I purchased The VB6 Cookbook from my own funds. I’m not receiving any consideration for this review. However, this post does contain affiliate links. Any commission I earn goes into supporting the blog. Thank you for your support.
As soon as the announcement was made, I pre-ordered The VB6 Cookbook from Amazon. If you’re not familiar with Mark Bittman, he’s a New York Times columnist and cook book author. His columns focus on simple recipes featuring seasonal ingredients. His main influence for me was his book VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health…For Good which I’ve talked about before. The VB6 Cookbook then, is the companion to the original guide. Bittman touches on VB6 principles in the the cookbook, but the focus is on delicious recipes for every meal. Breakfast and lunch are vegan while the dinner recipes feature minimal amounts of meat.
I purchased the kindle edition to do my VB6 cookbook review. The photos render fine on my black and white reader, but they really pop on a mobile device with a color screen. Navigation is easy, with a table of contents and a comprehensive index. The recipes are divided into sections for breakast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert in the table of contents with listings by ingredient within the index.
Bittman’s writing style is friendly, as if you were seated in the kitchen with him while he prepares the meal. As a lover of fresh fruits and vegetables, I found the recipes to be drool worthy, with plenty of options for customizing to suit one’s personal tastes. The options are a hallmark of Bittman’s and are very instructive in and of themselves.
Such is the case with Bittman’s breakfast recipe called Green Apple Stir Fry with Cashews. Gets your attention, doesn’t it? The apple is cored and diced and stir fried in some olive oil with some seasoning. A handful of toasted cashews is tossed in and the whole mess is served over rice, oatmeal, barley, or eaten plain. The options sound just as delicious: plums and pecans or cantaloupe with pistachios. As long as you have some sort of fruit that can stand the heat and some sort of nut, you can make this delicious breakfast.
I had cashews and red apples, so I figured I could easily create my own version using the techniques learned from the other recipe. I chose oatmeal for a gluten free version. I imagine any grain you can eat would work well for this. Here’s what I came up with. I sincerely hope you give it a try because it’s THAT GOOD.
Ingredients
- 1 apple per person cored and diced
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil OR olive oil OR butter for non-vegan version; add more if cooking more apples
- 1/4 cup cashews per person about a handful
- juice of half a lemon
- 1/4 cup water
- salt pepper, curry powder to taste
- 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal or rice heated
Instructions
- Stir fry the apple over medium high heat until the fruit browns and begins to soften.
- Season with salt, pepper and curry powder. Use a light hand and add more at the end it needed.
- Mix in the water and lemon juice. Reduce the heat and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed by the fruit.
- Toss in the cashews and stir.
- Taste a piece of apple and adjust the seasoning as desired.
- Serve over oatmeal or rice.
A great review and a great breakfast. Thanks so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Love the recipe – sounds easy to make and so healthy. This sounds like it would be great for any meal. Thanks for sharing. Will pin!
I have never heard of this book but find it really interesting. I have been eating clean for a year and will like to see this for some new recipes. Thank you for sharing it on our Four Seasons Blog Hop.
It’s very similar to eating clean. I have a couple of Bittman’s cookbooks and like to browse through the archives from his Minimalist column. Hope you find something you like, Shawna!
I LOVE this recipe! It sounds so delicious and healthy!! Thank you for sharing it with us at ShowLicious Craft and Recipe Party! 🙂 Pinning to the party board!! I’m also hosting a Grow Your Social Media party if you would like to participate and gain new followers!! http://sewlicioushomedecor.com/grow-social-media-party-google-facebook/
Looks like an interesting concept… the recipe looks delicious. Thanks for sharing it with us on foodie friday. Pinned.
You are such an inspiration to cooking healthy! Thanks for linking up to last week’s Tasty Tuesdays at Creative K Kids. I’ve finally pinned it to the Tasty Tuesday’s board!
I love cookbooks. Your breakfast looks amazing! Thank you for sharing at Tuesdays with a Twist! Hope to see you again this week!
Mary @ Back to the Basics
The recipe sounds fantastic. I absolutely love fried apples, and I’m interested in tasting the curry and apple together. Visiting from Wake Up Wednesday Linky Party.
I love Mark Bittman. He just quietly go along making us all a little more healthy.
Madonna
And very charming in the way he goes about it, isn’t he? Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Delish! Pinned! Thanks for being part of our party. I hope you will swing by on Monday at 7 pm and party with us. We love having you! http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
Happy Saturday! Lou Lou Girls
Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again next week!
This looks yummy!!! Thanks for sharing on Blogger Brags!!
That AM Stir-Fry looks amazing! I alway fall into eating the same thing every day until I can’t eat it anymore! This looks awesome & easy! Thanks for sharing on Whatever Wednesday!
I just had it again this morning but with apples and almonds this time and cinnamon instead of curry. I really like the flavor of the cashews with the apples and spices 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing. I am going to have to check this cookbook out. Seems especially great for summer when so much produce can be had fresh out of the fields.
The availability of fresh ingredients definitely makes this type of cooking easier! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
So that stir-fry looks amazing! YUM!
Thanks again for joining the Link Up this week!