The Vegan 8: 100 Simple, Delicious Recipes Made with 8 … (2024)

What a great cookbook! I have considered becoming Vegan and felt intimidated about making the change, but after reading The Vegan 8 I found it less intimidating. I especially enjoyed the 8 ingredient (or less) recipes, the beautifully laid out pictures within each recipe as well as the variety of items to chose from. A cookbook for both the new vegan as well as those already living a vegan lifestyle. If you’ve considered vegan living and feel intimidated or overwhelmed with information, The Vegan 8 is a great place to start.

I received an advanced review copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Once upon a time, vegans were non-conformists who declared ‘meat is murder’. These days though, plant-based eating is as wholesome as avocado on (gluten-free) toast, and Vegan 8 taps right into this trend.
This book has bright and glossy food photos, a smiley woman (is that you Brandi?) and lots of recipes using 8 ingredients or less. (Or was there a tiny bit of cheating going on? A few recipes had 8 ingredients plus a home-made sauce with another eight or a list of ‘optional’ ingredients that included every vegetable seen in the accompanying photo….)
There are around twenty pages of breakfast recipes – what’s wrong with toast or cereal? – even the author says she doesn’t make breakfast all week. And the lunches seem aimed at those who don’t need to go out to work. But the bulk of the book is made up of healthy, filling dishes you could happily dish up to your kids on a weekday evening. I’m frequently shocked by the amount of oil that recipes require for sauces and dressings, so I particularly like the chapter on oil free sauces in this book.
Overall, it’s a serviceable cook book for people who want to eat animal-product-free meals all or some of the time. And there’s no mention of meat being murder.
If you’re tempted to bemoan veganism’s move from moral standpoint to health hack, you can be comforted by this - no animals were harmed in the making of this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

MAN FOOD
I can’t lie. My hubs cooks nearly all our meals and he makes Man Food, as he wittily calls it. Nary a veggie nor fruit touches our plates, save taters or corn, as real men eat carbs! 🥔🌽

MOUTHWATERING
That said, I could be a vegan in a heartbeat and in a younger healthier iteration of myself, I nearly was. So I was thrilled to review THE VEGAN 8, bursting with 100 recipes made with just eight — count ‘em — eight ingredients or less. My heart went pitty pat just thinking about it, indeed it did, because these are mouthwatering, beautifully photographed creations!

SWOON!
I’m talking ‘bout Elevated Avocado Toast, Pumpkin Pie Crepes, Cuban black bean stuffed sweet potatoes, Skillet Baked Mac n’ Cheese, even No-Bake Chocolate Espresso Fudge Cake. Oh my! Now I just gotta take over our kitchen and get to work. Thanks to THE VEGAN 8, we ain’t just eatin’ Man Food no more! 😁

Pub Date 16 Oct 2018

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine. #TheVegan8 #NetGalley

This past week has been a bit stop and go. Fortunately, the go bits were pretty good, if I say so myself; I have an exciting surprise coming up for you guys, and I just finished two very different but equally interesting cookbooks. One of them is what I’m reviewing today.

If you’ve been in the vegan scene in the US at all, chances are that you have at least had fleeting contact with Brandi Doming’s blog, The Vegan 8. The premise is to create easy, delicious recipes with eight or fewer ingredients, which makes them ideal for beginners and busy people. It seems almost the norm now that when a blog is successful enough, a cookbook is sure to follow (not that I’m complaining), and voila!, here we are.

It’s very hard to dislike this book, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, Ms Doming just comes across as so darn likeable. She went vegetarian, then vegan, in order to optimize her husband’s diet (based on medical recommendations) to alleviate his gout, without having to sacrifice the enjoyment that comes from a good meal. Secondly, the first chapter, The Vegan 8 Kitchen, is a thorough introduction to tips, tricks, techniques, and ingredients to assure you get the most out of the recipes every time. I love that she starts out with a reminder to read the recipe ahead of time! You would not believe how many people criticize cookbooks again and again for recipes that “take too long,” have “exotic ingredients,” or require some planning-ahead. It’s called organization; hop to it and do it, people!

The recipe section is organized in a familiar manner according to meal type. Apparently, grouping recipes into meals for, let’s say, specific holidays, creates stress for more cooks than I would have guessed (read some reviews of Bryant Terry’s books if you don’t believe me), so again, for beginners and people who want to pick a meal rather than an occasion, this is just perfect! The individual chapters are: Breakfast, Scrumptious Snacks & Appetizers, Time-Crunch Lunches, Sauces & Dressings, Easy Entrees, Comforting Soups & Stews, Sides & Dips, Crowd-Pleasing Desserts, and Staples.

Every recipe has a header, telling you whether it is oil-, gluten-, and/or nut-free. Each comes with a short introduction and ends -unusual these days, but surely much appreciated by some cooks – nutritional information. There is a useful tip or note alongside each dish, and each and every one is accompanied by a full page, gorgeous color photo that’ll make you want to zip into the kitchen and get cooking right now!

Ms. Doming loves all things barbecue, and so this particular flavor profile appears in several dishes. She’s also not very big on fruit in desserts, and so that chapter is stuffed to the gills with chocolatey yumminess. If you feel bothered by this, this may not be the cookbook for your kitchen shelf.

I have already bookmarked several recipes to try before my preview copy expires, and I have a strong feeling this might make it onto the wishlist.

“The Vegan 8” is published by Oxmoor House. I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own, unless otherwise stated.

I was so excited to be allowed to preview this cookbook.
As someone trying to be more wfpb, I need all the oil free,
dairy free, meat free help I can get.
This book fills that niche. I like the way it is formatted
with beautiful photos of every dish. As the title indicates
all the recipes require 8 or less ingredients which is great.
There are so many recipes that I want to try right off the bat including..
Teriyaki Patties, Orange Vanilla Waffles, Sunflower Cinnamon Spiced Chia Balls, 3 Ingredient Chili, Oil Free Peanut Veggie Stir Fry.... I could go on, the list is extensive. I will be using this cookbook often.

Yes. Yes. Yes.
I am not a die-hard vegan person, but I do like to dabble. Especially when I know that I haven't been dutiful in eating my veggies. That's when I turn to my vegan cookbooks and this one is no exception. This cookbook is brilliant because each recipe calls for only 8 ingredients and is relatively uncomplicated in putting together. Now I haven't made a recipe yet or tried any of them, but my reading of this cookbook permits me to tell you, that this book was made for those cooks that like to keep things simple, easy, and delicious. I mean with some of these recipes (like roasted gold potatoes with rosemary sauce, savory meatless meatball spaghetti, Cuban black bean stuffed sweet potatoes, teriyaki patties, roasted broccoli and cheese soup, no-bake chocolate espresso fudge cake, almond butter chocolate chip muffins.....like need I say more?) the blends of flavors and the brilliance of ease, I won't be able to stop myself from trying them.
Highly recommend this book for those who want to try some vegan recipes but want to keep it easy, but not forego the flavor.

This includes yummy, creative dishes with gorgeous photos of almost every luscious item in this inspiring cook book. Author Brandi Doming has run a blog for years and never intended to become a vegan until her husband became ill. She sought to aid in finding the foods that would heal him.100 Simple, Delicious recipes made with 8 ingredients or less was the answer. She also found from her blog audience that they loved the fact all her recipes had only 8 ingredients.

Author gives suggestions for readers to have the same delicious results every time with recipes by using fresh herbs and measuring all ingredients that go into every item in her book (she gives you both measurements for cup and weight - she lets you decide which way you'd like to go). The author uses 8 ingredients per meal, drink, snack, dessert which does not include salt, pepper and water. She doesn’t use the same ingredients over and over but selects only 8 to use at a time. She is very creative and the items I made were very flavorful. Even if you are not a vegan (which I am not) I enjoyed these yummy satisfying treats.

Here is the table of contents, the Welcome her story on the wellness journey her family went on, The Vegan Kitchen, Breakfast, Scrumptious Snacks & Appetizers, Time-Crunch Lunch, Sauces and Dressings, Easy Entrees, Comforting soups & Stews, Sides and Dips, Crowd-pleasing desserts, Staples, Metric equivalents.

Recipes I tried: Crowd-pleasing Brownies, Roasted Gold Potato with Rosemary, Creamy Dijon-Pepper Dressing, All-purpose Lemon Cream, 20- minute Alfredo. My family and I enjoyed these items very much. She uses a wide variety of ingredients not the same ones all the time. I learned some new techniques in these recipes I hadn’t done before. Was pleasantly surprised at how flavorful they were. I wouldn’t think to combine the ingredients the way she did. Yummy!

The recipes have easy to follow instructions. The author includes the recipe yield amount, Prep time, cook time and the nutritional break down. What makes this book vertical is the fact that there are tips and ideas to help make the recipes dairy free, gluten-free and nut free. I look forward to trying many more recipes inside this lovely, easy to use, eye appealing cook book.

I have been following Brandi Doming's blog The Vegan 8 for quite some time now, so I was excited to get my hands on her cookbook. A few of her blog recipes have become family favorites for us (Garlic Alfredo Sauce and Barbecue Lentil Loaf), so I knew there would be a lot to like in her cookbook.

First of all, it's gorgeous. The photography, the styling. There are pictures for every recipe.

Second, the recipes. I marked several to try, like Chocolate-Cherry Granola, Orange-Vanilla Waffles, and BBQ Chipotle Green Lentils with Potato Wedges.

My only complaint with this book is that many of the recipes are gluten free, and call for ingredients I don't keep around (and I keep quite an extensive pantry!). So if you're gluten free and vegan, run for this book; you'll love it! If you're not, and you don't like to keep a lot of obscure or expensive ingredients around, maybe look elsewhere. However, there are still a good handful of more "normal" recipes to try!

I was so happy to get an advanced copy of this cookbook! It caught my eye due to the simplicity (all recipes are 8 ingredients or less) and the fact that all recipes are oil-free and she doesn't use fake meat/cheeses. I also really appreciated that she didn't include any salads or smoothies, which are sections in most plant-based cookbooks that I never use.

There are gorgeous photographs for every recipe which is a huge plus for me. The recipes cover a variety of categories and I couldn't be happier with the variety--there really is something to please everyone! I have bookmarked several recipes to make including the Pumpkin Pie Crepes, Meatless Bean Balls, Teriyaki Patties, 3 Bean Chili, Cajun Veggie and Potato Chowder, Toffee -Pecan Glazed Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies and No-Bake Chocolate Espresso Fudge Cake. I can't wait to dig in and get cooking and baking!

*Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley. However, all opinions are my own.*

The Vegan 8 by Brandi Doming
100 Simple Recipes Made with 8 Ingredients or Less

A great book for beginners or those more conversant with vegan eating and cooking – this book has everything from meal ideas to how to make your own spice blends. There were several recipes I would like to try in the future.

The book began with the reason the author took up vegan cooking, the impact it had on her and her family and how her blog came about. She moved on to the kitchen and the ingredients and utensils she prefers. Then the rest of the chapters dealt with food and recipes and included gorgeous photos to make the reader drool and provide incentive to head to the kitchen to create a meal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oxmoor House for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

The book contains various kind of recipes from main dishes & soups to snacks and ice cream including easy sauces and spices as curry blend from scratch and teriyaki sauce. Also, Brandi includes a gluten-free optional version for most of the recipes. Wonderful and useful cookbook for modern cookers!

With 100 delicious recipes, The Vegan 8 by Brandi Doming offers simple, healthy dishes made from eight ingredients or less (not including salt, pepper, or water).Beautiful photographs accompany the scrumptious recipes making the book a feast for the eyes, not just the palate.

Right away, the cookbook demonstrates its uniqueness. The “My Pantry” section is different than other cookbooks providing comprehensive information on spices, non-dairy milk and yogurt, liquid flavorings, flours, nut butter, and starches. Here, Doming indicates which are available commercially and recommended brands and which ones best made from scratch. Many of the descriptions included insight that was new and fascinating to me!

Every chapter is filled with enticing recipes written in a conversational style and labeled nut-free, gluten-free, or oil free as relevant along with the expected prep and cook time. The dishes utilize ingredients in interesting and unconventional ways I had never imagined before such as Pizza Quesadillas using mashed potatoes. Doming emphasizes non-commercial food for the most part but when an ingredient needs to be purchased, she recommends brands and where to purchase them.

Notes for recipes provide very clear information about what substitutions are possible or not advisable and give insight into what gives the dish its signature characteristics such as creaminess. Tips offer ways to enhance recipes, rework them based on allergies (or lack thereof), or to make them more kid-friendly.

I am a disaster in the kitchen, and some of the recipes intimidated me a little because of the preparations involved (or the need for a Vitamix), but I was still very interested in trying them. While I found dishes in every chapter that I wanted to attempt (the soups look particularly creamy and the sides delicious, particularly Almond-Coated Asparagus with Dijon-Tahini Sauce), I thought the Easy Entrees and Staples chapters were most relevant to me. The chickpea dishes--Protein-Packed Curry Chickpeas and Sweet Potato Rounds and Spicy and Smoky Chickpeas in Creamy Tomato Sauce--immediately caught my attention. The Ultimate BBQ Bean Ball Sub looks like a tasty sandwich from one of my favorite vegan restaurants. From Staples, I wanted to make the Emergency BBQ Sauce and the Sesame Teriyaki Sauce posthaste. The Desserts chapter offers options for every taste--chocolate lovers, peanut butter fanatics, fruit fans, or gingerbread enthusiasts.

This cookbook will delight vegans and non-vegans alike and provide strategies for making tastier, healthier dishes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Book Group for providing an electronic advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to view The Vegan 8 by Brandi Doming.

As a non-vegan try to make dietary changes and also be able to cook for my vegan friends this was a great book to start off with.

With beautiful images and easy to make healthy dishes made from eight ingredients or less it is the perfect recipe book to start off with.

With a variety of recipes included, the chapters are: Breakfast, Scrumptious Snacks & Appetizers, Time-Crunch Lunches, Sauces & Dressings, Easy Entrees, Comforting Soups and Stews, Sides and Dips, Crowd-Pleasing Desserts, and Staples.; all recipe details are also listed ie. gluten, nut-free etc. which was quite handy, The first recipe I'll be trying out is the Chocolate-Cherry Granola which sounds amazing!

I received an advanced review copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher through NetGalley

A vegan cookbook where all the recipes use 8 or fewer ingredients? Sign me up! Who doesn't want a recipe without a list of ingredients the length of your arm? Though I've been vegetarian for a few decades, mostly vegan a couple decades and full on vegan a couple years, I wasn't familiar with the author before getting this book so all the recipes were completely new to me. For those of you who may be existing fans from her blog, Doming includes some fan favorites in this book.

A few recipes do sort of "cheat" on the 8 ingredient limit by calling for an ingredient that is actually another recipe in the book - for example, one of the ingredients for the Teriyaki Patties recipe is her Sesame Teriyaki Sauce that itself calls for 8 ingredients. So, if you're starting from nothing, you may in fact need more than 8. That said, the recipes mostly use 8 ingredients plus salt, pepper and/or water.

What do I love about this cookbook (aside from the short shopping list)? All recipes list not only volume measurements, but weights for any ingredient a gram or more (so maybe not for fractions of teaspoons, but everything else). I honestly don't understand when cookbooks don't include this information! Every good kitchen needs a small scale close at hand. The photos have also been beautifully done and there are plenty of them which is always a plus in a cookbook.

Now, the other side... Many of the recipes here are gluten-free. This is actually awesome for those with gluten sensitivities! But many of these do call for ingredients you may not regularly stock in your pantry (various gluten-free flours) and some can be on the pricier side. Be sure to read through a recipe in advance so you'll know if you need to add anything to your shopping list. I also ran into a few other ingredients I don't normally have on hand - freeze-dried apple pieces, lite canned coconut milk (I had both coconut cream and regular coconut milk, but no lite), non-dairy yogurt, coconut sugar and a few more that would require a trip to the store. Doming also really likes almond butter which can be pricey, but she uses this as a substitute for oil or margarine. I'm all for using more natural ingredients!

I tried the Roasted Gold Potatoes with Rosemary Sauce - yum! Though I did make the sauce separately so I could have leftovers without my potatoes getting soggy (just add a bit of plant milk to thin the sauce if needed when reheating). I also didn't peel my potatoes since I buy organic - just give them a good scrub and you're all set. The Sweet Potato Cornbread is also really good! I have a bunch more recipes marked to try including her Showstopper Chocolate Cake, several of the soups/stews and the Teriyaki Patties and Meatless Bean Balls, just to name a few!

Thank you to Netgalley and Meredith Special Interest Media Books/Oxmoor House for the opportunity to review this cookbook. All comments are my own, unbiased opinion.

3.5 stars

Before I start this review, I just need to make a disclaimer that I am not a vegan. I personally found myself getting increasingly interested in vegan food-culture and genuinely wanted to know how eating vegan would affect me and whether it was easier or harder to cook vegan.

The pictures in this cookbook are really well done and instantly caught my eyes and got me excited to try some of the recipes. I also really like how ALL recipes in this cookbook have a picture, which isn't the norm in cookbooks so I really appreciate it when it is done.

To start off with, I don't personally believe that these recipes can be considered "simple" in the purest form. True, the actual execution of cooking the individual recipes with 8 ingredients or less is simple and not that hard once you start making the actual dishes. However, the finding of the right ingredients in the grocery shops and making some of the ingredients needed for the recipes (e.g. cashew butter) I found to be very time consuming and not very cheap.

In total, I tried out 4 recipes from this cookbook - 5 if you include my beyond-painful experience of making homemade cashew butter. (Note to self: 1. Cashews are not cheap. 2. For the love of God, make sure to soak them next time!)

Overall, I did really enjoy the dishes I made and found them to be quite tasty. My particular favorite was the caramelized onions and spinach Buddha bowl which was super yummy, filled me up really quickly and didn't leave me feeling bloated or "full" in a bad way.

I also particularly enjoyed making the pumpkin crepes, which were delicious! The texture of them were just perfect & was surprisingly easy to cook through in the pan.

What I think I enjoyed most about this cookbook was how it taught me to be brave and try making my own homemade stuff (such as the nut butter and the homemade spice blends). It was also really great how the recipes used little to no fat or oil and still tasted amazing (who knew one could caramelize without sugar?! I do now!).

The only downsides this cookbook really has is first of all how pricey the ingredients are. Where I live, nuts aren't the cheapest things to buy and also finding some vegan alternatives (such as yoghurt or mayonnaise) was night impossible or quite expensive (compared to their non-vegan counterparts). And the second thing is that some steps in the recipes do take up a lot of time & energy. With some practice, I can imagine that I would become a pro in making cashew butter in no time. However, I think especially when someone is relatively new to making homemade ingredients (like I was) and is trying to find a bit of an "easier transition" into a vegan lifestyle, this cookbook might not be the one to reach for immediately.

This cookbook is OUTSTANDING. It's very well written, very organized, and filled with great tips and tricks. It's also GORGEOUS! The photography is really beautiful, and the layout on most pages is really eye catching and overall, this book makes you want to cook! There are a few pages that used a dark background with the recipes in lighter text that I personally found more difficult to read, but those pages were still beautiful and I WAS able to read them, just had to work a little harder. The author opens with a really strong section describing her kitchen "basics" and this section is full of great advice and tips...and I loved that she explains WHY she makes the choices she does and why they are important. For example she explains that she will tell you in a particular brownie recipe which pan to bake them in to get the best results, and she explains WHY. I found that so helpful and so important. I am not personally vegan, although I am looking to add 2-3 days per week where I make mostly vegetarian or vegan choices. What drew me to the book, though, was the 8 ingredients or less idea--simple but delicious recipes. And this is where the author really delivers. Every single recipe looks and sounds delicious--the instructions are detailed and easy to understand. Every recipe contains the nutritional information (thank you!), and many recipes contain tips or information about substitutions for those with nut or gluten allergies. The book is organized into logical sections, like Breakfast, Snacks and Appetizers, Lunches, Sauces and Dressings, Entrees, etc. She also includes some of her recipes for her pantry "staples" that she talks about in the first section of the book. Overall, I felt this was an excellent cookbook, filled with great recipes for any family--but especially those looking for good vegan options. I didn't find most of these too complicated, and I found several I want to try right away.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Not being a very ardent follower of Vegan resources online, I was unaware of the author's blog or anything else about her. It was a pleasant surprise.

The book is divided into the usual themes, with one major difference, all of them are made with eight ingredients. A pre-mixed combination of spices counts as a single ingredient, but regular consumption of which would mean they would be stocked in our pantry and therefore not be an issue.

The photographs are delicious in their own right and since I am yet to attempt any of the recipes, I cannot confirm if they will turn out the same when I try my hand at them! They seem simple enough to reproduce and some recurring base ingredients would mean fewer trips to the market and a more sincere appreciation for a book like this. With every advance copy of cookbooks that I am lucky to get a chance to browse through, I feel like I should really start trying to experiment in my own kitchen and soon!

To all those who are on the lookout for a useful cookbook to grace their shelves and prompt interesting ideas to a healthy diet ( it comes with the approximate calorific values as well), this is something to think about investing in. It releases later this month and is still available on NetGalley, when I checked last.

Gorgeous cookbook with beautiful pictures of most every meal. This year has been a hard year for my family in terms of dealing with specific food allergies. Although we are not vegan per se, my son was recently diagnosed with a medical condition in which specific foods cause an immune reaction in his throat. Therefore we are dairy free, egg free, soy free and tree nut free. I really like that the author gives us some specific choices that are non dairy - for instance to use coconut yogurt instead of soy yogurt and also that she uses coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. I can't wait to try so many recipes out of this cookbook including: Tex-Mex Potato Skins, Elevated Avocado Toast, Pizza Quesadillas, Cajun Black Bean-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Secret Ingredient Three-Bean Chili, The Best Fluffy "Buttermilk" Mashed Potatoes, Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins, Ultimate Comfort Chocolate Chip Cookies and Crowd Pleasing Brownies. And whether you are going vegan because of medical reasons or to simply start a healthier lifestyle, we are so lucky to have an amazing author write a cookbook tailored to our needs! Happy Cooking **ARC provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own**

I love The Vegan 8 blog, and now I love the cookbook too! This cookbook proves that food doesn’t need a ton of ingredients in order to be flavorful; all of the recipes use 8 ingredients or less (not including salt, pepper, and water). This also keeps the time spent in the kitchen preparing these recipes to a minimum as well. The book begins like most other cookbooks with information on how to prepare your kitchen, what ingredients you will be using, and what kitchen gadgets to use to make your life easier. Each individual recipe lets the reader know how long the recipe takes to make, information on each recipe including if it is nut-free, gluten-free, oil-free, etc., and any tips or tricks that are good for the reader to know. There is even a section just for homemade sauces and dressings - yum! I am the kind of person who buys my cookbooks based on what the pictures of the finished recipes look like inside the book, and The Vegan 8 did not disappoint, the pictures are vibrant and beautiful. I love cooking out of this cookbook!

This cookbook is GORGEOUS. The photos are vivid and appetizing. As a long-time vegan I've developed my own system for shopping, keeping most-used staples on hand, and found lots of easy recipes to keep in rotation. I often post meal pics on Insta and FB, and get frequent comments from folks such as "If you came and cooked for me I'd become vegan!" or "I'd love to be vegan but it's so hard to change the way I cook everything." I try to explain that vegan cooking is no more difficult (and often it's easier!) than the old traditional meat & dairy-filled recipes we grew up with, but old habits can be hard to break for some folks and they need a little more guidance. This book provides a beautiful way to show people the plethora of dishes you can make with 8 ingredients or fewer, as well as lots of down-to-earth commentary on replacement products and directions for making your own sauces and condiments. Will definitely be trying some of Brandi's recipes and recommending this book to friends.

I wanted to review this book to see if I could convert to veganism and support my partner's vegetarianism with a few new recipes.

Did it deliver? Sort of. The title sells, "simple" recipes with "8 ingredients or less". I didn't feel the book delivered on this promise.

I didn't find the ingredient lists simple, and I had to look to make sure there were less than eight ingredients. Okay, there are.... but.... most aren't quick or simple. The first chapter of recipes (breakfast) didn't appeal at all. Most were the kinds of breakfasts I'd maybe make if I were running a ritzy bed-and-breakfast (one even named with this in mind), but not everyday meals where I have maybe 15 minutes from start to finish.

The book shines with the sauces and dressings (I literally bookmarked each one), and then the dinners (where I wanted to lick the page). A note, too, that folks with gluten issues will appreciate the ingredient lists, although if you're on a celiac or grain-free diet, this book won't support your needs.

I've yet to make anything from the book -a true test of a cookbook. Still, it might be awhile, since many of the ingredients aren't readily available while traveling full time (as I do). Once I have tested at least one recipe, I'll update this review.

I received an e-book copy of this title from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

A very interesting collection of vegan recipes. They look simple and delicious, and the photographs are just beautiful. The recipes will be especially useful if you enjoy Tex-Mex flavours. The book is well organised into clearly defined sections (such as breakfast, entrees, soups and stews...), and the recipes are labelled with regard to their being gluten-, oil- or nut-free. If I had to recommend some recipes, the stews seem particularly appetizing. There is also a dessert section (although I will admit I am always wary of vegan desserts).

A good gift for a friend who enjoys cooking vegetable-based meals.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and the publishers for a honest review.
I love reading Cookbooks, wether they be for sweets, meats or any other food produced as long as fresh ingredients are used to make wonderful healthy and nutritious foods for my family to enjoy. I know that with my many health issues that I need to eat as healthy as possible as well as my family members. We have the whole lot of different diners in my family that range from full vegan to vegetarian to the some meat to the full carnivore, as well as the gluten free, so all have to catered for. This wonderful well laid out and well illustrated cookbook sure does offer many of the recipes I need to to feed at least 70% of my family that eat at my table. The recipes with only 8 ingredients are a real simple way to feed the tribe so to speak. I have found out that the author has a blog as well so I will research that well has thanking her for writing this great cookbook. I highly recommend this book.

This cookbook offers a huge variety of recipes and it is perfect for people who do not have a lot of time to cook but still would like to enjoy some delicious vegan meals. I loved the simplicity of the recipes, not only does a recipe require few ingredients, but the cooking process from start to finish is also simple and guided with easy-to-follow instructions. As a European, I was so glad to find the amounts converted to satisfy users from countries that use the Metric system. The book offers a large variety of different meals from sweet to spicy and from hot weather to winter months. I also liked that the author helped with tips to make the recipes more usable for example for people with nut allergies. One recipe stood out for me was the Hungarian red lentil soup. As a Hungarian it felt amazing to find something so close to home in a vegan book. I think (almost) recipe has been photographed as well, making the book more colourful and the photos probably make it easier to choose from all the great recipes.

Looking for quick and easy recipes that are not only delicious but healthy? This is a must read! Brandi Doming, creator of the Vegan 8 blog, brings a cookbook to readers that is packed with fully photographed recipes, all that require only 8 ingredients or less (spices included!). I can personally say that the Hungarian red lentil soup is incredibly tasty; I make a double batch at least three or four times a month! I had no idea one of my favorite recipes (that I randomly got from a friend) came from this author, but now that I do I'll be happily cooking away after checking out this cookbook!

First off, a WARNING to gluten free people: This book is a disaster for people who need to eat gluten free. Many of the recipes are labeled gluten free and are NOT. The author seems to be really confused about gluten and gives terrible advice, plus the recipes are almost randomly labeled gluten free or not.

For instance, recipes containing spelt flour are listed as gluten free. The author herself says that spelt has gluten in the beginning of the book when she lists her pantry supplies, but she says it has "less gluten" so it won't bother most people. WTH??? No. Almost everybody who needs to avoid gluten avoids spelt. Each recipe in this book contains labels on top saying "gluten free" or "nut free" and so on. Some of the recipes containing spelt flour (such as the bed and breakfast pumpkin pie crepes) are labeled "gluten free" and contain spelt flour. If you didn't know already that spelt flour contains gluten or if you hadn't read that section in her pantry staples, you could seriously harm anybody with Celiac Disease or gluten sensitivity that you served them to. Then the very next recipe calls for spelt flour and potato starch (which is gluten free), and it's not labeled "gluten free" (rightly so, since it also contains spelt). Instead, this one offers a tip at the bottom in cursive which says you can swap out the spelt flour and potato starch for gluten free flour. That recipe is not listed as gluten free (again, rightly so), even though it doesn't contain any more gluten than the one before it and at least it offers a gluten free swap.

That continues throughout the book. Another recipe that is labeled gluten free is "shredded wheat cinnamon pecan cereal." That one is almost comical. The recipe calls for shredded wheat cereal and gluten free oats. There is no note next to the shredded wheat, but if you read the tip at the bottom, halfway through it she mentions that if you want to make it gluten free you can swap out brown rice puffed cereal for the shredded wheat. This is another place where the labels seem utterly random, as that recipe is not listed as nut free (rightly so) and the tip at the bottom gives instructions to swap out sunflower seed butter for the almond butter, but it is listed as gluten free (which it is not), apparently because there are instructions at the bottom of the page about what to swap out to make it gluten free.

Another example of the author's complete ignorance about gluten -- the southwest lime salad *is* gluten free but it is not listed as gluten free because it calls for crushed tortilla chips and she apparently thinks they have gluten in them. Tortilla chips are gluten free. They're made with corn, oil and salt. She says in the intro to that recipe that the tortilla chips give crunch but you can leave them out if you want the dish to be gluten free. It just makes no sense. A recipe that calls for no gluten-containing ingredients at all is not listed as gluten free, and one calling for spelt (which does contain gluten) is listed as gluten free.

Also, the gluten free recipes rely heavily on oats. These recipes are all listed as gluten free (and technically they are). There's a lot of confusion about "gluten free oats" these days, but they are not safe for some people with Celiac Disease or gluten sensitivity, because oat protein is similar to gluten and can cause similar intestinal damage for some gluten sensitive people. The current recommendation in the U.S. and Canada is to avoid oats the first 6 months to a year of being gluten free and then introduce small amounts of gluten free oats under a doctor's supervision. The oat issue is a much smaller issue than the spelt issue but it bears mentioning, especially for people who might be making these dishes for someone who has Celiac Disease or gluten sensitivity or someone newly GF who might not be aware of the potential risks.

All that said, there are some great truly gluten free recipes in the book. Just don't go by the labels on top that say whether a recipe is gluten free. Read through the ingredients and determine each recipe's safety yourself.

Speaking of the labels, these can be a bit misleading in other ways too. For instance, a lot of the recipes are labeled "oil free" but they contain ingredients full of natural oils like a cup of almond butter. It's true that no oils are added, but these recipes contain as much fat as similar recipes that call for oil.

For the most part, I did like the cookbook despite these issues. There were color photos for every recipe and the recipes tended to be based on whole foods and not processed ingredients. I realized halfway through the book that not a single recipe called for vegan margarine, for instance, even the "cheesy" sauces and mashed potatoes. Instead, the author relies on things like coconut milk and cashews.

Also, nutritional information is provided for each recipe, which I really appreciate.

The recipes may tend towards the expensive side, since they call for large amounts of pricey ingredients like cashews, almond butter and maple syrup.

All that said, there were many recipes I am interested in trying. I appreciated all of the sauce and staple recipes in particular. I have not tried any recipes yet and will update my review if and when I do.

I viewed a temporary ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

I have bookmarked several recipes to try. I like that Doming gives a list of spices at the beginning of the book, that she recommends always having on hand in the pantry. She also has recipes for making spice blends. I’m looking forward to trying the recipes that I’ve bookmarked.

This is the holy grail of vegan recipes. Brandi Doming proves that the transition to becoming a vegan doesn't mean you have to give up your favorite dishes. Doming's use of 8 or less ingredients per recipe is another grand slam. "The Vegan 8" is filled with insight on how to make ingredients such as cheese from scratch. All of the recipes meet the needs of specific diets (gluten-free, dairy free, oil-free, and nut-free).

The dessert portion is my favorite! I made the no-Bake Chocolate Espresso Fudge Cake and it was delicious! I am keeping these recipes forever and will be passing them along as well!

I love to cook, but had never tried vegan recipes. I was looking for some healthier recipes for my family that were not so complicated you had to be a trained chef to complete them. This cookbook was the answer I was looking for. We have tried several of the recipes, breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert and loved them. As I work more vegan choices into our everyday diet, I've noticed that the bad rep given to a vegan diet is not supported by the recipes in this book. I can truthfully say....Try it, you'll like it:

I’ve followed Brandi Doming’s blog and Instagram for two years now and her recipes are among my favorites. This new cookbook is fantastic with simple, accessible and delicious plant-based recipes.