Is it mid October all ready! I sit here with my pumpkin spice latte reflecting on the second Oh She Glows Cookbook, Oh She Glows Every Day. I remember when this book first came out. I was so excited! Unfortunately, my initial reaction was “Um, what the heck, most of these recipes look similar to/or exactly the same as the last book” or “why would you need a recipe for that…” E.g. I didn’t need like 3 recipes for nut butter! I loved the first Oh She Glows book so much though that I had to give it a fair shot. Turns out there are a lot of really good recipes again. Even though they may look similar to her last book they were different enough to feel like you’d made something new. I still recommend her first book to everyone who asks what veg book they should buy. Between that and her app I don’t think her new book is essential to have but I’m still glad I got it!
Highlights…
The Sweets…
I tried 2 cookie recipes that were phenomenal. Truly! The Chocolate-Almond Espresso Cookies, p.207 and the Pillowy Pumpkin Snacking Cookies, p. 217. You would never know these were vegan and they turned out to perfection. Unfortunately, I forgot a pic of the pumpkin cookies but see the chocolate ones below…definitely do the espresso powder!
Chocolate-Almond Espresso Cookies
From the dessert section I also made The Ultimate Flourless Brownies with the No-Cook Caramel Sauce, p.253. The Brownie was a bit too salty for me but others seemed to like it. It was very rich so you could only manage a little piece. The “caramel” sauce was actually quite delightful. I’d definitely recommend having a jar on hand for ice cream needs.
The Ultimate Flourless Brownies with No-Cook Caramel Sauce
Breakfast…
I had actually tried all of the smoothies in this section already. Her smoothie combos are usually great. They were, I just have a sweeter tooth so I added extra maple syrup or agave to my version.
First day of school Green Matcha Mango Ginger Smoothie, p.17.
Weekends are for uping your breakfast game. The 9-Spice Avocado Hummus Toast is a huge winner!…
Every Day Lemon-Garlic Hummus. Pretty standard hummus recipe, tasty but nothing special.
Strawberry Oat Crumble Bars…something about these was NOT great. I used the Strawberry-Vanilla Chia Seed Jam, p.44 (another recycled recipe from the first book) which is yummy. I think it’s the use of the sunflower seed butter. Fresh out of the oven they were ok but the next day it made the bars taste a little “off”. I can’t fully explain. Unless these bars need to go to school, I’d use almond or peanut butter instead…
Strawberry Oat Crumble Bars
Another fab breakfast recipe was the Banana Bread Muffin Tops, p.87. Too easy to make, healthy and liked by all who tried…
Banana Bread Muffin Tops
On to the Savoury…
The Protein Power Rainbow Quinoa Salad, p.99 is my new go-to potluck salad recipe for sure!…
Another go-to I found was the Thai Crunch Salad, p.101. I made extra Cast-Iron Tofu, p137, Roasted Tamari Almonds, p.263. and Thai Almond Butter Sauce, p.249 so I was able to assemble salads for a few days! Who doesn’t love that…
Thai Crunch Salad
Listen up Chickpea salad sandwich friends! The most influential recipe I took away from Oh She Glows 1 was swapping out the tuna in your tuna salad recipe for a can of chickpeas. In book 2 she shares her Curried Chickpea Salad, p.113 recipe. It was highly addictive and I almost at the whole bowl myself without the pita. When I ate meat I used to love me a tuna sandwich. When I discovered roughly crushing chickpeas instead I was in heaven. Most people don’t even notice it’s not tuna, seriously!…
Curried Chickpea Salad
The Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Spinach Coconut Curry, p.179 was a delight. It was so quick to throw together with store cupboard ingredients. A go-to mid week meal for sure…
Sweet-Potato, Chickpea and Spinach Coconut Curry
John jumped in on one recipe this month. He made the Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta, p.185. This was so similar to a creamy pasta recipe in her first book that we almost didn’t give it a go. I’m glad we did though. It was tasty…
Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
A real dinner winner was the Ultimate Green Taco Wraps, p.191. I love me a lettuce cup meal…
In short, I still love Oh She Glows but I’m not convinced you need to rush out and buy this 2nd book if you already have the first. If you love her recipes like I do and have a cookbook buying problem too then get it; you will find some keepers!
October’s book is already under way. I HAD to choose Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s second Veg book River Cottage: Much More Veg. It truly breaks my heart that Canadians don’t really know Hugh. His River Cottage show is a UK classic! I fell head over heals in love with his show, books and attitude to veg and sustainable meat eating when we lived in the UK. His book came out when John was last in the UK so of course I HAD to order it to his mom’s to bring back. I’m so excited to tuck into more veg with River Cottage! (River Cottage the first book can be found here in Canada and aside from the first Oh She Glows it is the veg cookbook I recommend most to friends.)
- More
