan chef Robin Robertson, who has written more than twenty books, including a few of my favorites--Vegan Planet, Vegan Fire and Spice, Vegan on the Cheap, and along with husband, Jon Robertson, Vegan Unplugged, has put together another fabulous collection of mouth-watering plant-based recipes. In her latest book, Quick-Fix Vegan, she helps readers prepare fabulous vegan meals inexpensively and deliciously in 30 minutes or less. Drawing on culinary influences from around the world, the book is jam-packed with great-tasting recipes for the most sensational snacks, salads, soups, sandwiches, stove-top suppers, and sweets you'll ever eat!

I have a rule of thumb about cookbooks: it's basically, "three strikes and you're out." If I try three recipes at random, and none of them are very good, I cut my losses of time, money, and energy and recycle the book. But my experiences with Robin's previous books have always been positive--I've yet to try one of her recipes that wasn't a winner. So when I began looking through the pages of Quick-Fix Vegan and decided to first try her recipe for Seitan Gyros, I knew I was going to love it. But this dish exceeded my expectations, as the seasonings and refreshingly light tzatziki sauce (which I made with the new Greek-style coconut milk yogurt), made Robin's gyro our family's new favorite sandwich.

More Quick-Fix Vegan recipes we loved: Indonesian Vegetable and Tofu Scramble, which blends together a medley of Southeast Asian flavors to create a tasty twist on a staple dish; Moroccan Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach, which went from stovetop to table in just fifteen minutes and boasted no fewer than eight aromatic spices that made every bite delectable; and Thai-inspired Primavera-style Coconut-Cashew Noodles that combined the vibrant taste of fresh green vegetables with chewy pasta noodles and a dreamy-creamy sauce.

Rather than relying on packaged, highly processed faux meats and cheeses, I love that Robin's recipes are made from inexpensive, healthful, and hearty whole foods with modest amounts of minimally processed ingredients like tofu and seitan. More recipes from Quick-Fix Vegan that I can't wait to wrap my lips around include Romaine and Pear Salad with Sherry-Walnut Vinaigrette, Sloppy Portobellos, Curried Cauliflower Soup with Roasted Cauliflower "Rice," Catalan-style Crème Brûlée, and Apple Pie Parfaits! (Yes, there is a whole chapter filled with yummy desserts!)

With the bounty of delectable recipes you'll find within its pages, Quick-Fix Vegan's cover price is a bargain that will pay for itself many times over by saving you time in the kitchen and cash at the grocery store.

Following a heart attack, my doctor recommended a strict vegan diet without oil of any kind, and over the past few years I have studied a number of vegan cookbooks in search of information, inspiration, and the occasional recipe that seems actually worth making. I had high hopes for QUICK-FIX VEGAN, which was recommended by a friend, and it is true the book offers quite a few notions. But the book is not entirely what it proclaims itself to be.

Robertson declares that these recipes can be made in thirty minutes. That may be true of an already expert cook, but I find it rather unlikely. Robertson also indicates that most of her ingredients should be on hand in any reasonably well-stocked kitchen. Again, that may be true of an already subtle cook, but I don't believe it for a minute.

Robertson offers, for example, a recipe for Spicy Peanut-Hoisin Noodles with Tofu and Broccoli--which requires eighteen ingredients and the use of a large cooking pot, a small saucepan, and a large skillet. Ziti With Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes requires thirteen ingredients; and so-called "Quick" Vegetable and Quinoa Soup requires sixteen! I don't believe I'll be able to execute these recipes in thirty minutes even if I had all the ingreidents on hand, and that is somewhat unlikely as well. I don't think I've had previous need for kochujang paste. Indeed, I'm not entirely sure what it is.

A good many recipes also include a fair amount of oil or ingredients that have a fair amount of fat, and Robertson is also somewhat prone to noting ingredients like "vegan butter," "vegan cheese," "non-dairy milk," and so on. I must also note that I'm not enthusiastic about cookbooks that tell me how to make a salad or sandwich. I do believe I can manage those on my own. On the other hand, Robertson does offer an interesting section titled Easy Make-Ahead Bakes. Once again Robertson includes recipes with extensive ingredient lists--Jambalaya Bake has fifteen ingredients--but in this section she is somewhat more realistic about the time involved, and many of the recipes do seem interesting. I also think she offers one of the most effective recipes for seitan I've seen.

When all is read and done, I have to say that QUICK-FIX isn't in the least the "easy to prepare and cook" book the author wants us to think it is, but on the whole it does offer a goodly number of recipes that seem interesting or which can be easily adapted to your own taste. Mildly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

For those who have any of Robin's previous books it will be no surprise that this is another winner! For those who don't this is the perfect introduction to Robin's recipes.
Not only are the recipes quick and easy to put together, they are delicious as well! I was lucky enough to be a tester for this book and some of the recipes have become my "go to" recipes - especially when cooking for friends and family. The Chocolate Cheesecake is absolutely amazing! The Orecchiette with Puttanesca Pesto is my most favorite recipe and the pesto can be used for so many other things. The 2 Tomato Pastry Purses are like inside out bruschetta - and everyone will think you fussed all day to make them.
Shortcut Mushroom Artichoke Risotto, Super Nachos, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Hoison-Peanut Sauce, BBQ Pinto Portobello Sandwiches, Sicilian Style Orzo Salad.... all fantastic!
There were a few combinations and techniques (shredded portobellos!) that made me think "why didn't I think of that before?".
Get the book- you won't be sorry!

This book is a real disappointment. One of the first recipes is for Seitan and there is no explaination of what it is. From the ingredients and process it appears to be a dumpling or some kind of bread. Most importantly there is no nutritional information for the recipes. The only color in the book is green and in some areas that made it hard for me to read the information. There was no glossary or description of unfamiliar ingredients. All in all not a great purchase.

Although the recipes are good and easy to follow, the statement on the front "30 minutes or less" is very misleading. When I think "30 minutes or less" I mean that it's 30 minutes from the time I enter the kitchen to the time I'm putting food on the table. Unfortunately, the author's version of 30 minutes is for "active prep time" and does NOT include the time it takes to gather ingredients, equipment, time to wash veggies, or cooking time. I was very disappointed. The author says she is trying to dispel the "myth" that vegan eating takes more time than non-vegan eating. After using this book she just confirmed that it DOES takes a longer time to eat vegan. Having said that - - she has very good ideas for stocking your kitchen and saving time at the grocery store and in the kitchen. So, if you don't really care about the time involved, it's a great cookbook. For me, time is of the essence, so this book was very disappointing.