“I wondered, ‘Are people still going to want to make my stuff?’” Doming says. The response surprised her. “When I made the announcement, a lot of people said that they never even knew what the ‘8’ in Vegan 8 meant. They just liked my recipes because they were healthy while still being delicious and impressing non-vegans in their family. [The number of ingredients] didn’t matter.”

Stepping outside the constraint of eight ingredients gave Doming room to experiment with more complex flavor combinations while keeping her recipes healthful and accessible. Now, she’s compiled her latest creations into her second cookbook, Vegan Wholesome: High-Protein Meals and Snacks to Energize and Nourish (out April 15). The book highlights satisfying, quick meals that deliver lasting energy (think casseroles, soups, pasta, and flatbreads), along with oil-free vegan takes on day-to-day essentials like cream cheese and barbecue sauce.

We caught up with Doming to discuss the inspiration behind her new book, how her own fitness journey over the past few years influenced the recipes, her favorite quick meals, must-have kitchen gadgets, and more. Read on for the full conversation, and try Doming’s Harissa Almond Pasta with Spinach for a taste of Vegan Wholesome!

What drew you to a vegan lifestyle?

Brandi Doming: I went vegan in 2012, almost 13 years ago now, because my [husband at the time] had gout. He was on a lot of medications, and we tried multiple different diets. He had been going to doctors for years and they would always tell him the same thing, to eat more chicken and to eat yogurt and dairy—which never helped. Gout can be excruciatingly painful, and he had a very serious form. His knees would flare up, his ankles, his elbows. And so he would be on crutches a lot of the time. After we had our daughter in 2011, it was really hard for me to take care of him and a newborn.

So, after following what doctors told us for so many years and none of it working, I decided to start researching things for myself. I’d stay up till 2 o’clock in the morning reading as much as I could online. Somehow, I came across plant-based eating. I started reading about how meat and dairy were inflammatory. I thought, “We’ve tried everything else.” And I didn’t want him to be on all those medications for the rest of his life, which had side effects and weren’t good for his heart. So, I said, “OK. We’re going vegan.” He wasn’t real thrilled about it, because he’s from Louisiana and he lived off seafood. But I said, “I’ll do it with you.” It ended up helping him dramatically. He was able to get off the crutches and off the medications. … And I actually got better, myself. I’d had really bad digestion problems since I was a little girl. My mom used to take me to the doctors all the time for my stomach problems, and they could never figure it out. I went vegan and within two, three weeks, the symptoms all vanished. At that point, I thought, “Wait a minute, I think I’m going to stick to this.” Then I started researching animal cruelty [of the meat and dairy industries], and once I saw that I knew I would never go back.

When you went vegan, were you immediately eating a wholesome vegan diet?

BD: Yes. I did not buy anything pre-made. I’ve cooked my whole life anyways. I’ve always been health-focused, in that sense. So, I just started making everything with vegetables and fruits. [At first we just ate] a lot of vegetables, potatoes and fruit and whole wheat pasta. I started learning how to cook more and working with nuts to make creamy sauces. And that’s been my way of cooking all these years: to make it whole food-based, but still be really satisfying and delicious and rich, because taste is super important to me. I grew up here in Texas eating very filling, indulgent meals.

How did your blog, the Vegan 8, start?

BD: When I first started cooking [plant-based], I had a different blog called The Healthy Flavor. I realized there were a lot of vegan blogs out there. So, I thought, “How can I reach more people so I can help them eat healthier and trust my recipes?” I looked at the recipes on my blog that people were making the most, and I noticed they were all eight ingredients or less—because they were simple but delicious. So I decided to call my blog “The Vegan 8” and to make every recipe eight ingredients or less, not counting salt, pepper, or water. And then my blog just took off. I did that for about nine or 10 years. And then three or four years ago, I stopped doing only eight ingredient recipes because it was limiting my creativity. I still do [short ingredient lists], but I do more than eight now. It’s still my style, still whole-food–based, still oil-free. It’s just more ingredients and more creative.

You write in the book’s introduction that you allow a little bit of oil into your diet personally. Why is it important to you that you keep your recipes oil-free?

BD: A lot of people started following me from the Forks Over Knives group on Facebook, or from some of the plant-based doctors who don’t use oil. And I just felt after learning everything I could that it is best to stick with whole-food fats, such as cashews and hemp seeds. Oil adds up so quickly. One tablespoon is 14 grams of fat. By contrast, nut butter is 8 grams.

When I go out to eat, I don’t stress about perfection. That’s just not my way, and I don’t want to raise my daughter that way. But when we cook at home, we eat oil-free as much as possible. I do use nonstick spray for baking certain things so they don’t stick to the pan. But for the most part, I try to avoid oil. And my recipes don’t taste like they’re oil-free or lacking in something, which is why so many people will say, “I can’t believe there’s not butter in this.” Because taste and texture is number one.

How did you decide on the high-protein focus for this cookbook?

BD: When I switched my blog from just eight ingredients, around that time was also when I got divorced and I started incorporating fitness to help me mentally. It was a big transition, a lot going on in my life. I started working out to help me deal with everything that was going on. So, I started sharing my workouts online with my followers, and a lot of people started following my workout plans and asking me for a higher-protein cookbook. And this book is healthier than my first book. They’re both oil-free and whole-food-based and healthy, but the first book had higher-sodium recipes and way more desserts. This one’s lower-sodium and has fewer desserts. It’s also more creative because the recipes have more ingredients.

In the book, you talk about how you try to achieve an overall balanced plate but don’t worry about counting calories or macros. Can you speak to that?

BD: I include the nutritional stats because a lot of readers like that, so that’s for them. But on a day-to-day basis, I don’t count my calories. I pretty much know, just from doing this for so long, what is in most foods, and I try to keep a balance. But I don’t like obsessing over it. I just don’t feel that’s healthy, for me personally, anyway. Everybody’s different. But I don’t want to raise my daughter with that mentality that she’s got to count every calorie and eat perfectly. … It should be a balance. Mental health relates to physical health.

What are some of your daughter’s favorite snacks?

BD: She loves the nut-free chocolate chip granola bars, which are on my blog. She doesn’t like actual granola, which is weird, but she loves those granola bars. She also loves my thin mint cookies that are on the blog. And then I have some peanut butter cookies in Vegan Wholesome, but I make them with almond butter for her, and she loves those.

What would be your top-three favorite recipes in the new book for people to try?

BD: The Swedish Meatballs with gravy and the Vegan “Tuna” Casserole. Those were the most requested recipes. And then also, my Protein-Packed Mac ‘n’ Cheese. Those three are amazing. They got approval from [my daughter] Olivia—which is saying a lot, because she’s a teenager. The soup chapter is my favorite—so many amazing soups in there that are really creative, really different. One of them, the Feel-Good Roasted Red Pepper and Veggie soup, the base is made from roasting bell peppers and then blending them up with broth and seasonings. So, it has so much flavor in it.

You mention in the book that you’ll buy nondairy yogurt from the store sometimes. Are there any other convenience foods that you recommend to make life a little easier?

BD: Definitely. Some of the recipes in the book where I use mozzarella, I give the option to use my homemade mozzarella (which is in the book and is amazing), but you can also use Miyoko’s liquid mozzarella. I feel like [Miyoko’s] is probably the healthiest vegan mozzarella, because it’s not full of all preservatives and processed stuff. It’s got real ingredients. [Editor’s note: It does contain oil.] The same thing if I call for barbecue sauce: You can use my homemade recipe or store-bought. I let the reader decide. Because I know sometimes, we’re in a hurry. Or maybe you’re making something for non-vegan guests, you could use store-bought vegan cheese, which has oil in it but maybe tastes a little bit more indulgent.

Say you’re home for an hour before rushing out to dance practice: What’s your go-to quick nourishing meal?

BD: The 20-minute Alfredo from my blog. I’ve timed it, start to finish. You can finish it in 20 minutes—including the pasta-cooking time—and it’s really creamy and rich. You just mix cashew butter, onion powder, broth, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and a couple other ingredients. And you could add any veggies you want, like broccoli or spinach or even chickpeas if you want higher protein.

On the blog I also have a homemade ramen soup seasoning mix that you can keep in your pantry. Add it to broth with a little bit of soy sauce, and you have homemade, low-sodium ramen soup in less than 10 minutes. You could add tofu or whatever else you like. Those are a couple of my go-tos. Olivia really likes Italian flavors, so I’ll do pasta topped with a blend of basil, tomato sauce, some of my mozzarella and some Italian seasonings. I’ll add a little bit of tahini or almond butter. I know that sounds weird, but it tastes amazing. It makes it rich and creamy, and then it gives some fat for her, because I really try to make sure she eats enough fat since she’s growing and does a lot of gymnastics, so I make sure I keep her calories high.

Did anything surprise you in the course of writing Vegan Wholesome?

BD: How much more work it was to photograph every recipe myself! I didn’t do that with the first book.

You photographed every recipe yourself?!

BD: Yes. It was crazy. At first, I was like, “Well, why not? I know how to take pictures.” But now I understand that for a cookbook, the photography style is different than typically what you put on your blog. For a cookbook, you want to give readers the feel that they’re eating it right there, with a few crumbs or seasonings spilled on the side, as opposed to everything looking perfect. And it’s true; it gives you more of a home feel. I learned so much about food styling through this book.

You include gram measurements alongside cup measurements in your recipes. Why?

BD: I’ve been cooking by grams for over a decade. It seems a little awkward at first, but a large majority of my followers make my recipes by gram weights now, because it becomes so easy. You don’t have to get out the measuring cups at all, just get out a bowl and turn the kitchen scale to zero, add the first ingredient, hit zero, add the next. You don’t use the kitchen scale for tablespoons or teaspoons, because they’re too small, and it probably won’t detect it accurately. But any measurements around three tablespoons and up, you can use the scale. Everybody measures a little bit differently when they use cups. And I want people to enjoy the recipes. So, following gram weights, you’re going to get the exact way I tested it in my kitchen. I provide cup measurements, too, and you can use those. But using the scale is so quick. And you have way less cleanup, too.

Any other essential kitchen gadgets?

BD: The Vitamix. I think probably every vegan has a Vitamix or a Blendtec. And also, a food processor, because there are some things that work better in a food processor than a blender. Those two and the scale are really the main things that I can think of that are a necessity for my recipes. Because when you’re blending up nuts and stuff, you’re going to get way better results with a high-powered blender. But if you only have a food processor, just soak the nuts longer and it’ll be fine.

At the same time you were working on this second cookbook, you’ve been pursuing your dream of becoming a dancer. What has that been like?

BD: When I started working out, like I said, I was dealing with a lot. I was in a bad depression. I started working out and getting more self-love, trying to take care of myself mentally, and I had always dreamed of being a ballroom dancer. Since I was a little girl, I always wanted to do it. I watched Dancing with the Stars for years. After I got divorced, that urge became very heavy. It was almost like it was saying, “It’s time.” Since I was sharing my workouts online with my followers and they were really interested in it, I thought, “You know what? I’m going to be honest about what I’m going through. I’m going through a divorce. I’m going through depression.” Because I feel like being honest with people helps me to connect with them more. I’m not just some perfect person who posts recipes online. I’m a human being. I’ve gone through changes and I wanted to be open and that helps my followers as well going through divorce and life changes. So, I started sharing about my dance journey, and many of my followers started taking dance lessons as well, because they were inspired to pursue their own dream. My message is, “Live your life. It’s short. Do something that you love, that you’re passionate about because you only got one life. And when you do something for yourself, you’re going to be happier mentally and physically.” Mental goes with physical; you need to take care of both. It all just ties in together.

What else would you like Forks Over Knives readers to know about Vegan Wholesome?

BD: With these recipes, I am completely confident that not only will you as a plant-based eater or vegan enjoy them, but that you can serve them to your non-vegan guests. I know a lot of people think that vegan food is only going to appeal to vegan taste buds. My goal is always to appeal to every eater. A lot of my followers are not vegan—that is my proof.

You can have something healthy and whole-food based, but it can still taste just as good as non-vegan food. And it doesn’t have to be complicated or full of a bunch of processed ingredients. My recipes are good for you and will appeal to anybody.

Brandi Doming headshot courtesy Kim Schaffer Photography. All other photographs courtesy Brandi Doming.

The post Brandi Doming’s ‘Vegan Wholesome’: High-Protein, Oil-Free Recipes That Pack Big Flavor appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Given Jaroudi’s history of hypertension, health care workers pegged her as high-risk and initially expected to only let her pregnancy go to 37 weeks. But Jaroudi ended up having a smooth, full-term pregnancy—and taught WFPB cooking classes right up to the day before her water broke. “I felt like every time I showed up at the doctor, I was proving to them, ‘Look what this lifestyle can do,’” she says. We asked the new mom to reflect on her plant-based pregnancy and share her biggest takeaways. Read on for Jaroudi’s advice, along with expert insights from a plant-based nutritionist.

1. Pregnancy is a good time to be plant-based.

Jaroudi says it’s not unusual for people to abandon a vegan lifestyle when they get pregnant. “I think a lot of it is just the misinformation out there,” she says. “People are like, ‘Oh, my gosh, your iron’s low. You need meat.’” But a plant-based diet is indeed safe during pregnancy; in fact, it’s advisable, even if you’ve never been plant-based before, says nutritionist Brenda Davis, RD, co-author of Nourish: The Definitive Plant-Based Nutrition Guide for Families. “There is evidence suggesting advantages such as a lower risk of excessive weight gain, gestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia,” Davis says.

The key is to follow a well-balanced plant-based diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and to supplement with vitamins as needed.

2. Nutrition knowledge is power.

Doing research on plant-based pregnancies helped Jaroudi feel confident in her choices and better able to advocate for her health. Two books she recommends: The Plant-Based Baby and Toddler, by Alexandra Caspero, MA, RDN, and Whitney English, MS, RDN; and the aforementioned Nourish, which Davis co-authored with Reshma Shah, M.D., MPH.

3. Prenatals are a must.

Davis recommends looking for a prenatal supplement that includes iron, zinc, vitamin D, folate, and at least 150 mcg of iodine, 100 mg of choline, and 25 mcg of vitamin B12. Additionally, she suggests that plant-based eaters take a daily EPA/DHA supplement that includes 500 mg of EPA and at least 200 mg of DHA while pregnant. And bloodwork is a good idea: “Sometimes there are signs [of nutrient deficiency], such as fatigue with insufficient iron, but often symptoms are not overt,” Davis says. “It is best to have lab tests to ensure adequate intakes and absorption of key nutrients, such as vitamin B12 and iron.”

4. You need a supportive doctor.

Your docs don’t have to be plant-based, but they do have to be on board. If they’re not, you can find plant-based health care providers in a range of specialties, including obstetricians and pediatricians, through the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine database.

5. Meal prep makes life easier.

Having a store of meals frozen into individual portions makes it easy to grab what you need. “[Prepping meals] ahead of time can be a game-changer,” says Jaroudi, who went from occasionally meal-prepping to doing it regularly as a new mom. “It makes life really easy to have those ready-to-go meals.” Check out these 20 Meal-Prep Tips From People Who Have Been Doing It for Years.

How to Eat Whole-Food, Plant-Based at the Hospital

Staying nourished during labor and recovery is essential. Here’s how Jaroudi was able to eat plant-based while at the hospital.

B.Y.O.

While some hospitals offer healthy vegan food, it’s safest to assume you’ll need to supply your own. “I joke that my hospital bag was half baby stuff and half our cooler and all my other food,” Jaroudi says. Don’t be afraid to fill the gaps with WFPB convenience foods. Jaroudi recommends dehydrated meals from Leafside (goleafside.com) and Wellbean Bars (wellbean.life).

Leverage Cafeteria Options

Be sure to check out the cafeteria. “Sometimes it can surprise you,” says Jaroudi. She found fresh fruit and oatmeal there, which were good to have in a pinch.

Communicate Your Needs

Hospital food culture is slowly changing. Don’t be afraid to tell the kitchen staff (politely) what you eat; they may be able to accommodate. Jaroudi and her husband were pleasantly surprised when the hospital served them a delicious WFPB meal as part of a candlelit “Mommy and Daddy dinner.” “I took pictures of it,” Jaroudi says. “I was so shocked!”

The post Plant-Based YouTuber Brittany Jaroudi Shares the Biggest Lessons from Her Healthy Vegan Pregnancy appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

What drew you to the field of gastroenterology?

Shilpa Ravella, M.D.: At the core of practicing medicine is this idea that you’re helping people with their most valuable possession, their health. No matter how small a part we play in that, it was something that I felt compelled to do. … And as the years went on, everything I was interested in learning about nutrition and lifestyle and the gut microbiome was so directly relevant to gastroenterology. I just fell in love with the field.

How did you become interested in inflammation?

SR: As I went through my fellowship, I saw a lot of patients who struggled with inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders. They were coming into the clinic and asking, “Is there something I can do with my diet and lifestyle to decrease inflammation?” At that time, folks in Western medicine would think of [an anti-inflammatory diet] as a hoax. I had a lot of questions: Is there a true anti- inflammatory diet? Moreover, what is low-level inflammation, and can it be a root cause of disease? … During the early years of my fellowship, someone very close to me was diagnosed with a devastating autoimmune disorder, and that also compelled me to want to know more about this topic.

What are the top foods that you recommend cutting to reduce inflammation?

SR: Ultraprocessed foods are truly insidious. They’re made in laboratories by companies who want to make them addictive. So you don’t just eat one chip— you’re eating bag after bag after bag and bypassing your body’s regulatory systems. They’re mostly made of whole-food derivatives and additives that we are finding more and more problematic, including artificial sweeteners and some oils that are very inflammatory. So the first step is going back to real foods. Even if you can’t make the shift to a [completely] plant-based diet, make the shift to whole foods.

What have you learned working with patients in Hilo, Hawaii?

SR: At the government-funded rural health clinic [in Hilo], we see a proportion of native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and this particular population experiences the highest rates of death from any type of cancer compared with other racial and ethnic groups of the same age, and the highest incidence of heart disease and stroke and diabetes. … We’re seeing a lot of cancer in young folks here. Part of the problem is that the “local” diet has taken over—a lot of fried foods, very meat-heavy. By contrast, the ancestral Hawaiian diet is largely plant-based. It involves a variety of vegetables, like ulu (breadfruit), which can be prepared in so many different ways, taro (a starchy vegetable), and seaweed. A return to this type of diet is what I push for my patient population. I try to put it in that cultural context: This is the diet that your forefathers followed, and this is a diet that can help you thrive.

Can anti-inflammatory foods cancel out the effects of processed foods?

SR: To an extent, you can indeed dull the inflammatory spikes you get from junk foods by pairing them with something healthy. For example, there are studies that show if you add berries or nuts to processed breads and cereals or some spices to your chicken dinner, you see less of an inflammatory spike as opposed to if you’ve eaten those foods on their own.

I think the biggest problem with that outlook is the opportunity cost, because the goal is not just to prevent inflammation but also to reverse it so that your body has greater potential to heal. Someone who is 90 years old and eating a highly plant-based diet, exercising regularly, breathing clean air, drinking clean water is going to have more potential to resolve the inflammation from, say, an infection, and a more robust immune response as well.

Stamping Out Myths About Inflammation

We asked Ravella to break down some of the most common myths she encounters about inflammation.

Myth #1: Plant foods promote inflammation.

“Certain plant foods or components of plant foods, like nightshade vegetables, gluten, or lectins, are often demonized for being inflammatory,” Ravella says. “However, evidence to date shows that these foods are actually anti-inflammatory and beneficial for human health.”

Myth #2: All inflammation is bad.

“We need some inflammation in our bodies to fight off infections and keep us healthy in other ways. And in fact, increased bodily inflammation is a natural part of aging. It’s when inflammation becomes excessive or deployed without reason that problems arise.”

Myth #3: Anti-inflammatory diets are expensive.

“A true, evidence-based anti-inflammatory diet does not rely on expensive foods or supplements,” Ravella says. “Anti-inflammatory, plant-forward diets—such as traditional Mediterranean, Okinawan, African, Latin American, Native American, Asian, and Hawaiian diets—are rooted in ancient traditions and arise from humble origins.”

The post What We’re Getting Wrong About Inflammation: Gastroenterologist Shilpa Ravella Explains appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Ramírez’s own eyes were opened to the breadth of her home country’s cuisine when she moved to Mexico City as a young adult and encountered dishes and ingredients she’d never come across while growing up along the Mexico–Texas border. “I felt like I knew nothing about Mexico or Mexican food because it was so different from where I grew up,” she recalls. When she set out to write Comida Casera, she made a point of featuring veganized dishes from every corner of the country. She also took care to highlight indigenous cooks upholding the plant-forward traditions of their ancestors. “I wanted this cookbook to be all of Mexico,” says Ramírez.

Instead of the usual appetizer-main-side format, Comida Casera is structured around key culinary traditions, from mole markets to antojitos (street food), home-cooked classics, and beyond. Ramírez invites cooks of all skill levels into her kitchen, with a detailed ingredient glossary and step-by-step visual guides for essential techniques like roasting chile peppers, despining nopales, and assembling tamales.

The Culinary Institute of America–trained chef showcases the versatility of plant-based ingredients, transforming rice into chicharrones and dried hibiscus flowers into barbacoa. “Comida Casera honors traditional Mexican flavors and techniques, but relies on the immense world of plants to do so,” she says. There’s a strong whole-food focus to the book. Every recipe is vegan, and most include oil-free variations.

We caught up with Ramírez to talk about the new book (which is out March 18), the magic of Mexican food, and the fateful kitchen mix-up that made her rethink her approach to plant-based cooking. Fix yourself a plate of Tacos de Rajas con Crema and dig into the full conversation below!

Even though you grew up in your family’s restaurant, it wasn’t until you ventured far from home that you yourself fell in love with cooking. How did that happen?

Dora Ramírez: [My siblings and I] would sometimes help when my father was catering big events, but we’d help with little stuff, like peeling carrots. Most of the time, we weren’t super involved, especially not in the kitchen. And my mom stopped cooking at home when I was 6, when the restaurant opened. Because she was like, “Why am I going to keep cooking? There’s a whole restaurant!” So I wasn’t really ever exposed to cooking because I would just go to the restaurant and eat. But then I was a missionary [in Mexico City] for a year after high school, and one of my chores was to help out in the kitchen. That’s when I really discovered the magic of cooking.

What sort of food were they making there that sparked your interest?

DR: I’m from Acuña, a town on the border with Texas, and the food is a mix of Texas, Tex-Mex, and Northern Mexico influences. We’re really close to the town that’s famous for inventing nachos, so nachos are big. In Northern Mexico, we eat a lot of meat and a lot of flour tortillas, and that’s pretty much it. Not a lot of vegetables. Central Mexico is completely different. … There’s an emphasis on vegetables. There’s an emphasis on zucchini flowers. … People have a little vegetable soup to start off their meal, even if they’re eating meat.

What inspired you to go plant-based for your health?

DR: I was having a lot of yeast overgrowth, infections, and rashes, and it got to the point where it was very painful. Doctors would tell me, “You need to take this antifungal medication.” It wouldn’t work. Then they would give me antibiotics. It would be better for a little bit, and then it wouldn’t. I was just in pain all the time.

One friend said, “You need to watch Forks Over Knives.” I told her I didn’t want to. I knew it was a plant-based documentary. I loved cheese. I loved going out to restaurants. I didn’t want to have to change the way I ate. But this friend was insistent. We were in a mommy group together, and every single week she would ask, “Did you watch it yet?” It got to the point where I needed to either stop going to this mommy group or watch this documentary. I ended up watching it just to get her off my back. I was very surprised by it, and I decided to try [going whole-food, plant-based]. I failed several times. I would go plant-based for a week, say, “I don’t see any changes,” and give up. Then one Lent, I went plant-based for 40 days straight, and it was like magic. The inflammation was gone. My skin rash was gone. My pain was gone. I stopped taking all the medications I had been taking. To this day, sometimes I struggle with the yeast overgrowth, so I watch my processed sugar intake. But in general, the switch from eating a meat-centered diet to a plant-based diet resolved my health issues.

Could you talk about the comment from your mom that changed your approach to vegan cooking, as you relate in the book’s introduction?

DR: My mom got diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I’d been vegan for a little bit at that point and read a lot of books by plant-based doctors, including Neal Barnard’s book on reversing Type 2 diabetes. So I was trying to get my mom to eat plant-based, and I made her vegan dishes that I really loved at the time. One of the first things I made were Vietnamese spring rolls. While I was preparing them, I set a block of tofu on the kitchen table. I left the room for a moment, and I heard my mom spitting something out and saying, “What is this?” She had eaten a spoon full of tofu, thinking it was panela. It really did look like a nice fresh panela cheese. It was glistening. She thought it was the most disgusting thing. I said, “Let me cook it for you. You’ll see it’s delicious!” She said, “I’m never eating tofu again.” I tried a couple other dishes until finally she was so frustrated that she said, “Can’t you just make it Mexican?” And it hit me, like, “Oh yeah, that’s right. I can make it Mexican!”

Comida Casera isn’t organized like a traditional cookbook. How did you decide to organize it the way you did?

DR: The book is organized as a journey through the key culinary landmarks in Mexico. We start in the indigenous kitchen, the basis of [Mexican] cuisine. Then we go to the market—in Mexico, there are huge markets where you can buy mole pastes—and we called that chapter Mole From the Market. Then there’s street food, and home-cooked classics. … And because I have culinary training, I have a chapter, Modern Mexico, for what I would serve if I had my own fine-dining restaurant. I wanted the cookbook to represent all of Mexican cuisine, and there’s a recipe for every state in Mexico in the book.

You managed to offer oil-free versions for an impressive number and array of dishes (including chicharrones!). Why was that important to you?

DR: When I started on my whole plant-based journey, I ate oil-free, because my focus was health. But there are certain dishes where you really need the oil, from a culinary standpoint. Mole is an example. Mole has nuts and seeds, so it already has a lot of fat, but there’s a key step to making mole where you have to fry the sauce in oil, which changes its flavor. You can make it without it, but it won’t have that same flavor. So when I saw that there were certain dishes that I couldn’t replicate without oil, I moved back to using some oil.

But you’ll see in the cookbook that even for the recipes that use oil, they use very little of it—maybe two teaspoons. They don’t have huge quantities. I know a lot of people are plant-based for health reasons and need to avoid oil. And I wanted them to be a part of Comida Casera, too. So I had recipe testers make every recipe with and without oil. There are some recipes in the book that don’t include a no-oil variation—that’s because we tested them without oil and they didn’t work.

How did you discover that dried hibiscus makes a good vegan barbacoa?

DR: There has been a big vegetarian movement in Mexico since the seventies, and it’s not uncommon for hibiscus to be used as a meat substitute. The way I’ve seen it used in Mexico is as a filling for tlacoyos, where the hibiscus is very lightly sautéed with onion and garlic and then served in tortillas. In Mexico they can very lightly cook hibiscus so that it’s still chewy and has a lot of texture, probably because hibiscus in Mexico is way fresher and more tender than the kind that we get in the U.S.

But I’d been to a restaurant in Dallas called Nuno’s Tacos, and he does a barbacoa with hibiscus, and it is so good. He wouldn’t give me the recipe, but he did give me tips. As you’ll see in the book, you boil the dried hibiscus forever. But at the end, you come out with a shredded texture that absorbs flavors really well. And the hibiscus has a little bit of tanginess, which works really well with the eggplant in that recipe, because eggplant is so savory.

What was your process like for developing a Cashew Queso Asadero that actually melts?

DR: I did a lot of testing with that one. It uses kappa carrageenan, which is not a common ingredient, and so I tried to make it without it. But without it, it doesn’t melt, and it’s more like gel-like. With the addition of the kappa carrageenan, it really gets that melty texture. I did tests with agar-agar, and we tried an oil-free version that used tofu instead of oil, but it didn’t get good results with the testers. It didn’t melt.

In the book you talk about returning to ancestral foodways, and you describe the practice of la milpa. Could you share about that for our readers?

DR: La milpa was an agricultural practice practiced by the Nahuas. (Nahuas is the broad name for several indigenous groups.) La milpa is based on planting corn, which was their main crop, but with the corn, they intercropped tomatoes, chiles and beans. All of these crops were put together because they helped each other nutrient-wise, and they helped ward off pests for each other. It’s a sustainable system. They even used the weeds—they would cook and eat those, too. Those are called quelites, or wild greens, and I use them in the book, as well as huitlacoche, the fungus that grows on the corn.

The book goes beyond the typical pantry shopping list. You explain the background and use of each ingredient. How did you decide to go so in-depth?

DR: I really want this book to be for everyone. For it to be for everyone, it needs to explain everything. That’s why that chapter is so specific—because I want you to experience Mexican cuisine, really experience it, and to be able to do that, you need to maybe be a little uncomfortable and go to the Mexican store and buy dried chiles, when you’ve never used them before. That’s why I included so much information about dried chiles, the fresh chiles they come from, where you can get them, and how to prepare them. I wanted to remove all the barriers so that people can make these recipes without looking at the book and being like, “Well, I don’t know what that is. Where do I get it? How am I going to make this if I can’t get this?” Even if they’re not going to be 100% the way that they’re made in Mexico, you can very, very closely replicate them in your home.

Speaking of peppers, for the Rajas con Crema recipe, if someone can’t find Poblanos, is there another pepper that would work?

DR: You can make it with bell peppers. The flavor won’t be the same because it won’t have that smokiness or the heat, but you can make it with bell peppers. There’s also canned poblano peppers, which you can drain and use.

What else would you like readers to know about Comida Casera?

DR: I really loved writing the home-cooking chapter (called “Comida Casera”) because I asked my mom, “What did grandma used to make for your family meals?” My mom is one of seven kids. She said, “Look, we were really poor. Sometimes we could only eat rice and beans and a sopita (pasta soup). Sometimes we could maybe afford a little bit of meat. But one thing that I can say about your grandma is that her table was always open to everyone.” There was almost always [a guest] at their family meals, and usually it was somebody who needed a meal. That, to me, is the heart of comida casera (Mexican home-cooking), and the whole message I was trying to express in this book. This is my Mexican table, and everybody’s welcome.

The post Dora Ramirez’s ‘Comida Casera’: A Vegan Journey Through Mexico’s Myriad Cuisines appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Now, as a mom balancing a busy life, she knows firsthand how challenging it can be to get healthy meals on the table every day. “I don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen if I’m not working, because I’m busy, just like everybody else,” Claiborne says. “If I’m cooking just for my daughter and me, it’s going to be something quick and easy.” That ethos inspired her latest book, Sweet Potato Soul Vegan Vibes, which hits shelves February 4.

The gorgeous collection of 100 recipes is all about creating big flavors with minimal effort, showcasing Claiborne’s imagination and resourcefulness as a chef.

We caught up with Claiborne about the new book, her ingenious oil-free granola recipe, farmers-market obsession, and more. Read on for the full conversation!

You went vegan for the animals, but I understand you experienced some health benefits, as well.

Jenné Claiborne: When I first became vegan, I thought I couldn’t be any healthier. I was only 24 years old. I did have a lot of gut issues, but I’d been to different doctors, and they never told me to stop eating dairy. I thought, OK, well, I have a bad stomach, but otherwise, I’m healthy, so if I’m going vegan, it’s just for the animals. I became vegan, and within a week, maybe two, I stopped experiencing all of my gastrointestinal issues, 100%. None of it has ever come back.

You’ve mentioned that the contemporary South was a big influence as you were writing this cookbook. How so?

JC: I left Atlanta for college in ’06 and I didn’t move back until 2021. I had been living in Los Angeles for four years, looking for inspiration for my second cookbook, but I wasn’t finding it. When I came back home to Atlanta, I was reminded of how diverse this place is, too, and it’s much more laidback, and the people are very friendly. … I go to the grocery store and I see produce from all around the world, and I drive down the street and there are 10 different restaurants from 10 different parts of the planet. That was super inspiring to me.

You weren’t feeling LA?

JC: LA was not my place. It’s so far away from home. … What I do miss about LA, though, are the farmers markets. That was my No. 1 favorite thing about living there. I very rarely bought produce at the grocery store in those four years. … I live walking distance to, in my opinion, the best farmers market in Atlanta, and I’m lucky and I’m grateful for it, but there isn’t as much demand, so the variety [of produce] is not as robust.

I’m a farmers market stan. I love them so much. … They [illustrate] the bounty and the abundance of eating plants, of what’s possible when you eat plants. My first time ever going to a farmers market was when I moved to Boston for college, and that’s kind of how I started eating plant-based, and eating healthier, and expanding my palate, because I was the pickiest kid. I hardly ate any vegetables. I didn’t like 90% of the fruits I had been exposed to. But when I started going to farmers markets, I was picking up produce like, “Ooh, what’s this? I’ve never seen this!” That totally changed my life.

The new book includes your much-loved tahini-granola recipe, which is oil-free. What was the inspiration for that recipe?

JC: Tahini is one of my top-three favorite ingredients (Broccolini and sweet potatoes being the other two) because it is so versatile and it tastes amazing. I remember I lived in New York at the time when I first made that recipe. It was kind of a spinoff of my tahini cookie recipe, which is in my first cookbook, and it’s also on the blog. I’d been making that recipe for a long time, and I realized that you don’t have to form it into cookies. You can just sprinkle it on the tray and [bake it as] granola, because it crisps up so well, especially along the edges.

The granola recipe calls for dried rose petals. What else can folks use those for?

JC: I love the essence of rose just in anything. I’ve got some tea blends with mint and rose. You can put it in your water. You could use rose powder—which is just ground up dried rose petals—to color an icing. I recently [did that] because I don’t use artificial dyes in our food, and my daughter and nieces and I were making cupcakes. It made such a pretty pink, and that rose flavor, to me, is one of the best flavors. It’s floral, and it’s elevated. It’s heavenly.

What recipes would you recommend from the new book for a romantic Valentine’s Day meal?

JC: One of my favorite recipes in the cookbook is the Perfect Pea Pesto Pasta. It is so easy to make, but it looks fancy. … It’s made with basil, mint, and frozen peas that you thaw and blend into a pesto. You can toss it with any pasta you’d like. I always do a nice short pasta like gemelli. And the Za’atar Cauliflower Steaks would be perfect for Valentine’s Day. They would be really nice served with that pea pesto pasta, because the za’atar has all these herbs in it, like parsley, and that pea pesto pasta has basil and mint, so those would really complement each other. Or you could serve the pasta with the Simple Oyster Mushroom Steaks. That recipe is also so easy. If you are doing a Valentine’s Day dinner after work, and you need to put something together in under 30 minutes, then that would work perfectly. You wouldn’t have to make anything in advance, and it would be beautiful.

Would those dishes you just mentioned be adaptable for oil-free eaters?

JC: Absolutely. The pesto pasta does have olive oil in it, but it’s not required. You could remove that, and if you need to thin [the sauce] out, add a little of the pasta [cooking] water. The cauliflower steaks have tahini, so the tahini keeps them really nice and moist, without having to douse them in oil. There is some oil in that recipe, but you can totally take it out. And mushrooms don’t require any oil to cook at all. Sometimes I’ll sauté garlic in a little bit of oil before adding mushrooms to the pan, but the mushrooms themselves don’t need any oil because they’re full of liquid on their own. They’re super hard to burn. Mushrooms are amazing if you’re doing whole-food, plant-based and avoiding oil.

Could you explain the 80–20 approach that you advocate for healthy eating?

JC: Eighty percent of the time, you want to focus on eating wholesome, minimally processed foods. No more than 20% of the time, you can let your hair down, go out to eat, or eat more highly processed foods. What I mean by highly processed is stuff you could never make at home. Tofu is a processed food, but it’s minimally processed. Same with tempeh—super easy to make at home. … When you get to Beyond Meat, and Impossible, and all of these replicas of meat and dairy, those are in the ultraprocessed category. We’re going to reserve that for 10–20% of the time, if not even less. The reason I advocate this is I think it’s helpful for people to transition into eating healthier, understanding that your diet doesn’t have to be perfect right away [or ever]. But I do want to encourage people to keep doing better and better, because you’ll feel better.

I also like to mention that if you have a health condition and your doctor has told you you need to avoid all oil, all [refined] sugar, or sodium, then, of course, follow the doctor’s advice.

And you can easily fall into the trap of going to Costco, and there’s all this easy-peasy, ultraprocessed vegan food. You can tell yourself you’re just stocking the freezer for when you don’t feel like cooking and you’re only going to have it once a week, but then the next thing you know, you’re eating it every day because you have a container of 20. If you learn how to make easy, wholesome food that takes no more than 20 minutes, you don’t have to rely on those highly processed foods as much.

Do you do a lot of meal prepping?

JC: Sometimes I will get the zoomies, and I’m like, “I’m going to meal prep!” But I don’t actually reliably do that on a regular basis. That is once in a blue moon. … But my kitchen is always well-stocked. For example … I always have [cooked] brown rice in the fridge. I have a lot of frozen veggies, so I might steam some frozen spinach and peas together, and then put that all in a bowl and top it with tahini sauce straight out of the jar. If I’m going to be fancy, I’ll make a tahini dressing with lemon and miso. …That is how I eat most of the time. Honestly, it’s delicious.

Have you and your daughter, Jorji, made anything together recently?

JC: She has her own cutting board, knives, all the stuff she would need, but lately, she doesn’t even want to slice her own apples. Her favorite thing to do in the kitchen is just mix stuff, which is my favorite thing, too. My nana always let me do that. … I don’t throw away outdated spices anymore. I save them for her, and she mixes stuff.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

JC: I’m glad you asked me about the adaptations for oil-free, because almost all the recipes in the cookbook, you’re able to just [omit oil], with the exception, I would say, of some of the baked goods. For those baked goods, you could replace [the oil]. For example, I’ve got these chocolate sweet potato muffins—maybe just use a little bit more sweet potato in that recipe instead of the oil.

This cookbook definitely fits in that 80–20 philosophy of mine, where 80% to 90% of these recipes are more wholesome, not a lot of sugar, but [some are more decadent]. … There is a balance of recipes in this cookbook, because I really wanted it to be for everybody.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Photos copyright © 2025 by Jenné Claiborne and used by permission of Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved.

The post Easy, Flavorful Vegan Vibes: Inside Jenné Claiborne’s New Cookbook appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Since we first shared his story in 2017, Masiello has turned his personal transformation into a professional mission. Leaving a successful career in pharmaceuticals, he founded Love.Life Telehealth, a platform connecting patients with lifestyle medicine doctors. Through this work, he’s helping others achieve the same kind of life-changing results he experienced. We recently caught up with Masiello to learn more about his journey, insights, and tips for anyone looking to build a career in the plant-based space.

How did you discover whole-food, plant-based nutrition?

Anthony Masiello: The short answer is out of necessity. Back in 2005, I applied for a 20-year-term life insurance policy and was denied. I was morbidly obese, on medication for high blood pressure, had high cholesterol and sleep apnea. And I was only 33. I was going for the insurance policy because my wife was pregnant with our second son. So here I am thinking that my life is just starting, and I had this company telling me that the end was in sight, essentially.

I went to Google and typed in “vegetarian weight loss.” [Although] everything that was popular at the time was high-protein, high-fat diets, that just never made sense to me. … I found Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live, which said to eat vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and seeds and eliminate all processed food. And that’s what I did.

Was the transition difficult?

AM: Only until I started losing weight and my doctor started reducing my medication. And then it kind of became fun, because now I was like, “Holy smokes, this is working. For the first time in my life, I’m starting to feel better.” Then it became easy.

What inspired you to leave pharmaceuticals and launch your telemedicine platform, Love.Life Telehealth?

AM: I loved the people I worked with … but I kind of lost the passion for [our purpose]. I left my job at Novartis in 2018, and I didn’t really have a plan. I started going to [lifestyle medicine] conferences and I noticed a pattern: A doctor would give a presentation, share some case studies, stories of people like me. And then [there would be] a Q&A. Almost every single time, someone in the audience would raise their hand and say, “Where can I find a [lifestyle medicine] doctor?” And there was never a good answer, because it depended—where do you live? Can you travel?

I just kept hearing that over and over. So I started researching telemedicine systems … I knew enough on how to evaluate existing systems, and I basically just put the pieces together and figured out that we could do this.

How do you see traditional Western medicine and lifestyle medicine fitting together?

AM: They work hand in hand. I think that the shift that we need to make is to take a lifestyle-first approach, and then we can use medications and other medical procedures as a next level, when we can’t achieve the desired outcomes with lifestyle changes. None of the doctors at Love.Life Telehealth are giving up their years of experience treating patients with conventional medicine. They’re building on that.

What has the feedback been from patients?

AM: We hear from patients all the time who are lowering their cholesterol, getting off medications, lowering their blood pressure, and reversing Type 2 diabetes. … [Beyond those] more measurable things, we hear patients say they just feel better, they’re happier to get up in the morning.

Being the Change

“Forging a career in the lifestyle medicine space has been one of the most challenging and rewarding things I’ve ever done,” Masiello says. “Here are my tips for others looking to do the same.”

Build community. “Join or start a local WFPB group on MeetUp.com, so you can connect with other WFPB folks in your area for potluck lunches, weekend walks, or restaurant outings,” Masiello says. “In collaborating with others who share your passion for plant-based nutrition, you’re more likely to bring new ideas to fruition.”

Share your experience. “Find opportunities to share your own experience with a WFPB lifestyle, whether that means speaking at local events or sharing your story online. You’ll inspire others, and you’ll likely end up connecting with other folks on a similar path.” (Submit your success story to Forks Over Knives here!)

Never stop learning. “If you’re new to the world of nutrition and medicine, consider getting your feet wet through a program such as the eCornell Plant-Based Nutrition Certification,” Masiello recommends. “If you’re a health care professional, take free courses through Plantrician University and seek lifestyle medicine certification from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

The post Anthony Masiello’s Journey From Patient to Lifestyle Medicine Pioneer appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

After adopting a plant-based diet and convincing his dad to do the same, London-based Federici—then a university student—began chronicling his personal food journey, posting photos of home-cooked meals alongside brief nutritional analyses. He kept it up as a hobby for five years, slowly building a following, but things ramped up after he posted a video of himself and his Sicilian-born nonna (italian for “grandmother”), Marianna, cooking pasta sauce together.

Practically overnight, Federici’s audience quadrupled, and he and his nonna began fielding invites to radio shows and morning TV programs, and even landed a meet-and-greet with King Charles and Queen Camilla. Now, two years and more than a million followers later, the duo is celebrating the launch of Italian Cooking with Nonna, a colorful, photo-rich cookbook featuring more than 80 vegan versions of Italian classics, many of which spotlight the foods that helped Federici’s dad beat cancer: fresh vegetables, whole grains, and plenty of pasta and tomato sauce.

In anticipation of the book’s launch, we spoke with Federici about the virtues of eggplant, how to stock your pantry like an Italian, and the one recipe he’d recommend to a vegan newbie. Read the interview, then try Federici’s Pasta con i Broccoli recipe for a taste of the new book!

How did your nonna react when she first tasted your updated renditions of her recipes?

Giuseppe Federici: A lot of the food that my nonna has grown up on is accidentally vegan—things like minestrone, which is just a vegetable soup, and pasta with aubergines (eggplant). So, it wasn’t really, “Here’s the first time you’re ever going to try something vegan,” because she’s been eating vegan foods for most of her life.

You’ve included a handy list of pantry staples and fresh foods that make it easy to pull together a delicious Italian-inspired meal on the fly. What are some items you recommend that we always keep on hand?

GF: I’m thinking about what nonna is never without: [canned] tomatoes and dried pasta. With tomatoes and pasta, you can make one of the most delicious Italian staple dishes, my nonna’s Pasta with Tomato Sauce. It uses simple ingredients that can stay in your cupboard for months and months.

What misconceptions about Italian food have you encountered on your culinary journey?

GF: You have the concept of it being super indulgent and heavily filled with cheese and cream, and there are some aspects to Italian cuisine that involve that, but that’s more of the commercialized [contemporary] view of it. [Historically] Italians have had access to [and relied on]—especially lower-income households—“cheap” foods, which are the pulses (legumes), the vegetables, the grains. And so naturally, a lot of Italian food—especially Sicilian food, where my nonna comes from—lends itself very favorably to a plant-based diet.

The majority of the recipes in Italian Cooking with Nonna are centered on seasonal produce, including the often-misunderstood eggplant. What would you say to someone who “doesn’t like eggplant”?

GF: Eggplant—or aubergine, as we call it over here across the pond—is definitely an underrated vegetable. I think the reason people don’t like it is because they don’t know how to cook it. If you don’t do it well, it can turn into this soggy bit of vegetable. But in Italian cooking, there are so many different recipes, and quite a few in the book really do champion eggplant. We’ve got the eggplant parm, almost like a lasagna, but instead of pasta, you have eggplant coated in breadcrumbs. Once that absorbs the tomato sauce, it’s a really nice, almost meaty texture. Try it different ways, because you might not like it in a pasta dish where it’s a bit softer, but you might like it when it’s nice and crispy.

You mention some Italian-cuisine-specific cooking tools in the book—gnocchi boards and cannoli molds, to name two. What is the one cooking tool or gadget you find indispensable in your everyday cooking?

GF: A mandoline is my favorite gadget in the kitchen. Obviously, it’s dangerous if you don’t concentrate on what you’re doing, but it’s a great way to quickly slice anything. What I love to do is put it straight over a pan. I’ll mandoline a whole zucchini into a pan in a minute, which is great. You can just use it in so many creative ways.

What one recipe from your book would you steer a newbie vegan or plant-based eater to first?

GF: My Walnut and Mushroom Ragú is a great way to introduce a meat eater into the realm of whole-food plant-based dishes. It’s super healthy, high protein, full of plant-based fiber and healthy fats, and it’s essentially a ragu made of soaked walnuts, chopped and blitzed mushrooms, and soaked sunflower seeds. When you blend it all together with some seasonings into a tomato sauce, it creates a delicious ragu that can be used either with pasta on its own, or I also love to incorporate it into a lasagna.

You mention in your acknowledgements that you’ve experienced imposter syndrome as a fledgling cookbook author. What words of advice would you offer a burgeoning chef?

GF: Imposter syndrome is definitely something many people face, especially when trying something new or if you get a lot of success in something quite quickly like I have. But I’ve learned that being a great cook and inspiring people to cook isn’t about having particular training, or having a particular background, or having qualifications of being a Michelin star chef, because I have none of those things. It’s about passion, curiosity, and the willingness to do better and learn and improve yourself time and time again, and take inspiration from other people. Embrace the journey; give it a go. You don’t have to be perfect.

The post Giuseppe Federici and His Nonna Marianna Are Redefining Italian Food for Plant-Based Audiences appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Today Dom’s become a fixture of vegan social media, amassing a quarter of million followers across Instagram and TikTok with posts that touch on animal rights, body positivity, and social justice—featuring lots of appearances from his rescue dog, a scene-stealing husky named Roc.

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For someone so ambitious, Thompson has an ease about him that seems to come from clarity of purpose, an ethos he encapsulates in six words: If it requires harm, then nahh. The mantra first came to Thompson during his incarceration, at just 21 years old, spurring him to give up meat overnight. “My cellmates thought I was crazy—they couldn’t believe I would trade my animal protein for their carbs,” Thompson says, chuckling.

Now Thompson is sharing his remarkable personal story in a new book: Eat What Elephants Eat: Vegan Recipes for a Strong Body and a Gentle Spirit, out January 7. “It’s a hybrid cookbook-autobiography,” says Thompson. “It dives into my ‘why’—how I made this decision to go vegetarian when I was in prison 24 years ago, and also helps you, the reader, identify your why.” It’s also a guide, presenting nutrition research in an easy-to-digest way and laying out three different pathways for adopting a more plant-based diet. The cookbook section is peppered with healthy cooking tips, and many of the recipes are oil-free.

We spoke with Thompson about the new book and picked his brain for his go-to workout fuel, tips for sticking with New Year’s resolutions, and more. Read on for the full convo—then try out a recipe from the new cookbook, Dom’s “Egg Salad” Collard Wraps.

Why elephants?

Dominick Thompson: I guess we could start with the beginning of my love for elephants. In terms of my bloodline, I come from two different tribes, Nigerian and Congo, and that’s where elephants are the most protected—at those national parks, specifically. Innately, I feel like I have a [connection] with them. When I started [doing speaking engagements about veganism] years and years ago, I always included a visual aid to show people some of the most iconic vegan mammals. And I always led with elephants. People forget that the largest, strongest and most powerful walking land animals, elephants, eat plants.

One of the other reasons is because when my platform started growing about 10 to 12 years ago, the poaching crisis was at an all-time high in Africa, with respect to the rhinos and the elephants. I wanted to do something with my platform to bring awareness to the anti-poaching efforts. The almighty African elephant represents a lot of different things humans can learn from, including eating plants and having a gentle soul.

In the book, you lay out advice and meal plans for three types of reader: those who want to crowd out some animal foods, those who want to try a vegan diet with faux meats and cheeses, those who want to go all in on a more whole-food vegan diet. Why did you decide to present these three pathways?

DT: I think we need to get back to being real and also being compassionate enough to meet people where they are in their journeys. It feels like for so many years, a lot of people got really dialed into being purists. That’s an all-or-nothing approach, and I just don’t think you’re going to influence many people with that type of approach.

You seem to have always been a vegan at heart.

DT: Yeah. I have always been compassionate at heart from when I was a little boy. I used to break up the dog fights in my neighborhood. … I’d be in the middle of it and get into these little scuffles too, even with my own friends and homies at the time. They’d be curious to know what a bow and arrow or a handmade slingshot would do to a stray cat. They would shoot at them and I would slap them across the head. … I’ve always been a protector of anything that I felt was being harmed or being taken advantage of.

Empathy is a throughline in the book. Can you speak to that?

DT: I think we all, especially now that we live in a very divided society, sometimes aren’t able to comprehend or even consider another point of view. I say this all the time, but there are over 8 billion people in this world, all waking up tomorrow with different ideas and different lifestyles. That’s what diversity is. We’re not going to all get it right and be uniform in our beliefs, and it’s OK to sit down to have a conversation with someone that is totally opposite in their views as long as it’s respectful.

How did you feel after you first went vegetarian, during your incarceration?

DT: I never took drugs in my life, but the best way to describe it is what people say they experience when they first get a high. I just felt invincible. When I stopped eating meat, the inflammation left my body radically, within weeks. I was over 250 pounds, and suddenly, I was dropping weight. Then my strength and my energy levels [surged]. I felt really in tune with my body in a way that I never had before. I was able to see my abs and see my leg muscles. My body just felt very strong, in an effortless way. … I’m still a very healthy, strong guy, but that first couple days to weeks when I stopped eating meat in prison was really incredible. What I experienced—from my mental health, down to the body that my soul occupies—it was one of the best feelings I ever felt.

In the book you write about redefining soul food. What does that mean to you?

DT: Historically, much of what has been called soul food [is] the food that was deemed inedible by slave masters and was passed on as scraps to my ancestors. Many black creators and chefs, not just me, are redefining soul food cuisine into something that’s more whole and plant-based, and that’s not associated with the [unhealthy animal-based foods] that we were eating back in slavery.

Do you have a favorite pre-workout snack?

DT: For cardiovascular [workouts], I like to juice beets and watermelon together. It’s a really good energy booster drink, and it really fuels the body with a lot of natural electrolytes. For strength-training, I love a really good 16- to 24-ounce smoothie full of hemp seeds and homemade oat milk with some bananas, frozen strawberries, and peanut powder. … I add a little bit of maple syrup or dates, and that’s a really good pre-workout for strength-training.

Any advice for folks who are trying to stick to a health-minded New Year’s resolution but fumble here and there?

DT: I would say don’t give up on yourself. It’s OK. Life is truly, truly, and I mean this wholeheartedly, a marathon. It’s not a sprint. And it’s OK to take your time. As long as you’re doing it and you’re in motion, you’ll get to your goals.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

The post From Incarceration to Plant-Based Powerhouse: Dom Thompson Shares His Remarkable Story appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Yelp’s in-house trend expert Tara Lewis suggests that plant-based restaurants’ shift toward whole foods is motivated by consumers’ two-fold desire to improve personal health and be kinder to the environment. “Sustainability and plant-based foods go hand-in-hand,” says Lewis, “and choosing to eat unprocessed foods is a mindful way for consumers to play their part.”

Top honors went to Lil’ Vegerie, in Redondo Beach, California. In addition to being vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free, the takeout restaurant has a strong whole-food focus. “We avoid processed ingredients every chance we get,” they state on their website.

Just 15 miles north, in Culver City, is Yelp’s No. 4–ranked vegan restaurant, Hey, Sunshine Kitchen, which also boasts a menu where vegetables, grains, and minimally processed ingredients are the focal point.

“Our bowls are the most popular menu item, specifically our Mediterranean Chickpea Bowl with Sunshine Rice,” says Heather Golden Ray, who co-founded the fast-casual restaurant with her sister, Jenny Engel, in 2023. Reviewers call the top-selling dish “delicious,” “flavorful,” and even “perfection.”

At smoothie bowl destination Boomchia in Montclair, New Jersey—No. 5 on the list—diners rave not just about the naturally sweetened acai and chia pudding bowls piled high with fresh fruit, ancient grains, and hemp seeds, but about the friendliness of the staff and the bright, clean atmosphere.

“Boomchia is a whole vibe,” says the cafe’s owner Josh Baek. “We’ve created a space where people can eat healthy without missing out on the fun or flavor. Our customers come in for the same excitement you’d expect from eating dessert, but they walk out feeling great, knowing they’ve had a meal packed with nutrients.”

Interest in Vegan Dining on the Rise

The rise in popularity of healthy plant-based foods tracks with Yelp’s annual food trend forecast, which suggested that foods prepared without animal ingredients would find a growing fan base in 2024.

To pinpoint dining trends, the Yelp team analyzes searches on their website and compares them to the previous year’s data. The latest analysis revealed a 12% increase in searches for “vegan food” in 2023 compared with 2022. “This data-driven approach allows us to uncover what users are loving and helps us predict what will continue to shape dining choices,” says Lewis.

Wondering if your favorite vegan restaurant made the cut? Check out the complete Yelp Top 100 Vegan Restaurants list here.

The post Yelp’s Top 100 Vegan Restaurants of 2024 Highlight Demand for Whole Food Options appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

How did you become both a farmer and a doctor?

Ron Weiss: When I was a little kid, I started planting flower seeds and was smitten with the beautiful colors. I became very passionate about growing things from that point on and got a botany degree at Rutgers. I wanted to be a farmer, but my parents impressed upon me the importance of being a physician. After I graduated medical school my father was diagnosed with end-stage metastatic pancreatic cancer. By happenstance, I discovered a diet of whole plant foods and placed him on it. He had an astonishing reversal of his cancer … and extended his life by about fourfold [of what doctors predicted]. From then on, I became invested in using plant-based foods to help people with their medical problems.

What is Ethos Farm to Health?

RW: Ethos Farm to Health is our nonprofit that grows food, helps the community, and is involved in research projects that aim to construct sustainable food systems. We began with a CSA-box [program] for the local community, which has since transformed into a public farmers market. Anyone can come to our market, where food is medicine, and they can get our organic produce. Apart from the market, we host an annual Farm Day event to educate the public on how this food is connected to the health of everyone and everything in our ecosystem.

What makes your work at Ethos Farm to Health unique?

RW: We employ regenerative farming techniques, where you restore the land that’s giving you food. Our property is a historic farm that was abused for many years by conventional industrial agriculture, and we now practice what’s called “human-scale agriculture.”

Everything is done by hand so the farmers can pay close attention to everything they’re doing. We could grow more food using machines and petroleum, causing increased carbon emissions, but we believe the way forward is for human beings to lovingly grow their food in a regenerative way that supports the Earth.

How are you sharing this knowledge with other doctors?

RW: Our Next Generation Physicians program brings in medical students for a monthlong rotation where they learn how to prevent and reverse chronic diseases with plants. They go out into the fields with the farmers to learn about regenerative food systems and appreciate how food should be grown at the highest [standards] so it can be medicinal. Our goal is to raise a new generation of physicians who are literate in lifestyle medicine, which is why their rotation includes everything from coaching patients to preparing meals, to farming, to talking with the community at our Ethos market.

Is the concept of using food as medicine gaining traction in the medical world?

RW: A common question that cancer patients ask their oncologist is, “Is it important that I change my diet?” And almost predictably, in the 40 years I’ve been practicing medicine, the answer has always been that it just doesn’t matter. Now, there seems to be some change, because I’ve been receiving more patients who’ve been told to eat plant-based … and we get more and more calls every day from people wanting to use their diet to go off medication or avoid surgeries. We take them into our practice, and as long as they’re dedicated, they achieve their dreams here.

Dr. Weiss’ Top Tips for Growing a Veggie Garden at Home

Looking to grow your own nutrient-dense food at home? Weiss shares his top tips for the best experience and results.

Nurture Healthy Soils

“Living soils with a robust microbiome create the most nutrient-dense whole plant foods, improve flavor, increase yields, and help ward off garden pests and disease. You can build your own beautiful soil by using compost, mulches, and cover crops, and by avoiding pesticides.”

Plant the Right Seeds

“Conventional seed companies often treat seeds with fungicides, which interfere with the development of critical relationships between plant roots and healthy soil fungi. At Ethos Farm we order from organic seed companies such as Johnny’s, Fedco, and High Mowing.”

Read Up

“An excellent gardening book is essential. One of my favorites is the latest edition of The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. In my experience, both novice and master gardeners love this book.”

Start Sweet

“Not sure what to grow? Start with sweet potatoes, which are highly delicious and nutritious and can easily be grown from slips sprouted on your windowsill from store-bought tubers.”

The post Cultivating Health: Meet the Doctor Combining Medicine and Farming appeared first on Forks Over Knives.