At Home in the Wholefood Kitchen

Whether you are vegetarian, vegan or just love a great vegetable-based dish to break up the meat-and-3-veg approach of usual...I totally recommend Amy Chaplin's At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen (Jacqui Small Books). The photography is amazing - you will want to make everything. Well, ok, you'll want someone to make it as long as you can eat it.
From sweet corn frittata (mouth-wateringly good) to salads that will not leave you feeling deprived or undernourished in the slightest. Plus, there's a guide to what to stock your pantry with to be prepared for adventuring into wholefood recipes full of flavour and nutrients. This isn't a fad diet. While some of the recipes are going to tick the paleo or gluten free boxes, they are not designed to appease any particular dietary needs.
The beauty of embracing wholefoods is to choose good quality, seasonal produce (whatever fruit/veg/legumes/fish/poultry and meat) are available fresh and local rather than pre-packaged, pre-prepared foods. The less that happens to your food between coming from the ground, the plant or the creature and to your plate makes it more "Whole".
If this means you can't eat avocadoes and bananas every one of the 365 days of the year because they're just not growing 365 days of the year close to you, you'll adapt and find new foods to embrace and prepare! Take the challenge.
Here's one of my favourites. Looks fabulous. Tastes incredible.

BEETROOT CHICKPEA CAKES WITH TZATZIKI

MAKES 12 CAKES

SERVES 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil,

plus more for brushing cakes and tray

520 g (1 lb 3 oz/3. cups) cooked chickpeas (see page 68),

or 2 425-g (15-oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well

2 red onions, finely diced

8 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

2 red beetroot (340 g/12 oz), grated on largest hole of a box grater

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

30 g (1 oz/. cup) chopped dill

Freshly ground black pepper

Tzatziki to serve (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 190oC/375oF/Gas Mark 5. Line a baking tray with

baking parchment, lightly brush with olive oil and set aside.

Place chickpeas in a bowl and crush with a potato masher; set

aside. (Don’t mash the chickpeas completely. The mixture should be

somewhat chunky.)

Warm olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat. Add onions

and saute for 5 minutes or until browning. Add garlic and salt and

cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in grated beetroot and continue

cooking for another 6 to 8 minutes or until beetroot are cooked. Add

balsamic vinegar and remove from heat. Add to mashed chickpeas along

with chopped dill and mix well to combine. Season to taste with salt

and pepper.

Divide mixture into 12 and shape into 12 cakes. Place on prepared

tray and brush top and sides of each cake with olive oil. Bake for

15 minutes, rotate tray and continue baking for another 15 minutes or

until brown on the bottom. Remove from oven; allow to cool for

5 minutes before serving.

To serve, slide a thin spatula under each cake and flip onto plate so

bottom side is up. Top with tzatziki or serve it on the side.

TZATZIKI

Tzatziki is a fantastic Greek yogurt dip or side dish

made with cucumbers, dill, garlic and olive oil. The first

time I ate it was on a trip to Greece with my best

friend, Guinevere, many years ago. The tzatziki we

had was served with cooked beetroot and beetroot greens,

and the simple and extremely tasty combination has

stuck with me ever since. Don’t save it just for these cakes;

tzatziki is delicious served with roasted vegetables,

simple grains and crunchy summer salads.

MAKES 480 ML (16 FL OZ/2 CUPS)

1 large (225-g/8-oz) Middle Eastern cucumber (or

a regular cucumber, peeled and deseeded)

360 ml (12 fl oz/1. cups) whole-milk Greek

yogurt or Labneh (page 215)

10 g (. oz/. cup) chopped dill

2 garlic cloves, crushed

. teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil,

plus more for drizzling

Freshly ground black pepper

Grate cucumber on the largest hole of a box

grater, place in a sieve and squeeze out juice with

your hands. Drink or discard juice and add

cucumber to a medium bowl along with yogurt,

dill, garlic, salt, olive oil and a pinch of black

pepper. Stir to combine, season to taste and serve

drizzled with olive oil. Store any leftovers in an

airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Recipe and image from At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen (Jacqui Small Books) $39.99 available now in all good bookstores and online.