Whole Food Cooking Every Day

Former Executive Chef of NYC's much-missed vegan haven Angelica Kitchen, Amy Chaplin is a master of from-scratch whole food cooking and nutritional eating.

The absence of gluten, meat, sugar, etc. from her repertoire does not feel like an exercise in deprivation, but rather an invitation to a way of living that is nutritious, good for the planet, and absolutely delicious.

While the book is organized into somewhat curious chapter choices (porridges, nut and seed milks and butters, compotes, cauliflower bakes, crackers, waffles, and—of course—vegetables), the content is designed to build a pantry and a toolkit for making easy meals at home without processed and refined "convenience" ingredients.

Every chapter offers basic recipes, followed by variations on each that transform them into entirely new dishes. Each section then ends with a chart for customizing the recipes. For example, spread the herbed butter bean pate (from the bean chapter) onto the pumpkin seed bread with greens and nori (from the gluten-free bread chapter) for a tasty snack. Apple-hibiscus compote works as a great topping for oatmeal, porridge, or simply yogurt.

You will find useful charts for dried bean cooking times, nut soaking times, and steaming and roasting times for various vegetables, which aid in the planning process as well as help take the mystery or stress out of cooking with new ingredients.

The book closes out with meal prep and menu planning suggestions that further tie all the recipes together. Chaplin's restaurant chef experience shines through here, with ordered prep-lists and creative mix-and-match suggestions. Whole Food Cooking Every Day is an excellent resource for anyone interested in making dietary changes or in need of a fresh perspective on a health-supportive lifestyle.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.