Lucky Peach presents Power Vegetables!

Also known as "the missing blog post." Long ago, Blogging for Books graciously acquiesced to sending me a free copy of Power Vegetables! in exchange for a fair and honest review. I purposely chose this book because it's a cookbook. "How hard could it be to review this?" I thought to myself. Difficult enough, apparently, since it's been about a year since I received it. I know. Shame on me.

Shaaaaaaaaame.... Shamed enough?
Probably not, but I need to get this show on the road.

Power Vegetables! In addition to thinking this would be an easy review, I also seriously thought I could use more vegetable recipes. I had this insane idea that reducing the amount of meat I eat in a week would be good for me and the planet. Salads get tiresome, after all. And again, "How hard could it be?" Clearly I underestimated my love of meat.

I thought you were just kidding when you said "no meat."
No land-beasties were harmed in the cooking of these recipes, or at least none of their meat was used. However, as author Peter Meehan wrote in his introduction, "Fish and dairy are okay with us." So if you are interested in a vegan, meatless diet: this book is not for you. Anyway, let's start with the easy stuff, shall we?

This hardcover book is well-bound, and dynamically illustrated. Power Vegetables are photographed as though they were super heroes about to save your diet. The recipes provide a range of cultural flavors: Mexican, Indian, and Japanese to name a few. Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach also included a small section in which they detail what supplies they keep stocked in their own kitchen to whip up tasty, meat-free meals at a moment. The writing is also entertaining, so even if you never make a recipe from it (as yours truly has not), at least you'll still get enjoyment from reading it. Overall, I think Power Vegetables! is worth your time. Give it a shot! And for goodness sake, eat your damn vegetables.