Loved this book. We have so many in our community adopting the Vegan lifestyle! It has great recipes with very basic instructions for beginners. I loved it!

I'm sorry, but I was not impressed by this cook book. I've been a vegetarian for 34 years and recently (due to dietary restrictions) a vegan. So I was looking for some inspiration and hoped this book might provide some. I was pleased to see that nutritional yeast did not appear in lots of recipes (as I can't eat that on my hospital prescribed diet). However, the recipes reminded me of 1980's vegetarian books. Lots and lots of recipes using cans of beans with never ending bean dips, bean and lentil stews and sweet potato and chillis. The book is heavily Tex Mex and has some nice recipes for cashew butter/cheeses etc. bit I can't see me cooking from it. I was particularly interested in main dishes but these were a let down - stews, chilli's and lots of recipes based on "bean balls" - so used in bean ball spaghetti, bean ball subs etc. Even the substitute for cream in pasta recipes was coconut milk which I couldn't see sitting well with basil pesto - in an Asian dish - yes but for Italian? There was just nothing new or exciting. If you are a novice cook then I think there are dishes that are simple and easy here but it was really dated old hat and there are better more contemporary recipes and books out there that are lighter and brighter than these.

The book also has the usual close up photos of vegetables and the radiantly healthy author in her fabulous kitchen which kind of annoy me. I want a photo of each and every finished dish (which to be fair this book mostly has ). I don't want to see how slim and rich the author is.

The book is sub divided into a large section on breakfast, appetizer's and snacks (more bean filled veg and bean dips), a lack lustre and small entrees section and a pudding/deserts section. If you like chocolate you will love the breakfast and especially the pudding section. The pudding section has lots of chocolate puddings and brownie style traybakes and biscuits. The breakfast section (I'm not really too keen on these in cook books ) has chocolate pancakes and a plethora of sweet breakfasts. (which I am avoiding).

This book is not a hit for me.

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 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!

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.

What great and beautiful book. The pictures are colourful and beautiful. The recipes has simple and delicious. I have tried a few recipes and the direction are easy to follow and the finished product was wonderful. A great book for someone to start a vegan lifestyle.

Lots of cookbooks I look through and things look delicious as heck but I am never going to actually make them because they feature 52 ingredients including 7 you can only find at specialty stores when the moon is full. I want recipes that I can make using a few normal ingredients that I have picked up at a regular grocery store and that I can use again in other recipes, and that's where this book delivers. While the 8 ingredients limit isn't super strict the recipes are generally kept around that limit with some optional garnishes. If you have more time, some of them also feature homemade sauces or spice blends you can make, but the recipe itself notes that a pre-made one is just fine. On top of that the food looks great, definitely food that I would want to eat. I will be trying out some of these recipes when I get a chance and hopefully they taste as good as they look.

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.

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.*

So many yummy recipes in this book broken down into individual sections from small type of bites to soups etc. Accompanied with the great and simple recipes is beautiful full color photographs which made me wish I could just go through the page and pull the food out to eat it right away. I went vegan back in the middle of January and only have one cookbook currently because I prefer simple and semi quick recipes plus most cookbooks that are vegan don't often have many things I would eat as I'm still a picky eater on top of being vegan but so many of these recipes are items I already love or food items I would totally eat! 10/10 recommend for vegans or anyone who is learning to cook, wanting to try something different to eat or just likes minimalistic recipes that you don't have to fuss over for hours in the kitchen.

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.

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.

The author shows how to cook vegan with only 8 ingredients! Brandi shows you how you can cook scrumptious food with easily available foods that will go from breakfast to a late night snack!
Start your day with Bed and Breakfast pumpkin Pie Crepes with spelt flour, pumpkin pie spice, soy milk, pure maple syrup and pumpkin puree. You may need to practice cooking and shaping the crepes, but give yourself 45 minutes, and you will end up with some amazing crepes! Best of all, they are only 141 calories per crepe ! There are also recipes for bakery - style blueberry muffins with oat flour, rice flour, pure maple syrup, blueberries, cashew milk and yogurt that look delicious and are easy to make!
There is a recipe for healthy apple pie cookies that use apples, oats, cinnamon, almonds, almond butter and pure maple syrup that are made with a food processor that are chunky and look like you could eat them off of the page!
You will have to buy the book for yourself to be able to peruse some easy to prepare, unique recipes that are good for your calorie intake!

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!

I wasn't expecting this cookbook to be so interesting. I'm not a vegan, but am finding myself less interested in meat these days. Typically vegan cookbooks tend to be pretty preachy about the health benefits and I don't find many interesting recipes in them. But this one was different! The author grew up in Texas, where meat and barbecue reign. So, I could tell that the taste of the food was very important to her.

First, the photography is superb--it made me want to taste every dish on the page! And, the recipes all have just 8 or fewer ingredients. The instructions are fairly brief for most, though the prep time for some is quite lengthy. There are helpful tips on every page, such as advice on how to make a recipe gluten-free, or where to find certain ingredients.

Here's just a sampling of some of the appetizing recipes I can't wait to try: Southwest Lime Salad, Easy One-Pan Red Curry with Spinach and Carrots, Spicy and Smoky Chickpeas in Creamy Tomato Sauce, Smoky White Bean and Potato Stew.

My only criticism is that some of the recipes are printed with white font over a dark (often denim-colored) background. While it may look very "artsy," this is a serious problem for those with reduced vision. I'd urge the publisher to stick with the black font on white background to make these great recipes accessible to all. A great cookbook!

Overall I like the layout and the recipes included in this book, though most recipes were less than tasteful when made according to Ms. Doming's instructions. The cookbook is a good launching-off point to think about new recipes. One can tweak them as one goes along for taste preferences and such. My only complaint is that green salads are missing in this book. Given that this is a vegan cook book this omission seems somewhat weird to me.

For someone who has major food allergies, trying new things can be a little difficult. But using The Vegan 8 for a few weeks has been so nice for me. I have made numerous recipes out of the cookbook and even my picky eater would eat the food. I'm loving it because the recipes aren't too hard to make and the pictures that go along with the recipes are amazing. Makes me want to eat vegan more often even when on vacation. While I won't go 100% vegan yet, this is a good book for anyone who is looking to start going vegan. Or is you have been vegan for a while and want to try new, delicious recipes, go grab this book when it comes out. I am very lucky to have been given a copy from Netgalley to review in advance.

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.

My review has been posted to my blog & Goodreads.

Review has also been tweeted as usual.

Thank you! :c)

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.