I bought Appetite for Reduction pretty quickly when it came out, knowing we had a bunch of vegetables that needed to be cooked up at home. Vegan cookbooks, yeah, most are pretty good but some rely too much on fake meats or high calorie/high fat foods. As I’ve been looking through the book, though, I’m thinking I want to make everything out of it. The recipes really appeal to me. They’re simple, healthy, and are far from bland.

I’m not a vegan, but I eat like one for a good portion of the week. I’m not completely militant but I find that eating this way during the week is starting to inform my food choices on the weekend as well. Plus, I’m a freak for grains, beans, interesting vegetables and spices.

First up was this soba and bok choy dish – almost a stir- fry. We had lots of bok choy on hand, and I happen to have all of the other ingredients, so it’s a winner. It uses very little oil, but there are spices and soy sauce for flavor. I really enjoyed it.

The Espresso Gingerbread was a totally random choice based on a Tweet by Fine Cooking Magazine. They suggested it, I made it. I don’t like coffee flavored things but this wasn’t bad.

• Ginger, Bok Choy & Soba (Appetite for Reducution, p.176)
• Espresso Gingerbread Cake (Fine Cooking #61, Winter 2004, p. 45)