Vegan with a Vengeance

RN:
The most kick-ass nurse and mother NYC has ever known.

My first thank-you is for Justin; for typing, prepping, listening, going to the store, cleaning up after me, and ghostwriting the entire book for me while I lay in my hammock and fanned myself. Well, not quite, but still.
    My testers—Jennifer Philburn, Adam Nelson, Jo Scovell, Drew Blood, Chris Poupart, Carrie Lynn Reilly, Paula Gross, Justin Walsh, Dominique Ryder, Kittee Berns, and Lynda Bartram. Not a day went by when I didn’t check our testing site and think that you guys were awesome.
    Terry Hope Romero, my partner in crime.
    Denise Gaberman, Niharika Desai, and Lou Thomas for being part of Post Punk Kitchen and helping to make the most awesomest vegan cooking show in the world—without which there would be no cookbook.
    Michelle Moskowitz Brown, for inspiring me and giving me honest feedback. Thanks to her hubby, Aaron, just because, and of course my nephew Maxwell Aaron Brown for being a beautiful baby. See Max? Tanta Isa put you in a book!
    Erica Rose Levine, even though she didn’t do anything she is my best friend and would kill me if I didn’t thank her. Oh, she let me stay at her house and write so scratch that. And Amy Sims for proofreading things via Instant Messenger during the wee hours of the morning.
    Michael Robert Cooper aka Mumbles for workshopping with me and being the wind beneath my wings (literally).
    Geoffery Tischman for working with my crazy schedule and taking such beautiful photographs.
    Marlowe & Company: Kylie Foxx for bearing with me through a computer melt-down and nervous breakdown, and Matthew Lore for accepting my proposal.
    My literary agent—Marc Gerald at the Agency Group. Thanks for believing in me and realizing the potential my little idea had.
    And lastly thanks to all the zines and Web sites that supported me and got the word out about The Post Punk Kitchen : Punk Planet , Herbivore magazine, Satya magazine, Bust magazine, Venus magazine, Nerdnyc.com , Vegblog.org , and Veganfreaks.org especially.

foreword
    by Ryan MacMichael, vegblog.org
    Â 
    I ’M ABOUT AS far removed from being “punk” as one can be. Or at least, I look that way. I’m more of a ... how do you say? ... a nerd. But one part of the punk aesthetic I’ve always connected with is the idea of “Do It Yourself.” Whether it’s in relation to music, publishing, or cooking, the unpolished, improvised nature of DIY projects results in something much more interesting than most overtly commercial efforts.
    Vegetarians and vegans have long adopted the DIY philosophy because, let’s face it, we don’t live in a very vegan world. We have to be constantly creative, finding ways to adapt to situations that clearly don’t have animals (or animal-friendly humans) in mind. And, really, the only thing more creative than trying to form a vegan meal out of side dishes at a diner in rural Kentucky is creating a new recipe from fresh, locally grown ingredients or adapting a childhood favorite like Lard-Covered Lardballs Simmered in Lard-Enhanced Lard. Actually, that last thing probably wouldn’t be possible. Well, if you substituted Crisco for the lard and homemade seitan for the lard, then maybe ...
    Never mind.
    Vegan with a Vengeance has succeeded in not only bringing vegan cooking home, but bringing home cooking to vegans. Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s recipes are both exotically creative and comfortingly accessible. Her avoidance of prepared convenience foods will help wean you from the corporate teat while at the same time saving you money and encouraging you to support local growers.
    As you flip through the book you’ll find that you come across recipes you’ve never seen before (BBQ Pomegranate Tofu) as well as fresh takes on old favorites (Scrambled Tofu). And this may be the first vegetarian cookbook ever that doesn’t have a single salad recipe.
    Isa has kindly laid out what you need in your kitchen to be a successful at-home vegan chef, both the equipment in your cupboards/on your walls and the food in your pantry. If she can film a cooking show in her tiny Brooklyn kitchen, you’ll be able to stock up on the bare essentials with no problems.

    But the creativity doesn’t end with the recipes. You’ll get ideas about starting a brunch café (hint: Isa never once mentions anything about registering as an LLC or the intricacies of business finance), buying