I hate to say this, but maybe you’ve already gathered that transitioning to a vegan diet is work. I mean, you put the responsibility in your hands to create the health that you want. And some of you may not live in an area or have the means to go eat out at places where you can buy delicious and healthy vegan food.
An essential step to moving towards a plant-based diet is to learn how to cook without meat and dairy, so a good cookbook(s), are important foundational tools to successfully maintaining a staying on a vegan diet. I don’t cook, I hear you say. Well, times are a changin‘ friend, and if you don’t know how to cook, I’d learn right now, for your health and the health of your family. Not only that, you can buy convenience foods that are time-savers such as canned and frozen foods, but these are more costly and not always the best option. That said, I do have my share of convenience foods like Amy’s Organic Canned Soups, canned beans, frozen veggie meatballs, ect.
So here are the cookbooks that I couldn’t live without. I do have more, but these are the ones that I use the most.
You know the cookbooks that you buy and some recipes are just hit and miss or too exotic or time consuming to be realistic for everyday cooking (I’m not just talking vegan cookbooks here)?
Well all of these cookbooks are NOT like that and are sure to soon be some of your favorites too. I suggest buying at least one of these and trying out the one to two new recipes a week, more if you are ambitious and have time.
1. The Big & Healthy Cookbook, by The Wellness Forum.
[This book is only available by ordering it through The Wellness Forum (so don’t try checking Amazon or ebay, because it won’t be there!). Cost is $27.95 + shipping. Contact me to order.]
If you only could buy one cookbook, this is the cook book I would recommend you buy. I love this cookbook because there’s no need to “healthify” the hundreds of recipes in this book as they are all plant-based and low fat (no oils). Convenience, taste, and simplicity are at the heart of these recipes which include tried and true quick and easy meal ideas, breads, breakfast foods, salads and dressings, holiday entertaining foods and desserts all of which will be sure to please your palate. This cookbook is meant for the novice cook, one who wants to eat great tasting healthy food but doesn’t have all day to spend in the kitchen. All recipes come in a handy binder which allows you to expand the collection. If you’re a Wellness Forum member, you get access to the new recipes that are added for the cookbook regularly.
2. The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook: Over 300 Delicious Low-Fat Recipes You Can Prepare in Fifteen Minutes or Less
by John & Mary McDougall.
The thing that I love about any of the McDougall cookbooks is that all of the recipes were created by Mary McDougall, John’s wife. Instead of thinking of creating unrealistic culinary art, her goal was to create simple, delicious, and healthy recipes that her kids would eat. The result is this and other cookbooks.
This is by far contains the simplest recipes calling for common ingredients and won’t take long to make. These recipes give you great ideas for quick, easy and delicious meals, snacks, and desserts. My favorite section is the salad and dressing chapter, which contains a dozen different dressings that are delicious and low-fat (contains no oils!). Hands down, my favorite low-fat brownie recipe is in this book. Also contains some tidbits of information, scattered throughout the book about health and nutrition.
3. The Health Promoting Cookbook, by Alan Goldhamer, DC.
The author of this book is a chiropractor who has had great success with helping patients regain their health through medically supervised fasting. Most all of the recipes in this book are soy-free, all are wheat-free and oil free. Some creative combinations that are simple and delicious, nutrient-dense foods.
4. Fat Free & Easy, by Jennifer Raymond.
This vegan cookbook says it all. Recipes are easy and all oil-free, but many call for wheat and/or soy products so if you have allergies to these foods, be aware.
5. Any cookbook by Bryanna Clark Grogan
This woman has great taste and amazing creative ability in the kitchen. Any of her cookbooks are a good choice. One in particular that I like is, The Almost No-Fat Cookbook. She does use a lot of soy in this book, so be aware if that’s not a part of your diet.
6. Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease, by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn & The Engine 2 Diet, by Rip Esselstyn
While these aren’t cookbooks per se, they have recipe sections that are FANTASTIC! The recipes are nutrient-dense (lots of greens and veggies) along with excellent oil-free dressings. Rip’s book has a lot of hearty recipes: pastas, pizza, burritos, tex-mex foods. Highly recommend for hearty eaters.
7. 7 Secrets Cookbook: Healthy Cuisine Your Family Will Love
by Neva & Jim Brackett
Buy this book and you will thank me later. The Bracketts, Seventh-Day Adventists, had owned a whole foods vegan restaurant in Seattle for a number of years and here are their time honored and restaurant tested recipes which will knock your socks off.
They believed that in order to change your diet you must replace animal products with “something better,” meaning it needed to taste just as good if not better and be much healthier for you. In this cookbook you’ll find alternatives to every dairy product, including butter, mayonnaise, ice cream, ect. All recipes are oil-free, refined sugar and refined flour free.
After you have a few essential ingredients, like cashews, coconut milk for example, you can make make delicious dips and sauces, ice creams, and “cheeses.” That said, a lot of the recipes are higher in fat content because of the use of these richer foods, so if you are trying to lose weight, skip those recipes or at the very least, keep them to a minimum.
The recipes I can’t live without:
Five Loaves Rice Cream, Light & Tender Waffles, Coconut Ice Cream, Whipped Topping, Simple Butter, Simple Mayonnaise, Ranch-Style dressing, Simple Cheese Sauce, Basic Cream Sauce, French Toast, and French Crepes. Each and every recipe will tantalize your taste buds, leaving you saying: “I can’t believe this is vegan!”
8. Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan: Everyday Vegan Recipes Worth Celebrating, Vive le Vegan, and The Everyday Vegan
by Dreena Burton
This woman is the Julia Child of the vegan world. Her recipes are the ones that you will make when you have company over because they are sure to impress in both taste and economy. Because she is a mother of two young kids all of her recipes are “kid-friendly”–no cabbage or eggplant here. While not all of her recipes are completely oil-free, she uses it sparingly and I’ve always replaced the oil with water or if in a baking recipe with applesauce, tofu, flax seed, pureed banana, ect. Vive le Vegan contains a great section on what/how to feed babies and toddlers.
Some of my favorite recipes from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan include:
Kids’ Dynamo Hummus, Chipotle Lime Two-Bean Hummus, Raspberry Cornmeal Pancakes, Blueberry Carob Pancakes, “Gluten-Be-Gone” Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies, “Nicer” Krispie Squares, Acai Antioxidant Smoothie, Traditional Cranberry Sauce, Beats a BLT Sandwich, Peanut Banana Tortilla Turnovers, Spicoli Burgers, and Gimme Chimmes.
9. The New McDougall Cookbook: 300 Delicious Ultra-Low-Fat Recipes
by John & Mary McDougall
Some of these recipes may be more time-consuming than the ones in his first cookbook but nonetheless aren’t too complicated and most importantly are DELICIOUS.
10. The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets
by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
My sister-in-law once told me, before we went over to her house for dinner, “Now I know how to make a meat-free dinner, but I have no idea how to make a dairy-free dessert.” So true, isn’t dairy (cream, eggs, butter) synonymous with dessert? So how do you replace buttermilk, condensed milk, butter and eggs? Patrick-Goudreau shows you how.
Not only that, this is a good tool to have on hand if you want to serve your loved ones slightly healthier versions of traditional treats without them knowing any different. Colleen’s philosophy is that dessert shouldn’t try to be “healthy” but rather rich and decadent, and should be served on special occasions. She uses EarthBalance margarine (the best version of margarine out there), egg-replacer, and white flour/sugar. There are more than desserts in here: any sort of traditional baking recipe is veganized in this book and she includes things like breads, scones, waffles, pancakes, candies, frozen treats, frostings, sauces, mousses & puddings. My husband’s favorite treat are the chocolate-mint cookies.
11. The Vegan Lunchbox, by Jennifer McNann
This cookbook will make lunchbox making fun again. Very very creative stuff, some a little more time consuming than I have time for, but nevertheless, is an endless source of ideas for sprucing up your loved ones lunch dishes. Especially good for kids. (Note: This is not an entirely oil-free, sugar-free, whole foods vegan cookbook)
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