Dinner with a side of anarchy?

I think that my Christmas wish list (and what people ending up picking off of it) would make any foodie proud. It included everything from a wok to a cast iron dutch oven with more than a few cookbooks thrown in for good measure. Never mind that my apartment is 400 square feet and I am currently storing the dutch oven under the coffee table, the wok under the armchair and the cookbooks in the bathroom.

Anyways, it was a pleasant surprise when Fred presented me with a cookbook that was not on my list and that matched my eclectic tastes and interests in environmental and social causes. The real surprise may have been that it was a vegan cookbook. My first thought was - does he understand what vegan means? If I ever actually starting cooking vegan I think he might break up with me. My chicken pot pie is just that good.

All joking aside- yes, he did know it was vegan and was well aware of my status as "The Worst Vegatarian Ever" - I could see immediately why he picked it. I love that it came from my favorite place in the entire world, Reading Terminal Market.

"Another Dinner is Possible" by Mike and Isy is part vegan cookbook and part radical handbook with a healthy dose of politics. The authors cook for a volunteer collective at activist and community gatherings. Translated - this ain't Paula Deen y'all. They also happen to be British, and while many of the issues they address convert easily the measurements do not. Fair warning if you follow recipes closely.

Many of the recipes are fairly standard vegan fare- salads, lots of vegetable casseroles, lots of substituting with tofu. I like that they take a lot of inspiration from ethnic cuisines though, and they even devote an entire chapter to Korean food.

What you'll find find that you won't find in many other cookbooks are resources on foraging for wild food, growing your own produce, and even brewing your own alcohol. While I might not be brewing up a batch of homemade brewski any time soon, some advice is more pratical like the chapter on preserving and storing food. I've always wanted to try my hand at a making pickles.

I would recommend this as an "interesting" addition to your collection with the caveat that you might not want to let your meat eating friends read it. It's the kind of book that Anthony Bourdain would have a field day with as it portrays vegans as a bunch of radical hippies. That may be, but at least they are radical hippies who know how to brew their own beer.