6/10

Pure Vegan

By Joseph Shuldiner (Chronicle, 2012)

If you have to pick one vegan cookbook to give as a gift, make it this one. It’s coffee-table gorgeous, the product of a vegan graphic designer and photographer; wittily arranged by time of day rather than food category (“I don’t know about you, but I eat constantly, from morning to night,” says the author), and it's fun, devoid of preaching or deprivation.

I can’t wait to try: French Toast with Cardamom Pear Compote; Lavender-Tangerine Martini.