If you didn’t grow up in a vegetarian family, learning to cook whole food plant-based recipes and put together balanced meals can be quite a challenge at first.
Finding foods with little oil and no dairy that meet the taste criteria, that fill you up enough and don’t take all day to prepare can be tricky.
In this post, I list some of my most relied upon plant-based recipe books.
Where to start?
If you are just getting started, try not to be overwhelmed with choice.
Make it your goal to find five to seven meal recipes and cook them over and over again.
Make sure you are aiming at the right goal – see below:
What to focus on when choosing plant-based recipes
There are a few common mistakes I see people making when deciding to “go plant-based”.
- Thinking ‘anything goes’ as long as it has no meat or dairy.
- Using plants – but deep frying them or using lots of oil
- Using processed foods like flour, sugar or fake cheeses or fake meats extensively
- Not focussing on vegetables as the main food group.
The key to eating a healthy plant-based diet is to include whole, unprocessed foods from each of the following four food groups daily:
The following recipe books have some recipes that fit the ‘food rules’:
- a lot of vegetables are included
- the recipes use processed foods as condiments – not as the main part of the dish
- little or no oil is used, and
- they give more than a cursory nod to the above four food groups.
But they also contain plant-based recipes that do NOT follow those rules. Then it is a matter of substituting or using those recipes rarely or not at all.
The bookshops are full of vegan recipes books these days, and these are just some of my favourites.
Modern Australian Vegan – DK
This book contains a wealth of ‘how-to’ information. Links to websites of credible dieticians, a weekly menu, online recipe resources, what staples to keep in the pantry. And the plant-based recipes are easy.
Winter Vegetables Pie, Meaty Mushroom Stew, Kidney Bean Cassoulet, Pinto Bean Peanut Stew. My book has my notes on so many pages: “Wonderful & easy”, “Fabulous taste!”, “Really good – simple to make”, and “Awesome” being some of them. My favourite is below.
Food as Medicine by Sue Radd
One of Sydney’s top dieticians, Sue explains how to put together a healthy plate, what conditions can be improved or fixed with food, how to store plant foods, shopping tips and getting your kids to eat healthy food.
A Seventh-Day Adventist from childhood, Sue has lived the vegetarian life and totally understands the importance of greens, beans and whole foods. And how to make them all taste awesome. You can’t go wrong healthwise with her book – and every page has educational tips.
Loads of really simple traditional plant-based recipes like Kale & Kidney Beans with Garlic & Chilli, Village-Style Vegetable Stew, Three-Bean Dhal and Cannellini Bean and Carrot Soup with Parsley.
Sue has young kids and so includes many snacks for children. Seasonal Menus included.
Vegan Pressure Cooking
Discovering pressure cooking made a huge difference for me. My mother had a pressure cooker that sounded like the lid was ready to blow off if we turned our backs, but modern electric pressure cookers are quite different and safe. With pressure cooking I can have a large meal ready in 20 minutes that includes dried beans which I forgot to pre-soak.
Due to the shortened heating time needed, more nutrients are saved in the food than with boiling and roasting. Different liquid amounts are needed than with other cooking methods, so it is difficult to use other recipes until you are more experienced with pressure-cooking.
This is one of my most useful books.
Oh She Glows – Angela Liddon
My favourite recipe resource of all time, Angela has two books out, and a third being released later this year. The plant-based recipes taste good, look good and are the sorts of foods you can serve guests without anyone turning up their noses. From Long Weekend Grilled Salad to Soul Soothing African Peanut Stew to Indian Lentil-Cauliflower Soup, each one is a winner.
Some may take a little longer to prepare as Angela makes great use of herbs and spices to add a flavour ZING to everything – but in my opinion, it is well worth it. Even the desserts are amazing. One problem – I cook enough for leftovers of these meals, but by the time I look in the fridge for it the next day, it has usually disappeared.
You can also get many of Angela’s meals for free at her website – <here’s> a terrific salad bowl weekly prep one.
I hope you enjoy preparing more plant-based meals that bring health to your family and friends. Let me know below if you have a plant-based recipe book you love to use.
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