Sweet Potato Soul : 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul

Chef and charismatic blogger with 217,000 followers across social media, Jenné Claiborne grew up in Atlanta eating classic soul food—but thought she had to give all that up when she went vegan. She now celebrates the plant-based roots of the cuisine and reenvisions 100 classic dishes with a focus on healthy, whole ingredients—and a fresh and vibrant flair for flavor.

Some people wonder how you can have soul food without the chitlins, fried chicken, and pork-stewed collard greens. But Southern cooking and soul food actually have deep roots in fresh, local, plant-based lifestyles. In her first cookbook, Sweet Potato Soul, Jenné Claiborne honors the cuisine’s important roots while offering new ways to prepare 100 classic (and new!) dishes for optimal nutrition—dishes like Coconut Collard Salad, Peach-Date BBQ Jackfruit Sliders, and Sweet Potato-Cinnamon Rolls.

Jenné explores the narratives surrounding iconic and beloved soul food recipes, as well as their innate nutritional benefits—you’ll never look at super-healthy foods like dandelion and other bitter greens, black-eyed peas, or sweet potatoes the same way. You’ll learn how to make better-than-the-original takes on crave-worthy dishes that are good for the environment and your health, heart, and soul. Illustrated with gorgeous full-color photography, these recipes are delicious and easy to make—thanks to Jenné’s years of tweaking and experimentation—without sacrificing flavor, tradition, or soul: from decadent pound cakes and fluffy biscuits to smokey collard greens, deceptive “crab” cakes and the most comforting sweet potato pie you’ll ever taste.