Richardson Alistair - Peace and Parsnips The Vegan Cookbook For Everyone

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
H.H. The Dalai Lama

Vegan cooking is all about creativity; its full of surprises, new techniques and ways of using ingredients. Anybody can have a go at being vegan. I know that anybody can do it because I have me, the mightiest nose-to-tail carnivore of them all, and look at me now. After leaving meat off my plate for the last five years, Ive never felt more energetic, happy and healthy. Since then, Ive made it my mission to travel the globe looking for new dishes, scouring food markets and hanging out with locals, and learning that vegan cooking is a global craze and always has been. Many of the recipes that Ive collected here have been brought back to my home in Wales and served up at the Beach House Kitchen, where I do most of my cooking and write a blog at http://beachhousekitchen.com. The way we eat reflects so much about who we are, and vegan food puts a huge emphasis on amazing fresh produce, food bursting with vitality and a generally more peaceful approach to life.

Theres so much more to vegan cooking than tofu and rubber-like nut cutlets. Im going to show you, with minimal fuss, and plenty of accessible ingredients, how to make food that would satisfy both a fully-fledged vegan and someone new to the idea who is dipping their toe in the water. Ill be bringing the wonders of veganism into your kitchen, showing you new ways of preparing some of your favourite dishes. It will teach you to be resourceful stews can be stuffed into roasted vegetables, soups can be made into sauces, smoothies can be thickened up and eaten as desserts; this kind of flexibility is the hallmark of a happy cook. There are recipes here designed to be rustled up in a hurry and others for more fancy occasions. The truth is, making delicious, varied, nourishing vegan food is easier than you thought.

More and more people are realizing that the way we are producing food, especially meat, is unsustainable. Veganism is the best way to protect our environment and the welfare of animals; even by cutting back on meat and dairy just once a week (or once a year!) you are making a very positive statement.

A vegan diet can fulfil your nutritional requirements, pack your belly with goodness and consistently boggle your mind with new culinary angles and diversity. Youll end up saving money, youll feel healthier, youll have energy, youll feel satisfied and you may just save the world, one meal at a time! Why not feel good all the time? A vegan diet is a big stepping-stone to a brighter, lighter way of being.

The recipes in this book are mere guidelines I am terrible at following rules. No matter how closely you try to follow a recipe, the dish will often alter and you will produce something unique, to be proud of and savoured.

Peace and parsnips,

Lee x

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. Albert Einstein

For me, organic and seasonal eating are the most natural ways of acquiring the sustenance we need to live the lives we want to lead. All energy comes directly from the sun without it, wed struggle! Plants transform that energy into something we can live on, which is one of the coolest, if not the coolest, things about nature. I break it down like this: organic = perfectly natural, chemical free; seasonal = perfectly natural, vastly superior nutritional content. Both make a lot of sense.

I believe that we feel instinctively and know ourselves what foods do us good. Some people can eat loads of meat, dairy, gluten, etc. without any obvious issue, but eating high levels of these foods will affect us at some point in the long run. Sometimes these negative effects are subtle and do not always show immediately.

We are all unique, and therefore need to find a diet that suits us. Veganism takes experimentation, an open mind and a greater sensitivity towards sourcing and combining ingredients. I see choosing to eat plant-based food as the best experiment possible for your body! No dairy, no saturated fats, lower levels of gluten (which is almost indigestible); most food allergies are readily catered for, without a need to think twice about recipes.

Eating food that grows directly from the earth, fed by the sun, dangling from trees, does not seem like a bad way to approach food. Nature gives us ample plant-based foods to nibble on; in fact, nature has given us the perfect way to fuel ourselves with optimum, pure, high-grade wonder-fuel: this way is veganism. Our furry friends would agree.

Raw power!

Research has shown that living plants contain unique health-giving properties, special energy that is destroyed when foods are cooked or processed. Raw foods (meaning the food hasnt been heated above 46C) are used by many doctors to restore the health of patients. Even eating a diet based on 50 per cent raw foods will have a huge effect; 75 per cent raw and you are flying! We still dont understand the exact relationship of the subtle energies contained in our bodies and those contained in living foods but the positive effects they have are irrefutable. They encourage detoxification, improve cellular metabolism, heighten enzyme activity and generally restore and nurture the body.

Raw power = a more energetic, slimmer and healthier way of being.

Fermented food

Fermented foods are becoming ever more popular and their health benefits widely acclaimed. Fermentation is the process whereby ingredients such as cabbage and cucumbers are left to sit and steep until their sugars and carbs become bacteria-boosting agents that lift the immune system. We already consume plenty of fermented food: leavened bread, beer, wine, cider, yoghurt and, increasingly in the UK, sauerkraut and kimchi.

Fruit:

Gooseberries, apricots, mangoes (alphonso), blood oranges, rhubarb (forced)

Vegetables:

Asparagus, wild garlic, nettles, broccoli, peas, artichokes, spring onions, leeks, morels, rocket, purple sprouting broccoli, Jersey royals, chicory, celery, cauliflower, salad leaves

Herbs:

Chives, tarragon, oregano, bay, rosemary, chervil, flat-leaf parsley, thyme, dill, marjoram, coriander, basil

Foraging/Other