Looking to cut down on salt, oil, or sugar? Just love healthy, delicious, plant-based food? Either way, these recipes from Straight Up Food by Cathy Fisher are sure to please.

From the publisher:

All the recipes call for 100% plant foods: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and contain no animal-derived ingredients: meat (beef, pork, fowl, fish, or seafood), eggs, honey, or dairy products (cow’s milk, cream, butter, cheese, or yogurt). Recipes also emphasize the use of unprocessed foods, and are without added salt, oil and sugar.

This cook book makes cooking easier for you because it has: a spiral binding so the book lays completely flat; full-color photos throughout; shopping tips at the start of most recipes; and an index that is cross referenced with individual ingredients (for example, if you wanted to know all the recipes that call for beans or blueberries).

This book also offers lots of support to people who are new to this way of eating, including: information right up front as to why this way of eating is beneficial to health, and the specific reasons that salt, oil and sugar are not used in the recipes; detailed nutrient and calorie breakdowns for all recipes; and guidance on hot topics such as menu planning, cooking and baking without oil, using dried herbs and spices in the absence of salt, reading food labels, eating out, and making your own healthy salad dressings.

You can download March recipes here.

Straight Up Food by Cathy Fisher. Santa Rosa: Green Bite Publishing. 2016.

Main recipes:

• Macaroni Salad, page 63
• Curried Sweet Potato Salad, pages 66-67
• Corn Chowder, pages 128-129

Optional recipes:

• Raw Apple Crumble, pages 172-173
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, pages 178-179

Vegan Recipe Club meets Tuesday, March 15, on Zoom.

Questions? Email info@exploreveg.org or message us on Facebook.