[The] philosophy of multi-purposing recipes is in part what motivated me to write this cookbook. As I work to take charge of my own health, I want whole, low-fat, plant-based food on my dinner table. – Del Sroufe
I think of myself as pretty organized when it comes to meal-planning. Once a week I sit down with a tattered notebook, pen, and a pile of cookbooks and create a shopping list for 5-7 meals. I jot down the ingredients I’ll need under the headings Produce, Pantry, Non-dairy (i.e., almond milk…), Baking, Frozen, and Other. I’ve found this method gets me in, around, and out of the grocery store fairly quickly. But Chef Del Sroufe does me one better. He creates a shopping list, too, but his selection of recipes assures that cooking once gives him multiple meals (we’re not talking leftovers here) – as in making a batch of brown rice, a sauce, or flavorful tofu that will be used in more than one recipe within a given week. This is just smart.
And, since the recipes are based on The China Study principles of using whole foods, no refined sugars, and no added fat – Del’s food is as healthful as it is delicious. The China Study Quick & Easy Cookbook: Cook Once, Eat All Week with Whole Food, Plant-based Recipes covers everything from breakfast to desserts. The recipes are simple and quick to make – perfect for weeknight dinners – and they don’t include “exotic” ingredients that are difficult to find. Most importantly, they will completely satisfy your tastebuds.
If you are trying to cut back on meat and dairy; reduce your added fat and refined sugar intake, and/or if you want to add easy and yummy meals to your weeknight repertoire, this is a cookbook you need to own.
I’m very pleased to have a copy of this book to give away, and – great news! Even if you live overseas you can enter this contest! If the randomly chosen winner lives outside of the U.S.or Canada, he or she will receive a PDF copy of the book; a U.S. or Canada winner will receive the paperback edition.
Thanks, Del and BenBella Books for the opportunity to host this giveaway!
STRAWBERRY CREAM SMOOTHIE
CHILLED PEANUT NOODLES
SOUTHWEST BURGERS
Southwest Burgers
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
I rarely buy packaged veggie burgers at the store. They usually have too much added fat and not much flavor. Why would I go for store-bought when I can make these flavor-packed burgers in less than 30 minutes? – Del
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup bulgur
- 1 cup canned fat-free refried beans
- 1 Tbsp. granulated onion
- 3 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
- 3–4 Tbsp. cornmeal, for baking
- 4 whole grain burger buns, toasted
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 small red onion, sliced
- 1 avocado, sliced
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil in a small pot and add the bulgur. Bring the pot back to a boil, turn off the heat, and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. Let it sit for 10 minutes or until the bulgur is tender and all of the water is absorbed.
- Add the bulgur to a bowl with beans, granulated onion, arrowroot powder, soy sauce or tamari, and cumin mix well.
- Divid the burger mixture into four equal parts and shape each part into a ball. Dredge the balls in the cornmeal, shake off the excess, and press them flat into patties.
- Cook the burgers in a nonstick skillet for 5 minutes over medium heat, turn them over, and cook them for 5 minutes more. Alternatively, preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Bake the burgers on a nonstick baking sheet for 20 minutes. Turn them over gently and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Place each patty on the bottom half of a toasted bun and top with the salsa, onion, and avocado.
Notes
- Recipe reprinted with permission from Del Sroufe and BenBella Books.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 367
- Sugar: 7
- Sodium: 1062
- Fat: 10
- Saturated Fat: 2
- Unsaturated Fat: 7
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 60
- Protein: 13
- Cholesterol: 0
ORANGE MISO VINAIGRETTE
SPINACH-POTATO SOUP
Connect with Del:
Chef Del Sroufe (website)
Wellness Forum
Forks Over Knives (Del’s recipes)
Instagram
Pinterest
Facebook
Del’s other cookbooks:
Better Than Vegan: 101 Favorite, Low-Fat Plant-based Recipes That Helped Me Lose Over 200 Pounds
Forks Over Knives, The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-based Eating All Through the Year
This is SUCH a useful cookbook! I borrowed a copy from my local library and would love to have a copy of my own. Del’s comments about meal planning inspired me to become more serious about how I plan my meals. Now I get at least 2 different meals using the same ingredients instead of a meal and leftovers of the same meal. Thanks Chef Del!
Just this past year I started making a menu plan for the week. I love just winging it, but now that I am living with my fiancee it is nice to have a plan and make sure that we both have something to eat!
I wing it,only because I don’t know what I want during the week.
I meal planned for a few months back in the day when I first started blogging, and would do something similar. I hate waste, so I made sure to pick meals that I could use my ingredients multiple times in. It worked wonders! What a great cookbook, and these meals look amazing. Your photography is just wonderful.
Thanks, hon! I’m starting to feel not-so-organized after seeing how many people actually cook ahead for the week!
Hi! If I were cooking just for myself, I would could easily wing it with just the ingredients I keep on hand — lots and lots of veggies, beans, nuts/seeds, whole grains, and a variety of spices. I’m easy that way 🙂 But cooking for my family is a different matter. They are more picky and require more “real” recipes. I am also trying to get them to eat more plantbased all the time, so things have to be tasty and appealing. This is a huge challenge for me, but I know that a little planning up-front can save a lot of stress and keep the family healthier in the long run. By the way, I tweeted about the giveaway, but I think I posted the wrong URL. So here it is: https://twitter.com/healthymindbody/status/632572080568057856
Seriously – if it were just me, I’d probably eat steamed rice and veggies every night!
I definitely plan ahead! I cook in batches on weekends and when I have a free weeknight so I just have to nuke lunch/dinner when I’m busy. This cookbook has been on my wish list for months!
Go, Jacky! Sounds as if you have a handle on this meal-prep thing. Thanks for entering the giveaway!
I plan my meals. I actually love meal planning!
Oh, Dianne – can you rub some of that off on me ;-)?? I dread my weekly meal-planning!
I plan my meals for the week most of the time, but don’t usually cook ahead. I definitely want to get in the habit of that because it makes things 10 times easier!
I know, right? It also would help to freeze things in portion-sizes, but I’m not quite that organized!
Embarrassingly, I eat pretty much the same thing at EVERY meal, unless I am going out. So I buy what I need for the week, knowing that I’ll eat the same thing. So yes?
That method sure makes it easy, Deb!
My boyfriend and I have been meal prepping for years. We usually cook all of our lunches and two dinner meals on the weekend so we don’t have to cook during the work week.
I’m impressed! I really need to get into batch cooking!
It’s other title should be “how bust families can eat well without spending half the day in the kitchen!” Seriously, it’s getting harder and harder to make meals if feel good about for the whole brood.
Big, not bust. Welcome to my life!
I love new cookbooks as much as I love opening a new book to read. I go through a few times planning what I will make then the thrill of actually trying new recipes.
I like to try to plan ahead but it’s not exactly realistic because I have chronic migraines. I get about 5 a week so I never know what days I’ll be able to cook, so I try to plan on cooking at least once a week but hopefully more.
This has been on my wish list for a while, now, even more so!!
I’m so fond of Del and his culinary wisdom. Being a Nutritionist and N.D. keeps me busy (truthfully, pushing my disease prevention, plant-based agenda) so any cookbook that inspires delicious meals lickedy-split is a treasure for me!
Southwest Burgers – this New Mexican woman’s favorite!
I try to plan but I’m not brilliant at it, I feel pleased with myself if I manage three days’ food in advance. Those burgers look wonderful.
I am a winging it kind of girl. If you have the staples available, winging it is not so hard!!
I do try to plan them for the week and cook on the weekends to make the weekdays go smoother.
I am not much of a planner. I tend to shop, see what’s on sale and/or in season and then cook around what I buy. I am a big fan of “cook once, eat twice” though and I love Chef Del!
I tend to just wing it, but would love help planning weekly meals.
I pretty much wing it based on what I receive in my weekly CSA box. But I would love to see how to plan for the week!
I also love meal planning; I think it’s because I treat it as a puzzle of sorts. I always know I want to eat fish 2x a week, a budget-friendly egg dish 1-2x a week, meat just 1-2x a week, etc. Then I have to plug in some dishes and try to make sure the recipes use enough of the same ingredients that I don’t wind up with a half-eaten, shriveled up basil plant at the end of the week 😉 Somehow I enjoy the challenge. This site is a big help for meal planning, by the way, if anyone is looking for a free tool to make it a bit more pleasant: https://spoonacular.com/
Ohhh yeahh…another nice giveaway ! Thanks for that opportunity. As for the weekly planning, I try my best to do it every week, but I still got to work on that. It is soooooo useful when I do it, but I tend to procrastinate sometimes
We’re always on the look out for new plant-based recipes to love and share with people who think vegetables are “gross”. The best way to get people to eat healthier food is for it to rival the pleasure/comfort they get from processed food so your site and this new cookbook are perfect for us!
I love to meal plan – making coffee on a Saturday morning, sifting through cook books, and making a list before going to the Farmer’s Market…and then I throw the whole plan out by Monday night when I have a craving for something totally different! But, the weeks I actually stick to it, it works great. I love the logic of rolling ingredients this book employs. Can’t wait to check it out either way!
I ‘wing it’, usually based on what I’m in the mood for, the weather, and what’s in the fridge.
I make a menu, usually just for a week and just dinners. I don’t cook ahead but have a plan! I really need to plan and cook ahead for lunches.
I do as much planning as I can but leave some room for winging it a few days a week.
I try to make a menu but with two small children I wing it often
I’m not a good planner, so I wing it. Would love to get Del’s book and learn some tips on meal planning. I was lucky enough to meet Del at a cooking class in Columbus. Would love to win his book! Thanks for the giveaway Annie!
I like to plan meals ahead, but that doesn’t always work out. I do my fair share of winging it, also.
Sometimes I plan; sometimes I wing it. I don’t have a lot of variance from week to week though because I base my meals around what’s available locally at the farmer’s market on Sunday. Thanks for the Giveaway!!!
I do a combination of both planning and throwing things together
I do a lot of planning ahead, generally, but sometimes have to just wing it. I love to make a big batch of veggie burgers every so often, though, so that I can keep them in the freezer so that I don’t have to just wing it later.
I kinda sorta have an idea of what I’ll prepare during the week, based on what I have on hand. I usually buy the same produce each time, but don’t have a menu for the week. If I don’t have an ingredient I’ll look to another recipe, but put the missing item on my grocery list.
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