Shoemaker - Simply Delicious Vegan: 100 Plant-Based Recipes by the creator of From My Bowl

pumpkin spice date bites

Hey there! Im Caitlinblogger, vlogger, photographer, yoga enthusiast, chill acoustic music-lover, and all-around plant obsessive. As in, I eat plants. A lot of them. For the past three years, Ive been cooking, writing, styling, photographing, and making videos to share the power of plant-based food with my audiences on Instagram, YouTube, and my blog, From My Bowl.

Ive made it my mission to prove that unprocessed, whole-plant vegan food doesnt have to be bland, expensive, complicated, or time-consumingbecause I know that I feel my best when I eat a plant-based diet.

I was raised as a vegetarian and ate a lot of fruits and veggies growing up, but I also enjoyed more than my fair share of sugary treats, mock meats, and packaged foods with additives and unpronounceable ingredients. Not to mention eggs and dairy, my favorite foods at the time.

Once I realized that the things I put in my body were directly affecting how I looked and felt, I decided to take a closer look at what I was eating. Ive always struggled with skin problems, and to be honest, I just didnt feel like my best self. I was interested in plant-based food (thanks to all the beautiful vegan Instagram accounts I followed), but saw veganism as more of a diet than a long-term lifestyle. Carrots and hummus are great and all, but how could I possibly give up my ooey-gooey cheese pizza, eggs over easy, and late-night ice cream? (Spoiler alert: You dont have to.) After watching a few documentaries (like Forks Over Knives and Earthlings) and learning that the factory farm systems producing dairy and eggs were just as harmful as the meat industry, I realized that a vegan diet could be beneficial not only to my health, but to the health of the planet and all of my furry animal friends. I wanted to go vegan immediately, but I was nervous! I told myself I only had to try it for a week. After seeing how easy it was on the first day, I knew it would be my long-term lifestyle.

Since then, Ive been committed to food that is:

Whole plantbased: Every single bite is full of amazing, straight-from-the-ground nutrition. That includes fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, seeds, and nuts in their least processed state. Just the way nature intended!

Gluten-free: This isnt a requirement for vegans, but I personally feel better when I limit the amount of gluten in my diet. Im still a sucker for a chewy piece of sourdough or fluffy plant-based pizza crust, but thats more of a special-occasion thing.

Refined sugarfree: Its no secret that refined sugar is no good for your health and can contribute to both minor issues (skin outbreaks, weight gain, lack of energy) as well as chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Instead, my recipes use unrefined sweeteners like dates, coconut sugar, and maple syrupthese are pretty easy swaps, and go down just as sweet.

Oil-free: One of the most interesting things I read about when I was researching a vegan diet is that oils are technically a refined food, and that a lot of a plants nutrition is lost during processing. As a result, I developed some simple hacks to transition to completely oil-free cooking.

I felt a major shift after switching to this way of eating. I was energized, so comfortable in my skin, and so liberated from those restrictive eating habits and poor body image I'd developed in my teens. There was just one problem: It was really hard to find recipes that fit the requirements above but also tasted... not like rabbit food? I love my health, but I also love tasty foodwho doesnt? So off I went to the kitchen, determined to make plants taste just as delicious as my comforting childhood favorites. Thats pretty much how From My Bowl was born.

Ive been cooking up a storm ever since, and this book is a natural progression of my plant-based mission. Ive posted thousands of Instagram photos, uploaded hundreds of YouTube videos, and shared plenty of recipes with my audience on the internet. So I think its about time that I (politely) sneak my way into your physical kitchen with this book, and show you just how easy, fun, and satisfying plants can be!

I totally get how overwhelming healthy eating can seembetween the adaptogenic lattes and twenty-ingredient morning smoothies, it can sometimes feel impossible to make, eat, afford, and enjoy food at all! But trust me: Im not about that life. You can make yummy, nourishing food with no more than a few simple ingredients, a pot or two, and twenty to thirty minutes, whether youre throwing together a super-quick meal like Coconut Mango Muesli ().

Just like my personal diet, all of the recipes in this book:

are free of the ingredients that dont make me feel my best (animal products, sugar, gluten, and oil);

work for a tight budget and a busy schedule ; and

go really, really big on flavor , borrowing characteristics of some of my favorite comforting dishesbut still celebrate plants.

And that, my friends, is what Simply Delicious Vegan is all about. So lets head into the kitchen, get cooking, and most importantly, have fun!

If a cookbook doesnt come with a pantry staples list, is it really a cookbook? Heres the deal: Im going to keep this relatively short and sweet. But a little savory, too, of course. Below are some of the ingredients I always keep stocked in my pantry and spice cabinet. All of them come up in this book to some degree, but that doesnt mean you have to have everything on hand, all the time. Do what works for you, and always shop within your budgetIll talk a little more about that later!

Quinoa

Brown rice (short-grain and regular)

White rice

Gluten-free pasta

Dried beans (any variety)

Dried brown lentils

Canned white beans and chickpeas (for emergencies!)

Brown rice flour

Chickpea flour

Almond flour

Oats (quick-cooking and rolled)

Arrowroot powder

Maple syrup

Coconut sugar

Medjool dates

Smoked paprika

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Cumin

Cayenne pepper

Nutritional yeast