SIMPLE, WHOLE-FOOD PLANT RECIPES FOR EVERYONE

You don’t have to be vegan to try our recipes, everybody’s welcome! All recipes are easy to make, require no special gadgets or expensive cookware and are oil-free (even our delicious chips!) A low-fat whole-food plant diet is not just the kindest to animals and the environment, it is also the healthiest, quickest way to achieve and maintain your desired weight.* We recommend advance meal prep/batch cooking so you always have something healthy ready to eat.

^{*Please click here for our list of resources and science references.}

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Dr Barbara Rolls, American professor of nutritional sciences, discovered that people tend to eat similar amounts of food in the course of a day. So by including more vegetables, fruit, potatoes and other whole plant foods into your diet, you can eat the same volume of food, feel just as full but get fewer calories. There is no need to count calories, but it’s helpful to familiarise yourself with the concept of calorie density for the various food groups.

Far from being restrictive, a low-fat, whole-food vegan lifestyle allows you to eat more food, so you will not feel hungry and will gradually stop craving unhealthy meals and snacks. But avoid keeping keep junk, overly processed or trigger foods in your house/car/workplace – eating them “in moderation” is something most people simply can’t do. For more advice on this topic and overeating read The Pleasure Trap by Dr Doug Lisle and Dr Alan Goldhamer and watch the excellent video below.

RECIPES

Our recipes are super simple with few ingredients as we’d rather spend time with our (animal) friends & family and doing things we love to do. We say KISS: Keep It Simple & Sustainable! As you become more used to this way of cooking and eating, you will develop your own recipes, and mix & match to create wonderfully tasty dishes.

It might surprise you how quickly you’ll learn to love a plant-based diet, especially if you’ve avoided eating vegetables before. The reason for this is that your taste buds renew every 1-2 weeks. To find out more read these excellent articles: How Often Do Your Taste Buds Change? & Don’t Like Plant-Based Foods? How to Reset your Taste Buds.

Finally, you’ll notice Cottontails’ Cookbook looks a little different from other recipe books as we’ve included links to helpful videos and articles about health and plant-based living. We are not health professionals and simply wish to offer some advice, if you have any questions or health concerns please consult your (plant-based) doctor/dietician.

MAIN COURSES/SOUPS

Cottontails’ Cauliflower Rice

• 1 Large cauliflower, riced with a box-grater or food processor (keep the leaves whole)
• 2 medium sliced red or other onions
• 10 whole garlic cloves (or as many as you like)
• 1 tin of peeled plum tomatoes
• Tomato paste to taste
• 2 large sprigs of fresh basil or any other fresh/dried herb you like
• 1 veggie stock cube

Put all ingredients in a large (non-stick) pan, add water and cook with the lid on for about an hour, depending if you like your cauliflower firm or soft. Stir and add more water as needed during cooking.

Cottontails’ Courgette/Zucchini Soup

• 4 large courgettes cut into chunks
• 2 small-medium carrots cut into chunks
• 2 medium red or other onions
• 10 whole garlic cloves (or as many as you like)
• 1 can of plum tomatoes
• 1 veggie stock cube to taste

Put all ingredients in a pot, add water and cook for about 45mins. Then use a potato masher or blender to make the soup into bite-size pieces.

Lulu’s Lentil (and Tomato) Soup

• 200g/1 cup red lentils
• 2 medium red or other onions
• 10 whole garlic cloves (or as many as you like)
• 1 can of plum tomatoes (optional)
• 1 veggie stock cube to taste
• a couple of bay leaves

Put all ingredients in a pot, add water and cook until soft.

Cottontails’ (Sweet)Pea & Broccoli Soup

• 2 medium heads of fresh broccoli (including stalks) cut into pieces, or equal quantity of frozen broccoli)
• 2 medium sliced red or other onions
• 10 whole garlic cloves (or as many as you like)
• 1 small can of whole unsalted peas, or equal quantity of frozen peas
• 1 veggie stock cube to taste

Put all ingredients in a pot, add water and cook until the stalks are tender.

Cottontails’ Aubergine/Eggplant & Lentil Soup

• 2 medium aubergines, cut lengthwise into pieces or any shape you like
• 3 small red/white onions
• 12 garlic cloves to taste
• 1 tin of plum tomatoes
• 1 cup of red lentils
• sprigs of basil, coriander or any fresh herb you like
• 1 veggie stock cube

Put everything in a non-stick pan, adding water as needed. Alternatively you may wish to sautée (without oil)/roast/grill the aubergines first in order to brown them, then add them to the other ingredients. Cook with the lid on for about 1/2 hour.

SALADS & SIDE DISHES

Cottontails’ Winter Salad

For a super-easy, filling salad in the colder months, simply microwave/roast 2 or more of your favourite fresh/frozen veggies, for example broccoli, carrots, Brussels sprouts, spinach or green beans. Use a fat-free dressing if desired – we add salt and balsamic vinegar to the spinach and green beans, nothing to the other vegetables.

Enjoy with beans and/or a starch of your choice, for example microwaved butternut squash or other winter squash. wholegrain rice, (sweet) potatoes, etc. Delicious!

Cottontails’ Summer Salad

We eat a huge salad every day for lunch.

• Half a large iceberg lettuce or other leaves, sliced into bite-size pieces
• Sliced plum or other tomatoes
• Finely cut shallots or onion
• Sliced cucumber
• 2 finely grated medium carrots
• 2 coarsely grated medium beetroot
• selection of coarsely cut fresh herbs, e.g. basil, mint, coriander, parsley (Italian & curly) and thyme
• Fresh lemon juice

Serve with falafel and houmous, herby tofu, etc.

Cottontails’ Herby Tofu

• Half a block of (extra) firm tofu, cut into thin (about 7-8mm) slices
• Sautée the tofu in a non-stick pan for a few minutes, turning once until golden-brown on both sides. No need to add water or oil (spray).
• Add salt/garlic granules/dried herbs (mixed Italian herbs, rosemary, sage, thyme, etc.) to taste. You will find that the dried herbs and garlic granules taste a bit salty so take care not to add too much salt.

Serve with Cottontails’ big lunch salad (see above).

Cottontails’ Beans in a Garlic & Tomato Sauce

This is another super-easy dish that you can assemble from pantry staples.

• 1 can of unsalted red kidney beans or other beans of your choice, e.g. 3-bean mix
• 1 can of plum tomatoes or other tomatoes, e.g. cherry or plain chopped tomatoes
• 1 red/white onion or shallot, thinly sliced
• 5 garlic cloves
• veggie stock (cube) to taste

Sautée the onions and garlic in a non-stick pan until golden brown, adding a little water as needed (there’s no need to use oil or oil spray). Add the beans, tomatoes and stock and cook until hot. Feel free to sprinkle with (dried) herbs or other oil-free condiments of your choice.

Butternut Squash/Winter Squash/Sweet Potato

Cut the butternut squash into 4 pieces or the winter squash in half and remove the seeds. There’s no need to cut or poke the sweet potato with a knife. Cook in a microwave until tender; we prefer this to roasting in the oven as the latter caramelises and makes them overly sweet in our opinion. If you are trying to lose weight, the squashes taste very similar to sweet potatoes with approximately half the calories.

Cottontails’ Chips

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Cut any type of potatoes (with their skin) into chips and soak in cold or hot water for about 15 minutes. Rinse and pat dry on a kitchen towel. Alternatively microwave or pre-boil for a few minutes and pat dry.

Place in a preheated oven (200-240°C) and bake until golden brown. There’s no need to add oil (spray)! Add (iodised) salt to taste or try sprinkling some dried rosemary. Best eaten immediately or store in the fridge without covering to keep them crispy.

You don’t need to buy an air fryer to make these chips, they’re crispier (but soft inside) in a regular oven.

Tip: try this cooking method with sweet potatoes, swede, butternut squash or other squashes.

FRUIT & DESSERTS

Cottontails’ Fried Bananas

Peel and cut each banana lengthwise and fry in a non-stick pan on both sides for a couple of minutes until golden brown. There’s no need to add oil (spray) or any other fat. Delicious on their own or on whole-grain seeded sourdough toast.

Cottontails’ Watermelon & Melon Salad

Peel and cut a watermelon and one or more of your favourite melons (canteloupe, galia, honeydew) for a delicious hydrating fruit salad. Great for breakfast or as a snack, eat in the sunshine!

Watermelon also mixes well with slices of kiwi fruit or any other fruit of your choice.

Cottontails’ Breakfast Berries

• 1 pack of frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries)
• 1 pack of frozen strawberries
• (optional) Oatly plain or Greek-style yoghurt

Mix the 2 pack of berries the evening before so they’re half-thawed by the morning, add a couple of tablespoons of Oatly yoghurt if desired and enjoy!

Pan-Roasted Chestnuts

Carefully score the chestnuts on a chopping board with a sharp knife. This is essential to stop them exploding – be warned! Place the chestnuts flat on a (non-stick) pan (you don’t need to buy special chestnut pans with holes in the bottom). Roast them on the hob (medium-high flame) for 10-15 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the chestnuts.

Nonna Cinzia’s Boiled Chestnuts

Our beloved Italian grandma Cinzia used to make these on Sunday afternoons. Place the chestnuts in a pot and cover with water (there’s no need to score them first). Once the water boils, simmer on a low heat for about 45 minutes or until tender. To eat, cut or gently squeeze open, you can also scoop them out with a teaspoon.

COMING SOON…

• We’re vegan like bunnies
• Love vegan
• Becoming vegan/vegan living
• Eat more, weigh less
• Slim, healthy vegan v junk food, overweight vegan: just because something is vegan it does not mean it is healthy or slimming
• Plant-based v vegan: what’s the difference?
• Fat-shaming & fit-shaming: dealing with how society reacts to vegan living, your health/body/weight
• Leptin, the appetite-controlling hormone
• Why you shouldn’t skip meals
• What if the rest of your family/household are not vegan?
• Smart vegans: put together healthy and cheap meals in minutes – there’s no excuse to eat junk!
• Eat more greens!
• Are you afraid of carbs?
• Where do vegans get their calcium?
• Dairy-free
• Olive and coconut oil are pure fat and, contrary to popular belief, not health-promoting
• Vegan processed foods (fake meat/cheese), etc. and how they displace healthier choices
• Reversing heart disease/type 2 diabetes on a whole-food plant-based diet
• Gut health and the microbiome
• Clearing problem skin/acne on a whole-food plant-based diet
• Food & the menopause
• Osteoporosis and the benefits of a whole-food plant diet
• Eating out/away from home
• Breakfast oats
• Roasted chickpeas
• Roasted garlic
• Cottontails’ sautéed mushrooms/aubergine/courgette
• Cottontails’ mushroom/tomato/pumpkin/saffron/pea & mushroom risottos
• Pasta sauces
• Houmous & cucumber and other sandwich fillings
• Buttercup & Dandelion’s banana & hazelnut bread
• Pear & pecan cake
• Carolina’s carrot cake
• Palmiers
• Mamouls (Lebanese sweets)