Plant-Based Simple: 150 Delicious Whole-Food, Nutrient-Dense Recipes for Healthy Living

by Editors of Fair Winds Press, Jackie Sobon, Allyson Kramer

Genres: Cookbooks

240 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 2025

Reviews

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Good (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

This is set up to be a simple way to get into vegan/plant based eating. The recipes are not as simple as promised but still friendly to even beginner cooks. A lot of recipes include premade items (e.g., tater tots) to make them simpler. Most of the recipes are standard American fare turned into an animal-product free variety. So there is nothing unfamiliar here.

The book breaks down as follows: Introduction, breakfasts, appetizers, soups/sandwiches, salads, main dishes, deserts, index. The introduction is a very simple one page affair. Several recipes do not include photographs. No nutrition information nor storage tips are given.

Each recipe breaks down as follows: Title, Serving size. Introduction paragraph. Ingredients in bold italics font. Unnumbered paragraph form steps. Notes where needed are included in a separate area on the page. Recipes include: baked French toast sticks, sweet and savory scones, smokey sweet potato soup, fiesta quinoa bowl with sweet lime vinaigrette, mango fritters with coconut dipping sauce, melon madness bowls, tikka cauliflower chunks, and many more.

The recipes taste well and I didn't have any duds while trying them. I prefer not to use premade ingredients such as vegan mayo, white bread baguettes, tater tots, etc, though. But I respect that they do make meals easier and quicker. A large number include huge amounts of oils, including coconut oil, which really ups the calories and health concerns, so I wouldn't recommend this for those watching their weight/losing weight or with conditions that have fat concerns like diabetes. That said, these are healthier alternatives to the standard American diet fare.

I rate this conservatively because there aren't images for quite a few recipes, lack of nutrition information, and health/weight concerns (recipes routinely call for 1/2 to 3/4 cup of oil). I also felt that a book aimed at beginner vegans probably could have used more tips and ways to create basics. But in all, not a bad book with some tasty vegan food. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Kristen Barenthaler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not usually a plant-based eater, but some of these look delicious even to me. Can't wait to try.