One of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE cookbooks is PlantPure Nation by Kim Campbell. There is not a single recipe I have made from this book that we didn’t love!

Here are some of the short reviews (that I had posted on my old website) of several of the luscious recipes in this cookbook:

This perfectly-warm-on-a-drizzly-dreary-day-in-Texas rich Burgundy Stew made all the “gray” in my day go away! This stew is perfect for dinner with omnis because it’s hearty and tasty. I love the richness of dry red wine paired with sweet and white potatoes, mushrooms (I used 16 oz. of Baby Bellas!), carrots, onion, tomato, vegan Worcestershire, veggie broth, and spices. I added about 1 1/2 cups of fresh organic green beans because I always add green beans to every stew I make! This one was promptly added to our family menu rotation!

Ever since we became close friends with our Indian neighbors in 2004 (shout out to Subhash and Akanksha!), we have fallen in love with authentic Indian food. After becoming plant-based, we were certain we’d have to give it up because it’s generally loaded with oil. Thankfully, we were wrong! Indian food CAN be made oil-free without sacrificing taste or texture, and this PlantPure Nation recipe for Palak Paneer (p. 213) is just another example of this truth. I know I sound like a broken record, but seriously, no kitchen should be without this resource!

Here’s an alternative way to make the Beanie Veggie Loaf in the PlantPure Nation cookbook p. 178 if you want to reduce the number of pans/bowls you use and NOT have to sauté the veggies beforehand.

1. Process whole grain toast in food processor for bread crumbs.  Measure out 1 cup of breadcrumbs and set aside in small bowl. Store the extra crumbs in your freezer.
2. Do not clean your food processor out! Process walnuts in food processor into fine pieces.  Set aside in the same bowl as the bread crumbs.
3. Do not clean your food processor out! Process onion,  garlic,  carrots,  celery and red bell pepper into small pieces in the food processor. Placed in a large bowl.
4. Do not clean your food processor out! Process chickpeas in the food processor until they are in tiny pieces but not pasty. Placed in large bowl with chopped veggies.
5. Add flaxmeal/water mixture to the large bowl, along with the oats, bread crumbs, walnuts, seasonings, veggie broth, etc.
6. Topped with sauce.
7. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour so veggies cook well and loaf is firm. Tent with foil halfway through (at around 25 minutes in). Let sit for 30 minutes before cutting into slices.

NOTE: This veggie loaf can be made the day or night before you want to serve it. You can warm slices up right before you eat.

Call me lazy. It’s OK! I made this outstanding White Bean Chili from the PlantPure Nation cookbook (p. 281) in my pressure cooker in 8 minutes (quick release)! Here’s what I did…

I steamfried the chopped onions, garlic, celery, and jalapenos in veggie broth in the pressure cooker for about 3 minutes. Then, I added everything else from the recipe EXCEPT the nutritional yeast flakes. After the pressure cooking was complete (8 minutes, quick release), I removed 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and blended it with the nutritional yeast flakes in a high-speed blender until smooth. I poured the blended mixture back into the pot with the rest of the chili and stirred it in to thick the mixture. The taste is OUTSTANDING!!!

If you own the PlantPure Nation cookbook, thumb quickly to page 225. The “Spicy Black Beans Over Rice” recipe is bursting with flavor and has JUST the right amount of heat. If you don’t own the book, it should be your next purchase!

This dish has the perfect balance of spices and ingredients. The spiciness level was perfect for me and Mr. Plant, but is easily kicked up a notch with an additional chile in adobo sauce (which makes this dish smoky and delish!) thrown in. The ingenious blend of butternut squash, black beans, tomatoes, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, chiles in adobo sauce, bulgar wheat, veggie broth, cilantro, and spices over brown rice with a sprinkling of diced avocado has now topped our “Make This Again!” list.

NOTE:  I loved author Kim Campbell’s tip to cook this in the slow cooker, which got me thinking. Could I make this in the pressure cooker? YES!!! I browned the chopped onions first with the saute feature of my pressure cooker, then dumped in all of the other ingredients except for the brown rice (which we had previously batch-cooked and frozen) and the avocado. EIGHT MINUTES LATER (with quick release), it was done!

I am so thrilled because I just received my copy of the PlantPure Nation DVD and cookbook. Of course, I couldn’t wait to read through the cookbook and begin trying the plant-based recipes. I actually read from the beginning of a cookbook–the foreward, the introduction, and the index! In the introduction, I learned more about the author, Kim Campbell. It is uncanny how many similarities we have! We are both moms, both from Upstate New York originally, both former school teachers, and both LOVE cooking!

What I find fabulous about this cookbook is that the recipes are aligned greatly with the way I like to cook–dishes full of flavor, not super simplistic, yet also not complicated.

My first recipe made from the book was the Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing on p. 124. Making oil-free dressing that isn’t too tart or too pungent is a challenge. I am in LOVE with this dressing already, and it hasn’t even made it to my lettuce yet! I also made the Banana Bread on p. 60. Kim describes the bread as being less sweet than a banana quick bread, and I would agree. It’s light and more like a cross between traditional banana bread and a whole grain bread. I could make a sandwich with it!

I have bookmarked so many recipes already, I ran out of sticky notes! Would LOVE to hear which are your favorite recipes, so include them in the comments below. If you haven’t purchased the cookbook yet, this is a fantastic cookbook to help you begin or keep you on track with this lifestyle!

When I buy a cookbook, I leaf through and file recipes in the back of my mind that I KNOW I’m going to make first. One of those was the Irish Potatoes with Cabbage in the PlantPure Nation Cookbook. I love the ingredients and just knew the flavors and textures melded together would be superb. I was RIGHT! It’s the perfect dish for a chilly evening at home.

The only modifications I made were the following:
1) I added 2 large carrots to the recipe
2) I peeled the potatoes and carrots, and I chopped the potatoes them into approximately 1-inch chunks and the carrots into 1/2-inch chunks. 
3) Then, I placed the carrot and potato chunks in the pressure cooker with about 1 cup of water, set it to 3 minutes on pressure, and did a quick release. 
4) Finally, I used my Breville All-in-One ricer attachment and quickly (maybe 3 or 4 times) blended the potatoes and carrots, leaving some chunks.

I followed the rest of the recipe to the letter. This would work well as a holiday side dish or as a main dish for dinner. 

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