Ashley Melillo - Blissful Basil: Over 100 Plant-Powered Recipes to Unearth Vibrancy, Health, and Happiness

Ashleys blog, Blissful Basil, won over both my heart and stomach, and now her cookbook has done the same. As always, her recipes are filled with mouthwatering creativity and nourishing ingredients. But above all, theyre infused with love and her firm belief in the power of wholesome, plant-based foods to promote happiness and well-being. With its stunning photography and enticing collection of recipesranging from online classics like the Spicy Cauliflower Rice, Roasted Sweet Potatoes + Avocado Mash power bowl to the all-new Cosmically Fudgy Cacao-Tahini Browniesthe Blissful Basil cookbook is bound to become a household staple for seasoned vegans, new vegans, and non-vegans alike.

Angela Liddon, New York Times bestselling author of The Oh She Glows Cookbook

Ashley Melillos Blissful Basil has it all: sumptuous, creative recipes; bold and beautiful photography; and plenty of user-friendly tips on how to easily transition into plant-centric cooking. Whats most special about this collection, though, is the power of Ashleys personal narrative of healing through colorful, nourishing, and wholesome meals. These are the recipes that transformed Ashleys life, and her passion and gratitude shines through each and every bite.

Gena Hamshaw, author of Food52 Vegan and Choosing Raw

This is way more than a cookbook. Its a coming-of-age story ... that happens to have really incredible recipes and beautiful food. Ashley is a true inspiration and her encouraging, nonjudgmental, and nurturing wisdom makes you feel like anything is possible.

Jessica Murnane, author of One Part Plant and host of the One Part Podcast

Ashleys Blissful Basil cookbook is beyond beautiful! Ashley is one of my all-time favorite bloggers and now authors because her recipes are always colorful, nourishing, and inspiring. I love that Ashleys cookbook contains loads of comfort food favorites like nachos and creamy soups, as well as creative plant-based classics like morning smoothies and chia bowls, beet balls, dairy-free cheese, and more. Along with her delicious recipes, she adds a beautiful piece of her soul to each project.

Kathy Patalsky, blogger at HealthyHappyLife.com and cookbook author

Ashleys photos are stunning and do an amazing job of showing off how gorgeous fresh plants are in their natural form. She brings life to food in a delicious and wholesome way. Im pretty sure my life will be 200 percent improved once I make the Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze. This book is full of practical information about ingredients, techniques, and new ways of thinking about how and what we eat. Its a must for anyone looking to get more thoughtful with whats on their plate.

Emily von Euw, creator of the food blog This Rawsome Vegan Life and bestselling author of Rawsome Vegan Baking

Copyright 2016 by Ashley Melillo

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

BenBella Books, Inc.
10440 N Central Expy Ste 800
Dallas, TX 75231
www.benbellabooks.com
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First E-Book Edition: December 2016

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Melillo, Ashley.

Title: Blissful basil: over 100 plant-powered recipes to unearth vibrancy, health, and happiness / Ashley Melillo.

Description: Dallas, TX : BenBella Books, Inc., [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016019973 (print) | LCCN 2016024549 (ebook) | ISBN 9781942952459 (paperback) | ISBN 9781942952466 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: Vegan cooking. | Cooking (Vegetables) | BISAC: COOKING / Vegetarian & Vegan. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX837 .M516 2016 (print) | LCC TX837 (ebook) | DDC 641.5/636dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016019973

Editing by Maria Hart

Copyediting by Karen Levy

Proofreading by Brittney Martinez and Laura Cherkas

Indexing by WordCo Indexing Services, Inc.

Text design and composition by Aaron Edmiston

Cover design by Sarah Dombrowsky

Logo artwork by Leslie Vega Design, LLC

Food photography by Ashley Melillo

Lifestyle photography on back cover and by Sprung Photo

Printed by Versa Press

Distributed by Perseus Distribution
www.perseusdistribution.com

To place orders through Perseus Distribution:
Tel: (800) 343-4499
Fax: (800) 351-5073
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Special discounts for bulk sales (minimum of 25 copies) are available.
Please contact Aida Herrera at .

One humid summer evening in 2010, I started a food blog on a whim. I was in graduate school at the time and figured it would be a fun hobby during a leisurely summer semester. Well, its been six years since I shared that first post, and I think its safe to say that blogging turned out to be much more than a steamy summer fling. It has been one of the most joyful, worthwhile, and transformative endeavors of my life.

Over the years, Blissful Basil has been a place for me to share not only recipes, but also life stories. And Ive shared lots of them. Some of the stories have been happy, some have been sad, and some have even been funnylike the time I lost a shoe during a job interview. But theres a story I havent shared, and its probably the most important one to tell because its shaped everything from the way I think to the foods I eat. It wasnt always peace, self-love, and kale salads up in here.

To build a sturdy, unshakable house, you must first build a sturdy, unshakable foundation. That concrete foundation might not be the most glamorous or appealing part of the house, or the part you want to show off at a dinner party, but without it, every other part would eventually crumble. You could create a facade of beauty and strength by bracing the houses roof with steel beams, lining its walls with slabs of stone and its floors with polished marble, and filling its rooms with high-tech gadgets, but it would always be weakened by the instability of the ground beneath it.

In my late teens and early twenties, I gave great care and attention tending to my facade. I honestly and wholeheartedly believed I could guarantee my happiness by looking a certain way, studying my way to a well-respected career as a psychologist, and presenting myself as someone who had it all together. I took so much care in hiding my insecurities from others that I managed to hide them from myself, too. As someone who is a rule-follower to a fault, I was careful not to look too deeply into myself for fear that I would then be obligated to see my truth: I was anxiety-ridden and cared more about what other people thought of me than I cared about myself.