Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My first judgment of a cookbook comes from the # of dog-eared pages I have after a first pass (Yes, I’m one of those people that “reads” a cookbook cover to cover). After a first pass of The First Mess, it doubled in thickness from all the recipes I marked. We’ve had the book for a couple weeks now, and here’s my experience: PROS: 1. Gorgeous full page photos! I love seeing what the finished product should look like, as well as many close up photos 2. Recipes are all on one page, no annoying flipping while cooking. 3. Fairly simple, easy to follow recipes with helpful tips, i.e. “should appear jammy in texture.” 4. Standard recipes that can be modified to your local veggies, such as Small Batch Roasted Soup. 5. There is a pretty elaborate desserts section! 6. “Stocking Your Pantry for Success” section explains the different fats, acids, sweeteners and proteins she keeps on hand. I knew a lot of salad dressing recipes call for grapeseed or sunflower oil, but I didn’t know this was because it stays liquid in the fridge. Great tip! 7. High-quality printing. No annoying dust jacket, and the paper is a thick with a matte finish. This book is a tactile pleasure to flip through. CONS: 1. Unless you are already a dedicated gluten-free vegan, you might not have all these ingredients on hand, and you’ll need them quite often: chia seeds, flaxseed, hulled hempseed, dates, multitudes of different flours (whole spelt, millet, oat), arrowroot, buckwheat groats and cups and cups of almond milk. 2. Organization is a bit weird. For example, she has some drinks in the morning section, but there is an “Energizing Drinks” section (which is combined with “Small Bites”?). There are “Salads and Dressings,” Hearty Meals” and “Vegetables and Grains” sections, but the whole book is veggies, so these don’t feel all that different. My guess is that when you write a vegan book, organization is hard because everything is a veggie recipe. My guess is I will be using the table of contents more often for this book than most others. In terms of specific recipes: Taking Laura’s advice, “I would recommend this one the most,” we started with her Cozy Lentil Soup. It was a solid entry point, but I’m not a tarragon lover. Instead, I recommend you start with the one-pot Root Vegetable Dal, with tempered spices stirred in at the end (which makes it not-quite “one pot” but the pan fried spices are worth the extra effort! As a spice blender, I’m obviously bias, but you’ll soon be a convert to tempered spices, too!). The non-dairy creamy Winter Stew was creamy, that even the kids liked it. For sides, I particularly liked the Caramelized Onion Potato Salad and the Master Cleanse Kale Salad; both had great dressings. The most inventive side I tried was the Smoky Eggplant Bacon, which tastes nothing like bacon, but it’s smoky-salty-deliciousness (and, gasp, it was an excellent to burger topping). The super clumpy granola recipe is perfect. The baby loved the Peanut Butter No Bakes. I'm left excited for all the recipes I have yet to try. The First Mess would be a good compliment for veggie sides when you do your next Whole30, as even though you are eating meat—you can't have gluten, sugar or dairy. If you’re not familiar with Wright’s blog, there is a nice introduction explaining her progression to vegan eating and cooking. Personally, I am not vegan, but we are trying to cut down on our dairy consumption. I’ve found, changing our favorite recipes into gluten-free, vegan versions takes a lot of trail and error. I don’t have the time for that, so unless I have confidence that the recipe I’m about to make will come out great, it’s not high on my priority list (there are just too many great things to cook!). The First Mess (and The Minimalist Baker) are my to go-to ladies when I want something dairy and gluten-free. I know I can pick up one of their recipes, and they have done all the trial and error to arrive at the best tasting / simplest version possible. To make all the recipes in this book, you will need: • Arrowroot • Bay Leaf • Black Salt (Indian Kala Namak) – for “eggy” flavor • Caraway (seeds) • Cayenne • Cinnamon (ground) • Chili (flakes) • Chili (powder seasoning) • Coriander (ground and seeds) • Cumin (ground and seeds) • Curry (powder) • Garlic (powder) • Ginger (ground) • Mustard (seeds and powder) • Nutmeg (ground) • Nutritional Yeast • Old Bay (seafood seasoning) • Oregano • Paprika (smoky) • Paprika (sweet) • Pepper (ground) • Peppercorns • Saffron • Sesame (seeds) • Sea Salt (flaky) • Sumac (ground) • Tandoori • Tarragon • Thyme • Turmeric (ground) • Za’atar Laura encourages people to use whole spices and grind them when needed, and to buy small amounts of spice to use up within 6 months. And, of course I blush when, “once I started placing my bulk bin items in dedicated containers that I kept in my line of sight, I started cooking with them more,” as this is literally the foundation of our spice jar company, Gneiss Spice Everything Spice Kit: 24 Magnetic Jars Filled with Standard Organic Spices / Hanging Magnetic Spice Rack (Small Jars, Silver Lids). It’s what keeps our customers from having three open jars of ground cumin. Thanks, Laura! In general, Laura lets the seasonal veggies shine, and only uses spices when needed to enhance the dish, not compensate for the lack of something else (as many other vegan recipes do). Of the few things I made, next time I might make them a bit spicier (or in the Tofu Broccoli, less spicy!) and I will experiment more with the exotic seasonings. As a final note, she lists “A Vegetable Garden” under kitchen equipment, commenting, “We eat well because of my vegetable garden, but it makes me a better person.” I love this!