Dana Angelo White

No, I'm not going Vegan...

Truth be told, most of the recipe books that make their way into our household are to satisfy the quest for some new inspo in the kitchen. Rarely are they because we actually need to learn some new technique because we are experienced cooks and it's new and different ways of combining ingredients that captures our interest.

However, our household is also on a quest to reduce carbon emissions (and the electricity bill), and though we have heard the evangelical enthusiasm for air fryers for a while now, we only purchased one late last year and are still learning how to use it.

I bought the Women's Weekly Super Easy Air Fryer Cookbook, and was disappointed. It is full of unappealing so-called family recipes, many of them high fat even if they are less fatty than deep fried. I should have known from page 9 where it lists the five best foods to cook in an air fryer: roast vegies, crisp chickpeas, crumbed foods, pizza and calzone, and meatballs and sausages. I should have known from the fact that 'family friendly' fish means Fish Tacos and Fish Cakes. I should have known from the inclusion of just one vegetarian 'weeknight' recipe: Mozzarella Mushroom Burgers. We haven't cooked a single recipe from it.

But without any help from that cookbook, The Spouse has mastered the art of cooking perfect recognisable fish, such as the Blue Eye that we had with (my) ratatouille this week. Very good, nutritious, genuinely low-fat food can be cooked in an air fryer, and because it heats up so quickly it's faster (and much cheaper) than an oven.

We eat vegetarian at least twice a week, so the Healthy Vegan Air Fryer Cookbook piqued my interest. The author's PoV is that eating a plant-based diet can mean eating more plants, not eating only plants.

This collection of vegan recipes sets out to reinvent classic recipes, create innovate new flavours and highlight the beauty of plant-based foods. (p.7)

The Contents list comprises:

• Air fryer basics


• Breakfasts


• Mains


• Sides


• Snacks and Salads


• Desserts


• Index

The Air Fryer Basics section is brief. Two pages which is not adequate IMO because clearly some recipes call for accessories which we don't have and it doesn't explain why they're necessary. Then there are two pages *yawn* about the benefits of plant-based foods.

The cookbook's design, however, is well done; The layout is clear, and the font is big enough for easy reading. The ingredients list is well set out into the different parts of more complex recipes, and there's a nutrition panel, a calorie count, plus prep and cook times. Air fryer temperature, alas, is in Fahrenheit necessitating conversions for 380°F and 390°F and 400°F etc. (They could very easily have included Celsius, but American book designers don't think that way, I guess.) Nearly all the recipes have an accompanying photo. Sometimes there are 'tips' for do-ahead strategies or a 'different spin'.

So, to the recipes...

Breakfasts. Hmm. Lots of sweet things though the Chocolate and Zucchini Muffins look okay, but #Shudder my antennae went on high alert when I see the use of fake meats such as something called a vegan sausage pattie with a recommended brand to buy. These turn up in Breakfast Sandwiches too. I do not eat ultra processed foods and plant-based meat substitutes are (mostly? always?) ultra processed. And then there's 3-Ingredient Everything Bagels, made with 'everything bagel seasoning'. What is that? Oh. This. As far as I can see, it's just seeds, garlic, salt and onion, with or without chilli. What kind of recipe book doesn't give the proportions so that you have to buy a $20 jar of readily available seeds?

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2023/02/12/healthy-vegan-air-fryer-cookbook-2020-by-dan...… (mais)