A Duo of Vegan Cookbooks that Food Allergy Parents Will Love

I recently had the pleasure of signing books alongside Nava Atlas at an event in Poughkeepsie called the Breakfast of Champions. If you recognize her name it’s because she is a best-selling vegan cookbook author. She has written a dozen or so books (including a couple that aren’t cookbooks).

So why is a food allergy mom writing about vegan cookbooks? It’s not just because Nava is awesome and her books are fabulous, but because quite a large number of the recipes in these books work marvelously for those with food allergies. There is no need to be vegan to appreciate the recipes Nava creates and the information she shares.

Wild About Greens was the first of Nava’s books that I purchased when it was released last summer. Having just joined a CSA a couple of years prior, and still having no idea what to do with some of the veggies I was bringing home, I found this to be a resoundingly helpful book.

I recently re-read the book, cover to cover. That is saying quite a lot, as I almost never do that. What I love most about Nava’s style is that she explains things clearly; she doesn’t assume I already know how to grill bok choy – she gives specific direction on how to.

In re-reading Wild About Greens, I realized that Nava’s mission with vegan food is very similar to mine with allergen-free and gluten-free food. We both aim to empower readers and give them the tools they need to be successful.

While at the Breakfast of Champions Nava and I traded books; I gave her a copy of Learning to Bake Allergen-Free in exchange for a copy of Vegan Holiday Kitchen. I couldn’t wait to get home and dig into it. Once again, I read cover to cover because there is so much useful information in this text.

While Vegan Holiday Kitchen contains a few more recipes that call for nuts or soy ingredients, most of these are highly adaptable. And don’t let the word “holiday” steer you to thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas; there are recipes for Jewish holidays and just about any special occasion. There are even recipes for the Fourth of July!

Of course, there’s no need to prepare these recipes just for holidays. As I transform my family’s dinners to be more plant-based I plan to rely on this text quite a bit.