Review: The Vegan 8 by Brandi Doming

The Vegan 8
100 Simple, Delicious Recipes Made with 8 Ingredients or Less
by Brandi Doming
Publisher: Oxmoor House
Publication date: Oct. 17, 2018
Genre: Vegan Cookbook
Rating:

Five years ago, popular blogger Brandi Doming of The Vegan 8 became a vegan, overhauling the way she and her family ate after a health diagnosis for her husband. The effects have been life-changing. Her recipes rely on refreshingly short ingredient lists that are ideal for anyone new to plant-based cooking or seeking simplified, wholesome, family-friendly options for weeknight dinners. All of the recipes are dairy-free and most are oil-free, gluten-free, and nut-free (if not, Brandi offers suitable alternatives), and ideally tailored to meet the needs of an array of health conditions. Each of the 100 recipes uses just 8 or fewer ingredients (not including salt, pepper, or water) to create satisfying, comforting meals from breakfast to dessert that your family—even the non-vegans—will love. Try Bakery-Style Blueberry Muffins, Fool ’Em “Cream Cheese” Spinach-Artichoke Dip, Cajun Veggie and Potato Chowder, Skillet Baked Mac n’ Cheese, and No-Bake Chocolate Espresso Fudge Cake.

 

 

I’m not a vegan, but I’m always interested in trying new recipes. Particularly ones that don’t require a lot of time, effort, and ingredients to make. I hate it when a recipe calls for some crazy ingredients. For instance, I’m pretty sure I’m still holding onto that expensive jar of saffron I bought 7 years ago for a recipe I made… ONCE! So, I really excited to give this cookbook a try when I saw that it only uses 8 easy to find ingredients to make the dishes.

While there are limited ingredients throughout all the recipes, I did find that a couple of the recipes were lacking due to the restrictions of trying to fit under the 8 ingredient guidelines. Now don’t get me wrong, the recipes were good as a starter base, but would have been much better with extra spices or even vegetable stock incorporated in. I made three recipes from the cookbook and by far my favorite was the pumpkin chocolate chip donuts. I’ve had my doughnut pan for almost a decade now and I have yet to use it… until now! The recipe was super easy… however I kind of only followed the measurements for it and not the ingredients. I couldn’t find half of the ingredients for the recipe. So I used normal flour and dairy yogurt to replace the other ingredients in the recipe. It’s not because I didn’t want to, but rather I couldn’t find those ingredients at my local grocery stores. I’m sure if I drove an hour out to a more high-end store like Sprouts or Trader Joes, I might have had better luck in finding vegan yogurt and spelt flour, but in my tiny little town up on a mountain it was a no go. So, I totally cheated on it… but it was still a delicious doughnut, just not vegan.

One thing that I really liked about the cookbook was that there are pictures for every recipe. I’m a visual person and I want to see the dish before I invest in the time and effort of making it. Plus, I want to know if what I make even resembles what it should look like. So, I really liked that the author incorporated photos of all the dishes. There’s also a recipe for just about every occasion. From your three square meals, to recipes for dips, snacks, desserts, and condiments. You are bound to find a recipe that peaks your interest.

The Vegan 8 is a great cookbook for both newbies and those looking to find something different to make when it comes to vegan cooking. I liked that each recipe had a photo so that I know what I was aiming for. I also liked that the author thought outside the box on some of the recipes and brought something new to the table. I do wish that some of the ingredients were more easily available.
 

 

9 Thoughts on “Review: The Vegan 8 by Brandi Doming

  1. I love trying new recipes.

  2. I’m not vegetarian either but I eat that way maybe 80% of the time and love vegetarian cookbooks. We just got a new health food store (kind of like a Trader Joe’s) that has so many obscure ingredients and now I can try more things.

    Karen @ For What It’s Worth

  3. mmm doughnut, glad it worked out even with subbing some ingredients!

  4. I see no problem with incorporating your own ingredients. I don’t cook any more, so I eat whatever Mr Wonderful puts in front of me. 🙂
    sherry @ fundinmental

  5. Lauren Becker on 6 November, 2018 at 11:59 am said:

    Thanks for sharing. It’s tough when recipes have ingredients that aren’t that easy to find. I’m glad you found one recipe that you enjoyed though. And I’m also someone who wants photos (and in color!) for every recipe. 🙂

    -Lauren
    http://www.shootingstarsmag.net

  6. I’m trying to aim for a more vegan diet for my health, but with easy recipes rather than recreating Masterchef every mealtime! I like the sound of the 8 basic ingredients idea for this book. Maybe alternative ingredient suggestions would have been useful too? I mean isn’t all flour vegan?!

  7. Yes I agree…I could never be vegan because I like my meat too much and could never give it up hehe but I am always on board to trying out new recipes and when they are vegan they usually are more creative which is fun.

  8. Oooo… this sounds pretty good. I am a pescetarian, a vegetarian who eats fish, but I try to be vegan as much as possible. I will do substitutes in vegan recipes sometimes, too, because vegan cheese and yogurt is EXPENSIVE. Sometimes I have the extra money, and sometimes I don’t.

    I have been on the fence about buying a donut pan and seeing you having success with one helps me out.

    Thanks for sharing your review! ✨

  9. Yeah I could see that being very limiting. Even here with SO many good vegan options it can be hard to find a good non flavored vegan yogurt. Almost all the ones here are fruit flavored. Which could work in some recipes I’m sure, though.

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