The Whole Foods Cookbook: 120 Delicious and Healthy Plant-Centered Recipes

Great cookbook! Provides lots of valuable information on plant-based living with wonderful recipes and smart cooking tips. Love it!

The plant-based way of eating is to "eat whole foods instead of highly processed foods" and to "eat mostly plant foods (90 - 100% of your daily calories)". I bought this cookbook on the day that it was published as I'm trying to eat more plant-based meals in my diet. This cookbook has some gorgeous photos as well as simple plant-based recipes for cooking at-home and on-the-go meals. I'm a seasoned cook so the recipes and prep were easy for me. Also, I had most of the ingredients already on hand for these recipes that I tried. There's a "shopping list" which is very helpful if you need to know what to keep on hand for most of the recipes in this cookbook. Only a few recipes suggest adding some sort of animal protein which is optional. I believe that including a small amount of animal proteins might help some who are transitioning to the plant-based way of eating.The recipes offer the nutritional value per recipe (calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, etc.) which I think is helpful. Additionally there are sections on how to saute without oil, how to cook whole grains, how to steam vegetables, how to flavor with herbs, how to make dressings and vinaigrettes, and how to make fruit pastes. Another reviewer mentioned the "Chipotle" way of assembling your meals. A little of this, some of that, more of the other, etc. The soup recipes in this cookbook are mostly Asian-flavored. The salad bowls are colorful and healthy-looking. Tthe breakfasts are filling as well as good for you and don't just focus on the (my opinon) boring overnight oats recipe. And the pizzas will be popular with the whole family.In my testing, I made these recipes as-written with no substitutions.The first recipe that I made was the Whole Roasted Spiced Cauliflower. Of course, mine didn't really turn out like the photos in the book (see my photos), and the cooking time was longer. I had to "broil" the top of the cauliflower at the end to get a toastier (charred?) look closer to what is shown in the book. We have a fancy commercial range with electric convection oven although I used the regular oven setting and not convection. The cauliflower head wasn't completely done in the center at the end of the suggested first 25 minutes of roasting while covered with foil and then another suggested 30-45 minutes roasting uncovered. It went at least another 30 minutes past the suggested total cooking time. We very much enjoyed eating large slices of the cauliflower -- like a "steak." The smoky tomato and red pepper-based sauce was spicy and sweet at the same time making for a very delicious way to prepare a usually bland-tasting vegetable. Also I made a second dish with the leftovers. I put the leftover chopped cauliflower and remaining sauce into my Vitamix and blended it to make a wonderful sauce that we served over roasted zucchini and mushrooms with brown rice. Also, to make a change to the original recipe, I think I would cut the cauliflower into florets just to speed up the roasting time. I know that the intent was slices of sauced meaty cauliflower "steak" yet I'm ok with the sauced florets instead.The next recipe was the Herbed Apricot and Water Chestnut Lettuce Wraps. I'm not a huge fan of miso yet it really did add to the appealing flavor of this dish. The cilantro and mint added a fresh taste and chopped peanuts added an additional crunch to the apricots and water chestnut filling. I took a few of these wraps for lunch and they travelled well and tasted great the next day. Be sparing with the vinaigrette if you are making the wraps for the next day so they are not soggy or messy to eat. You could also pack the vinaigrette separately and use as a dipping sauce for the wraps instead of drizzling inside when preparing them.The Whole Foodie Pancakes are fluffy and tasty whole grain pancakes. Fruit pastes are suggested for sweetening rather than using processed sugars. These pancakes use a date paste and non-dairy milk as alternatives to the processed sugar and animal product. No oil is used in these pancakes. Use a non-stick skillet or griddle and they'll come out browned and tasty. You can also add banana and chopped walnuts to the batter as suggested by the recipe. I topped my pancakes with sliced banana and some nut butter that was thinned with warm water instead of maple syrup. I didn't try the suggested pancake-topper Vanilla Coconut Cream recipe yet. And there is Nut/Seed Milk recipe so you can make your own non-dairy milks for recipes.That Coconut Brown Rice Pudding recipe (which is stellar) will star on my day-after Thanksgiving breakfast buffet next weekend. The Layered Hearty Bean Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette is a make-ahead quick lunch that's pretty when made in a clear Mason jar. And the Cashew Ranch Dressing will fool the buttermilk lovers as there's no dairy to be found...but you'd never know it.I usually make my own from-scratch veggie "burgers" yet those Beet and Bean Burgers were outstanding. I usually prefer roasted potato fries but I did enjoy the Chili Cheeze Fries by Rip Esselstyn and Ami Mackey. The lentil-based "chili" is great on its own.And yes, there's a section on desserts for those with a sweet tooth. The Berry Port Compote went nicely with a scoop of my banana "nice" cream (from another cookbook). Grilled Pineapple & Sorbet with Coconut & White Balsamic Syrup is a taste of the tropics in Winter. In fact, the Grilled Pineapple is a tasty dessert by itself.On my to-do list are the color-popping Carrot Lox Tartine with Cashew Cream Cheese, Capers and Shallot which looks so good on the page that it's gotta taste great. The Pacific Northwest Mushroom Hash (I'll leave out the optional poached eggs on mine) sounds great for Sunday brunch. I love a traditional high-calorie Pad Thai so the Roots & Fruits Pad Thai Salad at only 251 calories per serving made without noodles will be on my list in the next month or so. My husband loves Hot and Sour Soup so I'll be heading to the Asian grocer to pick up some dried tiger lily flower buds and dried wood ear mushrooms. Those are two ingredients not in the shopping list so be sure to check your recipe for ingredients before you start your prep. If you can't find some ingredients in your area, be sure to check the grocery section here at Amazon.com to order online.Remember that a plant-based diet won't help with weight loss if you eat a cup of that scrumptious cashew cream sauce on everything. And that sauce is amazing. Did I say it is amazing?I own a number of other plant-based cookbooks and have read the books on heart-healthy diets and changing lifestyles. A number of my friends and relatives have been diagnosed with heart disease and are suffering from many other ailments. I fully believe that a plant-based diet can help alieviate some of those symptoms. And also, I do prefer veggies, grains, and fruits over meats and dairy products as I get older. Sure it's hard to give up my favorite dairy-based organic sour cream...yet that tasty Jalapeno Cashew Sour Cream recipe works just as well and I don't feel "weird" after I eat it like I do when eating regular sour cream. I'm not a fan of processed "fake" meats or dairy products. I do make a mean lentil marinara sauce that you wouldn't know doesn't contain meat. Try the No-Oil Red Sauce in this cookbook and add 1/2 cup of cooked split red lentils and you'll see what I mean.My overall review and the reason for FIVE STARS is that this cookbook is nicely laid out with tasty recipes that are easy to follow, contains clear nutritional values for recipes, and includes an overall shopping list for most whole food recipe ingredients. It is another perfect addition to my plant-based recipes and cookbook repository. For someone who owns over 200 cookbooks, this plant-based Whole Foods Cookbook is now in my top 10.

Love the easy to use layout of the book Very informative and organized. Love the photos as well

Good cookbook. Be prepared for changes

I love this book that I purchased a couple of years ago, My only issue is that shortly after receiving it, the pages began falling out of the binding. I need to use a heaviy duty big rubber band to hold everything together. It's become so difficult to keep the pages in numerical order because they come out in chunks. I'm having to order another copy. If not for this, I'd give it 5 stars.