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The Accidental Vegan, first published in 2000 by Devra Gartenstein and largely revamped for this new edition, is the most recent in an ever-increasing cornucopia of vegan cookbooks by self-proclaimed non-vegan authors. While certainly a welcome sign of progress, at least this reviewer wonders when these caring, compassionate, enlightened chefs will embrace the philosophy fully; it’s not pleasant to leave a bad taste in one’s mouth, either gastronomically or spiritually. Thankfully, Gartenstein, owner of Seattle’s Patty Pan Grill, has the food down. Accidental is replete with tantalizing, tempting, and tasty recipes that make the most of familiar produce plus a well-stocked spice rack. The VegNews test kitchen dove into her mains and sides, sampling Dev’s Basic Curry (it belies its name) as well as Yam and Chard Curry (hearty and nutritious). We also couldn’t get enough of the Afghani Stew. Pulao, an East Indian rice-n-pea dish, might just alter the way you see the plain grain from now on; Cajun Greens will have you singing of New Orleans. Accidental’s recipes are straight forward, and the book ends with a worthy section on basic cooking techniques, though offers no photography, which would have been a welcome addition to its very colorful dishes.

Published in 1997 under the title Lorna Sass’ Short-cut Vegetarian (yet “99-percent vegan”), fast-forward more than a decade, lose the minor amounts of dairy, and, much like changing a few ingredients in someone else’s recipe, voila, you have a (nearly) new cookbook. Short-cut Vegan is an unassuming treasure (soft cover, no photos) that grows on you for its content, sans bells and whistles. “Once upon a time I believed in cooking everything from scratch. Then life got in the way,” begins the author, sentiments anyone can understand. Sass has created a book that combines the best of home cooking with the crème of what’s now available to assist the single mom or student holding down two jobs: ingredients your grandmother would have wrinkled her nose at, such as canned beans and frozen veggies (all organic, of course). Her first two chapters, The Short-cut Vegan Kitchen and The Building Blocks of Short-cut Vegan Cooking, comprise about one-third of the book, offering “Ten Strategies for Short-cut Cooking”; staples to stock in your pantry, fridge, or freezer; and a slew of “basic” recipes plus helpful hints that will transform you into a quick-cook chef (sorry, Slow Food people). Finally, the recipes themselves deliver what they promise, many one-pot meals where you will have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. Short-cut Vegan successfully juxtaposes speed with both flavor and health, the happy middle ground between eating out (too much) and cooking from scratch (too infrequently). Its combination of simplicity with taste also bodes well for anyone new to the vegan lifestyle.