Vegan Soul Kitchen Cookbook Review

Chef Bryant Terry Mixes Southern Cuisine into Meatless Menus

Apr 28, 2009

Vegan Soul Kitchen (2009) celebrates rich, satisfying Southern cuisine that happens to be vegan and nutritious. Set aside time to prepare these from-scratch recipes.

Bryant Terry interacts with his food, and he wants you to do the same. His cookbook, Vegan Soul Kitchen mixes fresh, local ingredients with a blend of traditional Southern cooking and flavours inspired by travel and experimentation. The result is a surprising departure from the usual fatty meat-heavy soul food. In its place is a comforting blend of fresh, nurturing ingredients, and satisfying vegan fats.

In what Bryant calls a combination of "life, recipes and historical notes on Afro-Diasporic cuisine", he promotes local, seasonal cooking without meat, dairy products or eggs. Most ingredients are as unprocessed as possible, meaning beans are cooked from scratch and real peanuts are ground into sauces.

A Soundtrack for Each Recipe

The style of this book is relaxed, low-key and personable. Bryant even provides a soundtrack for his recipes; many of which connect food to the history of African-American culture. His uncle even penned a song that appears in the book.

Soul Food: African and Caribbean Inspired Dishes

The food in Vegan Soul Kitchen is a combination of tradition and exploration. The results are some creative new flavour combinations, like Cajun-Creole-Spiced Tempeh Pieces with Creamy Grits (page 10).

These recipes are about comfort food that nourishes the body and mind: nutrient-rich vegetables, nuts, seeds and beans with minimal processing.

The simple recipes in this book stand out – try Citrus Collards with Raisin Redux (page 4) or Rosemary-Roasted Tofu Cubes (page 146). The “Sound Bites” (appetizer) chapter contains a killer Baked Sweet Potato Fries recipe that is well worth the hour-long wait it takes to bake them.

Fresh, Local, Whole Food Ingredients

The ingredients used in the book are mostly whole foods in their natural state. That means no textured vegetable protein (TVP) and very few packaged or canned foods. Bryant’s ingenious use of coconut oil means there are no recipes that call for “vegan butter” or shortening, even for the flaky Jamaican Patties (page 111) and Pie Crusts (page 186).

The copious use of tempeh sets these recipes apart from other vegetarian cookbooks.

Hot peppers play a starring role in many recipes, but there are also peanuts, coconut, grits, corn on the cob, and lima beans too. For those who live where these ingredients come fresh and in-season, Vegan Soul Kitchen is more likely to get regular use.

Not for Amateur Cooks or Busy Nights

Vegan Soul Kitchen is not for new cooks. With creations like Spicy Mafé Tempeh and its own homemade peanut sauce (page 95) and from-scratch Jamaican patties (page 111), some skill in the kitchen is required. Recipes tend toward the complex because store-bought timesavers are not used.

Bryant doesn’t provide estimates for how long a recipe will take to make – his style is relaxed and trends toward slow food. For busy people cooking on weeknights, Vegan Soul Food may be too much.

The Grub

Don’t be surprised at some odd categorizations here, like the Jamaican patties that ended up in the "So Fresh and So Green" chapter. And be sure to check out the Top Six, which are the author’s favourites but are easily lost at the front of the book.

The Bottom Line

Vegan Soul Kitchen is for lazy Sunday afternoons when you can crank the tunes, open the windows, and take your time cooking (don’t forget the lavender lemonade). The simple recipes in this book are just as good – if not better – than the complicated ones.

Recipes will come together easily for those living where corn on the cob is in season and items like coconut butter and seitan are available on store shelves. For those with a more limited selection (or climate), it may be more challenging.

The Book: Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry. Published by Da Capo Press; Cambridge MA, 2009.

The copyright of the article Vegan Soul Kitchen Cookbook Review in Vegetarian Cuisine is owned by Jill Harris. Permission to republish Vegan Soul Kitchen Cookbook Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.