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Blissful Basil

Over 100 Plant-Powered Recipes to Unearth Vibrancy, Health, and Happiness

By Ashley Melillo
Published by BenBella Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book
Experience the happiest side of life through beautiful, nourishing foods.

Ashley Melillo believes in enjoying a wide array of wholesome foods in order to thrive—physically, mentally, and emotionally. For her blog, Blissful Basil, she finds innovative ways to use plants for fun, flavorful dishes that keep her readers coming back. Her gorgeous debut cookbook brings brand-new recipes, plus a handful of signature dishes, from her kitchen to yours.

Blissful Basil focuses on bringing out the best flavors of whole foods and features more than 100 plant-based dishes that will delight vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters alike. What's more, most of the recipes are free from gluten, soy, and refined sugars.

Inside, you'll discover a variety of new creations and fan favorites, including:

- Raw Apple-Cinnamon Breakfast Parfait with Cinnamon Soft-Serve

- Burst Heirloom Tomato + SuperSeed Pesto Pasta

- Cosmically Fudgy Cacao-Tahini Brownies

- Crispy Parmesan Brussels Sprout Chips with Lemon Aioli

- Crispy Cauliflower Tacos with Tangy Slaw + Avocado Crema

- Pile 'Em High Epic Plant-Powered Nachos

Blissful Basil offers a vibrant journey through vegan cooking, where delicious plant-based foods become the colorful foundation for meals that nourish the body and delight the senses. When you treat plants with love and a splash of creativity, you'll discover dishes that are flavor-packed and satisfying, whether it's a quick breakfast or a savory dinner.

This is a cookbook for anyone in search of an accessible way to cook and enjoy more delicious, health-giving meals. Make your table a blissful place where wonderful foods rejuvenate your body, delight your palette, and enhance your well-being. With Blissful Basil, each meal is a new opportunity to choose foods that are as beneficial as they are delectable.

About The Author
Ashley Melillo

Ashley Melillo is the writer, photographer, and recipe-creator behind Blissful Basil, a blog dedicated to unearthing the happiest side of life through wholesome, plant-based foods. A school psychologist by day and a vegan food blogger by night, Ashley is fascinated with the way that diet and lifestyle choices affect physical, cognitive, and emotional wellness. She incorporates a wide array of natural, health-enhancing ingredients into her recipes with the hope of guiding others on their path towards improved well-being all while enjoying delicious food (read: you can have your health and eat cake too!). Ashley holds a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition and her recipes have been featured in Women's Health, Redbook, The Huffington Post, and Shape, among others. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Dan, and orange tabby cat, Jack.

Product Details
  • Publisher: BenBella Books (December 20, 2016)
  • Length: 320 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781942952466

Raves and Reviews

"
“A pleasure to browse and inspiring to plan menus with, Blissful Basil is enthusiastically recommended for personal, family, and community library cookbook collections.""

—Midwest Book Review

""Ashley's blog, Blissful Basil, won over both my heart and stomach, and now her cookbook has done the same. As always, her recipes are filled with mouth-watering creativity and nourishing ingredients. But above all, they're infused with love, and her firm belief in the power of wholesome, plant-based foods to promote happiness and well-being. . . . The Blissful Basil cookbook is bound to become a household staple for seasoned vegans, ‘new' vegans, and non-vegans alike.""

—Angela Liddon, New York Times bestselling author of The Oh She Glows Cookbook

""Ashley Melillo's Blissful Basil has it all: sumptuous, creative recipes, bold and beautiful photography, and plenty of user-friendly tips on how to easily transition into plant-centric cooking. What's most special about this collection, though, is the power of Ashley's personal narrative of healing through colorful, nourishing, and wholesome meals. These are the recipes that transformed Ashley's life, and her passion and gratitude shines through each and every bite.""

—Gena Hamshaw, author of Food52 Vegan and Choosing Raw

""This is way more than a cookbook. It's a coming of age story . . . that happens to have really incredible recipes and beautiful food. Ashley is a true inspiration and her encouraging, non-judgmental, and nurturing wisdom makes you feel like anything is possible.""

—Jessica Murnane, author of One Part Plant and host of the One Part Podcast

""Ashley's Blissful Basil cookbook is beyond beautiful! Ashley is one of my all-time favorite bloggers and now authors because her recipes are always colorful, nourishing, and inspiring. . . . Along with her delicious recipes, she adds a beautiful piece of her soul to each project.""

—Kathy Patalsky, blogger at HealthyHappyLife.com and cookbook author

""I'm pretty sure my life will be 200% improved once I make the sweet potato cinnamon rolls with maple glaze. This book is full of practical information about ingredients, techniques and new ways of thinking about how and what we eat. It's a must for anyone looking to get more thoughtful with what's on their plate.""

—Emily von Euw, creator of the food blog This Rawsome Vegan Life and bestselling author of Rawsome Vegan Baking
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Blissful Basil

Over 100 Plant-Powered Recipes to Unearth Vibrancy, Health, and Happiness

By Ashley Melillo
Published by BenBella Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster