Giveaway & Vegan Cookbook Review: Lets Go Nuts by Estella Schweizer*

Let’s Go Nuts is our latest recipe book review, and one for any nut lover, vegan or someone who just wants to try something new.  Published by Prestel Publishing and written by Estella Schweizer a German nutritionist and someone who is unbelievably passionate about food, specifically plant-based food.

The book Let’s Go Nuts was born from her knowledge that she knows and understands the importance nuts play in providing many much-needed nutrients as a vegan. The book is not only filled with recipes but also key nutritional information on nuts and their fascinating properties.

The book is broken down into recipes for Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter so has every aspect of your yearly eating covered. Keep reading to see one of the recipes from the book and what we thought about it further on in the blog and find out how you can win a copy of this book worth more than £15 for yourself.

What I thought of the book and which recipe I decided to make

The book is filled with so much information on books as well as a range of recipes. One of the pages I found most interesting were the guides on how to make vegan cheese and yoghurt. I love alternatives to regular foods, however, I am mindful of what I class as ‘fake’ products especially when they are bought from the supermarket, as I don’t like processed foods. So, being able to make my own gives me the confidence to know that there are no nasties that will be inside.

I also enjoyed reading about the varieties of nuts and their health/nutritional properties. One I found particularly interesting was the Tiger Nut. I have never heard of this nut or even seen it for that matter, and yet apparently it is most often grown in the Spanish region of Valencia.

They are usually sold in flake or flour form in a similar way to almonds and are very much used in this way in Spain. I don’t know where you would get hold of these, but I am sure a little search on the web will draw up some locations if this was an ingredient you’d like to try to use.

I have to say, this was often the issue with this book. Although it’s a beautiful book, filled with what seem to be wonderful recipes, these are for someone who has a bit of culinary knowledge, or at least, knows how to get hold of some not so familiar ingredients. I struggled to find a recipe to try out, as I couldn’t find many where I had all the ingredients to hand, and when I am trialling, I like to use what’s in my cupboard as I think this would be a true reflection on what a general household would be able to achieve.

The final section of the book does a summary of seeds. I love seeds and they are a regular addition to my salads or morning breakfast. But thinking about breakfast, one of my children’s favourites is chocolate spread and one of the recipes in the book is how to make your own version called NO!TELLA. It is a spread containing hazelnut (of course), dates and cocoa. But the most fascinating and in a way obvious alternative to what would be the milky fat in a chocolate spread is the use of cocoa butter. Now, this isn’t something I have at home and ranges between £2-£6 per 100g. You only need 30g for this recipe. But this is one that I plan to try in the future when we have run out of spread, as the idea of making my own knowing what is in it and using a natural sweetener like dates, can only be a good thing for my children.

Let’s get to the recipe that I tried! I decided to try a potato dip recipe – Wild Garlic & Potato Spread. I love a good dip/spread, whether, for crisps, veg or bread, there’s nothing like it at the weekend being able to sit with your favourite treat drink, whether that be a beer, wine, or fresh lemonade or ice tea, and having a bowl of chopped veggies, or some posh crisps to sit and relax with a yummy dip. Well, this dip certainly was that. Out of a lot of the recipes in this book, this felt like one of the easiest to make. Although I few of the cake recipes look fairly straightforward too.

If you would like to try this recipe, go to page 40. The recipe needs you to have; potato, wild garlic or chives (which is what I have, as it grows in our garden), cashew butter (which I tend to have at home, along with a whole range of other nut butters!)white balsamic vinegar (I didn’t have this), but an alternative suggested for this is white wine vinegar (but I also like apple cider vinegar), cashew nuts, a pinch of nutmeg and salt and freshly ground pepper.

It suggests leaving the potatoes to cool before mashing them, so I suppose in theory you could boil them the day before if you were perhaps going to make this to eat with friends before your meal. This makes an excellent dip for chopped up veg and could make a great alternative to pate as a starter to a vegan meal. It was nice in flavour although for my taste I would add a little less vinegar and perhaps add a spoonful of pesto into it instead, as I found it a little strong – this is down to personal taste.

Where can you get a copy of Let’s Go Nuts? 

You can buy your copy here.

How much is this exciting recipe book? 

The recipe book costs £15.55 for a hardback copy

About the Book 

 

About the Author

Estella Schweizer is the recipe creator and writer of this super interesting book. She is a nutritionist and a certified plant-based chef. Her knowledge of vegan cooking is second to none. She has developed many of these recipes with her passion for vegan food and is conscious of her environmental impact.

She has tried to create healthy recipes to inspire people to eat well, but also tasty food. She wants her passion for food to be passed on to anyone she meets. As well as her recipe books she also teaches baking and cooking classes, showing once again her enjoyment in sharing what she knows about vegan food.

Review by : Lex Ward