Cooking Hearty, and Vegan

The close of summer signals a return to comfort food—to stews, casseroles, and pot pies, to the richer, more satisfying meals served around the holidays. Some of the season's most iconic meals rely on meaty dishes and baked goods, off limits to vegan cooks and eaters. But this fall, a wave of new cookbooks feature recipes that give hearty, seasonal dishes a vegan spin. We took a look at three of them.

Author: Julie Hasson

Publisher: Running Press

Publication Date: October 7

The Rundown: Putting a “twist on classic comfort food,” Hasson (author of Vegan Diner) offers options for more indulgent favorites that normally rely on eggs, butter, and cheese.

Recipes for Cold-Weather Cooking: It doesn’t get more autumnal than Baked Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce. The butter and cream are swapped out for vegan margarine and soymilk or almond milk, with sage and onions bringing the savory. Hasson also takes on a traditional Jewish casserole with her Apple Cinnamon Kugel. Typically made with lots of butter, and lots (and lots) of eggs, Hasson admits that it took a “long time to veganize” kugel, but, in the end, utilized a vegan sour cream mixture, punched up with applesauce, to replicate the consistency of the original.

Title: But I Could Never Go Vegan! 125 Recipes that Prove You Can Live Without Cheese, It’s Not All Rabbit Food, and Your Friends Will Still Come Over for Dinner

Author: Kristy Turner

Publisher: The Experiment Publishing

Publication Date: December 2

The Rundown: The subtitle says it all. Turner, a former professional fromagier turned vegan blogger behind Keepin’ It Kind, spells out the counterargument for every excuse not to go vegan: Expensive special ingredients, life without cheese, inability to cook for a crowd, and giving up butter, eggs, and, therefore, baking.

Recipes for Cold-Weather Cooking: As Turner writes, winter squashes “scream fall.” Toss in an autumnal mix of hazelnut and sage, and the book’s Pan-Fried Gnocchi & Acorn Squash with Hazelnut-Sage Pesto is about as seasonal as it gets. The only real indicator that the recipe is vegan is the pecan parmesan, crafted out of pecan pieces, yeast, lemon, and garlic. Turner’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies answer the baking call sounded by lowering temperatures—the pumpkin not only lends them a distinctly fall flavor, but acts as an egg substitute, making the recipe a handy year round option.

Author: Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos, Jorge Pineda

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Publication Date: September 30

The Rundown: More than 100 recipes from the team behind New York City’s Candle Cafe, categorized by celebrations throughout the year, from Super Bowl Sunday to Passover Seder to Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts.

Recipes for Cold-Weather Cooking: Braised Cranberry-Orange Tofu features a caramelized sauce with two quintessential holiday fruits. The indulgent Pumpkin Cheesecake with Apple Cider reduction blends all star Thanksgiving ingredients—pumpkin, apple cider, cinnamon and nutmeg—with silken tofu and soy milk.