Whole Bowls: Complete Gluten-Free and Vegetarian Meals to Power Your Day

by Allison Day

National Recipient of the Gourmand Award for Best Vegetarian Cookbook. Over fifty full-meal, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free recipes from nutritionist Allison Day.From the creator of the award-winning food blog Yummy Beet, turn familiar and traditional tastes into healthy, one-bowl meals. Healthful, plentiful, and simple kitchen creations feel at home in a bowl. Whether a meal is enjoyed as a weekday breakfast for one or part of a leisurely dinner with friends, whole foods come to life when presented within the walls of this steadfast kitchen vessel. For Allison Day, the nutritionist and food blogger behind Yummy Beet, meal-sized bowl recipes showcase her love of this cozy serving dish, staying true to her philosophy of eating with visually alluring, seasonal, and delicious food you can feel good about.Along with more than fifty full-meal, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free recipes (not to mention the dozens of mini recipes-within-recipes), these pages contain an innovative, easy-to-follow “Whole Bowls Formula” to build your own creations for quick, everyday lunches and dinners. Recipes falafel and kale salad bowlsBlack bean bowls with butternut squash, black rice, and chimichurriOat risotto bowls with soft-boiled eggs, avocado, and hazelnut dukkahSunny citrus bowls with orange pomegranate salsa and lemon creamCarrot cake bowls with a cream cheese dollop and candied carrotsSouthern Cheddar Grits with Tomatoes, Kale, and Black BeansAlmost Noodle Salad with Radishes and BasilChili con Veggie with CornbreadMediterranean Pasta with Arugula, Peas, Yellow Tomatoes, and FetaGreek Mushroom Stifado with Horseradish Mashed PotatoesTuscan Bean StewBaked Polenta with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, and MarinaraUsing real, fresh ingredients, Allison offers straightforward and approachable creations that can be made ahead of time, whipped up quickly on a weeknight, or invented off-the-cuff with her Bowl Formula Guide. With vibrant and exciting photography shot by Allison herself, you’ll be eager to cook and eat her fun, foolproof, and inventive whole bowls.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, Health, Vegetarian

456 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2016

About the author

Allison Day is an award-winning writer, bestselling author, food stylist, recipe developer, and content creator. She has written, styled, and photographed three cookbooks, including the Indigo Heather’s Pick, bestseller, and Taste Canada award-winning Modern Lunch. Her first book, Whole Bowls, is the national winner of the Gourmand Award for Best Vegetarian Cookbook and a Taste Canada-shortlisted cookbook. Her long running recipe blog, Yummy Beet, is a Taste Canada gold award winner and is read around the world.

She has written for, contributed to, and been featured in some of North America’s top publications including, The New York Times, Bon Appétit, New York Magazine, The Globe and Mail, Food Network Canada, SHAPE, FLARE, Elle Canada, and more.

Reviews

[PorshaJo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating a 3.5

I have read this one numerous times. I have checked it out from my library quite a bit. It has quite the unique recipes for the makings of a bowl meal. There are mouth watering, gorgeous photos in the book, though not for every recipe. I like this one and find it very interesting, but I just don't see myself using this one on a regular basis. Though I will probably continue to check it out from the library and continue to try the recipes here and there.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having cooked plenty of vegetarian and some vegan dishes, I was interested when I saw this book at the library. The writing tone is welcoming, laid back, which kind of epitomizes the dishes. Being used to much more involved recipes, I kept wondering how such short sets of instructions could result in tasty food. And though I've only tried a few of the recipes so far, they've worked out well, and have been pretty yummy. As someone who likes to eat and eat healthy food but doesn't like spending a huge amount of time cooking, I can see pulling out the occasional recipe after a long day when I'm hungry and want to eat reasonably quickly (i.e., in about one hour). Another thing I liked about this book was most of the ingredients could be found at my local grocery store, so there's nothing snobby or precious about each dish. And with the heavy emphasis on vegetables and legumes, I know I'll eat the finished dishes as this is already how I like to eat.

[Ashley Chew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I just found my favorite new cookbook!!
Everything in this book looks & sounds so delicious! I have marked tons of recipes I can't wait to tryout.

Even though this book is vegetarian, not vegan, all the recipes are very veganizable(sub coconut yogurt for dairy yogurt, use or make vegan cheese, flax egg or tofu for egg, ect...)

Bowl style meals are a go to for me & this book has lots of great ideas & the format is great in that it is easy to substitute ingredients, whether you don't like something or don't have something.

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a gaggle of cookbooks, I just love them. They all serve the purpose of making us better culinary artists, or simple preparers of dinner…but some do it better. And some do it with panache. This is that kind of book. Allison Day does it better and with panache. The recipes (with gorgeous frame worthy color photos) are unique however appear easy to prepare.

The directions are made with every level cook in mind. Fantastic vegetarian recipes (which I will make Vegan, if necessary).

Some of my favorites are:
Butter lettuce with lemony chickpea, quinoa and sunflower seed salad
Pear muesli with figs
Curried falafel with kale salad
Bohemian bowls with chili squash and tahini dressing.
Mexican chocolate pudding…omg so good! Mexican chocolate pudding!!!! This was phenomenal!

Oh, and one of my favorite parts, besides the Mexican chocolate pudding, Allison Day is a wordsmith! I have never before read a cookbook whose author uses words like betwixt, imbued, antithetically, panoply, gallimaufry, etc. I love it!!!

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the idea of this book, being a single person who only needs enough for one. Only most of these recipes are for more than one. Still, I have been looking for more healthy, vegetable-based meals. I'm not much of a cook, so most of these had far too many ingredients and steps for me to even contemplate. I think there were only a handful that I would consider making. For those who are a little more ambitious in the kitchen than I am, especially if you are vegan/vegetarian, you might find a lot more that interests you. The photos do look very tempting!

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barnes & Noble had this in their sale section and I got a deal on this one. Cookbooks are so hard to buy, taking a chance I will like them but in this case, I have made 4 of them so far and love them. It helps that the recipes are so simple with few instructions. I got the ingredients for several other recipes but so far the bowls are really giving me several meals out of them, and surprise my daughter likes thyem too! (winner!) I might need to stalk, I mean follow this author/cook/chef to see what else good there is to make!

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't made any of the dishes in the book yet. I'm just reviewing it based on reading the book. The photos of the food are so gorgeous that I can see easily why the publishers signed this blogger. The gimmick of the book--meals or courses of meals presented in a single bowl with specific nutritional and culinary components--works so well for food photography. The food descriptions are a little overwrought, and some of the variations on traditional foods are weird. Why oats in risotto? Why beets with pasta? Why brown rice noodles in vegan phô? Why avocado and coconut in everything? Who knows? It still looked great. I'd already had the idea to pair shakshouka and socca, not just because they sound good together, either. I'm definitely going to try out a few of the dressings and sauces listed here and some of the brunch menus, excuse me, bowls.

[Shipshapeeatworthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of you who might be unfamiliar with Day’s work, she is the mind and creator of the blog Yummy Beet. All of her recipes are plant-based and gluten-free and I think her aim is to encourage people to cook delicious food from whatever beautiful, seasonal produce they find at the market. What I really appreciate about Whole Bowls is that the recipes are completely accessible for any diet preference (this may sound funny but I didn’t even notice that the recipes were gluten-free until I looked at the cover. By choosing ingredients that are inherently gluten-free — like rice, corn, quinoa — I never felt like I bought specialty ingredients, I just used what I already had in my pantry). Her culinary writing earned her gold in the inaugural blog category at the 2015 Taste Canada Food Writing Awards. In a couple of months she’ll find out whether she’s taking home another Taste Canada award — she’s been shortlisted in the Health and Special Diet Cookbooks category for Whole Bowls.

"I could eat like this all of the time! Hint, hint!" Is exactly what my husband said right after trying the first few bites of the Baked Polenta w/ Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, and Marinara. And it’s not like we don’t eat well — but I think what really spoke to him was how delicious and well-rounded (no pun intended) the dish tasted. The mild, creamy polenta paired with the tangy marinara and the sweet, caramelized onions and mushrooms tasted luxurious — just like “restaurant food.” Each component complimented the other instead of over-powering or competing.

This is what Whole Bowls is all about — understanding how to take different components and put them together in order to come up with harmonious (as she puts it) meals. So while the book is full of gorgeous and delicious recipes that draw upon this concept, Day has written a section in the book that speaks to her Whole Bowls Formula by showing the home cook how to use pantry staples to create their own bowl or understand how to tweak one of hers. Flexibility is important because who hasn’t come home at the end of a long work day only to discover seemingly unrelated ingredients in the fridge? Her formula and recipes teach flexibility so that instead of grabbing anything within reach, you can use her strategies to create food that nourishes and makes you feel taken care of.

"Hey Mom! You need to make this for other people! It’s delicious!" Is what my three-year-old daughter said when she tried the Purple Vegetable Rice Bowl. In keeping with the colour theme and seasonal eating I added some fresh, local, Nova Scotia blueberries. While the bowl pictured was what the “adult” version looked liked hers looked almost the same except that she had less cabbage and radicchio. Needless to say that with the blueberries, beets, pistachios, chickpeas, and rice this bowl won a special place in her heart (it also awakened her to the idea that berries or fruit is not just for breakfast or dessert).

I think that the bowl looked so incredibly appealing! I couldn’t wait to dig in and I really appreciated that I could pick and choose what each bite would be — a bit of beet, blueberry, and rice or some chickpeas and pistachios. Endless combinations, so many flavours and textures working in harmony.

One of the things that Day does really well is using different flavours and ingredients to re-imagine classic recipes. Take her Rainbow Vegetable Slaw w/ Pistachios & Harissa Dressing — definitely not the mayo-ladened, anemic-looking BBQ side dish! Full of vibrant colour and a lovely heat from the harissa paste, this recipe takes slaw from side to main. So many descriptors that can be used to talk about this dish — crunchy, spicy, sweet, creamy, juicy — and just by looking at the photo I’m not wrong about any of them.

As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t find myself struggling to source ingredients because the primary ingredients can be located at any farmer’s market or in the fresh produce area of any grocery store. Fresh or cooked or a combination of the two mean that each bowl will be unique in it’s flavour and texture. She offers so much variety in her recipes! They truly are suitable for everyone. These bowls are ideal for solo cooks as much as they are for an entire family…there is no precept to these dishes, including how you eat them, serve them, and savor them — after reading her introduction these comments are the ones that really stuck with me. Day’s philosophy behind Whole Bowls can accommodate any home cook or dining situation.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Skyhorse Publishing for providing me with a free, review copy of this book. I did not receive monetary compensation for my post, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Please note this is an excerpt of the original review posted to www.shipshapeeatworthy.wordpress.com

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y’aaaaaaaallll.

I read a lot of cookbooks but few of them provide recipes that I can cook and eat on a regular basis.

This one, yes.

The recipes are very straighforward and don’t require advanced tools, techniques, or specialty ingredients. Most components can be prepped ahead and tucked into lunch boxes (both are key for me)

There is a ton of variety: breakfasts, salads, grain bowls, and some soups and desserts. There are beautiful photos. All the recipes are either gluten free or can easily be adapted to fit your needs. For example, lots of the breakfast meals are made with oats (I’m allergic, sadly), but I think most can be subbed with millet or brown rice. You could also easily add chicken breast or salmon filets to almost any bowl.

Now maybe you are thinking, “How hard is it to put together a grain bowl with sauce and veggies? Why would I need a cookbook for that?” And actually, it is not hard. There is even a template at the start of the book to help you plan if you want to create your own. But do you want to do that much meal planning every single week? I take about an hour on Sunday night flipping thru cookbooks; writing down meals, sides and snacks for a week; making a grocery list; figuring out how to sub out ingredients I can’t get from recipes I want to try... why would I want to prolong this process by reinventing the wheel every time?

I am very excited to purchase this book and use it on a weekly basis.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started a personal journey with cooking that began in late 2019 — which was to push myself as a home chef/cook, by working my way through my backlog of cookbook recipes, and making as many of the recipes as possible. I’m still on that journey. I have been leaning in to vegetarian and vegan (though I am neither) recipes, in an effort to prove to myself that there is a healthy and ethical way to eat, and still enjoy what I’m eating.

I’ve by now made most recipes from this book (with the exception of ~15 that have ingredients I dislike), and so have exhausted its possibilities. These recipes focus on meal servings for 2-3 portions, so I was able to discuss each one with my spouse after serving them for dinners (and occasional lunches). What a journey! I would say a whopping 60% of those recipes were hits with both of us! I’ve made more recipes from this cookbook than any other in my collection, and feel a sense of satisfaction about that. What was most fun about these recipes was how so many of them required me to buy ingredients I’d never used before, combining them in colorful, interesting, and flavorful ways. Some of those ingredients, particularly the ‘exotic’ flours like arrowroot, almond, etc. eventually got tossed because they were so seldom used, and taking up valuable space in my small kitchen.
Nonetheless, I was grateful for having given them a try. I highly recommend this cookbook!

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great inspiration for how to elevate bowls & experiment with different flavors. If I could, I’d eat bowls as my preferred meal every day. (Cava, Sweetgreen & Life Alive - the only things I miss about city living).

One drawback is the recipes here don’t seem nutritionally balanced. For example, I had to add a lot more veg to one of the recipes I made that sat heavy in my gut & was super grain heavy. Others, I’d need to add protein. My dream book would be this, plus a dietician & Ayurvedic chef contributing where each recipe is a fully balanced functional meal.

Otherwise, great inspo, great pictures!

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with so many refreshing whole food recipes. So far I've tried the yogurt bowl with roasted oats and cherry pesto (amazing), the cauliflower tofu curry (fast, easy and savory), the miso meal (wonderfully flavored broth) and the desert chickpea cookie dough dip (very yummy on apple slices or just rolled into balls). Ingredients are pretty basic and have been easy to source and the recipes are largely vegan or simple enough to veganize so that works well for us. Can't wait to make the gorgeous bowl on the cover and many others.

[Krista D. · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are only 7 recipes in this book that I even want to try - and one of them is basically just a potato with baked beans on it. Most of the recipes are simply too much work for an average weeknight. Even the breakfast recipes are a lot of work. Add to it that I'd be making 4 of these bowls, not one, and they are just too fussy for normal dinner meals.

With that said, there are a couple that I might save and try for special occasions.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to give this only 2 stars because it is a nice book with great pictures, and I love the idea of it and the theory/tips at the beginning. The recipes themselves...not so much and not for me. I would try this if I was in a fancy restaurant and wanted something special. These are not the recipes or ingredients I would use to make my meals on the weekend let alone on a weekday when I have to work.

[Christina M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent recipes, adding to my bookshelf

I checked this one out from the library, and I enjoyed it so much that I’m adding it to my book wish list. I have been making food like this for years, but I love fresh inspiration and new sauce ideas. Since I just tested high for cholesterol, I’m adding in several of these bowls each week in hopes that I can bring it down and get back to health.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book for meal prep ideas or meatless monday type ideas. I enjoy that she tells you how far in advance you can pre each element of the bowl. Useful for mixing things up if you are tired of the same salads for lunch.

[MountainsMama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photos and simple enough recipes for the daily cooker. There are a variety of grains used, which makes for unique dishes. (I’m used to just making rice!) I do feel that this would serve as a useful winter cookbook since I find it difficult to crave stews or heartier dishes in the heat.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whole Bowls... a delightful collection of plant and whole grain based filling meals to inspire everyday meals. Simple in concept but innovative and delicious in flavor, these bowls provide a base point for swapping ingredients and flavors to suit your family's needs. Well explained inspiration behind the recipe. Great range of flavors and cuisines.

[Lauryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente

Pretty good. The kindle book was 2 bucks. I can't wait to try a lot of these recipes. It's going to be fun

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25. Hold on, need to turn on oven.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tried a few recipes and have a bunch more bookmarked to try, and a few sauces copied down to incorporate into everyday cooking.

[Leecy W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book with great ideas. I use a lot for my 3 year old and he loves them.

[Kalani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needs more pictures.

[Meredith Tummeti · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5?

[Karen Szklany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent recipes I use often!

[tatiana]

saved a few things but probably a pass overall

[Anna-Leigh]

Found some I will definitely be preparing for dinner!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to eat every. single. thing. This left me feeling very inspired (and hungry)!

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love cooking but am really picky about cookbooks - I generally avoid gluten and wheat (altho not entirely), generally avoid meat (again, not entirely), hate overly complicated, 15 dirty dishes and obscure spices or ingredients I'll never use again type recipes. I also prefer pictures (some color please!) Get angry with horrible font (don't you dare use comic sans when talking about food) and get bored seeing the same tired recipes over and over again (if I get one more chili instant pot recipe I'll throw the book). All that to say that, even for this cookbook snob, this book is one of my favorites! The author has some really interesting and refreshing combos, great pictures, easy recipes that pushed me outside my comfort zone (I am now hooked on forbidden rice) and even lays out how to prep ahead of time. Originally I got from library but after borrowing twice, finally bought it. Totally worth it! Her cooking and style was similar enough to my own (mostly veggies, mostly clean, etc) but with a new twist that's refreshing.

Highly recommend! And her IG account talks about another cookbook soon so looking forward to that as well.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this author's other cookbook Purely Pumpkin: More Than 100 Seasonal Recipes to Share, Savor, and Warm Your Kitchen, I was eager to look through this one and it did not disappoint. I'm very excited to try quite a few of the recipes and I know they will help me feel better and get healthier this year.

I love the style of writing, it feels very authentic and engaging. The photos are bright and colorful and sharp. A beautiful book.