Shared Meals: 11 Family-Style Platters for Every Time of Day
Eating healthily every day becomes a lot easier when you have a recipe repertoire filled with nourishing meals. But most of us don’t have instant culinary inspiration when dinnertime rolls around.
That’s why treating yourself to a good cookbook is the perfect way to kickstart your healthy lifestyle. With delicious recipes for every food style from vegan to keto, take a look at these 7 healthy cookbooks.
If you feel inspired to buy these amazing cookbooks through the links below, not only will you support The Health Sessions with your purchase, but Better World Books also donates one book to a person in need for every book solved. All at no extra cost to you! Pretty great, right?
Little Green Kitchen from David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl
It’s a struggle for many parents: how do you get your kids to eat healthy foods, without the fuss? If that sounds familiar, Little Green Kitchen is here to help.
In their fifth cookbook, David and Luise from the award-winning Green Kitchen Stories blog share modern, family-friendly meals that are focused around veggies. From easy weekday tray bakes to Dino Burgers, Little Green Kitchen is packed with vibrant vegetarian recipes. Your kids won’t notice that their colorful smoothies and Rainbow Pancakes secretly have greens, beets and carrots in them. And even if they do, the playful way of serving food with pick ‘n mix salads, bowl food and veggie hotpots will bring fun and family time back to the dinner table.
Finally, the cookbook also contains lots of lunchbox favourites, healthy snacks and refreshing drinks to keep your little ones fueled all day long. And don’t worry – every recipe contains an adult upgrade for more adventurous palates.
With its positive but relaxed approach to healthy eating, Little Green Kitchen will give you new family favorites that even picky eaters will enjoy.
Well+Good Cookbook from Alexia Brue and Melisse Gelula
Have you ever wondered what kind of meals you should eat for optimal wellbeing? Well, when you have access to the world’s most influential health experts, you can simply ask them for their real-life tips and tricks.
In the Well+Good Cookbook, Alexia Brue and Melisse Gelula, founders of the trendsetting Well+Good website, bundled the go-to recipes of 100 wellness gurus and healthy foodies. The curated collection showcases tasty and healthy meals like Elle Macpherson’s Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Raspberries and Cacao Nibs, Mark Sisson’s Savory Zucchini and Thyme Crepes and Venus Williams’ Jalapeno Vegan Burrito.
To help you eat for wellness with ease, the recipes aren’t only organized by meal type, but also by eating style, like gluten-free, vegan or Paleo. What’s more, each section includes ‘good advice’, about how you should eat for better skin, more energy or improved digestion. And because most health experts are just as busy as you, the average recipe takes no more than 30 minutes from start to spoonful.
So if you’re looking to get a little more wellness with each bite, check out the Well+Good Cookbook for a wide variety of quick and healthy meals.
Food: What the Heck Should I Cook? from Dr. Mark Hyman
Many of us start looking into healthy eating when we – or somebody close to us – face serious health problems. In ‘Food: What the Heck Should I COOK?’, Dr. Hyman provides a (tasty!) roadmap to better health by showing you how to nourish your body with whole foods.
Accompanying the bestselling ‘Food: What The Heck Should I EAT?’, the cookbook contains over 100 gluten-free and sugar-free recipes based on the key principles of the New Pagan Diet. You can start your day with a Poached Egg Power Bowl, sip on a Medical Mushroom Tonic and have Slow Cooked Lamb with Minty Millet for dinner.
Besides sharing satisfying salads, soups and stews, Mark Hyman also explains his food philosophy and how to create a conscious kitchen. In the modern food system, cooking has become a revolutionary act – and your food choices have more implications for the world around us than just our personal health.
That’s what makes Food: What the Heck Should I COOK?’ your go-to guide for food that not only tastes good but makes you feel good.
The Forest Feast Mediterranean from Erin Gleeson
If there’s a prize for most beautifully illustrated cookbook, The Forest Feast Mediterranean definitely stands a chance at winning. Through full-color photographs and watercolors on each page, Erin Gleeson takes us along the Mediterranean and all its fragrant cuisines.
Erins fourth cookbook chronicles her 3-month family trip across Spain, France, Italy and Portugal. From the pinxtos of Barcelona to salads inspired by the Algarve, Gleeson shares over 100 effortless but unforgettable vegetarian recipes. The unique recipe illustrations show more tapas-like small dishes than typical main meals. Still, The Forest Feast Mediterranean contains plenty of whole food snacks, sides and salads to turn your dinner into a feast.
Love and Lemons Every Day from Jeanine Donofrio
From breakfast to dessert, vegetables are the star in every dish in Love and Lemons Every Day. In this gorgeous cookbook, Jeanine Donofrio shares creative recipes to make your everyday meal rotation a little more exciting. Who doesn’t like the sound of Lasagna Soup and Peanut Butter Snickledoodles?
Love and Lemons Every Day proves that plant-forward cooking doesn’t have to be bland, boring or time-consuming. There are quick dinners for busy week nights, tasty leftover lunch ideas, slow food for weekends and some sweet treats. The cookbook also contains visual guides for making plant-based staples like salad dressings and vegetable broth. What’s more, the helpful tips about how to add flavor, prevent food waste and make fruit crumble many ways will make anyone a more creative cook.
If you want elevate your everyday cooking, Love and Lemons Every Day is the perfect cookbook for you.
Healthy Sheet Pan Cookbook by Ruthy Kirwan
It’s the busy cook’s secret weapon: sheet pan dinner. All you need is one oven tray and a few fool-proof formulas to effortlessly put a complete healthy meal on the table. And as a bonus: little washing up!
The Healthy Sheet Pan Cookbook is your go-to guide for quick, easy and good-for-you meals. You’ll find 60 everyday recipes for nourishing breakfasts, like the Mango Coconut Granola and Spinach-Stuffed Portobello with Eggs, and hearty dinners. Whether you like meat, seafood or vegetarian dishes, there’s a recipe for everyone. Although the cookbook does not have a photo for every meal, the sound of Maple-Glazed Salmon with Fennel or Cauliflower Steaks with Mint Pea Pesto is tasty enough to give it a try.
So if your busy schedule or chronic illness leaves you little energy for cooking, get inspired by the crowd-pleasing recipes in the Healthy Sheet Pan Cookbook.
Vegetables Unleashed by José Andrés and Matt Goulding
Spanish-American chef José Andrés is on a mission to prove that vegetables are far sexier than meat can ever be. In Vegetables Unleashed, he and award-winning writer Matt Goulding show us why eating plants will change the world – and the most surprising and satisfying ways to do so.
Because you should eat veggies when they’re at their best, Andrés’ creative recipes are arranged according to the seasons. From Miso-Roasted Asparagus in Spring to variations to the Spanish gazpacho in Summer, each dish celebrates the vibrancy and versatility of vegetables. The Michelin-starred chef turns down-to-earth ingredients like legumes and tomatoes into innovative dishes such as the Spanish-Japanese Garbanzo Stew and China’s Sweetest Tomato Salad.
The recipes aren’t 100% vegetarian and makes use of cream and cheese to add flavors and textures. But throughout the cookbook, the political message of the Michelin-starred chef about the power of plants and the need for good food shines through.
No matter if you’re a vegan or conscious omnivore, Vegetables Unleashed will open every home cook’s mind to what vegetables have to offer.
Which cookbooks inspire you to kickstart a healthy lifestyle?
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