Cooking with Spork Fed

I first met Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg, the sister team of Spork Foods, at one of their cooking classes about 2 years ago.  My sister and I trekked out to their Hollywood kitchen, excited about the opportunity to learn some tasty vegan recipes.  I immediately fell in love with these adorable sisters whose infectious personalities make you wish you were a dinner guest at their house all the time.  The class was culinary playtime for me, with delicious and beautiful food.  As class ended, I sadly wondered how I would make time to come again (coordinating my schedule to make it out sans family on a weekend for a half day was like moving the Earth).

To my delight, these ladies launched their cookbook last year, (which I excitedly had signed at their local book signing - hurray for me!), and I have been cooking my way through it every since.  It is one of my favorite vegan cookbooks - and I have many.  The colorful design is cheerful and the food pictures are mouth watering.  I love the "Sporkie Scoop" at the bottom of each recipe that shares:

"For Your Smarts" - Teaches you about how different cultures eat the food

"For Your Parts" - Shares what the ingredients do for your health

They also include some great suggested menus at the beginning of the book, which I have used to mix and match my own holiday menus and dinners.  And if all of the above didn't make this book special enough, they also included a vegan products list for your fridge and pantry at the back of the book.

I have so many favorites in Spork Fed.  Here are some of my top picks...

My family loves these: Ginger, Maple and Mustard-Glazed Tempeh (my husband loves this so much that he asked me to put it in our dinner rotation), Creamy Pistachio Pesto over Brown Rice 

For a fancy holiday dinner: Pear, Fig and Sage Tarts with a Roasted Garlic Aioli (delicious, elegant appetizer for any occasion), Seitan Wellington with a Creamy Spinach Sauce, Potato Gnocci with Basil in a Roasted Shallot Cream Sauce (I made the seitan for Thanksgiving and the gnocchi for Christmas Eve last year.)

For this year's holidays, I plan to make the Lentil Pecan Pate (which happens to also be gluten free)

For lunch with the ladies: Quinoa Salad with Fennel and White Beans (my girlfriend loved this)

If you are looking for a new vegan cookbook, you must check out the Spork sisters.  You won't be disappointed!