Deliciously Ella Quick & Easy: Plant-based Deliciousness

by Ella Woodward

100 all-new quick and easy plant-based recipes by bestselling author Ella Mills, founder of Deliciously Ella.

Ella's new collection shows us that vegan cooking doesn't have to be difficult or time-consuming. It's easy to embrace a plant-based lifestyle with her fuss-free, simple recipes that cater for our busy lives. Divided into 7 sections, the new book offers - for the first time - recipes with an approximate cooking time, showing you how to make simple meals that will satisfy your taste buds and inspire you every day.

Section 1 features delicious breakfasts - from quick pancakes to fruity smoothies and easy toast-toppers. Section 2, Lunches, Dips & Dressings, offers an array of healthy plant-based options. The next two Sections comprise 10-Minute- and 20-Minute Meals, where Ella will prove that plant-based eating doesn't have to be complicated or time-consuming. Choose from quick pasta dishes, simple noodles, hearty veg-laden bowls and Asian-inspired plates. Section 5 is Big Batch Cooking, to help you get ahead and plan your week. The Sweet section includes lots of portable bars, flapjacks and slices to satisfy your sweet tooth. The last section, Weekend, features recipes that require a bit time to make, but will impress and delight your friends and family!

The ethos of Deliciously Ella is to share abundant recipes that put vegetables at the heart of our plates, that taste good and are easy to make. Alongside this, Ella is keen to embrace all aspects of wellbeing, prioritising self-care. In the book she will share the important insights learned from her chart-topping podcast, bringing a wider holistic dimension and personal angle to this gorgeous, inspiring, healthy cookbook.

'She has become the biggest thing in healthy eating' - The Times

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Vegan, Reference

432 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Woodward writes about food in a blog she founded in 2012 named Deliciously Ella which was also the title of her first book, published in 2015. Her second book, Deliciously Ella Every Day was released in January 2016. A third book, Deliciously Ella With Friends was released in January 2017. She was an advocate of clean eating but turned against it after a media backlash that questioned its health benefits. Her clean eating series of books was called by The Guardian "arguably the most successful fad diet cookbook series in recent years".

See also Ella Mills

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, a few weeks ago, I found out that my cholesterol level was too high.
Wait!!! what?! *Gasps*



Could you run that by me again, Doctor?
I eat so well!
I am not overweight!
I am a salad lover!
I love Mediterranean food!
And God saves the Doctor because I went on and on...
Cutting to the chase, I left the Doctor with a booklet about cholesterol and heart diseases.



While reading that I found out that I am not just a salad lover. 😬
I am a cheese lover, a sponge cake lover, all kinds of creams lover, French Toast lover, Whole Wheat Dutch Baby with Meyer Lemon Whipped Ricotta twice a week lover and I wanted to cry because that leaflet just introduced me to evil saturated fats. 😭💔😭

What to do?

After doing my homework, I concluded that cakes were not only my damnation but also dairy products. 🏃🏼‍♀️💨 *Runs to buy a vegetarian recipe book* . 💨🏃🏼‍♀️
And can I just cry again? Because most of the recipes had creams and cheese.
Kill me now.😭🔫



I eyed Quick & Easy at the supermarket, skimmed through, and thought, let's give this a go. 💪🏼

People, I can't believe how lucky I was at my first attempt to go vegan.
I am head over heels with Quick & Easy because Quick & Easy is pretty much Quick & Easy. 🥰😅

There are only a few ingredients that are new to me (Tahini, black sesame, buckwheat flour, spelt flour), and I already ordered them.

The book is divided into seven chapters:
1) Breakfast,
2) Dips & Dressings
3) 10-15 minutes *Gotta love this*
4) 20-30 minutes Gotta love this*
5) Big Batch
6) Sweet
7) Weekend



I couldn't finish this without something chocolatey, right?



The pictures are awesome, I am really not giving them enough justice. The recipes are uncomplicated, super tasty and easy.
LoVed it!

[Lindsay Nixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

My FIL and his new wife were visiting. As neither are what you'd call "fans" of vegan fare (they are from Texas) I went to the library to find a plant-based cookbook that was more 'elegant' than what I typically make or serve.

I prepared 4 dishes from the book and only one was sort-of well received. Even I (and my husband, two very longtime vegans) were disappointed.

Things I liked:
- beautiful photos of every dish
- clean, minimalist layouts
- good organization
- some new ideas
- serves 2-4
- minimalist ingredients
- mostly "normal" ingredients that are easy to find
- recipes are fairly quick and easy

Things I didn't like:
- no nutritional information is provided
- very small font; there's PLENTY of white space on the page so it's a mystery why the font is so small
- I-don't-need-another-recipe-for-this recipes (e.g. sweet potato fries, falafels, smoothies)
- the food I made
- family pictures

There are some new and innovative dishes in this book; which I appreciate. There are a dozen or more recipes you've heard and have 30 recipes for already, which if I had paid for this book would have annoyed me since there are only 100 recipes total and some of them are things like sauces. You're not getting 100 meals or 100 meal ideas or 100 new recipes.

RECIPES I MADE:

Tomato & Lentil Salad

When I prepared the salad it felt rather unbalanced. There wasn't enough arugula (3oz) to call it a salad, especially with an entire can of lentils and 3/4 cup pine nuts plus 1/2 c olives and an entire jar of sun dried tomatoes. I added more arugula and did not add as many nuts or lentils. I also used sun-dried tomatoes (rehydrated in hot water) instead of sun-dried tomatoes in oil as the oily ones had bizarre ingredients. I also reduced the onion from an entire red onion to just a few slices. I noticed there was no onion in the accompanying picture, so that confused me.

Since I don't eat oil, I made her dressing and put it on the side. Turns out no one liked it, not even my husband, and everyone ended up just drizzling some tahini and fresh lemon juice on top, which is what I did.

However I really enjoyed arugula, lentils, green olives, and sun-dried tomatoes as a combination and will make that part again for myself; probably with a tahini or hummus dressing.

ARTICHOKE & CANNELLINI BEAN DIP

I made no deviations on this recipe and had to go to three stores to find grilled artichokes in oil. No one ate it. My FIL mistook it for hummus, when I told him it wasn't hummus but a dip, he still showed no interest. Eventually his wife slathered some on her bread (I'd bought a beautiful country bread from a local bakery) and noticed she didn't finish it. I did try it, and I LOOOOVE artichokes but thought it was meh so-so. My husband didn't like it at all.

NO-WASTE CAULIFLOWER BOWL

This was very very dry. It came out looking exactly like the photo so I was very proud of myself and heartbroken that it was a miss.

It needed a sauce or a dressing because it was so incredibly dry. My in-laws and husband drizzled tahini on their portion and said it made it slightly better. I added diluted hummus dressing to mine but feel that just made it a different dish altogether. My husband and I both liked the lima bean mash it sat on and I might make that again as a "low carb mashed potato" when a relative with a lower carb diet visits. My in-laws didn't comment about it. UPDATE: my husband complained all night and then ext day about the terrible gas pains he had from this dish.

CHUNKY ITALIAN SOUP

Everyone thought it was pretty boring and bland. A real pity as I went to the farm stand to buy organic vegetables for it. I ended up adding loads and loads of home grown fresh basil to my portion and my in-laws didn't finish their bowls. My husband added half a container of vegan parm to his. My FIL never liked soup; but I knew his wife was a "soup person" and had added this to the menu for her. THey did dunk a lot of bread into it, at least. I felt it needed more broth and threw out the leftovers bc even I didn't want to eat them. There's only 2tbsp of dried herbs in the big pot so maybe it just needed more herbs?

Overall, gorgeous cookbook to look at. Author seems like a sweet and passionate person. There were other interesting recipes but given our track record I decided to return the book. I may check out another book by her in the future.

I also wrote down the recipe for Quinoa Bread that I might try once we get deeper into soup season.

The recipes WERE quick and easy, as advertised. It took about 2 hours to make everything. If I wasn't multitasking and making multiple recipes at once it would have taken 3 hours.

UPDATED 9-12-23

I made the quinoa bread and it was such a failure I've decided to reduce my ratings to 2-stars given my overall lack of success.

With the QUINOA BREAD, you first have to cook quinoa. I was skeptical when the quinoa to water ratio in the instruction was not the ratio I've used for years, but followed anyway. The cook time listed was also less than normal but I thought maybe that was intentional. The resulting quinoa was not edible and there was so much excess water that I had to drain it.

I proceeded along and the batter came together pretty easily in my food processor. However there was way way way too much "batter." I had well over 1 cup of batter (probably closer to 2 cups) in excess. I checked and I had the right pan size. This 'excess' surprised me because I had left off 1/2-cup of seeds (we don't like seeds in our breads) so had I included them there would have been considerable waste. Considering how expensive the ingredients are (tahini, almond flour, tri-color quinoa, olive oil, maple syrup, seeds, etc) any waste bothered me.

Unfortunately, the 3-hour-to-prepare-bread was not edible, even with jam or vegan cream cheese. None of our guests ate more than a bite, even the vegans. It was nutty but otherwise lacked flavor. The texture was inconsistent. I could kind of cut slices but this is more of a "banana bread" than a sandwich bread. The edges were firm but the inside was soft, though not undercooked or mushy per se. My dogs ate some of it...

[Philippa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Might be her best yet! I loved the last two (DE with Friends and DE The Plant Based Cookbook) and this one is fantastic. I am not new to plant based eating and it is rare to find cookbooks that have new and interesting ideas and recipes rather than the same old vegan staples that get trotted out time and time again. Ella’s tastes and style have evolved over the years and it’s great to see! This book has excellent recipes and ideas for delicious plant-based cooking but with a little extra, drawing on all the wisdom from the great guests they’ve had on the DE podcast (also highly recommended). I’ve already earmarked heaps of recipes to try.

Favourite recipes so far:

Spanish-style Rice (p.241)
Spinach and chickpea curry (p.154)

[readlikejana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich habe schon einige Kochbücher von Ella Mills im Regal und auch dieses hat mich wieder sehr begeistert. Sie hat meine Art zu kochen fast schon revolutioniert. Bestimmte Gemüse- oder Hülsenfrüchte standen vorher nie auf der Einkaufsliste und werden dank ihr jetzt regelmäßig verarbeitet. Sie schafft es aus sehr wenigen Sachen ein komplett neues Geschmackserlebnis zu erschaffen.
In diesem Buch finden sich viele Grundrezepte, aber auch schnelle und einfache Gerichte für Gäste oder ein schönes Sonntagsgericht.
Das Buch ist schön unterteilt, so dass man immer direkt das passende Rezept finden kann. Der Aufbau der Rezepte ist auch sehr schön. Fast immer ist ein Bild enthalten und die Anleitung ist einfach und kurz erklärt.
Ihre Rezepte sind größtenteils glutunfrei und vegan, was für mich als Zöliakiepatientin perfekt passt.
Ich kann jedem nur empfehlen mal ein Buch von Ella auszuprobieren!

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many lovely recipes with common and easy to get ingredients. I've already tried the tomato risotto and it was gorgeous.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recipes are good. So are the words.

[Aleksandra Anicic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delicious vegan recipes coming from someone who used to eat meat every day. Instructions are easy to follow for anyone.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of promising recipes, most of which are flagged by Ella with the ‘lunchbox’ symbol making it too much-used and unnecessary. Also overused is the word ‘creamy’; applied to what surely must be at least 90% of the recipes in this book, if not more, it really started to make me nauseous, and I braced myself for it at the start of each recipe. Why is Ella so preoccupied with creaminess? Why does she seek the same mouthfeel from every dish?

The chapters are straightforward but each is prefaced with an apparently entirely-unrelated essay. For example ‘Breakfast’ includes an essay on ‘How to eat a balanced plant-based diet’. ‘Dips & Dressings’ contains a broad examination of ‘Making healthy easy, more affordable and sustainable’. Perhaps the essay as are not as unrelated as they seem at first. There is perhaps a subliminal connection between some of the chapter titles and the homilies Ella attaches to them, e.g. the chapter ‘20-30 Minutes’ filled with swift recipes comes with a prefatory essay on ‘Getting Moving’; the chapter ‘Big Batch’ has an essay on ‘Self-acceptance, body image and the calorie question’, I.e. don’t become a big batch yourself; and the chapter ‘Sweet’ sees Ella pontificating on ‘Finding calm’, which we might interpret to mean AKA comfort eating.

I appreciated the budget allowing for a colour photograph of each recipe and the publisher seems to have overcome the binding problems that beset Ella’s first book at least. I think she is wrongly maligned and associated with much crankier wellness cooks. Her recipes are delicious and I’m going to be cooking loads from this new book.

[Natalie Quast · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more than a cookbook! It includes Ella's story and different chapters on "wellness" features. I am impressed by her science of nutrition knowledge, and I love that she included chapters on yoga practice, the importance of sleep, stress, and intuitive eating vs. focusing on calories, sustainability, and what she has learned from speaking with different experts in the field. She also included a section on more suggestions for reading and podcasts.

I discovered Deliciously Ella back in college when I was struggling with being constantly sick and having to adjust my entire diet. It was overwhelming and stressful, and I just had no way of knowing how to do it, but reading her blog/story of having to do the same exact thing and trying her recipes really opened up a whole new world for me! I am a HUGE fan of her entire philosophy. It's so down to earth and attainable/affordable. I also like that she is quick to mention some of the pitfalls of being entirely plant based and acknowledging that it's about what makes your unique body/microbiome feel the best and not about the aesthetics. I also love her app with all the different workouts, recipes, and podcasts.

[Synthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like that each recipe has a picture and that there is a note for each recipe letting you know if the dish is savory, gooey, crunchy, partners well with other dishes, substitution ideas, how long it can be stored, or if it’s a general crowd pleaser.

I also like that it’s divided my preparation time, making it easy to pick a recipe depending on how your day/ week is going. Many of the recipes use some of the same seasoning/ingredients which is nice because it makes good use of the herbs that may be not be in your everyday rotation.

Aside from talking about eating plant based, Ella also talks about mental and physical well-being. She includes her story and journey. Provides statistics for different facts. The cookbook is nicely put together, making it fun to flip through the pages.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is worth checking out if you're trying to eat more veggies; however, it's not for everyone. Beet pancakes would not be a hit in my house. However, her salads are delish; the chocolate banana muffins are great (I leave the walnuts out; had to laugh at her note 'if you don't want 12 of these. . ;'). The pasta recipes are also good, and she has several Bolognese-type sauces that are veggie based and very good. This is a practical book in the sense that you can make a lot of things like that, freeze them and have them on hand. The breakfast recipes were the weakest for me, though I like her toast ideas and the mushroom topping is great (and most of those could be lunches too).

While my family wouldn't eat this way, I would so it was worth checking out for healthier lunch ideas. I wish there was nutritional information.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an incredible cookbook! When I first became vegetarian, I had no idea how to cook for myself, so I only ate frozen and processed meals. After I bought this book, I realised there was a whole world of ingredients and cooking methods that I didn’t know existed! It inspired to experiment and get creative with my cooking. As for the meals themselves, they are absolutely delicious! Bursting with flavour, very heart and healthy! The only thing I would say is that the recipes are not very quick as the book says so, and most of them require a lengthy list of ingredients that are often expensive or hard to source where I live. Besides that, I’m in love with this cookbook and will forever be using it!

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad as it sounds I actually like to read through the recipes so I can get a rough idea for how easy/difficult they will be and I’m pleased the majority of the recipes have gone back to a more simpler form compared with the moat recent two books. Lots of coconut milk in the batch booking though so might spread those recipes out in my week. The snippets in between each section are also good reads too.

[paperlove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der Name "Deliciously Ella" ist mir bereits vor vielen Jahren im Internet begegnet, als der Kochblog der Autorin in aller Munde war und ihre Rezepte regelrecht gefeiert wurden. Rückblickend würde ich behaupten, dass sie bereits vor dieser grossen "veganen Welle" ihre Rezepte auf ihrem Blog veröffentlicht hat, als man (zumindest hier in der Schweiz) noch nicht in jedem handelsüblichen Supermarkt Regale voller vegetarischer und veganer Ersatzprodukte gefunden hat und dafür noch in Reformhäuser einkaufen musste. Damals war ich noch weit entfernt von einem gesunden oder nachhaltigen Ernährungsstil und ich konnte noch gar nichts mit veganen Rezepten anfangen. Das hat sich in all den Jahren inzwischen glücklicherweise geändert, mittlerweile bin ich selbst Vegetarierin und versuche mich auch immer wieder an veganen Rezepten, auch wenn ich nie vollständig auf eine vegane Lebensweise umsteigen könnte (dafür liebe ich Käse einfach zu sehr! ;)). Und genau deshalb kam ihr neues Kochbuch gerade zum richtigen Zeitpunkt.

Ella beginnt ihr Buch mit ein paar hilfreichen Tipps zu veganen Produkten, für die ich sehr dankbar war. Oftmals schrecken mich bei veganen Kochbüchern die "exotischen" Zutaten ab, die man nur in kleinen Mengen benötigt und es (doch noch) nicht in meinem Supermarkt in der veganen Abteilung gibt. Das bedeutet dann meistens, dass ich vor der Entscheidung stehe, besagte Produkte einfach wegzulassen oder ich den Aufwand auf mich nehmen muss, mich in Reformhäusern auf die Suche nach den Zutaten zu machen, obwohl ich vielleicht nur einen halben Teelöffel davon benötige. Ella umgeht dieses Problem einfach, indem sie von Anfang an mitteilt, welche Produkte auch ganz einfach durch andere Produkte ersetzt werden können. Sie schreibt zum Beispiel beim "Kokosblütenzucker", dass dieser etwas teurer als normaler Zucker ist und auch nicht überall erhältlich ist und er deshalb auch ganz einfach durch braunen Zucker oder fein gemahlenen Rohrzucker ersetzt werden kann. Dafür hat die Autorin direkt zu Beginn schon einen grossen Pluspunkt bei mir für ihr Kochbuch eingeheimst, denn so etwas würde ich mir in anderen veganen Kochbüchern auch wünschen.

Nach einer persönlichen Einleitung von Ella zu ihrem Kochbuch und was sie mit dem Stichwort "Gesundheit" verbindet, folgen schliesslich die Kapitel mit den Rezepten, die wie folgt eingeteilt wurden: Zum Frühstück, Zum Anrichten (Dips & Dressings), Zum Lunch (10-15 Minuten und 20-30 Minuten), Auf Vorrat, Zum Dessert und Zum Wochenende. Die Kapitel werden jeweils mit längeren Vorworten der Autorin eingeleitet, die einerseits weitere Tipps zum Thema gesunde Ernährung und Nachhaltigkeit enthalten, andererseits auch psychologisch-philosophische Themen aufgreifen, die leider nicht so meins waren. Für Fans der Autorin sind die Texte vielleicht sehr interessant, für mich gehören diese Selbsthilfe-Ratschläge leider nicht unbedingt in ein Kochbuch - aber das ist sicher Geschmackssache. Die Aufmachung des Kochbuchs hat mir dagegen wieder sehr gut gefallen. Das Design ist sehr schlicht, aber modern und übersichtlich gehalten und wird mit schönen Food-Fotos ergänzt.

Wie immer habe ich mir einige Rezepte zum Nachkochen rausgesucht und bin überraschend schnell fündig geworden, denn viele der Mahlzeiten klangen nicht nur sehr vielversprechend und lecker, sondern lassen sich auch mit Zutaten aus meinem Supermarkt nachkochen, da Ella direkt Ersatzprodukte nennt, mit denen man die etwas "ausgefalleneren" veganen Zutaten austauschen kann. Letztendlich habe ich die "Tomaten-Knoblauch-Pasta", die "Schoko-Nussmus-Cookies", die "Schoko-Bananen-Muffins" und den "Coscous-Mandel-Salat" ausprobiert.

Die Zubereitungsschritte waren alle sehr verständlich beschrieben und leicht zu befolgen. Schwierigkeiten hatte ich eigentlich nur bei den Muffins, die man laut Ella nach Belieben mit Walnüssen bestreuen soll und die Muffins dann ca. 25 Minuten backen soll. Das Problem war aber, dass die Nüsse beim Backen schwarz geworden sind und die Muffinböden nach 25 Minuten noch nicht ganz fest waren, so dass sie eigentlich noch länger im Backofen hätten bleiben müssen, ich sie aber trotzdem schon rausnehmen musste, wenn ich die Walnüsse nicht völlig verkohlen lassen wollte. Das ist allerdings Jammern auf hohem Niveau, denn insgesamt haben alle vier Rezepte einfach wahnsinnig gut geschmeckt und mich sprichwörtlich von den Socken gehauen. Ich hätte ehrlich nicht erwartet, dass die Rezepte dem Hype gerecht werden, aber das tun sie absolut!

Die Autorin hat einen sehr sympathischen Eindruck bei mir hinterlassen und es wird ganz bestimmt nicht das letzte Mal gewesen sein, dass ich ein Rezept aus ihrem Kochbuch nachkochen werde. Ich würde sogar so weit gehen zu behaupten, dass es sich sogar lohnen würde, das Kochbuch als Print zu kaufen.

Fazit:
"Deliciously Ella" hat sich schon vor Jahren einen Namen in der veganen Kochblog-Branche gemacht und war mir deshalb schon lange ein Begriff. Jetzt bin ich endlich dazu gekommen eines ihrer berühmten veganen Kochbücher auszuprobieren und muss gestehen, dass die Rezepte in "Quick & Easy" dem Hype absolut gerecht werden. Die Rezepte sind nicht nur einfach nachzukochen, sondern schmecken unglaublich lecker. Von mir gibt es deshalb fünf Sterne und eine absolute Kaufempfehlung für dieses tolle Kochbuch. Es wird sicher nicht das letzte Mal gewesen sein, dass ich Mahlzeiten aus diesem Buch nachgekocht habe.

[Katie Hilliard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love love LOVE how this is more than a cookbook, as are the others I've read so far. So much information is in-between each section about health in general and her own life story. The recipes are also all so good and truly easy.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going through a bit of an Ella obsession at moment and I think this is her best. I love the way she writes holistically, about her health , yoga , meditation and nutrition , offering a simple meal from easy to source ingredients. A really positive book.

[Kaja Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love her receipes!

[Natalia Kret · Rating 5 out of 5]

fan of her recipes and podcast big time :D

[Dana Shockman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent cook book- so many simple and delicious recipes.

[Nicola Zaaiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly easy recipes!

[Simonew · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good cookbook- wonderful layout , easy enough to follow recipes for beginners (so my family can help)

[Laura Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mega gutes Kochbuch für den Alltag. Super easy und schnell gemacht. Und alles super lecker.

[Magpie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarely do I read a cookery book from cover to cover but this delightful, inspiring and encouraging book is the exception.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve done so many recipes from this book, I simply love it

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few cookbooks I own. The savory toast recipes, breakfast cookies, frozen mango + raspberry bowl, and chickpea sandwich are some of my favorites.

[Alexandria Blaelock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plant based and quick. Some very tasty.

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy plant-based recipes that show eating plants doesn't have to be a chore. Literally want to make every recipe in this book especially the Orzo Pasta Salad, Crunchy Mexican Salad, Super Veggie Fried Rice, and the Pulled Eggplant Dip recipes.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! It includes so many easy to make and tasty plant based recipes, along with very educating sections in between each chapter about living a plant based life.