Plant Based Inspiration

You don’t have to be following a strictly plant based, vegan or even vegetarian diet to take inspiration from them to improve your own cooking!

Take the best, leave the rest

Would you like to listen to the podcast version instead of reading this article? Find it here!

Let me start by saying that a vegan diet does not automatically equal a healthy diet. There is plenty of vegan junk food and vegan ultra-processed food out there (often the vegan stuff is ultra-ULTRA processed, in order to resemble meat/dairy that we are used to and want to still have regularly).

However, we know that a plant based diet, or one that is largely so, is beneficial to us in many ways. You don’t see many studies, papers or articles that conclude that you should steer clear of the vegetables, leafy greens, nuts, seeds or fruit, so these ingredients, in their real, raw/base form seem like a pretty safe place to be starting from when cooking from scratch.

I am not vegan, vegetarian or in any other way really restricted in my diet (other than trying to avoid ultra-processed as much as I can). There are lots of different approaches and views on different diets both health wise, ethically and environmentally, and I am very aware of these and trying to do my best here too, but facing the same challenge that I am sure a lot of you readers face; having to also take into consideration the desires and needs of those in your household (it is likely that you are the main meal provider, since you’re reading this!). And it may not be popular, or even appropriate, to go plant based for your entire household.

But that doesn’t mean that we can’t learn and take inspiration from plant based recipes. There’s so much great stuff out there. One of my favourites is Plant You, the author/founder of which Carleigh makes super tasty, exciting and relatively easy plant based dishes. She has inspired a lot of new habits of mine, like using chickpeas as a go-to protein for things like curries and salads, and - and this has been a game changer - blending tofu - it works for both desserts and sauces and is so brilliant!

By being open to plant based recipes, it really helps me to have a more varied diet. It has encouraged more use of things like cashew nuts for creaminess, coconut milk or cream instead of dairy milk or cream (works surprisingly well in a lot of dishes without being too coconutty), and the wonderfully versatile use of nutritional yeast.

But since my responsibility is to myself and to the people in my household, I don’t need to stick to any regime other than what I find to be right for us. That means that I can learn all these great things from plant based blogs and recipes, but still put my own spin on it using what I have in the kitchen or what I think would go well with it. One example is a vegan Alfredo sauce I love to make (my own version but inspired by different recipes out there), which I normally have with chicken… and I sprinkle real parmesan on top. So not at all a vegan dish in the end, but have I cut down on dairy? Massively. Have I added both tofu and cashew nuts to this otherwise not super nutritious dish? You bet I have!

There are all sorts of different ways to take inspiration from vegan and plant based diets, and it can simply help you switch things up - or, if you are interested in transitioning to a fully vegetarian or vegan diet, you can try those recipes without going over “to the other side” 100% straight away. Just like my article on authenticity, you don’t have to be fully following a dietary requirement in your own cooking, unless it’s what you want or need! Trust your own judgement and intuition.

What are your thoughts on taking inspiration from plant based recipes? Let me know in the comments below!