Niki Webster - Rebel Recipes : Maximum Flavour, Minimum Fuss: the Ultimate in Vegan Food.

believe in theMAGICofyour dreams For all the readers of Rebel Recipes, my family and friends. Much love, Niki x contentsIntroduction Quick and Easy Transformative Toast Toppers Brunch Big Vegan Breakfasts Curry for Breakfast Radical Curries and Delectable Dals World Flavours Comfort Food Incredible Pastas and Risottos Small Plates A Soup for All Seasons Salad Bliss Flatbreads and Pizzas Life-changing Pancake Breads Pure Comfort Something Special Tempting Tarts A Little Lighter Devilish Dips and Sauces Life-changing Dressings Pickle and Preserve Like a Pro Plant-based Milks Nut Butters Index About the Author Acknowledgements Here it is, my Rebel Recipes booka book forplant-loving rebels! This book and my recipes are a celebration of vegetables, their vibrancy, flavours and colours; they are at the heart of all my dishes, and I build recipes around them. I believe that plant-based food doesnt need to be ordinary, you just need a little creativity and your meals can be bursting with unexpected flavour while still being healthy and uncomplicated. For me, eating is all about pleasure food that will feed your soul as well as your belly. The food within these pages is the food I love to eat: delicious, wholesome plant-based dishes which arent too complicated to make and will help you create tasty feasts without too much fuss. My recipes are unashamedly about taste whilst being intrinsically balanced and healthy.

All my recipes are vegan, and most are naturally gluten free (although Ive included some wheat where I feel the recipe needs it) but all are full of taste. You wont find any limp lettuce or boring old school bland veggie burgers, tasteless tofu or fake food here, just great-tasting wholesome deliciousness. My hope is that everyone from vegans and vegetarians through to people just wanting to reduce their meat consumption will find something they love within this book. Many of the recipes have been inspired by my travels and the world flavours and plant-centric cuisines that Ive been lucky enough to encounter, often using spices, herbs and slow cooking to maximise the flavour of the vegetables and pulses, layering textures and flavours to build truly magnificent meals. Lots of my recipes reflect this, so be prepared for spicy curries, lots of pulses, flatbreads, salad, dips and pickles. Soul food. Soul food.

I love a curry for breakfast. Having spent many months in India enjoying gorgeously spiced dosas and idlis, I'll be forever hooked. But Ive also enjoyed huge salads with dips and pittas in Israel for breakfast, or rice soup in Thailand, so I know breakfasts around the world dont necessarily rely on sweet or processed foods as they can do in the west. And as a breakfast obsessive, Id like to challenge the rules of what should and shouldnt be eaten for certain meals a little here. So, youll find lots of rule-breaking recipes, including curry for breakfast! My aim is that each chapter demonstrates how to bring taste, spice and innovative ways to make your day burst with deliciousness and health, showing just how varied a plant-based diet can be. As I naturally steer towards comfort foods, you can expect to find big bowls of soup, curries, dals and bakes, alongside fresh salads, brunch ideas and, of course, decadent desserts.

Ive included some of my old favourite recipes, the ones Ive been making for years that have been tried, tested and loved by my family, friends and blog readers (with some little tweaks here and there) and plenty of new ones I cant wait for you to try. Niki Webster x Birmingham, 2019 Whereitall began For me plant-based eating isnt just a trend meat and two veg have always been off the agenda, much to my mums dismay, as I pretty much refused to eat meat from a young age. I was labelled a picky eater (throw in a dairy intolerance as well) but as soon as I could get into the kitchen as a teenager I started to experiment to try and create the food I wanted to eat. Back then it was mostly adding curry paste to veggies, but I loved it. Through lots of trial and error I was soon making the food I loved and Ive continued to experiment ever since. Back then there wasnt the explosion of vegan and vegetarian options there are now, so I had to be super creative with the limited ingredients available.

It was at about the same time that my interest in travelling started in earnest and I discovered the delights of Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine which I tried to recreate whenever I was home. Not surprisingly, after university I chose a career in food marketing and social media, which I loved and continued in until I decided it was time to follow my passion for food full time. However, Ive been lucky in that Ive always managed to squeeze in lots of time travelling: Europe, Africa and six months backpacking around Asia, trying the amazing local food. I just love Indian thalis and dosas, Thai flavours, Middle Eastern food and huge mezzes with hummus and flatbread theres so much to explore and enjoy! When I launched my blog, Rebel Recipes, in 2015 it was just a place to share my recipes and foodie passion. I had no idea where it would take me, and its pretty amazing that this has become my full-time job and is now a book I couldnt be more happy and grateful. And Im still travelling as much as possible and discovering new flavours and techniques which I now share with my followers.

The question I get asked all the time is why did you call your blog Rebel Recipes? The simple answer is that when it started it was all about nonconformity. Unfortunately, there are sometimes unwritten rules that dictate the way we eat, and these tend to imply that all indulgent food is bad for you and all healthy food (especially plant-based) must be boring. As a passionate vegan foodie, I have always refused to accept this status quo. My food is unashamedly for foodies; its about the pleasure of creating and eating great-tasting food. For me cooking is about challenging convention and rebelling against the rules in a fun way, creating accessible, inventive and delicious recipe ideas. Incredibly after only a year of blogging I won the Soil Association BOOM Award for Best Organic Food Blog a cause Im super passionate about.

My blog has also given me the opportunity to travel further, and to some amazing places like the Caribbean and Bali, to India to style for an incredible Ayurvedic cookbook, to Israel for a vegan food tour, and to Barcelona for cooking retreats all fuelling my inspiration further. Eating WHOLEFOODS , SEASONAL andORGANIC My approach to health and nutrition has evolved over the years and I believe that there isnt really a one-size-fits-all approach to a healthy diet. And, of course, its not just food which plays a role in your wellbeing. I therefore stick (mostly) to a simple principle: eating natural wholefoods that are minimally processed. Real food. I also love to eat seasonally wherever possible.

That means that vegetables and fruit are not only at their best, they should also be cheaper. Its hard to believe now but for many years I had a very restrictive diet. I imposed lots of rules about what I should and shouldnt be eating. Its interesting because as soon as I relaxed my so called healthy diet the digestive issues which Id struggled with for years hugely improved. From my personal experience eating a more varied and abundant plant-based diet full of wholefoods and incorporating more fermented foods has transformed my digestion. As good gut health is linked to overall physical and mental health, I definitely think its worth taking care of those good bacteria.