When I first heard about this new cookbook from Yum Universe, I was so excited to read and cook through it. The idea of recipe-less cooking has always been a passion of mine, especially when writing about food. We shouldn’t need written recipes to survive throughout the week - they’re essential for learning new dishes and learning how to cook in general, but most of our cooking is what we like to call ‘intuitive cooking.’ (We even wrote an article on it in our recent Connecting issue!)

The format of the book takes you through breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert - in each category, those everyday staples are broken down. For example: veggie burgers. It shows you how to combine your choice of veggies, protein, fresh ingredients, a binder, and flavors to create a great burger. Then it goes over a couple of more traditional recipes for burgers to make it easy to get started.

The design is bright and sunny, and it has a great contrast in typography, illustration, and photography. It has a really nice range of healthy and indulgent options throughout.

This book will teach you to use your pantry to its fullest potential. It will teach you techniques and ideas, not strict rules. It’ll train you in flavor and texture combinations, and really most all plant-based staples, so that you can master them for yourself. 

who this book is for

This is a cookbook with training wheels. It’s perfect for a beginner cook or someone who wants to expand their culinary knowledge without the cumbersome need for lots of books.

the best part

The bright colors and fresh feeling in the photographs really inspire us to get cooking.

standout recipes

 

Sriracha Mac

Serves 4+ 

• one 12-ounce (340g) package gluten-free macaroni noodles
• 2 cups (230g) peeled, seeded, and diced delicata squash, steamed
• 3/4 cup (180mL) water
• 1/2 cup (70g) raw, unsalted cashews, soaked for 4 to 6 hours, drained, and rinsed
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons unrefined coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha (or any other similar style hot sauce), plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon peeled, minced fresh ginger (optional)
• 4 scallions, sliced
• toasted sesame oil (optional)

1. Get a large pot of water boiling and prepare the macaroni noodles according to the packet instructions.
2. While the noodles cook, combine the squash, water, cashews, garlic, lemon juice, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, salt, Sriracha, and ginger in the blender and purée until ultra-smooth. Taste and add more Sriracha if you like. Transfer to a large pot heated to low.
3. Drain the noodles and dump into the pot of sauce; add the scallions. Stir together, seasoning with more salt if necessary. Drizzle with toasted sesame oil if you like and serve warm.

 

where to find it