Indian-Spiced Red Lentil and Veggie Soup

If you like going behind the scenes and joining in the kitchen nitty-gritty, you'll want to check out the new online "cook along" called Cook the Book with Denise and Jenni. If you've been hanging around here for any number of years, you may think this sounds familiar. That's because the name is similar to the club I've been participating in (and hosted for a couple of years) since 2009 called Cook the Books (there's an "s" on the end of that one). But they are different.

Cook the Books is a bi-monthly book club in which we read a "foodie book" and then head into our kitchens to cook something inspired by it, then the food is all rounded up on the website for everybody to enjoy together. Cook the Book is a monthly meet-up in which the recipe (or maybe more than one recipe) is featured and cooked together while streaming online. So, similar names, but each unique unto itself.

Creole Okra Corn Soup + The Easy Vegan Cookbook blog tour

Welcome to today's stop on The Easy Vegan Cookbook blog tour! I'm not sure when Kathy Hester finds time to sleep, because every time I turn around, she has another beautiful cookbook being released. If you've spent any time on my blog, you probably know that I'm not a vegan—but that doesn't mean that I don't eat meatless and vegan meals and snacks. And while my husband is very much a meatatarian, over the years I've been able to convince him that even vegan meals can be hearty and satisfying.

This Creole Okra Corn Soup from Kathy's new book totally supports my case. It may not contain any animal products and have a brothy base, but it is packed full of seasonal vegetables and a nice little spice factor (which always wins his heart in the end). A couple of days before I received this book in the mail, my old neighbor dropped more than 6 dozen freshly picked ears of corn at my doorstep. I knew without a doubt that this recipe would be the first I would make from the book.

Steel Cut Oat Sausage Crumbles, plus an OATrageous Oatmeals blog tour

I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan. I don't claim the title gluten-free, or paleo, or dairy-free. But, that doesn't mean that I don't work those ways of eating into my family's everyday life. Many of our meals do fall into these categories, but we are also bacon assassins and slayers of juicy steaks. Ask my youngest child what his favorite meal is, and he'll say chicken. Just chicken. You know I couldn't do without my fresh fish and seafood. But, since we're fortunate enough not to be "forced" into a category, I prefer the term varietarian.

Until, of course, I looked up my brilliant new term and realized that somebody had already claimed the term - and they didn't include pork or beef in the definition. How you can exclude things purposefully and still claim to be a varietarian is beyond me. I'm still claiming varietarian as a diet based on variety.

But, I digress—as usual. My whole point in talking about special diets was to highlight the fact that today I'm sharing a recipe that is vegan, soy-free, and gluten-free as part of the OATrageous Oatmeals blog tour! This is the newest cookbook by the very talented (and all around awesome lady) Kathy Hester.