Vegan Brunch

Homestyle recipes worth waking up for
Vegan cookbook review

As far as I’m concerned, brunch is the most important meal of the day, and with a cookbook like this, there’s no need to limit it to Sundays. Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch offers a wealth of recipes, from classic to outrageous, and I’ve yet to try one that isn’t fantastic.

Vegan Brunch starts with a few pages on the vegan brunch pantry, menu planning, the all-important coffee station, and setting the table, then dives into the recipes, which are divided into six chapters:

1. Savory

A good brunch will always have omelettes or some other "eggy" dish, so right away that makes it tricky for vegans. Ms. Moskowitz’s vegan omelette recipe, made with tofu and chickpea flour, is by far the best fake egg dish I’ve ever eaten. It’s good plain, it’s even better with one of her variety of suggested fillings. There’s also an assortment of scrambled tofus, frittatas, quiches, and salsas.

2. Sweet

Lots of pancakes (banana, gluten-free buckwheat…) and waffles (chocolate beer, gingerbread…), plus pumpkin French toast and crêpes.

3. Sides

Potato spinach bake, home fries, grits, and delicious mock bacon and sausages.

4. Bread Basket

Muffins (blueberry ginger spelt, lemon poppy…), East Coast coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, scones (berry, tomato-rosemary…), biscuits, English muffins, and bagels with assorted "cream cheeses." (My one quibble is the suggestion to add the flavors to store-bought mock cream cheese, when it’s so easy to make a delicious and much healthier vegan cream cheese at home.)

5. Toppings

Ginger cranberry sauce, berry sauce, peach coulis, caramelized figs, baked cinnamon apples, cashew creams, chocolate drizzles, Hollandaise sauce, and gravy.

6. Drinks

Bloody "Moskowitz," grapefruit mimosas, smoothies, lassi, and black-and-white "egg" creams.

Vegan BrunchIn addition to all the great recipes, the author includes useful tips and humorous asides throughout, making this one of those rare cookbooks that is (almost) as much fun to read as it is to use. If you’re a brunch lover and are ready to move beyond home fries and English muffins (although recipes for both are included), Vegan Brunch is your ticket to a delicious, animal-free meal.

Buy Vegan Brunch:

Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Other cookbooks from Isa Chandra Moskowitz: