In the foreword to her new cookbook, Karoline Jönsson writes, ‶Happy Vegan Comfort Food is the book I needed when I decided to quit eating animals. It would have saved me years of finding my way in the green jungle.″
To that, we’d add that Happy Vegan Comfort Food (Pavilion/Rizzoli, $19.95) is the vegan cookbook we’ve been waiting for. We’re omnivores, but we eat less and less meat and other animal products. This book broadens our culinary horizons with some really tasty dishes.
Instead of being all about what the author doesn’t or won’t eat, the cookbook is a wholehearted embrace of really good food that—oh, by the way—is entirely plant-based. Rarely does Jönsson fall back on meat analogs. She does use tofu and seitan, although not obsessively, and she includes recipes for making them from scratch.
Some of us were permanently scarred by an earlier round of vegetarian vogue and swore that we would rather starve than eat another patty of texturized vegetable protein or face another week of one bean stew after another. But honestly, we’d happily eat almost everything in this cookbook—which is more than we can say of almost any other cookbook. Jönsson has a knack for simple good taste. In fact, since this book landed on our doorstep, we have trebled the variety and quintupled the quantity of lentils in the house.
Jönsson started her career as a vegetarian food blogger with ‶The Green Pantry,″ named Sweden’s best food blog in 2012. She also hosted the first vegetarian cooking show on Swedish national televison. She lives on a small farm in southern Sweden, which might explain why so many of the dishes in Happy Vegan Comfort Food are so cold-weather friendly.
Notes on the book and recipe
The photos in the book are all by Jönsson and those reproduced here are courtesy of Pavilion Books. The recipe below for Shepherd’s Pie is likewise © Happy Vegan Comfort Food by Karoline Jönsson, Pavilion, 2020. We have reproduced it exactly as published. You’ll note that the ingredients are listed in metric and English measure—a nod to the British, American, and Canadian audiences for the book. Her bouillon powder recipe, alluded to in the ingredients, consists of a lot of flavorful vegetables and herbs finely chopped and dried, then ground. Honestly, we substituted vegetable bouillon powder (and used butter and cow’s milk) and the dish came out fine.
SHEPHERD’S PIE
Serves 4–6
Mash
1.2kg/2lb 10oz potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
75g/2 ½ oz/5 tbsp dairy- free spread
approx. 150ml/5fl oz/ 2/3 cup plant milk
salt and black pepper
Lentil mince
3 brown onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
5 large field mushrooms, finely chopped
olive oil for frying
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
3 tbsp tomato purée (tomato paste)
120g/4oz/scant 2/3 cup dried red lentils
85g/3oz/scant ½ cup dried beluga lentils
3 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp bouillon powder (see page 40)
2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
This British classic is my other half’s favourite and it’s always popular for Sunday family dinner. Serve with a green salad with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Boil the potatoes in a large pan of salted water, covered with a lid, for about 20 minutes, or until soft.
For the lentil mince, fry the onions, carrots and mushrooms in a generous glug of olive oil until the onions have started to colour. Add some salt, the white pepper and the herbs.
Add the tomato purée and fry, stirring, for another few minutes. Add 800ml/28fl oz/3 1/3 cups water, the lentils, tamari and bouillon powder and stir well. Cover and leave to simmer until the lentils are almost cooked through.
Sprinkle over the flour and whisk into the mince, preferably using a steel whisk to make sure you get rid of any lumps of flour. Add up to 200ml/7fl oz/generous 3/4 cup water until you’ve reached a good consistency.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.
Drain the boiled potatoes and mash them using a potato masher. Stir in the spread and milk and mash together until smooth. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Scoop the mince into a baking dish and top with the mash. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the mash is golden brown.