Canadian Gift Guide

It’s October, which means I’d be remiss to miss an opportunity to remind you it’s vegetarian and vegan awareness month. Believe it or not I’ve eaten a (primarily) plant-based diet for over six years now, and I can’t really imagine going back. While I do have some fish, dairy, and eggs on occasion, I love vegan food – truly – and encourage anyone who gives the signature eyebrow raise to it (like I used to) to give it a shot. One cookbook that might help you out? The Edgy Veg, inspired by YouTuber Candice Hutchings‘ channel of the same name.

Why this vegan cookbook you ask? Give the Edgy Veg YouTube channel a browse and you’ll quickly get a feel for the type of food Hutchings and her hubby James Aita are all about crafting. I’m talking cozy comfort foods, yummy snacks you’ll actually crave, and yeah, stuff that’s on-trend in line with movements like clean eating (as they joke on the back there’s even a token kale salad).

I’ve been cooking almost exclusively out of this cookbook for the last few weeks and I have to say, I’m impressed. Oftentimes I’ll tap my husband to see what he’s interested in eating in that week, and without fail any craving he had could be tackled by the book. Most of the recipes are super simple to pull together, and while many of them have multiple components to make from scratch (often a pet peeve of mine as it’s like making multiple recipes), oftentimes I found I could skip over part of that recipe and not miss a thing. Case in point? The delectable cauliflower wing recipe; one of my favourite vegan dishes I make on the regular anyway. In the Edgy Veg cookbook they give you seven tangy variations, from classic buffalo to unexpected picks like jerk chicken or maple garlic (so Canadian – did I mention this is a Canuck cookbook? Look out for the Montreal poutine recipe).

It’s also worth noting that most of the recipes include little callouts that give you tips on how to optimize the recipe – like the fact vegan cheese tastes best when broiled, or how to freeze a dish for long-term eats. I also dug that the top of each page not only includes the serving size and ingredients, but any kitchen tools you need as well, making it easy for beginner chefs in particular to eliminate recipes that may not jive if they’re lacking an appliance. As is the trend, many recipes also feature a little icon guide at the top of each page to help you figure out when a dish is gluten-free, quick and easy, and great for entertaining (i.e. fan faves that likely won’t make people do the aforementioned eyebrow raise at ‘this is vegan’). Kudos for also leveraging their home base of YouTube; many recipes also come with how-to videos you can watch on YouTube if you’re more of a visual learner (although there are plenty of gorgeous photos throughout).

In all, this is a great cookbook if you’re familiar with vegan cooking; you’ll be familiar with the ingredients and grateful for the chance to recreate some favourites from your omnivore days. For newbies to vegan eating / cooking, I’d say the following: The recipes are simple and the flavours are familiar. Some of the ingredients might be new to you, but start slow; go with recipes that don’t require you to invest in a new appliance or pick up a 2L of almond milk if you’re not ready to try it out (but for the record, it’s sooo yum). If you’re dubious about the flavours of vegan substitutes like vegan cheese or vegan meat, that’s okay too – there’s plenty of pure veggie dishes in here to tempt you, like gnocchi puttanesca, mushroom steaks with Bearnaise sauce, and a BLT made with coconut bacon (also delish beyond belief).

Lucky for you lovely readers, I have a copy of this groovy new cookbook to give away. Want to win it? here’s how to enter for your shot!

1) IMPORTANT NOTE! You must be a Canadian Gift Guide subscriber to enter this giveaway. Just find the ‘Gift of Gab’ box on the righthand side of this page and either hit ‘Follow’ or enter your email address. Once you’ve done that, leave me a comment by November 13, 2017 with a link to the recipe you’re most interested in trying from The Edgy Veg YouTube channel.

2) Entries are limited to one per person / per email address / per household (or more if you score bonus entries). A random draw will be conducted on or around November 1, 2017 to select the winner(s), who will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen in their place.

3) Entries are limited to Canadians that have reached the age of majority in their province. Quebec is not eligible for this promotion.

4) Bonus Entry: Robert Rose is the publisher of The Edgy Veg cookbook. Follow them on Twitter and send out a Tweet about this giveaway with a link back to this post that tags them + me (@cdngiftguide) to nab an extra entry into this awesome draw.