In Plant & Planet (Rodale, Dec.), Elsass and the rest of the folks at BuzzFeed’s Goodful put a sustainable spin on vegetarian cooking.
Why did the team at Goodful choose to focus on vegetables and the planet for the site’s first cookbook?
The ethos of Goodful is about taking simple, intentional steps to live a better life, and we wanted these ideas to be translated into a cookbook. The book starts with food and moves on to a bigger conversation about how food is interconnected with the planet. So it offers simple steps on everything from sustainability to food waste and more. Recipes are deliberately not only delicious but utilize simple steps.
A large part of the book’s appeal, to me, was how accessible the recipes and cooking advice felt. How did you come up with your perspective?
I deliberately set out to offer a practical, natural extension of how I cook at home, looking at things from an affordable perspective but also recognizing how precious and limited our time is as well. So I offer home cooks a way to assess what’s on hand and avoid spoilage, which points back to sustainability. I wanted the book’s approach to be attainable, real, and practical—easy for readers to adopt. The chapters on keeping things fresh came about from my own personal situation. I have a super small refrigerator and very little kitchen space. By necessity, I had to learn how to store things and keep them fresh in limited space. To my surprise, what I learned wasn’t exactly common knowledge, and I found a nice poetry in organizing my fridge and arranging things at the perfect temperature to make them last.
What would you say most influenced the recipes in the book? I mean, the lemon slice shots (basically a healthier take on Jell-O shots) are pure genius.
I’m especially proud of that slice shot recipe! I’m somewhat opposite of the prevailing trend to move toward vegetarianism. I grew up as a vegetarian and only recently started eating meat, and because of that my approach to vegetables tends to be hearty and rich, a complete meal in and of themselves. I hope home cooks on a plant-based diet and those who are considering changing to one will find these recipes exciting and easy to incorporate into their lives so that they feel like they are gaining something, not losing anything.
How should readers approach the book?
I worked very hard to avoid sounding preachy in the book. It’s not about monumental changes but about adopting simple, easily repeatable practices that become habits. We provide options, and readers can choose what works for them. I recommend that readers start with the meal prep chapter. It offers easy options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and guides for cooking every kind of grain, vegetable, and bean.
