After nearly a decade, The People’s Potato is releasing Vegan On a Shoestring #2, a collective cookbook that features recipes and facts about vegan food and food politics, put together in a collaborative effort.
The People’s Potato, which is located in Concordia University’s Hall Building, is a completely vegan kitchen that serves up to 400 free or by donation meals each day. The first edition of Vegan on a Shoestring was released in 2002.
The goal of this is the same as the first one: eat better for cheaper. “A lot of times it can get expensive to try to eat healthy,” said Gabby Pedicelli, full-time collective member at The People’s Potato. “This just gives you shortcuts in ways of getting the most bang for your buck.”
Their newest book is a “much more tweaked version of the first one,” said Pedicelli. “There is more info about politics. We revamped a lot of the recipes.”
Pedicelli explained that the first book did not include elements such as portion or serving size, something that has been fixed in the new book.
Inside, readers will also find the history of The People’s Potato and learn about how the kitchen began. It includes a nutrition guide and offers information on what foods have the most protein and nutrients. There is also a section on cooking techniques and a list of measurement conversions.
The cookbook takes a look at food politics through an anti-capitalist lens. This means that not only is it important to be able to make good and healthy food that is affordable, but the book also expresses the importance of sourcing food as locally as possible. One suggestion offered is for individuals to buy products low on the food chain and prepare them at home rather than buying expensive vegan products.
Vegan on a Shoestring #2 is on sale at The People’s Potato kitchen for a $10 to $20 sliding scale.
You can also purchase the book at their launch party, which is taking place this Thursday February 3 at 6 p.m. at Bar Populaire, located at 6584 St-Laurent St. Small snacks made from recipes in the cookbook will be featured.
Un-Chicken Soup
For those of you who crave chicken soup for the soul, this is our best un-chicken recipe. For a beef-like flavor instead, replace nutritional yeast with either soy sauce, tamari or miso.
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yields: 2L
Ingredients:
– 1 onion, diced
– 2 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 carrot, thinly sliced
– 1 celery stalk, chopped in slices
– 1 cabbage, shredded
– 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
– 2 tsp salt
– 1 tsp pepper
– 4 cups vegetable stock, or water
– 1 bay leaf
– 2 tbsp tarragon
– 1 tbsp thyme
– 3 tbsp vegetable oil
– 1/2 cup soup noodles
Directions:
1. In a large pot, heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil on medium heat. Sauté onions for 10 min or until translucent.
2. Add minced garlic and sauté for 20 seconds.
3. Add shredded cabbage, celery and carrots and cook for 5 min.
4. In a small mixing bowl add 1/2 cup vegetable stock and mix with the nutritional yeast to form a paste. Combine this mixture with the remaining 3.5 cups stock, add salt and pepper and stir well.
5. Add stock, bay leaf, tarragon, thyme and oil mixture to the pot with the vegetables
6. Simmer on medium heat for 10 min or until vegetables are cooked through.
7. Add noodles and cook for 5 more minutes or until noodles are ready.
