Really, honestly -- vegan food is irresistible, even for non-vegans.
"This gourmet repertoire of appetizers, main courses and desserts will surprise even the toughest critics -- really," said Elvira Rodriguez Alonso, who lives in Lake Country.
She should know.
She's the author of the Irresistibly Vegan cookbook, a hardcover, 336-page, full-colour collection of 135 recipes, 125 of which are also non-gluten.
"I don't want to impose my way on others," said Alonso, who is vegan because it's better for her health, the environment and animals.
"I just want to make people realize that there is beauty in diversity. These recipes are packed with flavour and protein (from plant sources), but could also be served with a meat protein. Therefore, Irresistibly Vegan is a cookbook for everyone, not just vegans."
Alonso was born and raised in Spain and took an international culinary route before retiring in Lake Country and tapping into a lifetime of good-food knowledge to write the cookbook.
After initially being released as a softcover book, it was recently re-released in hardcover and has won a raft of awards, including the Gourmand World Cookbook Award (in Canada in the vegan category), a Literary titan Book Award, Firebird Book Award and Next Generation Indie Book Award.
In Spain, Alonso grew up with the tradition of the freshest, most delicious and most nutritious foods prepared and shared with family unhurried around a table lively with conversation.
As a chef in Germany, she started work in 1986 at one of the first vegetarian restaurants in Cologne called Sorba Buddha.
She also had a catering business, providing food at seminars and retreats.
There was also a stint in Italy before purchasing the Plaza Cafe in Sedona, Arizona in 2000.
Alonso married a Canadian man along the way and when it came time to retire in 2019, they travelled across Canada and chose the Central Okanagan for its natural beauty, lake, ideal four seasons, bounty of fruits and vegetables and nearby snow skiing.
Many of the 135 recipes are also grouped into 21 complete meal menus with suggested appetizer, main course and dessert.
For instance, the Greek menu kicks off with the citrus-roasted fennel with tzatziki dip appy, moussaka eggplant and potato casserole as the main and pistachio-walnut baklava for dessert.
Or, the Culinary Tour of Europe includes a French-inspired lentil salad and Italian-style stuffed peppers to start, savoury strudel in the German tradition as the main and the all-round chocolate cake for dessert.
By the way, the chocolate cake achieves its vegan and gluten-free status by using gluten-free, all-purpose flour, non-dairy milk and coconut oil in the cake and coconut milk and dark chocolate for the frosting.
Alonso has also started to lead cooking classes at Lakehouse Kitchen Cooking School in downtown Kelowna.
The next two are the Irresistibly Vegan Summer Foods classes on Saturday, July 27 and Saturday, Aug. 17, where hands-on participants will learn how to make eggplant rolls, broiled asparagus, watermelon-mint salad, a bruschetta trio, lentil-walnut mousse and seasonal berry tart.
You can also sip a glass of wine while you cook.
Register for $160 at: https://app.getoccasion.com/p/n/2TzSpRxt/v5
The Irresistibly Vegan cookbook is for sale for $40 for the hardcover edition and $10 for the e-book at Alonso's website:https://irresistiblyvegan.com/
It's also for sale at a bunch of local stores and wineries, including Indigo, Lakehouse Kitchens, Invati Yoga Studio and Summerhill Pyramid Winery in Kelowna; Mission Hill, Volcanic Hills and Off the Grid wineries in West Kelowna; Sole Revival, Invati Yoga and 50th Parallel, Arrowleaf, O'Rourke and Peak Cellars wineries in Lake Country; Good Gracious Gift Store and Eat Good Market in Vernon; the BC Wine Information Centre in Penticton; and the South Okanagan wineries Hester Creek, See Ya Later Ranch, Ruby Blues, Bench 1774, Desert Hills, Hidden Chapel, Laughing Stock, River Stone and Vin Amite.
