Hot Vegan is organized by global region, starting in The Americas, then traveling through Mediterranean Europe, The Middle East and Africa, and India, and then landing in Asia. Robin has veganized traditional meals from each area with easy-to-find ingredients, so you won’t have to spend days driving around to different ethnic markets. (Something I had to do recently with recipes from another book that I won’t name here.) Spice-phobes need not worry – Robin has designed the recipes so that you can adjust for your own heat tolerance. Dishes range from sauces, appetizers and soups to salads, sides and main courses.

Robin begins the book with a spice primer, explaining ingredients such as cumin, curry, and wasabi. She also includes information on chiles, with each pepper’s heat level, how to substitute if you don’t have a particular type on hand, and how to handle chiles when cooking. (I could have used that info years ago, the first time I cooked with fresh jalapenos!) There’s also advice on how to cool down if you’ve eaten something with a little too much heat – knowledge that I also wish I had years ago!

The Americas chapter includes the US, Mexico, The Caribbean, and South America, so the dishes are pretty diverse. Buffalo Cauliflower, Cajun Coleslaw, Texas Barbecue Sauce, Jalapeno Soup with Tortilla Triangles, and Jamaican Baked Vegetables are all recipes that can be found here.

The Mediterranean Europe chapter focuses on Italy and Iberia, and I would be happy with just about every dish from this chapter. I made the Tempeh Cacciatore as chicken cacciatore was a favorite of mine as a child. (I don’t remember anything I ate ever tasting this good though, so I think what I used to eat some sort of cacciatore-like sauce that came in a jar.) I also made the Vegetables with Chickpeas and Romesco Sauce, which was plate-licking good.

The Middle East and Africa chapter is pretty diverse, with recipes for dishes like Red Chile Hummus, Bab Ghanouj, Turkish Eggplant, Nigerian Peanut Stew, Ethiopian Wat, and West African Spinach with Spicy Peanut Sauce. I’m a huge fan of stews and sauces that combine peanut butter and spice, and they tend to be winter month favorites for me, so I have quite a few recipes in this chapter bookmarked for the colder months.

India and Asia are the final two chapters in the book. I love both types of cuisines, and, like spicy peanut sauce, curries tend to be a wintertime mainstay of mine, so may of the recipes are book marked for a later date. I like spicy Asian-style stir-fries just about any time of the year, so the Asia chapter was actually the one I headed to first when the book arrived, even though it’s the last chapter. There are so many tasty recipes to choose from that I had a difficult time deciding on what to make first. In the end I went with the Hot and Spicy Thai Tofu, and I felt that I made the right choice. I love the combination of tofu and broccoli in a spicy sauce so much that I could eat this dish several times a week.

Hot Vegan (and its predecessor Vegan Fire and Spice) is the only cookbook that I know of that focuses on spicy vegan food. If you like your meals with a little (or a lot) of heat, this is the book for you!

Hot Chic Vegans are in luck, because we have a copy of Hot Vegan for one lucky reader. Follow the instructions below to enter. US residents only, please. Contest ends at midnight eastern on November 2^nd. Good luck!

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