From the moment Chloe Coscarelli won The Food Network’s
Cupcake Wars I’ve been meaning to try her award winning cupcake recipe but
writing a cookbook of my own kept me from trying all the new recipes that I
wanted to so until her new book Chloe's Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way came out I did not
have the pleasure of trying any of her recipes.
I didn’t have a ton of time on my hands when I tested out
recipes for this book so I tried to pick things that looked like they were
relatively quick and easy and contained ingredients I have on hand in my
kitchen. I started with Black Bean Baby Cakes with Pineapple Salsa. I figured
this recipe would be fantastic no matter what. You really can’t mess up a black
bean patty and the pineapple salsa paired beautifully with the baby cakes. The
Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad with Crispy Wontons wasn’t on my short list of
recipes to make since it had many ingredients that weren’t immediately on hand
but the picture of a beautiful, bright, green and orange salad topped with
curls of crispy wontons kept calling me back and I finally had to give it a
try. It was delightful. The flavors were fresh and sweet and the crunch of the
wontons were perfection. One of the stand-out recipes for me that made my taste
buds a bit more excited than the others was Chloe’s Falafel Sliders with
Avocado Hummus. I’m always looking for something new and innovative in a
cookbook and I think this was one of Chloe’s shining moments. I, once again
broke my quick and easy rule and spent a day in the kitchen putting these
things together. Since Chloe said they freeze well I doubled the batch so my
time in the kitchen wouldn’t be in vein and I’m glad I did. The flavor
combination of falafel with avocado hummus was outstanding. I even shaped a
couple falafel’s into sticks and dipped them in hummus for my 7 month old to
try and she loved them as well – so they’re a hit for the whole family (and my
dog loved the leftovers that she threw on the floor).
Outside of the Falafel Sliders with Avocado Hummus, I didn’t
go head over heels for any of her recipes but I have to say that I really
really liked everything I tried. Chloe makes consistently good food that isn’t
too “out there” and uses simple ingredients that can be found at any grocery
store. Her recipes are great bases for you to let your imagination run wild and
for that reason I applaud this book. I think this book is a fantastic introduction
to veganism for just about anyone.
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