"Oh She Glows" Review & Giveaway

I guess I was just living under a blog-rock. I had certainly heard of  Angela Liddon's blog "Oh She Glows," but for whatever reason, I hadn't ever tried any of her recipes. I started hearing good things about her new cookbook, and was getting curious. Then, as luck would have it, I was offered the chance to receive a review copy AND offer a giveaway! Yes, please!

Mr VE&T is really into this book

My first impression of the book is that it's crazy beautiful. Her pictures are so beautiful! And it's got a great layout: one recipe per page, a full-page photo of every dish, and the ingredients over in a side column. Each recipe has a "prep time" and a "cook time" estimate, and tells you all the details such as "gluten-free," "nut-free option" etc. As far as I can tell, this book is about 90% gluten-free, so that's cool for all you gf'ers out there in the world!

The first two dishes I made were the Creamy Avocado Potato Salad and the Pan-Seared Garlic Tofu. You guys. That potato salad is so damned good! The potatoes and asparagus are chopped up small and roasted to perfection. While they are roasting, you whizz up a super easy creamy avocado & lemon dressing... and then you just have to mix it all together. It's so easy and somehow just amazingly delicious. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats fell deeply in love with this dish. He called it "Potato Chip Salad" because he says it tasted like Ranch-dressing-flavored potato chips. And it kinda did! I absolutely can't wait to make this again. It is totally great.

To go with it, for a protein blast, I made the tofu cubes and they were easy and quick and very yummy too. It was a good combo. I could definitely eat a whole bowl of tofu cubes like this in one sitting, but I practiced restraint and got a few servings out of it.

Next up, I tried the Indian Lentil-Cauliflower Soup. It's essentially like a red lentil dal recipe with cauliflower and sweet potatoes in it. I could see from the ingredients that it would be a quick and straightforward recipe and I that I might want to fuss with it. The spices she calls for are simple, so I threw in some mustard seeds and Indian chile powder for a little extra pizzazz. Once it was ready, I still thought it was a little quiet for my Indian-food-preferences, so I zinged it up with some hot sauce, fresh lime, and some tamarind paste. Yeah! Even though I modified the recipe a bit, I really liked this dish and I appreciated the framework of having this quick and yummy recipe to build off of. I would certainly use this recipe again for a foundation. I loved the chunky veggies in the dal... I don't usually do that in my dal, and they were delicious.

 this is fabric my grandparents brought home after their time in Ghana with the Peace Corps

Mr. VE&T got really excited about this book (so atypical!) - and was looking through it and picking out recipes for me to make. How fun! It was really fun to have his input and enthusiasm. Right away he picked out the African Peanut Stew. I always avoid peanut stew recipes because it seems like with all that peanut butter, it's just gonna be a giant calorie bomb. But I was so happy for Mr. VE&T's enthusiasm, that I wanted to follow through. And, actually, once I did the math, this soup wasn't very high-calorie after all - and full of good stuff. And, better yet, this soup is AMAZING. Like, holy moly, yumma-lumma-ding-dong good. We loved it so much. And it made tons. I'm not a delicate eater, and I think we got 5 big servings from this recipe. Plus, I just got the most delicious organic PB from Trader Joe's, so it was extra tasty. This soup = very good idea.

Next, I made the Protein Power Goddess Bowl. That name kinda freaks me out a little, so I just called it The Protein Power Bowl instead, and then I was comfortable again. This is a lentil-wheat berry salad with some veggies and a hefty tahini sauce on it. I made it for dinner one night and although I liked it quite a bit, Mr. VE&T thought the tahini experience was a bit intense and that it would be good with some carrots and greens. The recipe made quite a bit, so when I had some left overs the next day, I added in a diced up carrot and served it over a big bed of steamed kale. I think Mr. VE&T was right - it was really delicious like this! Also, the recipe is quite calorie-dense (and nutrient-dense!), so it was good for me to extend it with a big mess of greens. I still have some servings left, and I think I'll do this again for lunch today. It really kept me going!

Last but not least, I made myself a batch of the Spa Day Bircher Muesli. I had a big batch of homemade soy yogurt already, so this was very easy to whip up. You mix everything together, and then leave it in the fridge overnight. She says that it will keep for a few days... so in the morning, I portioned out 3 bowls and had this for breakfast 3 days in a row. So yummy! I've been having yogurt for breakfast often lately, and I really liked all the yummy stuff mixed in. Angela suggested adding maple syrup on top, which I did the first day... but actually I found that a little too sweet for my tastes. With all the fresh apple and dried fruits mixed in, I thought it was perfectly and pleasantly sweet on its own.

we are glowing with happiness after all that good food So, as you can see, I've already made a lot of recipes from this book and I am really loving it! I have so many more recipes written down that I still want to try out... plus, I have to make that potato salad again pronto. So, this book is going to get a lot of use around here!

In general the recipes in "Oh She Glows" are definitely on the health-food side of things, which I really appreciate. There are no recipes calling for mayo or Earth Balance or such. I don't mind those ingredients, but I already have plenty of cookbooks that rely on stuff like that, and I don't want to eat that way too often. The recipes in "Oh She Glows" are almost entirely unprocessed, pantry staples. Not unusual or hard to find, but put together really nicely.

Giveaway!

Now the good news! You too can get your grubby little paws on a copy! The publishers of "Oh She Glows" are happy to offer a copy to one lucky winner in the U.S. or Canada. You don't have to do anything weird. Just leave a comment here and say something nice or interesting. I'll pick out a winner on Friday the 18th... Good luck!

Bonus!

My friend Tami over at Vegan Appetite is also hosting a giveaway of Oh She Glows 

-- so you can enter both of our giveaways!