Great Gluten Free Vegan Goes Global! Blog Tour & Giveaway

For all you folks out there looking for more vegan and gluten-free options, Allyson Kramer (of Manifest Vegan) has a new book out: Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats from Around The World (phew!). A little while back, Allyson asked if I would be a part of her new book's blog tour, and I happily said yes!

Unfortunately, my sample copy of GGFVEFATW didn't arrive until I was off at VidaVeganCon, so I've still only had a few days to hang out with it and cook from it. The book is organized by region: Africa, Europe, South America, Asia, and so on... and each section offers recipes for lighter fare, entrees and a handful of sweeties.  The recipes don't look too complicated, and they seem easy to modify according to your personal tastes (more seasoning, leave something out, etc). I always appreciate recipes like that.

Once I had pulled myself together after VidaVeganCon, I got into the kitchen and got to work! I've made a few things so far:

Red Potato & Watercress Soup (from Ireland)

Minted Green Salad with Oranges, Lentils & Tomatoes (Middle East)

and this wonderful Spiced Lentil Harira (Morocco)

Of the three, this Harira was our real favorite. It was quick and easy to prepare, but was hearty and bursting with both flavor and nutrition. We both loved it, so I'm going to share the recipe with you!

Spiced Lentil Harira

(yield: 6 servings)

1 large can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1 cup (192 g) dried lentils

1 onion, diced

2 stalks celery, sliced

6 cups (1.4 L) salted vegetable broth

1 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your spice tastes)

1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp dried ginger

2 cups (480 g) cooked chickpeas

    (added after cooking soup halfway)

2 Tbsp (15 g) gram flour mixed with 1/4 cup (60 ml) water until smooth

1/2 c (30 g) chopped parsley

1/4 cup (4 g) chopped cilantro

1 tsp salt, or to taste

2 large lemons, sliced into wedges, for serving

Place all the ingredients through the ginger in a large stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, to maintain a constant simmer, and let cook for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Stir in the chickpeas, gram flour mixture, parsley, and cilantro. Cook an additional 10 minutes to cook the gram flour completely and to thicken the soup. Salt to taste and serve with a lemon wedge.

veggie prep!

GGFVEFATW has a lot to offer, and some of the recipes I have my eye on to try out in the future include: 

- Peppery Banana, Avocado and Papaya Salad

- Sweet Coconut Orange Cookies

- Veggie Frittata with Salsa Verde

- Farinata Pizza

- Bambara Peanut Butter Rice Pudding

- Fig Pastries

A few thoughts:

~ The book is really beautifully laid out, with great fonts, beautiful pictures, and really clear instructions

~ I really appreciate that the recipes include both volume and weight measurements. I like using 

weights to measure when I cook. Plus, it makes it more versatile for U.S. & European kitchens.

~ I think my only complaint about the book is that tons of the baked goods call for Superfine Brown Rice Flour, which isn't available where I live. I guess I'll probably end up ordering some online, because all the gluten-free bakers I know swear by it (and I know Allyson's sweeties are probably worth it). I know that the audience for this book is probably used to special ordering a lot of ingredients and products, but I think that special ingredients make a lot of the recipes a bit inaccesible. At least, if I do order it, there are a lot recipes that call for it (not just one or two).

It's like travelling around the world --

but actually being able to eat the food!

Great news!! Allyson's publishers are sponsoring a giveaway (open to U.S. and Canada) for one of my readers to win their very own copy of GGFVEFATW!! Just leave a comment on this post, and I'll draw a winner this weekend!

p.s. Even if you don't win from my giveaway, check out the other stops along the way in the blog tour for more chances to win. You can find the whole schedule here.