As promised, more details on Dreena’s Kind Kitchen!
This new book is my 6th title (excluding my books with Dr. Barnard), and it releases August 24th.
I first mentioned this book in October, and at that time it sure seemed like a long time to wait. Now, Dreena’s Kind Kitchen is just a few months from hitting bookstores – and landing on your kitchen counter!
Now, I know many of you have already pre-ordered this book. First, thank you. Your pre-orders will help bring more attention to this title, which helps not only with sales but also with visibility beyond our plant-based community.
Therefore, I thank you for trusting my work and supporting this new book.
Second, if you have pre-ordered Dreena’s Kind Kitchen, please do two things:
- Enter your name, email, and proof of purchase in the yellow form on this page to get your FREE ebook.
- Enter your email in the GIVEAWAY widget on the same page. You will find it just above that yellow form. Over $1000 in prizes, four lucky winners! The prize packs are from Blendtec, OCosmedics, Complement, and Instant Pot.
There are two separate forms for the entries – one for the giveaway, the other for your pre-order. If you entered for the free ebook and haven’t yet received it, please email us at dreenaskindkitchen@gmail.com.
Inside Dreena’s Kind Kitchen
Alright, let’s step inside my Kind Kitchen. Before getting to the content, I feel blessed for how well this book is already being received.
Foreword and Endorsements
This book has been blessed (and I have personally) with a foreword from John Robbins. After reading Diet For A New America almost thirty years ago, something changed inside me.
It sparked my personal change living a vegan and plant-based lifestyle. Moreover, it but also to help others cook and love this food!
My gratitude continues with endorsements from plant-based experts and pioneers, including Brenda Davis, Ocean Robbins, and Dr. T Colin Campbell.
My heart is full having this support. I greatly admire, respect, and cherish these individuals for their ongoing, passionate work. 💚
Recipes
Dreena’s Kind Kitchen has over 100 whole foods plant-based recipes (all oil-free). This cookbook is full color and all recipes are photographed.
Here are the recipe categories with just a few of the recipes in each:
- Breakfast Vibes: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, Wow’em Waffles, Potato-Cauliflower Scramble
- The Salad Bowl: Ninja Dressing, Smoky Caesar Salad, Italian Vinaigrette
- Noshing: Dips, Spreads, Nibblers: Truffle-Salted Nut Cheese, Avo-Mame Hummus
- Dinner Plates
- Soups That Make a Meal: “Quicken” Noodle Soup, Aush Soup, White Bean Corn Chowder
- Not Just Burgers ‘n Fries: Bistro Burgers, Thai Green Pea Patties, Potato Chipz
- Pasta-bilities: Mamma Mia! Marinara, Lofty Lasagna,Awakened Pad Thai
- Casseroles, One-Pot Meals: Chickpea Satay Casserole, Lentil Sweet Potato Meatloaf
- Holiday Fare: Holiday Dinner Torte, Golden Gravy, New Year’s Baked Beans
- Home Sweet Home
- The Cookie Jar: Crackle Blender Brownies, Raspberry-Coconut Crumble Bars
- Cakes and Bakes: Yellow Sweet Potato Bake, Mythical Cheesecake, Heavenly Baklava
- Creams, Sauces, and Frozen Treats: Vanilla Custards, Maui Gelato, Dreamy Fudge Sauce
Additional Culinatry Content
Beyond the recipes, this book includes:
- Prep Chapter: batch-cooking and ingredient prep tips
- “Recipe Renewal”: repurposing recipe leftovers
- FAQ troubleshooting chapter: to help you hone your own kitchen skills
Those cookies? Yep. my oil-free version of those classic Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Answering Your Questions
Is the recipes oil-free? Yes, all recipes are oil-free.
Are the recipes gluten-free? Not all, but most are naturally gluten-free, and many of the desserts are also gluten-free.
Are the recipes nut-free? I have made every effort to offer nut-free options in recipes. For instance, there is a nut-free, soy-free, and oil-free “Mythical Cheesecake”! And, a nut-free pesto, nut-free sour cream, and even a nut-free cheese (in the pre-order ebook).
Are your the recipes from your oil-free dressings in this book? I wanted to offer mostly ‘unseen’ recipes in this book, in addition to new favorites from my site. So, I have exciting new oil-free dressings, such as an Italian Vinaigrette, a Buddha Dressing, and a Sunny Curry Dressing!
When will I get the pre-order gifts? Please see my pre-order page for details, and if you have questions, email us at dreenaskindkitchen@gmail.com.
Are the recipes low-fat? Some are lower-fat, others aren’t. This is a whole-foods book, and I design recipes to optimize flavor with nutrition. But, there are truly recipes for everyone in this book. If you eat a low-fat diet, you will have plenty of recipe choices!
What are your favorite recipes? That’s hard! But, I have shared some of my favorites here, and will share cooking demos for some favorites as part of the pre-order gifts.
Dreena’s Kind Recipe Testers
Before I sign off, I must thank my beautiful team of recipe testers. Although I acknowledge you in more detail in the book, you deserve mention here as well. To:
Molly Duffy, Amy Johnson, Nina Windhauser, Claire Elizabeth Engstrom, Dee Campbell, Cintia Bock, Monica Valencia, Laurie Bleeks, Cindy Read, Jenni Mischel, Michelle Bishop, Elaine Trautwein, Kimberly Roy, Monica McCue, Natalie Carpenter Collins, ChristineRiggs Magiera, Michele Isaac, Eve Lynch, Sarah Wise…
My sincere gratitude and love ❤️
To order Dreena’s Kind Kitchen, link below. Thank you, and enjoy! 🙏
Mark Midkiff says
Hi Dreena –
I made your Mythical Cheesecake from your new book – it was great! I know it is like a real dense style cheesecake and I was wondering if you have any suggestions on how to make it less dense and more light/creamy. We love your incorporation of sweet potatoes in your recipes – lots of nutrition and good stuff!
Thanks,
Mark
Dreena says
Hi Mark, thanks for the feedback, I’m so happy you tried it – it was a favorite with my testers!
Great question, I’d try using more yogurt (maybe 1/3 cup) and reducing coconut butter by 1/4 cup. See how that changes up the texture, making it a little softer-set.
Mark says
Thanks for the suggestion – we will give it a go and let you know how it turns out.
Zand says
Hi are any of these recipes suitable for a slow cooker? Busy mum of 2 from the uk!
Thanks
Dreena says
Hi, yes, I think many of the recipes will suit you very well – casseroles and soups/stews. Even better, I offer shortcuts and ‘recipe renewal’ tips to make the cooking process more efficient for you!
Emily says
Due to health issues, we are on a low to no salt diet. Will your recipes still work for us?
Thank you
Dreena says
Hi Emily, thanks for asking. In my experience people that need to modify recipes to be low/no salt have adjusted their palates, so are quite comfortable omitting or reducing the salt in a given recipe. For most of my recipes I think you can easily omit and then adjust seasonings to taste. Hope that helps.
Marino Lucia says
Thank you for asking re coconut oil, Susan. We too have a concern about it (albeit different).
Choice of substitute may matter most in baked goods. Dreena, there which sub would you generally suggest? And when crispness matters, as for some cookies?
Dreena says
Hi Marino, hopefully you’ve read my reply to Susan – coconut oil is not in the book, though coconut itself is not excluded. I include cookies in this book, and it really varies by recipes what whole foods fat works best. This post explains: http://bit.ly/1It2tH1 This should answer your question quite well!
Julie says
Following… Coconut oil is also a nemesis for heart patients.
Dreena says
Hi Julie, please see my reply to Susan, below. Thank you.
Susan says
Oh Dreena, the recipes you have mentioned and shown both sound and look so wonderful!
I personally don’t have an issue with oil in general, though I do have a nemesis in vegan recipes… coconut oil. Because I have a very low tolerance for coconut fat, but coconut oil is the darling of the vegan world at the moment. So I assume as this is an oil, it would not be in your book?
Dreena says
Hi Susan, thank you for asking. Yes, you are correct, no extracted oils in this book. I use coconut foods (not coconut oil) in some recipes, but not the oil. And, the recipes using coconut products that are higher in fat would generally not be recipes that someone eating for disease reversal would eat anyhow.
My father-in-law followed Dr. Dean Ornish’s program years ago which led me to write my first cookbook. So, I’m very aware of the necessity to eat a (very) low-fat diet for disease reversal – which includes very limited amounts of foods like avocado, nuts, seeds, and also coconut.
This book does not include any oils, but not all of the recipes are low-fat, to be clear. However, many also are naturally low-fat. It’s a whole foods plant-based cookbook, but not a disease reversal cookbook.
Hopefully that makes sense. Also, in terms of using whole foods fats like nuts, seeds, and coconut products (not oil), this video from Dr. T Colin Campbell is very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnXYUyRtVTY
Great question, thanks for commenting.
Susan says
Thanks Dreena! I don’t need a disease reversal diet, I just have this weird sensitivity. I can still eat other coconut products, it is just my weird intolerance for coconut fat which means I have to be careful, and obviously coconut oil is just all 100% coconut fat. So great to know this book will be good for me. 🙂