Adams Media - The Spicy Plant-Based Cookbook More Than 200 Fiery Snacks, Dips, and Main Dishes for the Plant-Based Lifestyle

Creole Jambalaya. ChipotleBlack Bean Salad. Spiced Chocolate Cake.

Today, hot and spicy dishes like these are making their way onto vegetarian and vegan dining menus alike. Adventurous plant-based home chefs are stepping outside of their culinary comfort zones to up the heat with all-natural ingredients. And while you could just add a hot sauce on the side of your meal, there is nothing more satisfying than creating a nuanced and truly spicy plant-based meal in the comfort of your own home. Fortunately, The Spicy Plant-Based Cookbook offers more than two hundred delicious recipes guaranteed to give your palate the heat its been looking for!

Here youll learn how to incorporate spice into your meals as you perfectly balance the heat with other plant-based ingredients, creating dynamically spicy cuisine. Youll enjoy all the health benefits of a spicy plant-based diet, including lowered inflammation and all-natural plant-based nutrition without the overprocessed ingredients. The hot and spicy plant-based recipes that youll find throughout the book range from breakfast and lunch items to snacks and desserts, so you can satisfy all your spice cravings with natural, nutritious, and meatless ingredients.

Youll also find some advice in Chapter 1 on how to incorporate the spicy plant-based diet into your life, with tips on plant-based grocery lists and shopping, meal planning, handling spices, and more. And just in case you arent familiar with the plant-based lifestyle or common spices, youll find some helpful tips to get you started and help you cook like a profrom essential nutritional info to key ingredients. So get ready to embrace your new spicy plant-based lifestyle! Whether youre looking for a little extra kick or out-of-this world heat, The Spicy Plant-Based Cookbook provides the flamin-hot flavor and the plant-based nutrition that your body wants, needs, and deserves.

If youre the kind of person whose mouth immediately starts to water when you hear the phrase flaming hot, but who still wants to follow a healthy, balanced diet, then eating plant-based is for you! A well-planned plant-based diet can be an easy way to get the nutrients you need, feel great every day, and still get to enjoy your favorite spicy dishes.

In this chapter, youll learn exactly what the plant-based diet is and why its so great for your body. Youll also see that its fully customizable and perfect for anyone who loves to bring a little spice to their cooking and get the nutritional benefits of all kinds of peppers. Its easy to bring your plant-based cooking to the next red-hot level!

At its simplest, the plant-based diet emphasizes whole, real foods from plant sources. Essentially, when eating plant-based, your meals should be focused on fresh, minimally processed foods that are complete as nature intended them. That means that your favorite spicy peppers are safewhile some of your other favorite ingredients might not be.

First and foremost, youll want to avoid eating highly processed, refined foods while on the plant-based diet. Refined foods such as sugars and flours are often stripped of their natural nutrients. Even when foods are enrichedwhich means that the nutrients lost during refining are added back inthe end product is never the same as the original whole food. Other grains may be highly processed as well. Make sure to stick with whole grains.

Youll also want to consider the amount of animal products youre consuming, since that can be a bit more controversial on the plant-based diet. While some people will choose to remove all animal products from their diet, others will cut out only meat. Others still may decide just to limit their meat intake while still consuming other animal products. When it comes to the plant-based diet, a good rule is to at least limit how much meat you eat so its not the main focus of your meal. Instead, think of it as more of a side dish or even a condiment while you focus most of your attention on fruits, vegetables, and other healthy sources of protein.

Youll find that all the recipes in this book are completely vegetarian-friendly. However, you can easily modify the recipes to suit your personal needs. Consider adding in some natural animal products (or even a small amount of meat) if thats what keeps you feeling your best. Feel free to experiment with vegan alternatives as well. Just remember that swapping out individual ingredients will change the nutrition facts included with each recipe, so be mindful of the changes you make.

Although the meals youll find in this book dont include any meat or animal products, they do include a balanced variety of other fresh ingredients (and some extra spiciness!) to help make sure you get the nutrients you need. As youre preparing your food, think about how youre representing each of these major food categories:

• Vegetables: Vegetables are an essential part of every plant-based mealand those delicious spicy peppers will count toward this group as well!
• Fruit: Fruits can be a great sweet complement to an otherwise spicy dish. Check out the salsas, salads, and desserts for ways to incorporate fruits into your spiciest dishes.
• Whole Grains: On the plant-based diet, its important to avoid refined and highly processed foods, which means its best to avoid things like white bread and white rice. Instead, look for whole-grain options, like brown rice or whole-wheat pasta to complement your dishes.
• Protein: Meat is generally limited or eliminated in the plant-based diet, so youll want to make sure you have other protein sources. Beans, nuts, and other plant-based proteins are a great addition.
• Healthy Oils/Fats: Some healthy fats are important to include in your everyday diet. Olive oil and avocados are great examples.

When determining how best to transition to the plant-based diet, its important to think about what works best for you and your body. You may want to consult with a professional for more adviceconsider visiting your regular physician or meeting with a dietitian if you feel you need more help.

Whether youre trying to get your diet on track, lose weight, or manage a variety of other health issues, the plant-based diet is a great place to start. The plant-based diet is a useful tool for weight management and weight loss, since it focuses on healthy whole foods instead of highly processed alternatives. But more than that, its been associated with reducing the risk or symptoms of other diseases, like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. You may even find some short-term health benefits, like increased energy, productivity, and ability to focus due to all the nutrients youre adding to your diet.

It might sound like a lot to expect of a few simple diet changes, but the results are definitely worth the effort. Fortunately, you can take a few easy steps to get started on the plant-based diet while still enjoying your favorite spicy dishes. If youre just starting out, consider choosing one or two small changes to focus on over a few weeks. Once you get comfortable with those, try adding in some of the more challenging ones. Here are some ideas to get you started: