Cookbook Challenge Week 50 - Everything Vegan Slow Cooker

This week I have been cooking from Everything Vegan Slow Cooker by Amy & Justin Snyder.

I found this book in a discount bookshop for £2.99, I was trying to stop purchasing cookbooks but this was a bargain so I thought I would give it a try, heres what I thought:

Seitan Pot Pie - This was the first recipe I tried, it was OK but a bit flavourless. I added nutritional yeast, extra soy sauce & herbs to give it more flavour. The basic recipe was good but really did need more flavour. The second issue I had was that the margarine split so it looked like there were lumps of fat in it. I won't be making this again:

Portobellow Barley - This recipe was very nice, at first I found it a bit boring but when I remembered to add the vegan parmesan it tasted far better, however there is a similar recipe in Happy Herbivore Abroad which is far better:

Chana Masala - This recipe was OK, full of heat but was lacking flavour and was a bit thin. I think a spoon of flour to thicken the sauce really would have improved it:

Shredded "Chicken" Chili - This recipe is basically chili with soy chicken instead of mince. It was nice, wasn't too hot and was a interesting twist on standard chili recipes, however its no comparison for recipes such as Vegan Diners:

Overall I was a bit disappointed in this book. The first reason was that it doesn't have a single picture which really doesn't inspire confidence in the recipes. The second reason is the reliance on branded products (such as Better than bouillon and Earth balance) which makes it a bit difficult for those of us outside the US.

I also found that some of the recipes were just not tasty enough so I ended up adding extra ingredients to improve them which can be a pain.

However if you want a slow cooker book that provides good base recipes which you can tailor to your needs then this is quite suitable and I have to admit some of the other recipes do sound good (cinnamon apple oatmeal & tempeh bacon bake both stood out as recipes to make in future) so I will be using the book again.

The thing that I really did like about this book is the simple and straightforward layout, the book is split into chapters (tempeh, tofu, breakfast etc) and at the beginning of each chapter is a list of the recipes it contains making it very easy to navigate through.