Eating an Allergen Free, Wholefood Diet at Home – The Blazing Salads Cookbook

Blazing Salads' primary concern is making wholefood living accessible. All of their recipes are 100% vegetarian and refrain from using ‘sugar’ (refined, beet or cane) or artificial sweeteners. All of their famous salads and breads are revealed in the pages and they even list which recipes are suitable for freezing which can really help the day-to-day logistics of a healthy food/work/life balance.
In my opinion, The Blazing Salads Cookbook has a lot to offer and would be a major aid for anyone struggling to eat a wholefood AND allergy friendly diet 7 days a week instead of just a ‘weekend only’ diet.

Each recipe is listed as being one or all of the following:

- Sugar free
- Wheat free
- Dairy free
- Vegetarian

But I can vouch that there are many more ‘free-froms’ if you read between the lines such as:

- Yeast free
- Egg free
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Nut free

Blazing Salads have got mixed reviews on forums in the past and I’m not 100% sure why. Yes, their prices can be a bit high and I do feel that there can sometimes be more oil than necessary on the food but overall the ability to buy food ‘out’ which is food allergy friendly and predominately ‘healthy’ is not something that I can easily dismiss. I think that when a restaurant/café, etc. produces a cookbook people can easily be surprised to read what they previously ate without thought but and as one forum reviewer said: “Just don’t eat the foods which contain maple syrup if it’s a problem for you!”… Likewise, when you are cooking at home it is very easy to reduce oil and sweeteners to suit your own preferences.

The cookbook is broken into eight categories, covering all bases of a wholefood lifestyle at home:

- Spreads & dips
- Soups
- Salads
- Savouries
- Main courses
- Bean casseroles
- Cakes & desserts
- Breads

My family have made of few of the recipes at this stage and have been very pleased with the outcomes. Namely: the Almond Fruit Pies (pictured above) which are a family favourite from the deli. You can imagine my Mom’s happiness at being able to have her favourite wheat free & dairy free pies at home in the midlands whenever she wants them, and not have to wait for her infrequent trips to Dublin for a bit of indulgence! Another major success in my mind are the Spinach & Almond Cannelloni. I have made them a couple of times now and have been taken aback with the flavour and appearance of this wonderful main course recipe.

A personal favourite from the deli are the Brown Rice Balls with Aduki Bean & Vegetable Filling served with soy sauce…and yes, the recipe for these delicious savoury treats are neatly tucked into the pages of the Blazing Salads Cookbook as well so I’m definitely looking forward to trying my hand at them!

The Blazing Salads Cookbook