Robin Robertson’s Global Kitchen

This and That

by Robin Robertson on June 7, 2012

Pad Thai Pie

Between working on various cookbook projects, magazine articles, and house and garden duties, there has been precious little time left for anything else, although I did manage to take a photo of the Pad Thai Pie (above) — a recipe for my upcoming one-dish cookbook. Here are a few more photos of recipes in this book, taken by some of my talented recipe testers. Below is the Risotto Primavera, photo by VeganAide.

Risotto Primavera

And this is the Pesto Lasagna, photo by Lori Maffei:

Pesto Lasagna

This one is the Greek Gyros Salad, photo by Lea Jacobson:

Greek Gyros Salad

I’ll plan to post more photos soon! FYI, the one-dish book won’t be out until next year. But, in just a few months, my new slow cooker book will hit the shelves. It’s available for pre-order now on Amazon.

Another thing on my “to do” list is to make a dent in the pile of books that have been sent to me for review. I haven’t had time to even open most of them, and although I may not have time for lengthy reviews, my plan is to do brief reviews of a few of the books that I think you’ll find especially intriguing.

One of these books will be Practically Raw: Flexible Raw Recipes Anyone Can Make by Amber Shea Crawley. It’s so approachable and easy to use and the recipes are delicious and creative. What really makes this book stand out is the fact that many of the recipes include cooked options — which is great if you just want to dip your culinary toe into raw foods. Another plus is that the recipes can be made without special equipment such as a dehydrator. I wish this book had been around years ago when I was attempting to prepare more raw foods. The book was published by Jon’s company, Vegan Heritage Press, and I think they did an amazing job.

Speaking of Jon, he recently published his first novel. The title is Permelia Lyttle’s Guide to the End of the World and I think it’s a hoot from start to finish. If you like quirky fiction and are looking for a fun read this summer, I encourage you to check it out — both paperback and Kindle versions are available.

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Cookbook Giveaway Winner(s)

by Robin Robertson on May 29, 2012

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to visit my new website over a busy holiday weekend. I appreciate all your good wishes and I’m so happy that so many of you are enjoying my cookbooks. I wish I could send each of you a book to add to your collection. Since that’s not practical, I let the True Random Number Generator: Powered by RANDOM.ORG choose the winner. The Result: # 29.

So the winner of the Website-Warming Cookbook Giveaway is #29 Kimberly Louis-Jean who said she’d like to have “Vegan Fire and Spice!!! Hands down…” Congratulations, Kimberly. E-mail me with your mailing address and I’ll get a copy of the book out to you this week.

But, I couldn’t stop there. I was so touched by the comment left by Vicky Talbert, that I’m going to send her a book, too. Here’s what she said:

Hi Robin- I would like to win a copy of Vegan Fire and Spice. It is my favorite cookbook of all cookbooks. I had well used copy for the last few years and gave it away last month to a woman, an omnivore, who is moving closer to a plant-based diet. She had dinner at our house as part of a group exploring our human relationship with other animals. She asked lots of questions about making the transition from omnivore to a plant-based diet including which was my favorite cookbook. When she said she loved spicy food, there was no doubt. I gave her my much loved, food-spattered, sauce-dribbled, spice-smelling copy. I miss it. Vicky

This act of kindness definitely deserves to be celebrated, so I’m also sending Vicky a new copy of Vegan Fire and Spice to replace the one she so selflessly gave away. Vicky, please send me your mailing address and I’ll get the book in the mail to you.

To the rest of you, thanks again for making my website warming such a great success. I hope you can eventually get the books you mentioned and that you enjoy them when you do.

In the weeks and months ahead, there will be more giveaways, recipes, and other fun stuff, so stay tuned!

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Celebration Cookbook Giveaway!

by Robin Robertson on May 25, 2012

To celebrate the launching of my new website, I’m having a little “housewarming” (website warming?) party this weekend and you’re invited.

But you don’t need to bring a gift — because I have a gift for YOU — well, for one of you, at least — and the gift is your choice of one of my most recent cookbooks.

If there is a particular book of mine that you have yet to add to your collection, now’s your chance to win it. Just leave a comment at the end of the post telling me which of these five books you’d like to win:

Quick-Fix Vegan
Party Vegan
Vegan on the Cheap
1,000 Vegan Recipes
Vegan Fire and Spice

This “website-warming” giveaway will be going on all weekend. To increase your chances, you can do any or all of the following, and leave a comment for each that you do:

Follow me on Twitter: @GlobalVegan
Link to this giveaway on Twitter
Link to this giveaway on Facebook
Link to this giveaway on your blog
Subscribe to this blog

The contest closes Monday night 5/28 at midnight. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 5/29. So, tell me, which of my cookbooks would you like to win?

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Welcome to My New Site!

by Robin Robertson on May 24, 2012

Today is my virtual moving day and I’m excited to announce that I have just moved into my new online home. This new site combines content from my old website: www.globalvegankitchen.com along with my old Blogger blog: http://veganplanet.blogspot.com. That means you now have a “one-stop shop” for recipes from my cookbooks as well as the recipes from my blog posts — all in one place!

My new url is: www.robinrobertson.com.

I invite you to check out my new digs and let me know what you think of the new design. I’m still working out a few details, but hopefully everything will be running smoothing very soon.

By the way, during the last month or two while this site was being built, my online e-mail was disconnected, so if you sent me an e-mail via my old blog or website (or even Facebook, actually) I didn’t receive it. That means, you’ll need to resend your message in the next few days (once it gets sorted out). Otherwise, you can contact me by leaving a comment on this site or on my Facebook or Twitter pages. I apologize for any inconvenience.

To celebrate my new site, I’ll be hosting a cookbook giveaway very soon. I also have some fun news to share and other announcements, so stay tuned!

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Tropical Tiramisu

by Robin Robertson on May 21, 2012

It seems like ages since my last post, but I’ve been so busy working on the new one-dish book as well as final edits on the new slow cooker book. In between, I’ve also been doing lots of cooking — including making this new variation of tiramisu using pineapple, coconut, and rum (shown here with some of this year’s gorgeous lilacs). This tiramisu is a bit lighter and more refreshing than the traditional kind, making it ideal for the warmer weather, although I wouldn’t turn down the traditional version, that’s for sure.

I’ve also been cooking lots of fresh greens that our generous friends Jeff and Seung Hee are kind enough to let us pick whenever we want (which is basically most of the time!) Here’s a photo of just some of the greens we picked recently, all spread out on the table.

In addition to lots of sautes, salads, soups, and stir-fries, some of the greens were transformed into refreshing green drinks like this one, blended with mango and lime juice.

Now back to that dessert….Below is the recipe for Tropical Tiramisu. For the cake, I used a few slices of pound cake that I had in the freezer from the recipe in 1,000 Vegan Recipes. It’s such a good all-purpose cake, that I like to keep some on-hand for emergencies like this one! Instead of the pound cake, you could substituted any vegan white or yellow or sponge-type cake. Also, you can assemble the tiramisu directly into dessert glasses instead of making it in a pan. Up to you.

Hope you enjoy!

Tropical Tiramisu
Serves 6

3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight and drained

3/4 cup coconut milk or pineapple juice (or half of each)

1 (8-ounce) container vegan cream cheese
1 teaspoon coconut extract (optional)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
1 cup fresh or canned pineapple chunks, pureed
3 tablespoons dark rum

4 to 6 (1/2-inch thick) slices of vegan pound cake, sponge cake, or other white or yellow cake
1/3 cup toasted coconut

1. In a food processor or high speed blender, combine the drained soaked cashews and coconut milk, and process until smooth and creamy. Add the vegan cream cheese, coconut extract (if using), vanilla extract, and the 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar. Process until completely smooth. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the pureed pineapple, rum, and remaining 1 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar and stir to mix well.
3. Arrange a single layer of cake slices in an 8-or 9-inch square baking pan (you may need to cut some of the pieces to fit). Brush the cake with the pineapple-rum mixture, allowing it to soak into the cake. Sprinkle with half of the coconut. Spread the filling mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle with remaining coconut. Chill for 4 hour before serving.

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Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker

by Robin Robertson on May 10, 2012

I absolutely LOVE the cover of my soon-to-be-published slow cooker cookbook! Isn’t it gorgeous? That’s the Seitan Ropa Vieja on the cover. This new book is due to be released in early October, but is available for pre-order now on Amazon.

I’ve already posted a few tester photos here, but I thought you might like to see a few more. So, here is another sampling of the recipes that await you in Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker, photos taken during testing by a few of my fabulous recipe testers Sabrina, Lori, Lea, and VeganAide:


Maple Dijon Root Vegetables


Seitan Fajitas


Creamy Polenta with Mushroom Ragu

Seitan Posole

Chocolate Truffle Cake

So what do you think? Ready to get out your slow cooker and start cooking?

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