Nourish From Within: Wholefood Vegan Recipe Books
Lemon elderflower cake from A Year in a Cottage Kitchen
Some people like to eat alternatives to meat and fish. But if you prefer to make recipes made with wholefoods, these books are your man! Each one uses real wholesome farmers’ market finds like fresh fruits and vegetables, along with wholegrains and plant-based natural proteins like lentils.
Read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods are unsafe near animal friends). Before recycling tins, rinse/remove lids (or pop ring-pulls over holes) then step on the can to ‘pinch’ inner rims together, to stop wildlife getting trapped.
Although it’s good to compost food scraps, unless you have a food waste bin (turned into biogas), just bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallot, chives), citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps and tea/coffee grounds. To avoid too much acid/caffeine affecting compost creatures.
A Year in a Cottage Kitchen: From Cornwall
A Year in a Cottage Kitchen is a lovely book by a young vegan cookbook author who is fast turning into a next-generation version of Nigella Lawson. Discover 80 simple plant-based recipes, from the heart of Cornwall.
Take a seat at Maddie’s table, as she cooks delicious meals in her cosy cottage, and step inside her world as she tends to her vegetable patch, strolls along the shore to take in the sea air, and hosts supper or (when the weather allows) on the beach.
Recipes include:
- Roasted Parsnip, Rosemary & White Bean Soup
- Homemade Crumpets
- Warm Butter Bean, New Potato & Tomato Salad
- Black Bean Burgers with Summer Hot Sauce
- Roasted Butternut Squash & Sausage Gnocchi
- Mushroom and Lentil Pie
- Tear and Share ‘cheesy’ Bread
- Pear Upside Down Cake
- Homemade Apple Crumble
- Vegan Chocolate Torte
Madeleine Olivia is one of England’s most popular vegan influencers, a full-time content creator who writes lovely vegan cookbooks. She lives with her family in a beautiful renovated cottage in Cornwall. Find more recipes (including a lovely e-book they wrote on baking bread) at her website.
Buy the book
The First Mess: Eat Well Through the Seasons
The First Mess is a highly-reviewed cookbook packed with wholesome recipes to eat through the seasons. What makes this book different is that it uses real locally-sourced organic ingredients to create recipes, using seasonal finds from your weekly veg box.
Recipes include:
- Beet & Mushroom Bolognese
- Fluffy Whole Grain Pancakes
- Hot Pink Beet Smoothie
- Broccoli Caesar with Smoky Tempeh Bits
- Vegetable Bean Pot Pies with Potato Crust
- Weeknight Root Vegetable Dal
- Burrito-stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Romanesco Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing
- Chilli Tofu Lime Bowls
- Roasted Aubergine & Olive Bolognese
- Earl Grey & Vanilla Bean Tiramisu
Laura Wright grew up in a Canadian family that was involved in the organic veg box movement, so knows about good produce. She trained as a chef, so her recipes are not just seasonal, but tasty and they work!
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Dreena’s Kind Kitchen: 100 Wholefood Recipes
Dreena’s Kind Kitchen is a nice book by one of the world’s favourite cookbook authors, who always uses fresh wholefood ingredients and uses a little oil and maple syrup (she’s Canadian!) with recipes that will appeal to most tastebuds. This book offers 100 easy-to-make and delicious recipes.
This is a book you will use, whether you want a quick weeknight supper or a dish for a special occasion. From breakfasts to small bites to dinner and dessert.
Enjoy recipes for:
- Lentil Sweet Potato Meatloaf
- Light Fluffy Breakfast Pancakes
- Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
- Potato Cauliflower Scramble
- Seasoned Potato Squashers
- A-Game Chilli
- White Bean Corn Chowder
- Beyond Beet Burgers
- Fiesta Taco Filling
- Smoky Caesar Salad
- Holiday Dinner Torte
- Yellow sweet Potato Cake
There’s also a troubleshooting section to boost your kitchen skills, with tips on techniques, time-saving skills and suggestions for re-purposing leftovers into delicious new dishes.
Dreena Burton is a self-taught cook and one of North America’s most popular cookbook authors, whose recipes are recommended by health professionals, due to always using real wholefoods. A mother of three children (who she and her husband have raised vegan), she is author of several best-selling recipe books.
Buy the book
What to eat and when (by season)
If you prefer to live on real wholefoods and fresh produce, here are a few ideas to buy in season. Produce will be tastier and more affordable.
Grow organic food in pet-friendly gardens (away from toxic plants, mulch and other hazards). For indoor plants, avoid facing foliage to outdoor gardens, to prevent birds flying into windows).
Spring (greens, peas and fresh herbs)
- Asparagus (only in season for around 8 weeks, be quick!) It also can make your pee smell, but don’t worry, just enjoy in salads and soups!
- Spinach, peas, radishes and new potatoes are all spring vegetables.
- Rhubarb (when available) is good with vegan custard and in crumbles. Or stew with a little sugar and orange zest, or use it in overnight oats.
Summer (tomatoes, courgettes, berries, salads)
- Organic tomatoes taste way nicer, so give them a go.
- Only buy organic courgettes/zucchini (some ‘bad batches of seeds’ can be dangerous – one cook writer almost died from eating them)
- Berry fruits are nice stewed or in crumbles.
Autumn and winter (squash, roots, brassicas)
- Pumpkin and squash soup are delicious in winter.
- Carrots and parsnips are nice stewed and mashed.
- Beetroot is an earthy veg, also good in desserts and baking
- Kale is one of the few veg that grows during the ‘hungry gap’ and is rich in calcium. Pair with less bitter greens in recipes.
- Apples and pears are good stewed or in pies and crumbles
