Weaving together personal stories with 120 appetizing recipes, this friendly cookbook delivers authentically American and vegan cuisine that has to be tasted to be believed. Midwestern-inspired recipes range from very basic to the modestly complicated, but always with an eye on creating something beautiful and delicious in its simplicity. Clear text provides step-by-step instructions and helps new cooks find their feet in a vegan kitchen, with a whole chapter devoted to terms, tools, and techniques. With an eye towards improvisation, the cookbook provides a detailed basic recipe that is good as-is, while providing additional notes that explain how to take each recipe further—to increase flavor, to add drama to the presentation, or just to add extra flourish.