In honour of Veganuary, it’s high time I stop relying on a combination of my imagination and Pinterest for inspiration in the kitchen. The Fresh Vegan Kitchen is the perfect start to my journey towards being well-read in vegan cookbookery.

The Concept

David and Charlotte Bailey of Wholefood Heaven are all about sharing good food, and that’s always something I can jump on board with. They took the street food scene by storm in their beloved van winning Best Main Dish in the British Street Food Awards for their famous Buddha Bowl and have now conquered their first cookbook to share the joys of vegan cooking with us all. There are a few concise and informative pages in the front that are well worth a read for a speedy induction, and I’m a fan of their sensible advice about kitchen kit. All too often, cookbook authors will urge you to buy all sorts of gadgets immediately to improve your life, but the Baileys advise that you hold off until you know that this is how you’ll be cooking for a long time to come. All in all I’d say they’ve nailed it.

The Recipes

It’s hard to find a recipe in this book that doesn’t make me say “ooh, I really must try that”. There are plenty of choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a ton of extras along the way (the small plates and street food section is almost definitely my favourite). Everything looks fresh and vibrant and as well as being vegan, many of the dishes are also suitable for a gluten free or raw diet. It’s worth a mention that many of the recipes do have a relatively lengthy list of ingredients, so unless you already have a well-stocked pantry full of herbs and spices you may well need to go shopping. This Sunday I made Baba Ganoush (p119) and it made for a sensational light lunch, I strongly recommend you try it – I’ll be posting the recipe this week so keep those eyes peeled!

The Photography

Beautiful, beautiful and more beautiful. The photography in this book comes courtesy of Liz and Max Haarala Hamilton who also shot for Persiana, one of the biggest cookbooks of 2014. Each dish is a pleasure to look at, presented in a simple setting to do the fresh and colourful ingredients justice.

See for yourself

The Fresh Vegan Kitchen can be bought for £11.89 (bargain) on Amazon right now.