Spork-Fed

Engel and Goldberg's first cookbook is filled with tempting recipes for the adventurous vegan. Co-owners of the Los Angeles-based vegan cooking class and website (sporkfoods.com), the sisters cheerily take you step-by-step through recipes for appetizers, main dishes, sides, brunch, and desserts. There is a distinctive Southern flavor, as seen in the Green Bean Casserole with Spelt Bread Crumbs and Frizzled Shallots and South Carolina Barbecue Tofu Sandwich. Suggested menus for all occasions feature helpful icons of the dish with a page number. Some of the recipes would have benefited from more testing, e.g., the Homemade "Chicken-Style" Seitan calls for far too much liquid, requiring twice as much vital wheat gluten to achieve the desired consistency. Still, this cookbook shines for its sheer inventiveness.