Lisa McComsey

Grab your fork and prepare to eat your heart out … vegan style. For the uninitiated, that means ditch the animal products: no beef, no chicken, no fish, no eggs, no milk, no mayo, no baked Brie, and (saddest of all), no ice cream. Sounds like a diet for masochists and weirdoes, right?

Wrong. The vegan diet is more than lettuce wraps and tofu. As our new book, The Vegan Cheat Sheet reveals, veganism is not even a diet—it’s a way of life that is super easy, fun, and gratifying. Go ahead: Eat your lasagna, your blueberry pancakes, and your Caesar salad. Indulge in family pizza night at Domino’s (we’ll share our restaurant-ordering secrets for this and other popular chains). Create mouthwatering meals in 20 minutes or less with chef (and co-author) Amy Cramer’s simple, three-step recipes. And, by the way, get all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients you need (all that talk about protein-deficient vegans is a bunch of baloney).

Many believe (as the authors once did) that veganism is restrictive, difficult, boring—and reserved for longhaired, Birkenstock-clad hippies. But The Vegan Cheat Sheet proves that ditching animal products is simple and delicious.

Best of all, you can go vegan in just 21 days—because we make the vegan transformation a snap. While we—both former omnivores—had to muddle through dozens of books, websites, and magazines to learn the ropes, we’ve done all the legwork for you. Here are your menus, your shopping lists, and your travel tips, all packed into one go-everywhere, user-friendly guide that fits in a purse, a pocket, or a glove compartment for quick reference in the restaurant, grocery store, or fast-food drive-through.

Special features include:

• The 21-day Vegan Transformation Guide – we make the vegan transition a no-brainer by including three weeks’ worth of vegan menus
• Idiot-proof recipe section – chef Amy Cramer developed each dish with the “culinary challenged” in mind; every recipe is foolproof, involving no more than three steps and generally takes 20 minutes or less hands-on time
• The vegan travel guide – yummy eats to pack when hitting the road … plus what to order (or not) when dining out
• The fast-food survival guide – vegan-friendly menu options at popular chains, including McDonald’s, Applebee’s, and Domino’s
• The shopping guide – your must-have fridge and pantry staples
• Real world how-to’s – tips for handling party invitations from carnivorous friends, plus other practical advice for weathering the social scene
• Vegan replacements for things you love – think you’ll never have fettuccine Alfredo again? Here’s your vegan “cream,” plus other “you won’t believe they're vegan” substitutes
• Now let’s party! – menus for all your special occasions, from Thanksgiving to Cinco de Mayo to Super Bowl Sunday
• Your daily dose – where in the plant world to find all the nutrients you need
• Hard-hitting facts on why eating vegan helps guard against common killers like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes

Our style is breezy, with a dose of humor tossed in. There’s no preaching and no tedious data to digest. What resonates is our passion for veganism and our desire to make it accessible to everyone. Want recipes for exotic foods like pressed cashew cheese and sticky quince cake? You’ll have to find those in one of the fancy vegan cookbooks, not here. We keep things simple and tasty: Every recipe can be made in three steps or less and will knock your socks off.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a client of Cramer’s vegan chef business and author of the groundbreaking vegan book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, wrote the foreword to The Vegan Cheat Sheet.