Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Book Review and Giveaway
Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson
and World Vegan Feast Winner!

When I was growing up in the neighborhood of Long Island City/Astoria, in the borough of Queens, in the city of New York, I couldn't wait for Friday nights after dancing school, because that was when my mom would take me out to dinner at the Bel Aire Diner. It's sad to say, but I look back on those meals with great fondness, because they were a welcome reprieve from my mother's cooking. Burgers, onion rings, macaroni and cheese, BLT sandwiches, malts, and rice pudding were (and still are) true comfort foods to me and could be had just two blocks from our home. 

Bel Aire Diner then

Bel Aire Diner now
How exciting to find delicious recipes for vegan versions of these dishes and so many more in Julie Hasson's new book, Vegan Diner! With recipes like Breakfast Benedicts Florentine, Malted Waffles, Skillet-Baked Panko Cutlets (think: parmigiana), Not Your Mama's Pot Roast, Pastrami-style Seitan Roast, and even a Blue Plate Special, you'll think you've died and gone to vegan diner heaven! The book is sprinkled with gorgeous food photos to whet your appetite and vintage diner shots that will put you in the perfect mood to plan your diner-style meal!


As you can see from the photo, Julie's Cheezy Mac is dreamy creamy.  


I'm a huge fan of Soy Curls. They're made from whole soy beans, instead of isolated soy protein. Nobody cooks Soy Curls better than Julie. And her recipe for Smoky Curls with lettuce and tomato makes the most scrumptious vegan BLT ever!


The recipe for Sandwich Slaw paired perfectly with this sandwich! But next time I will try making her husband Jay's Creamy Horseradish Potato Salad.


I honestly can't remember the last time I had dumplings. But I do remember the ones my bubbie used to make, and Julie's Veggies and Dumplings brought me right back to my childhood. Not only was this dish filling and delicious, it was really fun to make and went from stovetop to table in just slightly more than 30 minutes!
    

Back in Astoria, the best part of any diner meal was dessert, and there were three sweet treats I used to enjoy at the Bel Aire more than any other: Napoleons, Apple Crumb Cake a la mode, and Rice Pudding. Julie has very thoughtfully provided recipes for two of the three—there's even a recipe for vanilla ice cream for my a la mode! I haven't had a vegan Napoleon yet, but I have been enjoying a life-long love affair with rice pudding, and I feel compelled to try every recipe that comes my way. Julie's foolproof  recipe for Old-fashioned Rice Pudding was every bit as good as the Bel Aire's. 


So what dish will I endeavor to make next from this wonderful book? With so many taste-tempting recipes, it's going to be hard to choose. But one thing I know for sure is that any recipe I try will be wonderful. If you want a cookbook that is going to bring good 'ol American comfort foods right into your own kitchen, Vegan Diner was written for you. Don't wait another second to get your hot little hands on a copy, and get cooking, deliciously!

With the kind permission of Running Press Book Publishers, the recipe for Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding from Julie Hasson's Vegan Diner is excerpted here. Copyright © 2011.

Ingredients:

1 cup medium-grain sushi rice (such as calrose)
1/2 cups raisins (optional)
1 1/2 to 2 cups plain or vanilla non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious Original Coconut Milk)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Freshly ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine 2 cups water, rice, and raisins (if using), and  bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Removed saucepan from heat and let sit, covered for 5 minutes. Remove the cover.

Add 1 cup of the milk and the sugar to the cooked rice, stirring until combined. Return the saucepan to stove. Cook over medium heat, stirring often. Continue adding more milk as the pudding cooks and thickens, stirring as needed. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pudding is very thick and creamy. If the pudding is too thick, stir in a little more milk as needed to thin slightly. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Scoop the pudding into serving dishes and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Refrigerate pudding until ready to serve. Makes 4-6 servings.

Congratulations to Christina Katz, who won a copy of Bryanna Clark Grogan's World Vegan Feast! Please send me your postal address, so I can arrange to have your copy sent to you! Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! If you'd like a chance to win a copy of Vegan Diner, here's all you do: just leave me a comment telling me your favorite diner food. That's it!* And if you want to earn additional entries, you can do any or all of the following, and leave me a comment for each one that you do:

1. Follow @everydaydish on Twitter.
2. Follow @Vegiegail on Twitter.
3. Tweet the following message: Enjoy a homemade vegan blue-plate special! Win a copy of @everydaydish's Vegan Diner via @Vegiegail http://bit.ly/qNztt0 #vegan #giveaway
4. Follow this blog! (Click in the upper-left corner of this page if you are on google, subscribe via email, or follow via NetworkedBlogs on Facebook.)

Good luck!!

Update: Congratulations to Julia P., who won a copy of Vegan Diner! Please send me your snail mail address, Julia, so we can get your book right out to you! You are going to love it! Many thanks to everyone who entered and made this such a great giveaway. Stay tuned for my next post, and check out the prize package for the next giveaway. You won't want to miss it!

*Sorry International friends. Giveaway is only open to US residents.

111 comments:

Jen U said...

Easily, my favorite diner food comes from The Chicago Diner. They make a veg Reuben that is pretty much to die for... and their mashed potatoes & gravy never grow old. :)

Kaitlyn@TheTieDyeFiles said...

Great review! FOllowing Julie on Twitter!

Kaitlyn@TheTieDyeFiles said...

Follwoing you on Twitter!

Kaitlyn@TheTieDyeFiles said...

Tweeted!

ellie said...

I'm going to have to agree with Jenny and the veg reuben.

Bike Junkie said...

This is total karma! I was in a bookstore at lunch, and saw this book for the first time today. Then I see it on twitter. My favorite diner food is a philly "cheeze steak" from Vertical Diner in SLC

Bike Junkie said...

sorry, forgot to mention that I am following both, and retweeted the message.

Book and Cat Librarian said...

Definitely a delicious vegan burger with fries!

Book and Cat Librarian said...

I am following you on Twitter

Heather @ Better With Veggies said...

These look awesome - I would love a copy of the book to try this out. :) My favorite diner food is fries & a milkshake, yum!

Heather @ Better With Veggies said...

I also followed you on twitter (@betterwithveg).

Kelly said...

My favorite diner food is probably anything involving potatoes - hash browns are so delicious!

Kelly said...

I already follow you on Twitter! (@kelmishka)

Kelly said...

And I now follow Julie!

Heather @ Better With Veggies said...

And followed everyday dish on twitter! (@betterwithveg)

Book and Cat Librarian said...

I am following Julie on Twitter!

coldandsleepy said...

Oh sheesh, that mac'n'cheese looks so freaking good.

Favorite diner food: I worked at a diner when I was a young teen and one of the perks was that we got a free meal (within reason) after our shift. I always always got cheese fries... and while I haven't found a vegan version that hits me the way those ones did, I am going to keep trying!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to Christina! World Vegan Feast looks like an amazing book! As does Vegan Diner! I would love to win a copy! My favorite diner food would have to be mac and cheese and malted milkshakes! I'd love to make vegan versions of these. Your mac and cheese photo looks really good!!!!

Anonymous said...

I tweeted!

Leslie Richman said...

Those dishes look amazing! I love grilled cheese and fries...my favorite diner since going vegan is Spiral Diner in Dallas,TX. So tasty!

Stacey said...

The Reuben I had at the Chicago Diner in 2008 did it for me! I was a huge Reuben fan before going vegan so I was thrilled get a super satisfying vegan version.

c said...

Awesome giveaway! Tweeted!

Cassandra said...

To be quite honest, I haven't had much diner food! I remember enjoying a good milkshake once.

But that mac and cheese looks awesome! I still haven't found a vegan mac and cheese recipe that totally hits the spot.

Cassandra said...

Also, I'm a follower of yours via Opera browser's RSS feed!

Mandy said...

Grilled cheese, fries, and pickles.

Mandy said...

subscribe via rss feed/ google

Julia P. said...

My favorite diner food is cherry pie!

Julia P. said...

I follow @everydaydish on twitter @avocadosandwich

Julia P. said...

I follow @vegiegail on twitter @avocadosandwich

Julia P. said...

I tweeted this giveaway @avocadosandwich

singerinkitchen said...

My favorite diner food are onion rings. YUM!

singerinkitchen said...

@singerinkitchen follows @everydaydish on twitter

singerinkitchen said...

@singerinkitchen follows @vegiegail on twitter

Julia P. said...

I follow via Networked Blogs.

singerinkitchen said...

I tweeted! http://twitter.com/#!/singerinkitchen/status/123917357004505088

singerinkitchen said...

I follow your blog and you are on my blog roll too!

The Vegan Version said...

Oh.My.Gosh. It all looks so wonderful, especially that mac and cheese!!!

Donna B! said...

My favorite diner food would have to be a tofu/veggie scramble with hash browns and tempeh sausage. I sampled the chocolate chip cookies from Julie and they are divine.

moonsword said...

There's a local place that makes a swooningly good artichoke pesto panini...lovelovelove it!

Ashley F. said...

Vegan reubens are by far my favorite diner food! Though I have to say I love the seitan versions a bit better than the tempeh versions I've had.

Ashley F. said...

I'm following @everydaydish on twitter!

Ashley F. said...

I'm also following @vegiegail on Twitter!

vegAnn said...

Vegan nachos

vegAnn said...

Following @everydaydish on Twitter.

vegAnn said...

Following Vegiegail

vegAnn said...

Tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/coniecone/status/123957931988357120

vegAnn said...

Following via email

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

omg, that Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding looks & sounds so delicious!! Great review!!

Anonymous said...

My favorite diner food is french fries or onion rings!! I haven't trusted to eat them since ive been moving to veganism because I don't know how they are made!!

Anonymous said...

I follow @everydaydish!!

Anonymous said...

I follow @vegiegail!!!

Anonymous said...

I tweeted about the contest!

Anonymous said...

I follow your blog on GFC!!

Kim said...

My favorite diner food is probably any kind of french fries (especially curly fries). Thanks for offering such a nice giveaway!

Southern Purple Veggie said...

my favorite diner food would be milkshakes from a diner some where in oklahoma.

Sarah said...

My favourite diner food used to be the Grilled Cheese Plate at Waffle House. It was just a grilled cheese with hash browns, which you could order separately for the same price, but if you said grilled cheese PLATE it came with pickles on the side. Love me some dill pickle slices! =)

MarkTwain said...

Great Review! My fav is mac and cheeze!

MarkTwain said...

I follow everyday dish on Twitter
@martielou

MarkTwain said...

I follow vegie gail on Twitter
@martielou

MarkTwain said...

I tweeted!
Enjoy a homemade vegan blue-plate special! Win a copy of @everydaydish's Vegan Diner via @Vegiegail http://bit.ly/qNztt0 #vegan #giveaway

@martielou

MarkTwain said...

I follow your blog!

jared said...

My favorite diner food would have to be a tempeh panini, BLT style.

jared said...

I follow you on twitter!

jared said...

I follow everydaydish on twitter!

Lizzie Bordello said...

I am forever yearning to recreate my favorite meal from the diner I frequented in my pre-vegan high school days: BLT, french fries, battered fried mushrooms with ranch dressing, and a brown cow (root beer and vanilla ice cream blended). Doesn't seem like it would be that hard, but I'm still working on perfection.

Lizzie Bordello said...

Following Hungry Vegan in my Google Reader.

Lizzie Bordello said...

Following you on Twitter. :)

Lizzie Bordello said...

Now following everydaydish on Twitter as well.

Ajene (Kingdom Mommy) said...

I entered the giveaway...YEY! Looks like a great cookbook.

Jess said...

I'm a new vegan and new to the blogging world, found your blog and I love it, I have just subscribed!

Bethany S. said...

I miss Reubens!

Bethany S. said...

I follow this blog via e-mail.

Such said...

Fried chicken with French fries & gravy.

Boi Polloi said...

Following you by email now - omg you have no idea how much I miss authentic diner food! Coming from New England, there just aren't any diners here in the South!

Janet DeGras said...

Mmmm... Those photos are making me hungry and at least two hours til dinner! Well, I'm following Julie on Twitter, so maybe soon I'll get to make some of those dishes myself.

Janet DeGras said...

Thanks for reviewing this, Gail. I'm following you on Twitter.

Janet DeGras said...

Mac and cheese is my favorite diner food -- all rich and creamy, and soft enough to slide down even the sorest throat without scratching.

Ashley said...

I follow Julie on twitter! Thanks for the giveaway :)

Ashley said...

I subscribe!

Ashley said...

I follow you on twitter

bitt said...

i like homefries for my fave diner food. mmm or wayward cafe's vegan bacon cheesy fries.

bitt said...

following @Vegiegail

my twitter= @cherrycobbler

bitt said...

following @everydaydish on twitter

@cherrycobbler

Anonymous said...

Before I went vegan, my favorite diner food was a fried egg and cheese sandwich on toast. Now that the though of eating an egg absolutely repulses me, I still wouldn't mind tasting a vegan version of this dish (as weird as that sounds). I think it was more combination of textures and flavors than anything else. Anyway, thank you for the giveaway!

Anonymous said...

I follow you on twitter!

Anonymous said...

I follow @everydaydish on twiiter!

Merrie Samways said...

Gail, definitely mac and cheese...hands down! And mashed potatoes! Carbs...I know!.....but you asked!!! This book looks amazing!

Helen said...

Everything looks so delicious! My favorite diner food would have to be the ooey-gooey desserts like blueberry pie a la mode, chocolate eclairs, and rice pudding with cherry syrup and whipped cream. Thank you so much for sharing the rice pudding recipe from Vegan Diner. It looks incredible!

Helen said...

I follow your blog!

Jenny said...

Milkshakes! (with french fries as a close second!)

Jenny said...

I already follow your blog. :) And I unfortunately am not on twitter yet.

sgcorrie said...

A big old stack of pancakes covered in delicious syrup!

Domestic Diva said...

I follow on gfc.

FAvorite diner fare? All things breakfast related. Yum!

Lauren (PB&G) said...

I just found your blog today! You reeled me in with the Vegan Diner book in the title. I checked that book out from the library a few weeks ago and fell in LOVE! That pancake mix recipe and the cornbread buns are AMAZING!

I subscribed by email, too!

Jaime-Lynn said...

I still love the old favorites, especially a grilled "cheese".

Jaime-Lynn said...

Following Julie on twitter.

Jaime-Lynn said...

Following Gail on twitter.

Jaime-Lynn said...

Tweeted! I LOVE this book. I was really sad when I had to turn it back in to the library.

Jaime-Lynn said...

I now follow this blog. I'm really enjoying it. @jedijinx

MizzBzVegan said...

My favorite diner food is a piping hot bowl of good mac and cheese.
Chicago Diner does a good one, as does Souley Vegan in Oakland, Candle 79 in NYC and The Vegan Cafe in Houston.
Mostly, I like the one I do up in my own kitchen.

MizzBzVegan said...

Following you on blogger/google!

Terri Cole said...

my favorite diner food has to be onion rings!

gaia (at) cinci (dot) rr (dot) com

Terri Cole said...

following your blog!

gaia (at) cinci (dot) rr (dot) com

Chef E said...

My fave diner food is the Milkshake! I make mine with soy, almond or coconut milk!!! :)

Anonymous said...

My favorite would have to be onion rings! morganguiney@aol.com Karen

Anonymous said...

I follow you via email Karen morganguiney@aol.com

Hannah said...

Mmm, good old fashioned vegan comfort food! I wish there really was a vegan diner that served things like this near me... That would be a dream come true.

My top pick for diner fare would have to be matzoh ball soup, although needless to say, I haven't had it in a very long time now.

Chef Amber Shea said...

#1 - done

Chef Amber Shea said...

#2 - done

Chef Amber Shea said...

#3 - done!

Bobbie {thevegancrew} said...

Favorite diner food would probably be a milkshake :)